Laptop CPU Upgrade?

[Prokart2000]

Hello Everyone

 

I have an acer aspire 5332 with a celeron t3000 that i just put an ssd in (if all goes bad i will just add the drive to my main pc) and i was wondering if it is worth it to upgrade the cpu?

 

i had a look at options like the core 2 t9600 but im not sure how much faster it would be. Right now its constantly at 90%+ on the cpu so even with the ssd its still sluggish.

 

The cpus are only around £20 quid but im not sure if its worth the time fixing it up. It wont be used for much, obviously its not a gaming machine or anything, i just want a laptop to revise and do general things on which isnt too slow.

 

Thanks!

 

Pro

[3 Lions]

At this point I would just save up for a new laptop, considering the CPU comes from 2009 the laptop must be at least 10 years old also. 

[Prokart2000]

2 minutes ago, LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo said:

At this point I would just save up for a new laptop, considering the CPU comes from 2009 the laptop must be at least 10 years old also. 

I was thinking this. I'm going to get a laptop when i go to uni later this year but was just wondering if the core 2 would be a decent upgrade for this system until then as its only cheap.

[3 Lions]

Just now, Prokart2000 said:

I was thinking this. I'm going to get a laptop when i go to uni later this year but was just wondering if the core 2 would be a decent upgrade for this system until then as its only cheap.

Use it as it is until you get a new one. 

[Prokart2000]

Just now, LinusTechTipsFanFromDarlo said:

Use it as it is until you get a new one. 

Thats fair enough then, i might look around on ebay for a decent laptop refurbished. 

Thanks for the help!

[Bitter]

Here's my suggestion for a cheap school laptop. I've been using this laptop at home and have traveled a bit with it as well, the power adapters are under $15 on Amazon, a new extended capacity battery is under $40 on Amazon, upgrading to an i5 580M is also very cheap as used CPU's are around $20. If you want to get fancy toss in a SSD as it makes a very big difference in performance but otherwise can be skipped for budget reasons.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-INSPIRON-N5010-INTEL-CORE-I3-M350-2-27GHZ-500GB-4GB-RAM/153348404488

I swapped my i3 370m for the i5 580m, the HDD for a SSD, got an extended battery, and swapped to 8GB of RAM. Is it fast for gaming? Probably not because integrated graphics. Will it do all your school work comfortably, play Netflix and Youtube just fine and do all the internetty stuff, it sure will! The screen isn't the greatest for editing work with photos, the colors aren't fantastic but also it's an old laptop that's under $100 used, toss in a few dollars in upgrades and for under $200 you have a pretty decent laptop, certainly better than something you'd get new for $200. I usually get a couple hours of moderate use out of a battery charge playing 1080 Youtube and web browsing. The keyboard is easy to use and comfortable to type on, I can even touch type. The touch pad works well, the mouse buttons are not clicky but depress far enough to know you've hit them. The number pad is really nice to have if you're doing taxes or probably math homework.

[ki8aras]

21 minutes ago, Prokart2000 said:

I was thinking this. I'm going to get a laptop when i go to uni later this year but was just wondering if the core 2 would be a decent upgrade for this system until then as its only cheap.

if its only 20 pounds then it doesnt hurt much to do it

[Prokart2000]

17 minutes ago, Bitter said:

Here's my suggestion for a cheap school laptop. I've been using this laptop at home and have traveled a bit with it as well, the power adapters are under $15 on Amazon, a new extended capacity battery is under $40 on Amazon, upgrading to an i5 580M is also very cheap as used CPU's are around $20. If you want to get fancy toss in a SSD as it makes a very big difference in performance but otherwise can be skipped for budget reasons.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-INSPIRON-N5010-INTEL-CORE-I3-M350-2-27GHZ-500GB-4GB-RAM/153348404488

I swapped my i3 370m for the i5 580m, the HDD for a SSD, got an extended battery, and swapped to 8GB of RAM. Is it fast for gaming? Probably not because integrated graphics. Will it do all your school work comfortably, play Netflix and Youtube just fine and do all the internetty stuff, it sure will! The screen isn't the greatest for editing work with photos, the colors aren't fantastic but also it's an old laptop that's under $100 used, toss in a few dollars in upgrades and for under $200 you have a pretty decent laptop, certainly better than something you'd get new for $200. I usually get a couple hours of moderate use out of a battery charge playing 1080 Youtube and web browsing. The keyboard is easy to use and comfortable to type on, I can even touch type. The touch pad works well, the mouse buttons are not clicky but depress far enough to know you've hit them. The number pad is really nice to have if you're doing taxes or probably math homework.

Thanks for the suggestion! I will definitely keep this in mind while looking for my next laptop!

 

10 minutes ago, ki8aras said:

if its only 20 pounds then it doesnt hurt much to do it

I'm thinking about it, even if it isnt that much faster it would be a good experience taking it apart and rebuilding it. Do you know whether the T9600 Core 2 is compatible?, Its the same tdp but has a different bus speed and im not sure if the bios will support it? 

[ki8aras]

Just now, Prokart2000 said:

Thanks for the suggestion! I will definitely keep this in mind while looking for my next laptop!

 

I'm thinking about it, even if it isnt that much faster it would be a good experience taking it apart and rebuilding it. Do you know whether the T9600 Core 2 is compatible?, Its the same tdp but has a different bus speed and im not sure if the bios will support it? 

i have no idea if u can even change the cpu im just saying that it would be a fun experience

[Prokart2000]

1 minute ago, ki8aras said:

i have no idea if u can even change the cpu im just saying that it would be a fun experience

From what ive read you can, im just not sure if that specific processor will work lol.

[ki8aras]

1 minute ago, Prokart2000 said:

From what ive read you can, im just not sure if that specific processor will work lol.

maybe theres a cpu support list on the manufacturer website

[Prokart2000]

3 minutes ago, ki8aras said:

maybe theres a cpu support list on the manufacturer website

I will take a look

[Bitter]

You'll need to find out if the current CPU is socketed or soldered, use Intel ARK as a jumping off point for CPU package specifications. Once you know that you need to know what chipset you have, use CPU-Z or similar. Then goto the Intel ARK page for that chipset and look up compatible CPU's, however that list isn't always correct and sometimes omits some CPU's from some chipsets for some reason, I've ran into this first hand having a Q87 board running an unlisted i5 4460S. Once you know the chipset and if you're not satisfied with the Intel answer you can find a motherboard that used that chipset and check to see if they say it's compatible with the CPU in question BUT sometimes it may rely on a BIOS revision to be compatible and it's possible that laptop may not have gotten a BIOS update.

 

The surest way is to find another version of the same laptop with a higher spec CPU then make sure they're using the same mainboard. Something to consider though is CPU heat ouput, going from a low power low heat CPU to a higher power high heat CPU may not be ideal.

[Prokart2000]

2 minutes ago, Bitter said:

You'll need to find out if the current CPU is socketed or soldered, use Intel ARK as a jumping off point for CPU package specifications. Once you know that you need to know what chipset you have, use CPU-Z or similar. Then goto the Intel ARK page for that chipset and look up compatible CPU's, however that list isn't always correct and sometimes omits some CPU's from some chipsets for some reason, I've ran into this first hand having a Q87 board running an unlisted i5 4460S. Once you know the chipset and if you're not satisfied with the Intel answer you can find a motherboard that used that chipset and check to see if they say it's compatible with the CPU in question BUT sometimes it may rely on a BIOS revision to be compatible and it's possible that laptop may not have gotten a BIOS update.

Ive searched and from what i can see you can take the cpus out and the t9600 seems to be the same socket and tdp but im not sure if it will work. 

 

I will have a look to see if i can find anything about a motherboard being compatible with it

[Prokart2000]

It appears to be socket P478/479 on the GL40 chipset according to CPU-Z so im really not sure which cpus will work with this.

[Bitter]

Well maybe the T7300 would swap but that's only a 200mhz bump in clock speed and a 4MB Cache, it might help but it probably won't be a drastic change. The upshot is the processors are like under $10 shipped because they're just scrap at this point so very little harm in playing around. I don't know if the GL40 chipset can support 1066 FSB Penryn series CPU's, but according to this it cannot but there's faster 800mzh FSB chips that could work.

http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-Intel_(chipsets)/GL40_Express-comments1.html

What we don't know is if your BIOS supports them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_2_microprocessors#"Penryn",_"Penryn-3M"_(standard-voltage,_45_nm)

In theory a T9500 would work and be somewhat of an upgrade, but those are like $30+ and I don't think that's such a good investment.

[Prokart2000]

5 minutes ago, Bitter said:

Well maybe the T7300 would swap but that's only a 200mhz bump in clock speed and a 4MB Cache, it might help but it probably won't be a drastic change. The upshot is the processors are like under $10 shipped because they're just scrap at this point so very little harm in playing around. I don't know if the GL40 chipset can support 1066 FSB Penryn series CPU's, but according to this it cannot but there's faster 800mzh FSB chips that could work.

http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-Intel_(chipsets)/GL40_Express-comments1.html

What we don't know is if your BIOS supports them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_2_microprocessors#"Penryn",_"Penryn-3M"_(standard-voltage,_45_nm)

In theory a T9500 would work and be somewhat of an upgrade, but those are like $30+ and I don't think that's such a good investment.

So basically any of the processors of that socket with a 800mhz fsb should theoretically work?

 

Im trying to find some of the 9000 series on ebay but all the sellers are away so the expected delivery is late march!

[Bitter]

That likely means the CPU is shipping from China which may take a month or more to get to you depending where in the world you are, and that wait just may not be worth it. However as a learning experience I say this is totally worth it, you'll be able to take it apart, clean it, apply thermal paste, re-assemble, and test it out with little to no consequences if it doesn't work out or you make a mistake. Good prep for doing this later on to other laptops or computers! I've had a few laptops apart and they're all somewhat different but each time I get a bit better for the next time.

[Prokart2000]

2 minutes ago, Bitter said:

That likely means the CPU is shipping from China which may take a month or more to get to you depending where in the world you are, and that wait just may not be worth it. However as a learning experience I say this is totally worth it, you'll be able to take it apart, clean it, apply thermal paste, re-assemble, and test it out with little to no consequences if it doesn't work out or you make a mistake. Good prep for doing this later on to other laptops or computers! I've had a few laptops apart and they're all somewhat different but each time I get a bit better for the next time.

Ive found a used t7700 in the uk on ebay which should work. Its not as good as the t9300 but it should still be an improvement as far as im aware. It has 4mb of cache in comparison to the  now and its also 2.4ghz opposed to 1.8ghz. Do you think thats worth while or should in wait for the 6mb and faster speed t9xxx from china?

[Bitter]

If it's fairly inexpensive then I say go for it, I doubt waiting will be worth it but that's more up to you.

[Prokart2000]

3 minutes ago, Bitter said:

If it's fairly inexpensive then I say go for it, I doubt waiting will be worth it but that's more up to you.

7 quid so i might aswell, its got to be somewhat quicker, i will order it now, thanks for the help!

[Bitter]

Be sure to let us know how it goes, don't forget that you'll need some new thermal compound.

[Prokart2000]

1 minute ago, Bitter said:

Be sure to let us know how it goes, don't forget that you'll need some new thermal compound.

You read my mind haha, im just going to order some £2 one off of ebay, its got 5 star reviews and is only for an old laptop so it should be fine.

[Bitter]

Ehhh you still want a decent compound, I use AS5 since it seems fairly stable in the long term from my history with it.

[Prokart2000]

On 2/3/2019 at 7:20 PM, Bitter said:

Be sure to let us know how it goes, don't forget that you'll need some new thermal compound.

Just installed it, all is working well!

 

It definitely feels a bit snappier which is nice, obviously not as big as a jump as a T9300 but I couldn't justify the price or mainly waiting until late March to get it.

 

All in all a successful swap!

 

Edit: there is an issue where I can't get the keyboard to work even though windows detects it