How to change the processor on a laptop

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Digital technology is rapidly aging. Due to the rapid development of the direction, a recently purchased processor may cease to perform the necessary tasks with high quality and will not be able to provide the required performance in two or three years. In this case, there is a logical decision that it is time to upgrade. Replacing the processor on a laptop is not the most difficult task, but it is not always possible to do it yourself.

Is it possible to change the processor everywhere

There are several ways to upgrade your laptop. The simplest option is add RAM to it and change a regular hard drive to a solid state. This will definitely give some gain, but provided that the processor is not too old and supports such improvements. The next step in difficulty is video card replacement. There are some nuances here, and it is not always possible to do this. A similar situation is observed with the processor. In some cases, it is subject to replacement, and in some it is not. To understand how to change the processor on a laptop, you first need to make sure that this is even possible.

laptop processor

Important! There is no manufacturer dependency here. In fact, for any brand, be it Lenovo or Sony, it may or may not be possible to replace the processor. The upgrade option is in the processor itself.

In some cases he soldered to motherboard and, accordingly, the replacement implies its soldering, which is beyond the power of an ordinary user, and service centers are not willing to undertake such work. The second option is a replaceable processor. In that case, he connected via special contactsthe surface is pre-treated with thermal paste to reduce heat.

How to find out the type of processor

To determine whether it is possible to replace the processor on a laptop with a more powerful one, you should find out its type. This can be done through the «Device Manager», or by installing special utilities — CPU-Z, AIDA64 and the like. In the first case, you need to rewrite the name of the chipset and enter its name in the search engine, opening the specifications on the official website. Next, you need to look at information about the CPU and, in particular, about the sockets it supports.

  1. For Intel processors the abbreviation in the name BGA indicates the impossibility of replacement. If the name contains the PGA code, then you can change the processor on a laptop without soldering and other complex actions.
  2. For AMD chipsets not everything is so clear. If the name indicates — FT3 or FP4, then these types are not interchangeable. If it is marked S1, FS1, AM2, then the upgrade is available.

Processor type

If you use the utilities, then there such information will be displayed directly in the program, and you will not have to additionally search for information on the Internet.

If it was possible to establish that it is possible to replace the processor in a laptop with a more powerful one, then you should understand which new chipset is being installed on the existing motherboard.

Specifications

Choosing a New Processor

The second logical stage of the upgrade is the choice of a new chipset. Obviously, to get more performance, you need to change the chipset to a more powerful one, but this is not always possible.

Advice! To many, it may seem that swapping an i3 for an i5 is already a power increase, but it may turn out that the existing i3 was more productive than the new i5, so it is logical to read the comparisons or look at the test results and evaluate whether it is worth taking any action at all.

There are three parameters that will help you choose a new CPU:

  • socket;
  • CPU code name;
  • TDP.

socket is a kind of connection type. Obviously, they must match for the old and new chipset. Otherwise, the connection simply will not be possible.

The second indicator is codename. Processors are updated annually. One of the differences between generations is the way the kernel is created. For ease of understanding, the manufacturer assigns code names to them so that it is clear which chipsets belong to the same generation. For example, at Intel you can find the designations Kaby Lake, Sandy Bridge, Whiskey Lake and others. That is, if the chipset is originally codenamed Sandy Bridge, then the new one should have a similar name. Otherwise, compatibility and correct operation are not guaranteed.

Sandy Bridge

The third indicator that will help replace the built-in processor is TDP, which stands for thermal power or heat dissipation. Any manufacturer has this parameter for each chipset. It shows how hot the processor is. A new chipset should have a lower or similar value, for example, for a 35W chipset, any variant with the same family, socket and TDP of 35W or less will do. If you buy a CPU with a large heat dissipation, then the cooling system will not be able to cool it, which means it will not last long.

Replacement procedure

The next stage of replacement is directly disassembling the laptop and installing a new CPU. Before doing this, the user bios needs to be updated. For different types of BIOS, the procedure is different, so it will not be given here. If you do not update it, then you may encounter the problem that the new chipset will not work. Sometimes it works, but not all built-in technologies will be supported, for example, cores will not automatically increase the frequency.

Useful advice! Before replacing the chipset for a new one, it is recommended to install a driver or a special program that will automatically connect to the Internet and download everything you need. A good option for such an application is Driver Pack Solution.

Now the user needs find a diagram for disassembling your laptop. You can find the corresponding video on YouTube, for this you need to drive a specific model into the search, for example, Asus Zenbook 15 ux533fd. Ideally, it is recommended to indicate the full marking, since within the Zenbook 15 series there may be models with a different device and, accordingly, a different parsing scheme.

Laptop parsing

In order to remove the chipset, you must completely disassemble the gadget. The CPU is hidden under the cooling system. Many users miss an important point — all the screws holding the heatsink are numbered. They should be unscrewed strictly in the order in which they are numbered, for example, from 1 to 8. When the radiator is put in place, they should be screwed in in the reverse order — from 8 to 1. slightly pull them, and in two passes completely fix everything.

Removing the processor

The processor is held in place by a small screw. Use a screwdriver to slowly unscrew it until a special mechanism pushes the chipset out. Now you should put in its place a new and apply thermal paste. If the old paste remains on the cooling system in the place of its contact with the chipset, then it must be removed with a napkin.

Thermal paste application

Important! When installing the chipset, you should look at the key. A small triangle is drawn in one of the corners. This angle is necessary to install the chipset on the seat of the motherboard, which is marked with a similar triangle.

After installing the chipset and assembling the laptop, you need to start the device, install the driver and check if it works. The gadget should not only work, but do it quietly, without crackles or other sounds unusual for it (they may appear if the radiator was installed unevenly), and besides, it will not be superfluous check operating temperature chipset. For this, one of the utilities indicated by you is suitable — CPU-Z or AIDA64.


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