Current Computer Project

[koltr567]

Hello everyone,

I have been working on computers since I've been 14 years old, I have a good grasp of programming and I understand a little on hardware... basically enough to know depending on what you want to do with a computer such as gaming you need a good graphics card, processor and ram (not to mention using the games requirements for hardware to get a good idea on what you exactly need.)

I basically want to attempt to replace my processor in my laptop. I have an acer aspire 5750z. I have 8gb of ddr3 ram and I have a Samsung 840 EVO SSD 500GB in it. I have also done some system optimization on it. I have replaced explorer.exe with a batch file I programmed so I can just access the programs I need from it... I did this to lower my processes on my OS. My processes are at 35 and I have a windows 7 home premium on it. I have also done a few tweaks on the registry to make my windows more responsive. I have not experienced any system instability and this setup works very well for me. I'm only wanting to replace my processor because this is more of seeing what I can do. I want to replace my CPU with a core i7 2620M. I've looked up most of the information on this seeing if I can and it looks possible... I also found a youtube video stating I could do this... however I would highly value an opinion of anyone who is better at this than me.

here is the old post I found on here that made me want to try to replace my processor:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18370619

in the post it has another link to compatible processors. Just to make sure if my processor wasn't soldered in like most people claim most laptops do I looked up a dis-assembly guide and it looks like it can be taken out. I always do deep research before messing around with my computer. Can anyone give me some advice? Also I decided on the core i7 2620M is because of the turbo acceleration feature the i7s have. I also updated my BIOS for my laptop in case when I do get the processor. I do play games on my laptop and I also love to see how fast my computer is. I also plan to buy a new battery to double my battery life and a backlit keyboard for my laptop as well.

So... I guess what I'm asking is to summarize it... Am I going the right way with this to replace my processor? What should I expect when doing this? Will the turbo acceleration feature work with this once I do replace my processor? because on you tube he does get the processor to work but it doesn't let him use it... should I expect that to happen to me? Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this. I hope to hear any suggestions you could give me.

 

[rtho782]

Looks like it has a socketed processor, so yes, in theory, you can replace it.

The bigger question is if the bios of your acer laptop supports the processor you want to use.

Nobody except Acer can answer that, and I don't suppose you'll get a coherent answer from them. It's entirely possible it will work fine, also entirely possible they only ever made it work with the CPUs they shipped the thing with, none of which had turbo mode, so never supported this feature.

Try it, it might work, if not, put the old one back in. It's not going to break anything and it's only a 20 minute job.

 

[koltr567]

thank you rtho782 for the advice. I'll have to try to contact Acer somehow with that question... that's why I updated my BIOS... but I didn't see what exactly it changed.

 

[koltr567]

So I installed my processor and after LOTS of effort I got it to work... now my next issue... I can't get my turbo acceleration to work. I got my turbo acceleration monitor program installed and it is stuck on energy saver mode... I stress tested my processor with Prime95 to see if I can make my intel monitoring program do something... but nothing happened. So from what I have looked up that means the acceleration isn't enabled. Also, I checked to see if I had bios options to enable hyper threading or something I can change to fix this... I also tried looking up updated bios and still no luck. I also looked for hacked bios to give me options for my computer and nothing... any other suggestions?

NOTE: If I can't enable turbo acceleration maybe I could try to overclock... but I would only want to go as high as 3ghz because with this all being done in a laptop I don't wanna risk overheating... so any suggestions about this I would also appreciate. Thank you

 

[koltr567]

So i found a program called throttlestop. After doing some testing with it I found out the turbo boost works on it. For some reason the turbo boost monitor program I used wasn't reading it properly. Ran some pc games and it shot up to 3200 to 3300 mhz. I also tested the power saver feature of throttlestop and it help my processor to stay at 798 mhz when at rest... when it wasn't enabled it was flexing aroun 798 to 1498. I have to say I'm very happy with this find. The processor I bought only cost me $34 USD. It was a Intel core i7 2620m and it bump my Windows user index from a 4.7 to a 5.9. The processor prongs were bent so I ran my insurance card through the prongs to straighten them out lol.

 

[unclewebb]

ThrottleStop 8.00 beta 2
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0dpSo9k93jDTE1fcHNtbUMwdGc

When a bios does not support your CPU or is not cooperating, ThrottleStop is a good option to set the CPU registers up appropriately. This will let you run your CPU at its Intel rated speed. The latest version of ThrottleStop has a few more options but these options are mostly for the newer 4th Gen and newer CPUs.

When a Core i CPU has nothing to do, it should be spending most of its idle time in one of the low power C States like C6. You can check this with ThrottleStop. In this state, the reported MHz is not that important to power consumption because the core is already disconnected from the voltage rail. In this situation, the Power Saver option might not make a big difference to power consumption. Power Saver was mostly intended for the early Core 2 CPUs because they did not have the deeper low power C States available.

For best results, ThrottleStop should only be used with the Windows High Performance power profile. If you use ThrottleStop while using the Balanced profile, this will create a fight between ThrottleStop and Windows with both of them trying to control your CPU speed. The High Performance profile lets ThrottleStop control your CPU without it having to fight with Windows.

 

[jpod]

Wow I am impressed you replaced the processor in a lappy - well done!

 

[koltr567]

Thank you unclewebb for that version of throttlestop. I'm currently using version 7 of that. Ill have to try this one out as well . Also thank you jpod it was definitely a learning experience. This was my first time trying this. I tried going to best buy or micro center around my area and they always told me I couldn't because the processor was always soldered in the motherboard :/. Now I'm gonna buy a battery for my laptop that will prolong its battery life unplugged... I've already added the max ram my motherboard can handle and I've added a ssd as well... and with the processor... honestly I don't what else I can do... I've even got my processes between 35 to 40 processes running... is their anything else I could do? I've also altered my registry a tad... mostly for my Windows popping up faster and using a ACCESS.BAT file I made to replace explorer.exe to make a list of programs and whichever program I wanna pop up I just type the number in on the number pad and press enter and it runs.

 

[jpod]

Top draw.

Do you tinker with desktops too?

 

[koltr567]

Yea I helped my friend with his desktop a little while ago. He installed 32gb of RAM and his OS wasn't recognizing it all. He doesn't mess with software much but it was because his OS was windows 7 home premium. It only recognizes up to 8gb from what I've seen so we upgraded it to Windows 7 ultimate and it fixed it. I've also put in led lighted fans in towers, I've modded my xbox360 with clear ghost casing with green led lights, I have some experience with soldering, and I also know batch programming and I'm working on python.

 

[koltr567]

I really like your pac man logo. How did you create it jpod?

 

[koltr567]

Oh current update on the laptop... I gotta replace the fan... I'm pretty sure it's because of the dust that was built up in it when I cleaned it I think it over worked the fan and since I haven't thoroughly clean the fan in a couple of years I think it wore out the fan bearing. Easy fix though .

 

[jpod]

Thanks, I made it with Paint net, free image software and just nicked a piccy and edited it. Needs to be 400x75.

http://www.getpaint.net/index.html

I made you a sig which you are welcome to use, I won't be offended if you don't use it mate. You can always have a go yourself!

Link https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5738/20558091524_19b5e5c363.jpg

There are I am sure some folk who will make you one if you ask, I just like doing it.

You may like this project, a bar top arcade for a pal, going to make one myself, it uses MAME to emulate old arcade games!

Have a blast there is lots of great stuff on the forum!

 

[koltr567]

that bar top arcade looks amazing! To use MAME for that it's a very good idea. The whole thing looks so retro. I love retro games. Are you going to paint yours? Thank you for the Sig but i decided to make mine.

 

[koltr567]

I have decided to take this post down I will be doing my own editing on it. if I come across the things that I need to do I will post my results in the future.

 

[jpod]

Great sig, like it a lot!

Apologies for delayed response, been on hol.

Have plans to build my own bartop, I have the trim for the edges, black plastic with a chrome strip and yes I would spray paint my attempt, that one was a for a pal who will finish it!

 

[koltr567]

I'm also sorry for the delayed response to your comment. It be also cool if you could make stencils and put different retro game characters on it. I would also like to make one of those in the future. Right now I thought of more things to do with my laptop and I'm looking into doing a airflow mod to it... basically cutting a hole where the fan is and putting some metal mesh in place of the plastic i cut out. Basically the airflow will help with cooling and prolonging my laptops lifespan... I know it'll get more dust in it but I plan to disassemble it to clean it once a month. I added velcro to the back of my laptop for my externals... I love it lol. I don't have to worry about them falling off the table. I also been looking into higher frequency RAM... interestingly enough I learned about latency in RAM and how they have specific timings... problem is I don't know how to tackle this... right now my RAM is 1333mhz with timings of 9-9-9-24. According to my research lower timings is better... my RAM type is DDR3 and I've been searching around and the best ram I found was 1600mhz with the same timing of 9-9-9-24. I really don't know how I could measure the performance differences and based on the programs I use speeds can very... so my question is would higher frequency RAM with the same timing as my old RAM show a slight difference?

here is the link to what I read about RAM timing:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/understanding-ram-timings/

P.S. I'll post my laptop with the Velcro on here in a couple of days.

 

[Malamo999]

I know it'll get more dust in it but I plan to disassemble it to clean it once a month.

Do you need to do that? I've had a couple of laptops that have lasted about 5 years each. I never took either of them apart to clean them once. And the only times I had a look inside were just before I replaced them (due to a desire to upgrade, not because they failed) - the first about 5 years ago, the second last month. Neither of them had a visible amount of dust built up, nor did they heat up significantly more compared to when I first bought them. To be honest, you're more likely to damage the components by repeated reassembly or accidental expose to built-up static electricity, than you ever are to experience overheating/failure because of dust.
I talked to a professional computer repair technician from a well-known PC/laptop-building company a few years ago, and he told me just spraying some compressed air into the exhaust vent while the laptop's off once a month would do the trick. I didn't follow his advice, and my laptops lasted anyway D), but that's what I'd recommend to you if you feel you have to clean it in some way every once in a while. But hey, I like what you're doing, and I think it's really good of you to have such an interest in in tinkering with tech already. I remember replacing my laptop's old hard drive with an 840 EVO when I was 14, and I know how frustrating it can be that you can't really upgrade much else in a laptop, although you seem to have done really well so far, especially with the processor. Good on you!

I've been searching around and the best ram I found was 1600mhz with the same timing of 9-9-9-24.

Generally, the greater the frequency, the greater the timings. If you want higher frequency RAM (which you'd already be paying a premium for) with similar timings as your current RAM, you're going to be thinking about paying a lot more. Also, it might not even be compatible with your motherboard, and probably isn't with your new processor (check Intel Ark) - so although your laptop might boot with new RAM, it might automatically keep the it clocked at 1333MHz, which would be extra disappointing and a waste of money.

[...]would higher frequency RAM with the same timing as my old RAM show a slight difference?

Yes (even if it were compatible), and that difference would be represented on benchmarks. However, would there be a noticeable difference in day-to-day use, outside of benchmarks? Almost definitely not. Sorry to burst your bubble, but if you're looking for a performance improvement in any computer, you're not likely to see a huge difference with anything but a new CPU (which you installed), GPU (which you can't exactly add/change with a laptop) and SSD (which you installed also). So here's my advice to you.
You seem competent enough to be able to build a desktop PC, so provided that you have the funds (and building a desktop doesn't have to cost the earth - I build one on a budget last month), I would recommend that you do it. I also put up with a laptop made in 2011, and mine came with a way-overpriced i7-2820QM as standard. (It cost me nearly $3k...) It was fine at the time, but was such bad value. Plus, I couldn't upgrade much of it, and although it had a discrete GT 540M GPU, it was soldered to the motherboard, so I couldn't do very much with that. (It wasn't really faster than the onboard HD graphics anyway.)
So, instead of spending a lot of money on RAM that will hardly make any difference whatsoever to your laptop, if it's even supported... I would advise you to grab the cheapest mini-tower or mid-tower case you can find, get an i3 if you can stretch to it (a Pentium/AMD processor shouldn't be a huge bottleneck, but you get what you pay for), the cheapest (m)ATX motherboard you can find - I've heard good things about Gigabyte - the cheapest 1600MHz (DDR3) or 2133MHz (DDR4) you can find, reuse your SSD if possible, get a cheap Wi-Fi card if you need one, a decent quality 650-750W PSU, the cheapest good graphics card you can find and you're set. I recommend this one, as it's the best price/performance graphics card you'll probably be able to find - just make sure the case can accompany it, as it's 12". (If that's too much, try for something like the R9 380(X). Sapphire are the best, but pricey.)
Of course, if you're not into games, then you're welcome to focus on the CPU instead. (An i5 or even i7 if you're into multimedia stuff and can justify the difference. Feel free to get a Z97/170 (or AMD equivalent) motherboard, faster RAM and aftermarket cooler if you're willing to overclock.) Then you'll notice the difference for sure. Although if you are into gaming, a difference of 21x for the R9 380 and 31x for the 390 (and their Nvidia equivalents, of course) compared to your new processor's integrated graphics would be huuuuuge. And you'd easily be able to handle most if not all games in 1080p60 at ultra. Still thinking about saving up for that new RAM?

 

[koltr567]

To be honest, you're more likely to damage the components by repeated reassembly or accidental expose to built-up static electricity, than you ever are to experience overheating/failure because of dust.
I talked to a professional computer repair technician from a well-known PC/laptop-building company a few years ago, and he told me just spraying some compressed air into the exhaust vent while the laptop's off once a month would do the trick.

Thank you Malamo999 for the detailed reply . I honestly didn't consider the damaging of components... I'll take your advice on that as well as the dusting. I plan to attach a fan underneath my laptop to the air mod I really want to do... basically drill out where the plastic is near the fan. I'm hoping to get it to look like this:

gotta get the mesh from a metal strainer and looking into some O Rings that are metal and spray paint it all black. Gotta find some good paint to stick to metal.

Generally, the greater the frequency, the greater the timings. If you want higher frequency RAM (which you'd already be paying a premium for) with similar timings as your current RAM, you're going to be thinking about paying a lot more. Also, it might not even be compatible with your motherboard, and probably isn't with your new processor (check Intel Ark) - so although your laptop might boot with new RAM, it might automatically keep the it clocked at 1333MHz, which would be extra disappointing and a waste of money.

I kind of figured that and I thought how I could get my RAM to read on my motherboard so I have a theory... stil looking into it. So I found out that a processor can only read a certain frequency from ram on a processor.

For example my intel core i7 2620m processor:
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i7/Intel-Core i7 Mobile I7-2620M FF8062700838809.html

if you look look on the page you'll see this further down on the specs of it:

Integrated peripherals / components

Integrated graphics GPU Type: HD 3000
Base frequency (MHz): 650
Maximum frequency (MHz): 1300
The number of supported displays: 2
Memory controller The number of controllers: 1
Memory channels: 2
Supported memory: DDR3-1066, DDR3-1333
Maximum memory bandwidth (GB/s): 21.3

So I made a comparison to another processor which is better that is suppose to be compatible:

Intel Core i7-3840QM


Now look at this:
Integrated peripherals / components
Integrated graphics GPU Type: HD 4000
Base frequency (MHz): 650
Maximum frequency (MHz): 1300
The number of supported displays: 3
Memory controller The number of controllers: 1
Memory channels: 2
Supported memory: DDR3-1333, DDR3-1600, DDR3L-1333, DDR3L-1600, DDR3L-RS 1333, DDR3L-RS 1600
Maximum memory bandwidth (GB/s): 25.6

The red is the frequency I want to use on my motherboard. I used CPU-Z to look my my mother board specs and I don't see a frequency limit... which leads me to think the reason why it wouldn't be a waste of money to buy it is because the processor is what limits the motherboard from obtaining benifits from high frequency RAM.

Here is the RAM I'd like to get:

** No Competitors **

I mean that's what I'm assuming... I mean if you look up your Max RAM for your motherboard on your laptop model shouldn't there be a frequency limit list by your RAM amount?

If I'm wrong please let me know this is all I have found by myself I'd hate to spend money on something I can't use lol.

I will build a good desktop eventually but I really enjoy the portability of my laptop

Oh here are the pics I promised to upload:

 

[Malamo999]

Hey, that's okay. I wish you the best of luck with your hardware tinkering/modding.

I'm not really clear about what you were saying - were you planning on getting the 3840QM for the benefit of a better CPU and to see better RAM performance? Because combined it's $500, and that's ridiculous - you could build the aforementioned badass desktop for less than that.

I've done a bit of research and to be honest I'm not entirely sure about whether you'd even be able to make use of new hardware. And even if you were able to feel the benefit of 1600MHz RAM with that current CPU and motherboard, if I'm honest, you should save your $45. You might see a performance improvement of ~5-10%, but only under certain conditions. Under everyday use, you won't notice a difference - and that's assuming that all your hardware is compatible (with the new RAM running at its higher maximum speed), which doesn't seem likely. I get that you're looking for a performance improvement, and I understand that feeling so well after having to put up with a dodgy laptop for half a decade. If you're willing to give the new RAM a go, then I'm not stopping you, and you can always send it back if a tool like Speccy tells you it's not running at 1600MHz. But I would honestly advise you to save up for a new laptop or (ideally - this is Overclockers after all) desktop instead, as you'll be sure to get so much more for your money, and going from Sandy Bridge (as I did) to an i5 Skylake machine was very noticeable in everything I do with it.