Solved Upgrading CPU on an ASUS Laptop

[TheDeerDude]

Hello!

I recently got my hands on an old laptop, in a lovely condition, barely used.
It's an ASUS X50IJ-SX036. It'll make a very nice machine for web browsing and lighter tasks like that and so!

I've already bought some new RAM for it and replaced the hard drive, now I'm looking to upgrade the processor which is at 100% when watching YouTube videos.

I would like to upgrade from Intel Celeron T3000 to Intel Core 2 Duo T9300

How would I make sure that the new CPU will be compatible? I know the sockets are the same.

Will this new CPU work in this laptop?

CPU-Upgrade: Intel Celeron T3000 CPU

 

[shadow2201]

I'm not able to find an Asus X50IJ-SX036 laptop anywhere online. Do you mean an Asus K50IJ?

 

[TheDeerDude]

Yeah! that'll do. I believe X50IJ has different models, just like "Compaq Presario CQ70" has different ones like "CQ70-211EM" ASUS website seems to be very unorganized with missing information.

The K and X seem to be interchangable, too.

 

[Digital Life]

Kinda tricky de-soldering and then soldering in a new CPU,

 

[TheDeerDude]

Kinda tricky de-soldering and then soldering in a new CPU,

This is an old laptop. Unlike modern cheap-ass laptops, it uses a socket (Socket P) to hold the CPU in place. No need for soldering, just need a flathead screwdriver.

I just want to make sure that replacing Intel Celeron T3000 with Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 is possible and that the new CPU will be compatible with the chipset and BIOS.

And maybe, I'd like to know if I'll get much if any better performance from the new CPU?

 

[AddRAM]

Well as far as I know there`s one way to know if a cpu is supported by the motherboard, and that is to find the spec or spec upgrades info on the internet, I`m not sure if any spec sheet for a Laptop will actually show a cpu upgrade.

If you can`t find anything then it`s just gonna be trial and error.

I would think you`d see a good improvement with a Core 2 Duo, have you compared the specs of each cpu ?

 

[TheDeerDude]

Why yes, of course I have compared them both. Using CPUBoss, not reliable as I've been told, but gives a quick overview and comparison of each one.

I did some research but couldn't find any other information than the link I posted in the first post. ASUS doesn't seem to provide such documents, or to even have such information, however upon stumbling across the following thread, I am positive that it will work:
Asus K50IJ cpu upgrade | NotebookReview

I guess I'll give it a shot. It won't cost much. I'll make sure to get back and let you guys know how it came out! in the meantime, feel free to contribute to this thread.

I am hoping the new CPU with much higher clock speed and L2 cache will give me better performance with this laptop

 

[TheDeerDude]

The CPU took a while to arrive, but I've got it installed now. Works like a charm
The laptop is insanely fast compared to before upgrading RAM and CPU.

 

[HeQuE]

But how about the temperature?
T9300 works good?
Have the same situation, want to upgrade from t3000 to 9300 and i'm curious if it's complete compatible

 

[Megahertz07]

I also concerned about temperature.
There is a good hardware monitor that i use. It loads when Win start and gives you the temp near the clock. It also records Max and min.
Open Hardware Monitor - Core temp, fan speed and voltages in a free software gadget

 

[TheDeerDude]

Stone Cold. Compared to some.

HeQuE,
The T9300 is such a great upgrade from the T3000. I can watch HD videos on YouTube now. (not the 60fps, those lag) and I've seen a significant improvement in some games I play (Algodoo, a CPU-intensive physics simulator, Minecraft, Sims 2)

It has been a few months and I have had no issues what so ever, and I use my ASUS as my main laptop, daily.

The temperatures are just fine. When browsing web, or watching videos the fan doesn't even come on. It is only when I do CPU-heavy tasks that it turns on, rarely at a full blast. I haven't had it overheat, or even get as hot as my HP Pavilion DV6 does, and I did the same things to both; disassemble, clean the fan, clean the heatsink, apply new thermal paste.

Both the T3000 and T9300 have the same wattage (30W) so I really wouldn't worry about heat being an issue, I can reassure you from my own experience that it is extremely unlikely that you'll have any heat problems if you clean the fan, heatsink and apply a good-quality thermal paste, properly.

Right now, after using the laptop for about 8 hours, I have two web browsers open, plenty of tabs, some other programs.. and as I'm writing this, the CPU temp is 36°C (96°F) I cannot remember the highest temperature I ever got, but I don't remember it ever hitting 80°C.

Some more specific information:
Model: ASUS K50IJ-SX036
Upgraded from Intel Celeron T3000 to Intel Core 2 Duo T9300

Megahertz07,
Great tool! my temperature monitor of choice. It's a shame it hasn't been updated in so long though. Still works, however.

While I wouldn't worry about the temperatures because of the upgrade, I would monitor the temperatures after the upgrade for some time, to make sure they're fine, just in case there wasn't enough thermal paste, or some other issue like an unplugged fan (happens sometimes... haha)

Here's a screenshot from OHM. Past 20 minutes. At its lowest temp, I was writing this post. At the highest, I was messing around in Minecraft and had a Full HD movie playing in VLC.

< see attached image >

 

[Megahertz07]

Open hardware monitor has just released a new version that is compatible with new hardware.

 

[TheDeerDude]

Open hardware monitor has just released a new version that is compatible with new hardware.

That's wonderful, I can confirm. I haven't checked their website in a while. Very happy to see that the project is not dead!

Thanks

Here's a temperature graph from today, the whole day. Hasn't even hit 70°C < see attached picture >