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[Jeff Corbett]

Hi Folks,

I'm thinking of upgrading my old Aspire 5710 by installing a faster CPU.  Currently sporting a Core 2 Duo T5500, it would speed up, it appears, by about 30% if I could find a reasonably cheap T7600, say, or to be a little less ambitious, a TT7400.  I'm wondering, does anybody here know anything about those chinese manufactured CPUs available on the internet. Are they the real thing?/reliable?/worth considering?  These old processors are no longer made by Intel apparently, so the only other choice would be a second-hand one.  Both routes clearly come with attached risks, but which would be the best bet?  Another issue might be the BIOS.  Would that need to be changed before changing the CPU?  I'd certainly be happier if the answer to that question was a resounding NO!    Anyone out there got an opinion?/information?/advice? (even if it's just 'get a faster computer'. Thanks for reading this anyway,

Best Regards,

Jeff C.

[Rich J]

Hi Folks,

I'm thinking of upgrading my old Aspire 5710 by installing a faster CPU.  Currently sporting a Core 2 Duo T5500, it would speed up, it appears, by about 30% if I could find a reasonably cheap T7600, say, or to be a little less ambitious, a TT7400.  I'm wondering, does anybody here know anything about those chinese manufactured CPUs available on the internet. Are they the real thing?/reliable?/worth considering?  These old processors are no longer made by Intel apparently, so the only other choice would be a second-hand one.  Both routes clearly come with attached risks, but which would be the best bet?  Another issue might be the BIOS.  Would that need to be changed before changing the CPU?  I'd certainly be happier if the answer to that question was a resounding NO!    Anyone out there got an opinion?/information?/advice? (even if it's just 'get a faster computer'. Thanks for reading this anyway,

Best Regards,

Jeff C.

Personally, I wouldn't bother.  Commercial machines tend to be made to a budget and laptops are notoriously difficult to upgrade, unlike desktops.  The motherboard will have chips specific for the CPU installed so adding a more powerful replacement is fraught with possible issues.  The BIOS would most certainly need to be flashed - that's if you could find one - and that's a minefield in itself if you get it wrong.  Power requirements would be different too.  After all that, even if you were successful, you'd still have a very old machine........

Chinese products are in most things these days so to say they are/aren't suitable is neither here nor there: the  only way to find out is to install one and see if it works, I would guess.

A possible alternative would be to look for a more modern device with greater capacity.  There are plenty out there - is there a friend or family member that has a laptop lying around that you could purchase?  This way may save you time, trouble and money in the long run?

Rich

[Keith]

I agree with Rich.

I've never bought a new, commercial machine.  There are lots of people whose old Windows laptop has become very slow so buy a new one because that's what they think has to be done. 

You may well find it cheaper to buy a second hand one (once you've checked it out first and replaced the HDD with an SSD) than buying a new CPU for your existing one with all the attendant risks.  My second-hand, 10-year-old Lenovo T500 is still going strong, and the increase in speed with an SSD was amazing. 

As long as the 2nd-hand laptop is no older than, say, 5 years you should be OK.  I find private purchases are best, rather than eBay and I found mine locally via preloved.co.uk.

Keith