So, I am new at this whole upgrading process, so I am eager to get some advice on whatever I may need it on.

My computer is a standard Acer Aspire M3203, with it's standard motherboard, of course. The processor I'm looking at, is an;

INTEL Core i5-3350P 3,10GHz

Not sure if info is necessary besides the model, but it can't hurt, I GUESS? I also attached a picture of the motherboard model. It's not mine, but it is identical. If someone asks for me to take a picture of my computer's innards, just ask.

I haven't bought it yet, but I'm pretty much set on it. My problem is KIND of a "newbie" issue. I can't find where the processor is on my computer's motherboard. I quickly spoke to a friend, who said that he hopes it isn't part of the motherboard, as in, that I can't remove it. I hope this is not the case.

Any help and advice for replacing a processor would be appreciated. I'm happy to learn new things

[recovering disk space, attachment deleted by admin]You cannot use any Intel processor in the Acer Aspire M3203, because that motherboard is for processors made by a different company, called AMD. To be more specific, the cpu socket, which in your photo is that squareish white thing with lots of little holes (941 holes) in it surrounded by a yellow plastic frame, is an AMD M3 socket. The CPU can be removed from the socket; it is not soldered to the board. You need to research which AMD M3 type processors are COMPATIBLE with that board. Depending on which CPU it already has, you may not see much performance increase, in fact I will go further and say you are better off keeping it exactly as it is now, meanwhile saving your money and getting a whole new motherboard and CPU and possibly RAM as well. Upgrading an older computer (2009) bit by bit is usually a way of spending plenty of money for not much gain.

Okay, thanks for that.

That helps. Really. Now I know what I'll do.

Last bit of advice, if I may.

If I bought this, an 'ASUS P8H61-M LX R2.0 Socket1155 DDR3', or 'GigaByte GA-H61MA-D2V 2.1M', would they be compatible with the processor mentioned, as well as a 'Asus GT640-2GD3' graphics card? I got the graphics card already, so I'd be hoping I wouldn't need to replace that too.

Also, thanks for telling me where the processor is. Now I know ^^List of CPUs compatible with P8H61-M LX3 PLUS R2.0 motherboard

http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/list.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=P8H61-M%20LX3%20PLUS%20R2.0

As for GigaByte GA-H61MA-D2V 2.1M motherboard, contact manufacturer or check website.

Asus GT640-2GD3 graphics card is a PCI Express 3.0 card, and both those boards have compatible slots as far as I can see.

You should read this: basically, all I have been doing is Googling for those product DETAILS and reading the results. You really need to be doing your own research; it's your money that you plan to spend, and if you are serious about doing an upgrade, then you should be asking these questions on more specialised forums such as Asus or Gigabyte where you have some chance of getting answers from people who have actually done what you are asking about. Also you may get better tips on things to look out for.

You may end up having to change the power supply, you will certainly have to reinstall Windows, and if it is an OEM version it probably won't activate and you will need to budget for that as well.






Quote from: Sandfyre on June 16, 2013, 02:59:02 AM

Okay, thanks for that.

That helps. Really. Now I know what I'll do.

Last bit of advice, if I may.

If I bought this, an 'ASUS P8H61-M LX R2.0 Socket1155 DDR3', or 'GigaByte GA-H61MA-D2V 2.1M', would they be compatible with the processor mentioned, as well as a 'Asus GT640-2GD3' graphics card? I got the graphics card already, so I'd be hoping I wouldn't need to replace that too.

Also, thanks for telling me where the processor is. Now I know ^^