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Solve : Upgrade AMD Athlon 1800+ (Socket A) In Compaq Presario 900 Laptop?

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Since it was released, I have had a Presario 900 (915US to be exact) with an AMD Athlon 1800+ processor. I just finished putting it back together after cleaning, and now have the INTEREST in replacing this Socket A processor with something FASTER. I am, however, concerned about installing a processor that generates more heat than the heatsink in my laptop was designed to handle. Also, I am not certain the motherboard will support a NEWER chip, as the repair manual lists this as the fastest chip this series shipped with.

What would you recommend?
- Don't even try! You'll melt something!
- You can try, but it probably wont work.
- Go for it!I cant find anything fasterQuote from: EchoLynx on May 31, 2009, 02:41:32 PM

Also, I am not certain the motherboard will support a newer chip, as the repair manual lists this as the fastest chip this series shipped with.
That seems to be a rather clear indication this is a bad idea. Are you sure it's even replaceable? Some laptops have nonreplaceable, soldered-in CPUs.Waste of time and money...

{unqualified opinion}How much RAM does it have? Will it support more? If so, that's most likely your best, if not only, upgrade option.Is the CPU even upgradeable?

Yes. I took it APART to clean it and it has a ZIF socket directly beneath the keyboard, under a heatsink. The fact it's not soldered in makes me think it's worth a try upgrading it.

The only concerns I would have when upgrading would be overheating and motherboard/BIOS compatibility, correct? Theoretically, if the CPU supports the same socket, it's compatible. AMD is known for keeping sockets a long time for this purpose. (As far I know.) The 1800+ was the best they had when I bought this computer... so an upgrade for the same socket should work- right?

Does it support a RAM upgrade?

Yes. It shipped with 512MB of RAM, and is upgradeable to 1.0GB. (Keep in mind that a floppy drive was an option in this series.) I plan on upgrading the RAM, but I wanted to see if I could order both more RAM and a faster CPU.Go AHEAD and upgrade the ram but like I said I searched but couldnt find a faster cpuI can find a faster CPU, and so can many others.

http://forums.devshed.com/cpus-104/fastest-socket-a-processor-315562.html

And they seem to be around the same thermal rating...I think those are desktops though not laptopsIt is still the same socket, so there shouldn't be a problem as long as the chip doesn't exceed the power supply capabilities of the machine.


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