CPU and GPU upgrade on Acer Aspire 6930G

[genmad]

So I decided to give you an idea how to change the CPU (the GPU is easy) in 6930G.
First things, first.
This is a vague guide and quite clumsy so I have no responsibility whatsoever if you damage your laptop or you lose your data or anything bad happens to your laptop or you etc.
I have to mention though that there is another guide written by lucino but unfortunately he hasn’t finished it and there are no photos. His guide looks more appropriate and safer than mine which is a bit risky but much quicker. Here is the link. lucino's guide
I am not sure if there is an update or if he is planning to include photos and finish the guide.
You will need a cross-head screwdriver around 3.0mm (you don’t say!!!) but also a flat one
Please use some kind of protection from ESD (electrostatic discharge) like an antistatic or grounding strap or gloves. This will prevent the static sensitive components from being ruined (memory, video card, motherboard etc).
Sometimes I don’t use it but I know how to discharge myself (i.e. by touching a metallic surface) before touching the laptop.
Then you will need some kind of thermal compound for the CPU and the GPU, I use Arctic Silver 5 (AS5).
You might want to use thermal pads as well for your graphic card’s memory (I don’t) so buy some before you move on.
You will also need good quality cotton swab, ethanol and a pair of tweezers (preferably plastic ones)
REMOVE BATTERY AND POWER CABLE
Turn laptop upside down. Unscrew the following screws and lift the lid (photo 1).
Now you see the heatsink for the CPU and the graphic card (GC) sitting on top of the other part of the heat sink.

To remove the GC, unscrew the four screws and gently lift the GC from one side (the one opposite the MXM connector) (photo 2). It is lightly stuck on the heat sink (HS) but you can pull it upwards gently. Just make sure you have totally loosen (or even better remove) the four screws otherwise it won’t be lifted up. Then you can slide out the GC and you can replace with another GC. Before putting the new GC though, clean the HS surface with mild organic solvent (like 95%-100% ethanol), remove any thermal pads or traces of them, wait to dry and replace them with new. Apply some AS5 or thermal pads on the GPU core and on the memory chips as well. But don't put thermal pads and thermal compound together. Now you are ready to slide in the new GC at 45o degrees and then push it down gently and screw back the four screws.

Now the CPU
That is more difficult than the GC.
You need to loosen the four screws that are holding the HS down on the CPU (photo 3). Then lift up gently the HS and underneath you will see the CPU. The HS cannot be removed at this stage. If you want that you will need to do the whole laptop and lucino guide might be more helpful. As you hold the HS up gently, slide it to the left or to the right so you can loosen the screw of the CPU socket (where the arrow in the photo 3 is pointing) by using the flat screwdriver. Usually a ¾ turn is enough. I have attached a photo from another laptop where the screw can be seen more clearly (photo 4). You will see the whole socket with the CPU on to slide slightly towards the screw. Again I have a photo from another laptop (photo 5). On the left part is the socket unlocked and on the right locked. The CPU is released and you can remove it. Now that is not easy as the HS is in the way. So what I did, I turn the laptop upside down again and place it on a high surface. Have the laptop on the edge, almost half of it hanging out so you can see underneath it. Pull the HS down, shake the CPU or use the tweezers and it should fall on the HS (photo 6). Now with a pair of tweezers you can catch the CPU and gently pull it out, carefully not to damage the pins.
Turn the laptop upside down again. Deep the cotton swabs in ethanol and by holding up the HS try to clean the surface of the HS that was touching the CPU. Try to remove any traces of previous thermal compound or thermal pads. Be very careful not to touch any other surface and spread the thermal compound all over the place. Look at your hands as well and wash them if they are dirty.
Now you can apply some AS5 on the new CPU and then by holding the HS up you can slide it carefully and gently back on the socket. There is a gold arrow (triangle to be precise) on the CPU (bottom left), when you place the CPU on the socket try to match it with the triangle of the socket (photo 7 and 4). I would suggest you not to use thermal pads instead as Acer does with the laptops. You will see the CPU dropping on the socket as the pins fill the holes of the socket. Then you can tight the screw of the socket so the CPU is locked on the socket. Be very sure the CPU is in place before you tight the screw because if not all the pins are in the holes, you might damage the pins as you tight the screw and thus destroying the CPU. Finally place the HS on top of the CPU, and tighten the four screws on top. While you tighten the screws, try to hold still the HS and not letting it slide left-right because you will spread the thermal compound unevenly. That’s it, now you place the lid cover back in place, put the power cable and the battery back and hopefully the laptop will come alive as usual.

Just to remind you, I think the 6930G with the new BIOS 3236 is not compatible with the 8600M GT. It is working fine with the 3121 BIOS. I haven’t fully tested the card though but it plays games fine and you can overclock it as well.

The upgrades I did were the CPU, from T5800 to T9300, the graphic card, from 9300M GS to 8600M GT, and the memory, from 3GB to 4GB.

hi just would like to ask how did you manage to remove coler on it i can`t slide it out it is same laptop acer aspire 6930g and i am just about to change procesor and gcard but procesor it looks like i have to take plastic case off coplitely to get coler a way from procesor. could you just telm me what steps i have to take if you or anyone els know. thanks
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[s3_savage]

I have a Acer Aspire 6930<< without the G. Isit possibleto upgrade my GPU & CPU on this? Where do I find the CPU & GPU to buy ?

[downloads]

CPU can be upgraded but GPU can't. Your notebook doesn't have MXM slot.

[s3_savage]

So this means only the 6930G has the MXM Slot for the upgrade ??

[downloads]

Yes- only 6930G has a dedicated card in MXM slot.
Yours has an integrated card (in the chipset) hence no MXM slot.

[s3_savage]

My Laptop Base says the Model: Acer 6930G-583G32MN << this means i have an MXM slot. In the front right corner (below num pad) it says Aspire 6930 but on the sticker just below that it says ASPIRE 6930G. So what do I have then ??

[downloads]

Probably 6930G- check what GPU do you have right now (in device manager).
If it's nVidia 9600M GT it's definitely 6920G

[.NetRolller 3D]

Actually, if it is not made by Intel, then it is the 6930G. (However, the G marking was not used in all countries; in some places of the world, the ATI and Nvidia versions were sold as simply "6930".)

[s3_savage]

In Device Manager it says nVIDIA 9300M GS.

[pengy_666]

thats an mxm card