Upgrading the AMD CPU on an Acer 5532 Laptop
To replace my 9″ netbook computer I bought a 15″ widescreen Acer laptop with 64 Bit Windows 7. The laptop comes with a 64 bit AMD TF-20 CPU which is single core running at 1.6Ghz. The real weakness of the laptop seems to be the CPU, so I’m buying an upgraded CPU on eBay for only $19!
** Here is an Acer user manual where you can find detailed instructions for this upgrade!
Aspire Service Manual_5517.pdf
The TF-20 CPU is a single 64 Bit core running at 1.6 Ghz, and from what I’ve been able to find online you can replace it with any of the TL-50 and maybe even TL-60 series CPU’s! You just need to make sure the new CPU uses the same voltage so that you don’t have a problem with too much heat from the CPU.
*** ATTENTION *** Many have stated in the comments of this post that they have problems getting a TL-58 to work properly. I highly suggest sticking with a TL-56; it should work no problem!!
ALSO: Many people want to upgrade their RAM from 3GB to 4GB to run dual-channel mode. Here are my recommendations for RAM upgrades:
I decided to get the TL-56 as it’s a dual core 64 Bit CPU at 1.8 Ghz with a 2x 512MB cache and it’s only $19… so how can you go wrong?
I’ve been repairing laptops, digital cameras and other electronics for years, but if you are a little nervous here are the steps required to switch out the CPU.
This repair took me less than 30 minutes to tear down and then rebuild. This is not a difficult repair, don’t get stressed out about it!
FIRST: Turn off the laptop and remove the battery. Now…
1. Remove the hard drive, memory, and the wireless network card.
2. Remove any screw you find at the bottom of laptop. You can now remove the DVD module, and it would also be a good idea to remove the LCD hinge covers (they pop out easily).
3. The next step is to remove the center strip (the strip where the power button is located). Open the LCD screen as far as it will go. Along the back edge of the center strip, at the recesses for the LCD screen hinges, you will notice there is a slight overhang. Using a small screwdriver, gently pry up on the overhang. The center strip, should begin to lift up. Once this happens, you can lift up the center strip along its length by hand and you should be able to remove the strip.
4. Remove the keyboard. There are no screws holding it in place and it should pop right out. Remove its ribbon cable from the motherboard.
5. Unplug the main connector for the LCD on the left. Next, pop all wires coming from the LCD out of their holders. You are now ready to remove the LCD. Remove the 4 screws holding the LCD in place. Once the screws are taken out lift the LCD out. You will be able to pull the wires through the hole and completely remove LCD.
6. On each side of laptop, there is a small two pin wire connector. The left side is black/white, the right side black/red. These are the speaker connectors. Unplug each connector.
7. Along the back edge of laptop, you will now see three recess that look like screw holes, but are the color of the laptop. These are screws, but each have an adhesive cover. Using a very small knife (an X-acto knife works best) gently pry off each cover and put off to the side to reuse. Remove these screws.
8. Now, under where the keyboard was , you should see 5 screws. Before removing the 5 screws, there are two ribbon cables (1 wide, 1 narrow) that come from the inside of the top of the case to the MB. It is best to disconnect these before removing the 5 screws. Also, besides those 5 screws underneath the keyboard, I failed to mention the sixth screw, underneath where the right LCD hinge would be. Remove these screws. Once done, you should now be able to separate the two halves of the case.
9. The bottom half of the case contains the motherboard. There is one screw holding it in place, on the bottom right. Remove this screw. The motherboard can now be removed and the laptop is now completely disassembled.
I hope this guide helps those of you trying to upgrade the processor. I just installed the TL-56 I bought and am in the process of assembling he laptop. I will post my thoughts on the TL-56 later today.
========
Observations:
I had some trouble with finding the 4 screws underneath the LCD between the hinges. They were covered with plastic stickers and it took me a while to figure out they were just stickers and I could peel them off. Just peel them off and stick them to the case beside their holes, then put them back on after you put the screw in.
Also, make sure you reconnect the touchpad cable properly or it will not work, and the keyboard cable goes “under” the locking tab though it may look to you like it should go “over” it. You will see what I mean when you have it open.
I hope this helps, I will let you know what I get figured out from my upgrade.
pics or video would help….. I just bought one and a dual-core upgrade for 20.00 would be great, but sounds like a lot of work…
You’re right I should have taken pics… I’ve been repairing laptops, digital cameras, iPods etc. for so long it was straightforward and pretty easy for me, no problems. I can tear it down again and post pictures, it will take a couple days before I get it done though.
Riding along. Pictures would be awesome. Just bought this laptop for a great price and have a TL-56 laying around to try.
Please post pics. Thanks a lot for the article. Very helpful. My wife got me this laptop for Christmas and I’m not happy with the processor. I would love to upgrade it.
I understood what you were talking about but im nervous about taking it apart seeing how I jus bought it a couple days ago…. I would like to put more memory, different CPU, and if possible change out the speakers… speakers did not sound good at all…
I got bored and decided to try it without pictures. The swap was a piece of cake. It wasn’t a bad laptop before, but with a Dual core TL-56, this thing SCREAMS. If you follow the step-by step instructions, it should be a piece of cake. My only regret is not running some benchmarks on the old processor for concrete comparisons. As long as you have some experience with tearing into electronics, I wouldn’t hesitate in making this mod.
Sorry for not getting pictures up, my son has had pneumonia for the past few days and I’m trying to get as much work done as I can. I still plan on doing the repair again and posting the pictures.
Unfortunately, I forgot to benchmark the old CPU too! Oops.
Thomas
I am new to computing. I recently bought acer 5532/TF 20.I wonder if it is just ” replace the CPU an turn back on’ or do you need to other software moods? Re boot? Anything? I appreciate the feedback.
All you do is replace the CPU and then turn it back on! The OS will install a new driver if needed and everything will work just fine without any other work on your part.
Thank you…..Darntoothysam
Thanks Darntoothysam, this is a nice write-up…seems straightforward…I just bought a TL-58 (1.9ghz) from StarMicro and it was like 32 shipped…I didnt want to get the watts up too high and overheat…I’m going to benchmark before replacing my kids…I may get me another one for my other kid or maybe even myself. I’ve been watching the CPU maxing out and found people upgrading, so i bought this one today. It should help alot from what I read…now to look for a possible video upgrade…I read that some simllar models had actual cards for video cards….hopefully these do.
Good luck all!
Oh yeah…I’ll come back and post my benchmarks before and after upgrade…here is what I bought….
http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=1092
Is there any other place to buy laptop processors other than ebay i really don’t trust getting somethin of that nature from ebay…. most of them are used…
I purchased a used one from ebay for 18.50 free shipping. Followed the instrunctions by the op, and completed this upgrade in an hour and a half. I’ve never opened up a laptop before now, but I am familiar with computer components. You can buy processors from newegg.com but I’m not sure on the availability. My laptop performance is much better. Thanks for the heads up!
Pat,
Did you not see my link? I have bought from starmicro (brand new)in the past…I got them off of pricewatch.com, which most tech geeks have looked at for years…I check back every now and then with them…pricewatch has a lot of vendors and they give you all the lowest prices for what you are looking for…starmicro was the one here. I should have mine in a day or so.
also…as promised…here is a benchmark of current laptop setup…I removed some things from factory settings, and installed some spyware/antivirus tools that may be affecting total score…it seemed a little low to me…only 2,100 marks…compared to my kids desktop that has an opteron OC’d to 2.1 ghz..and a 9800GTX OC in it that scored almost 200,000 marks (yes hundred thousand)…I doubt the CPU upgrade will touch it, because I’m sure the 9800gtx is much stronger than the HD 3200 the laptops came with…I still need to find out if these are the laptops with the actual slot type video cards that can be upgraded…that would be nice too.
Here is a screenshot of my benchmark03 test on current setup on the ACER 5532 laptop.
http://cloud-zone.com/benchmarktf20.jpg
Just got the Chip in…darntoothysam…Please post my other posts…I put a generic email…which is why I think it may not have cleared yet…I’m about to install the chip and benchmark…be back in about 1-2hrs.
crap, I took wrong screen shot for benchmark on 3dbenchmark on the 2nd one…you’re writeup was very helpful thanks again. (I’ve been working with computers/networks for around 15+yrs though…I just never looked into a laptop much…but built many pc’s/servers/networks. (also some circuit board experience)
1st score with orginal tf20 (1.6ghz single core) – 2100
2nd score after upgrade TL-58 (1.9ghz dual core) – 2235
So something went up…I think it was the CPU scores..had to be…
Windows experience the only thing that went up was the CPU marks…pretty big jump really.
TF-20 windows experience Processor score = 3.2
TL-58 windows experience Processor score = 4.7
Hope this gives everyone a little help on another CPU that works…I bought it brand new at Starmicro…paid USPS priority and got it in 2 days…32bux shipped.
Good luck all.
Just did the switch to a TL-56 I got off of Ebay for 10 bucks. Yeah it was used but it runs fine at around 49-53C idle and not going above 60C under load. The main annoyance would probably be reattaching the ribbon cables and routing the small wires under the keyboard but otherwise a pretty straightforward switch with these instructions. Thanks this laptop is so much faster!
Hello Everyone,
Thanks for the postings! all good info! I have the Acer 5532-5535 just bought from bestbuy, $329.00. Went to Fry’s bought the 320GB Scorpio HDD and additional 2GB.
I am going to order my CPU from starmicro as well…
2 questions:
1.CPU what is the max CPU speed you think would work in this lappy?
2. Graphics Card? is it possible to order a faster graphics card for this laptop? what are your thoughts on this?
thanks again,
John M.
Johnny: The max CPU is going to be based on voltage and the ability of the CPU heatsink to dissipate the heat produced. The heatsink is small and I would say that the TL-56 I bought is a great choice!
Did anyone have a problem with overheating? I used a TL-58 and it just dies after a few minutes. Is there a way fix this? I assume I might not have put enough silver paste on the chip. Alternatively, is there a way to adjust the CPU load to minimize temperature?
Alex: I would say 1st recheck your heatsink, make sure it’s set properly and if you didn’t put much thermal paste on the CPU you should open it back up and put on a good (but thin) layer and the problem should go away!
All: I forgot to check for an actual video card, but when I pulled the motherboard I don’t remember seeing any other boards plugged in other than the WiFi. I honestly don’t believe this has a changeable video card.
I followed your instructions and it’s still not working. And the weird thing is that no matter how hot, the cooling fan doesn’t start. My dad has the same 5532 he bought at Best Buy for $329 and his computer’s fan doesn’t kick in either. This is a common problem?
I’m not sure if there’s any problem with the heatsink fan on this model, I haven’t done any looking into it to be honest.
If it’s still not working:
1- Is everything plugged in properly (sorry have to ask)
2- Is the CPU used or new? Used most likely means bad CPU
3- If the fan never comes on I’d say there’s a problem with the fan, or no power is getting to it from the board.
Frankly IMO the fan in this laptop is a little undersized. My plan is, when the TL-58 arrives and I’ll be opening it again, to see if I can replace it with something bigger. I think the heatsink should be plenty big to take care of the heat exchange – heck, it’s bigger than the HS of the laptop which the TL-20 I have in now originally come from, and that’s a 31W CPU as opposed to the 15W TF-20. Never mind that the other laptop died from an overheated chipset.
Also, I have been trying (unsuccessfully so far) to find an utility that would allow to start/stop the fan when you want, and/or to adjust the speed. None of the software I tried worked thus far. I may just wire a switch to Vcc and use that to turn the fan on high…
Oops I meant of course the TL-50 in the post above (there is no TL-20)
Alex,
Sorry to jump in Darntoothysam…Where did you get this Chip? If you got the same one I have, then it should work. Maybe you have too little, or too much paste. Too much pasted is just as bad as too little because the heat will not dissipate to the heat sink as needed.
If you got it from starmicro they have 2 different versions as most places will too.
I got the cheaper one because it had more details and I figured it would work for me and it did.
I got this:
TL-58 – TMDTL58HAX5DC
Electrical/Thermal parameters
V core (V) 1.075 / 1.1 / 1.125
Max operating temperature (°C) 95
Thermal Design Power (W) 31
There is another there…that is more expensive and had far less details on the actual specs. I didnt get this, one because it cost more, and two, it didnt have any details. I think I looked it up on another site with this model # and I recall the “Thermal Design Power (w) being higher than 31…I was not wanting something that costs more and ran hotter…especially in a laptop.
Here is the one I DONT think will work right unless you use a good aftermarket fan/heatsink.
Which was this:
TL-58 – TMDTL58HAX5DM
Details: not really any.
Darntoothysam…sorry if I overwhelmed ya lol. I posted my upgrade success on Bestbuy and Tomshardware.
Gave you credit and put links for your great write-up.
Johnny: Darntoothysam definitely knows what he’s talking about so if you are not too experienced in building laptops/pc’s/servers then stick with lower voltage / lower speed cpu’s because if you don’t put the paste on correctly, it will overheat quick in a laptop. That being said, I have succesfully put a TL-58 (1.9ghz) in and have not had one issue. If you plan on anything higher than what Darntoothysam recommends then I definitely suggest Arctic Silver Thermal paste (all techs know this stuff is good).
Alex: Darntoothysam told you exactly what I thought when I read your post…this toothy guys is SMART!
I’m sure there is a posting or something on youtube to show you exactly how much…but I put a very thin layer…maybe around paper thin max (regular paper weight not construction paper). Worked for years for me.
All: I concur with Darntoothysam, there were no external cards on this model like I thought I read somewhere…it was a model or 2 up from this with that upgrade. So we are stuck with HD 3200′s…but My kid was able to play Sims3 (takes a decent card and loads of ram). Said it was just as smooth as our desktops…where they have dual cores and a 9800gtx, playing at full detail.
Darntoothysam: Thanks for allowing my posts…I will come back time to time to help out and post if I come across any problems with our laptop…we’ve used it loads with no issues so far though.
Hope this helps.
Johnny: one more thing…all the reading I done, I think the highest speed this board will take was 2.4ghz I think the TL-64? …but I wasn’t willing to risk that and stuck with the 1.9ghz so I would make sure I wouldn’t overheat…and the jump from 1.6ghz –> 1.9ghz and then single –> dual core was plenty enough than risking the chance of overheating. I think the 1.9ghz –> 2.4ghz jump would not be worth the risk and not as big of a jump from just going to dual core. My windows experience meter for the CPU did jump pretty high…from 3.2 to 4.7…mind their scale only maxing out at 7.9. Pretty significant…I think the 2.4ghz would barely be higher.
Fred: Thanks, appreciate your support! I have been repairing consumer electronics for years now, all self-taught.
I know I need to get on the video bandwagon and could try putting something up for this but it’s a 20+ minute repair so the video would be in chunks I guess… Need to get my hands on a tripod first though.
Hopefully some of you noticed that the blog is from my digital camera repair business; please let us know if we can help you with any digital camera repair problems! Don’t take your camera to Geek Squad and get hosed!
=) Thomas
Thanks Toothy, I would have NEVER been able to do this upgrade without this instructional. It took me about 90 minutes, but I successfully replaced the the TF-20 with a TL-58 (1.9 ghz) and have had it running for over an hour now without a problem. Thanks again man.
No problem, glad you were able to complete the upgrade! I’ve been using mine now for a couple weeks without any problems, hope you enjoy the new CPU.
Thomas
Thanks for the detailed instructions. Pictures would have made things a little easier to follow, but your directions were very precise and didn’t make for a difficult install. I had purchased a TL-56 processor shortly after Christmas, when I got the laptop, and kept running into a roadblock when trying to disassemble. Thanks to your write-up, I was able to finally complete this task…
I will add, when removing the screws, always make sure to double check ALL the openings for any missed screws. I had almost everything apart, and was getting frustrated when the top wouldn’t separate. Seems I had missed one of the screws in the RAM bay.
This is very helpful, however, like some have said, pictures would be very very helpful. I own a 5536, but I believe they are similar in build, am I right? Thanks.
David,
Your laptop has a dual-core AMD Turion X2 RM-74 2.2ghz I’m guessing based on the online specs. This is a Socket S1 CPU, and could be upgraded with another Socket S1 but you need to check that it has the same or similar voltage rating. The Socket S1 CPUs I saw on eBay were starting around $70, and you would need to do some research and make sure you buy something that will work and not overheat the laptop.
Thomas
I am planning to upgrade the CPU of my acer 5532 as well. I checked starmicro and they list 2 TL-56′s. One is TMDTL56HAX5CT and the other is TMDTL56HAX5DC. Are these two one and the same? Not sure which one to order.
This is what I found on wiki regarding the difference between the two TL-56s:
TMDTL56HAX5CT is from the 90 nm series (Trinidad) with voltage range 0.8-1.125 V. Per starmicro, it has power consumption 33 W
TMDTL56HAX5DC is from 65 nm series (Tyler) with voltage 1.075/1.10/1.125 V. Also, from starmicro, it has thermal design power 31W.
Toothy, which TL-56 did you upgrade to, 90nm or 65nm?
I would say the X5DC will create less heat and therefore be the better choice. I do plan on pulling my laptop apart again (I’m writing this post from the upgraded 5532) to take pictures so I can add to the info exactly what CPU it is as well.
how much faster would it make your pc if you switch from the tf 20 to the tl 56
I haven’t done any testing myself, but I have read in the past that upgrading from a single core to a dual core CPU can give you a 25-30% performance increase.
Pretty nice upgrade for $20-30, especially considering the so-called “Geeks” at B.B. would tell you a better CPU will run you another $200… and then $200 to have them install it!
=)
FRED,
How is your TL-58 still holding up?
Sorry Mark, He got busy around here…I missed this post.
My kids laptop is running great. Not one issue or errors. Not a sign of any overheating. I’ll definitely post quick if I see anything…but I highly doubt there will be one now. It’s been a few weeks now.
Thank you! Got this lappy at BestBuy (for once it honors the name!) for $329, with the clear intent to upgrade it from the get-go. Especially since I already had a 320G drive and a TL-50 laying around. I started opening it up by myself (have done laptop upgrades before) but got stumped at one point. Found this site and it helped a lot. Actually it took more than 30 minutes, but mainly because the DVD screw wouldn’t come out and I had to whip out the ol’ dremel to deal with it.
So I dumped in the TL-50 and the CPU score went from 3.2 to 4.2. Actually I’m not surprised it didn’t go higher since the TL-50 is a dual-core but at the same speed (1.6GHz) and has only half the L2 cache per core (256k vs 512k). The laptop seems a lot more responsive though. I also removed the original memory and put back in 2 identical 2GB sticks so it would run dual channel, and I’m sure that helped too.
I have a TL-58 coming from StarMicro… we’ll see what that one runs like. Overall, a great deal for a price lower than some netbooks.
Did you need to buy a heatsink or did you just use thermal paste?
You just reuse the clip and heat pipe that are still in place. Wipe the pad on the heatpipe clean and put a dab of Arctic Silver on it, spread evenly in a very thin layer. Do the same with the top of the new CPU. Assemble back, they’re a parfect fit. You’ll see what I mean when you open it up.
Well my TL-58 package has a current status in the UPS tracking system of “EMERGENCY CONDITIONS BEYOND UPS’ CONTROL”
Grrr.
This is fantastic! I just bought the laptop today, and just ordered the TL-58 via StarMicro.
My question: I have a fairly good understanding of how computers are built, but have zero experience working with silver paste. I saw someone mention this in an earlier post. Is this something I will need, and if so do you have any tips on how to best use it?
Also, any general tips for someone who has not done something like this before? (I’ve added and removed components from desktops, and added memory to laptops)
Thanks! Can’t wait to get this going, and I will gladly share my experience with everyone.
U-Tube has a ton of instructional videos on removing/applying thermal adhesives
If you are buying this from BB, don’t forget to use Bing Cashback (choose the store option to search for BB alphabetically). You’ll get 8% back like I did. You can do this even if you go to the store to pickup–you just have to pay for it online first.
Hello, I bought a 5532 2 days ago and I am very satisfied with it’s performance so far but as others have noticed, the cpu seems to be very much bottle-necking the overall performance of the machine. I am considering a TL-58 from starmicro and I have a very techy friend (upgrades, repairs, rebuilds and maintains over 500 laptops 8+ hours a day at a local school) who is willing to do the instellation free of charge if I decide to go through with it.
I spoke with Acer and they said my mfg warranty will expire upon upgrading which is what I expected, however, is there some type of workaround for this? I fully read the warranty and it clearly states that it will not cover damages CAUSED by servicing not authorized by Acer. The warranty seems a bit dodgy anyway. I think I’m going to go through with the upgrade and just sell my Windows 7 to my friend for half the laptop price. That way if it does break I can just laugh and move on (sort of).
Anyway, it seems as though the video card has some serious potential for games because I can turn up settings on Left 4 Dead and get the same fps (average:25) at lowest resolution (640×480 windowed) so I believe the cpu upgrade will give me much more stable and playable framerates. I still play L4D anyway because I am good enough to work with 25 fps and 11 fps during hordes. I hear that the tl-58 cpu will increase the fullscreen/higher res. performance significantly which would make me 1000% satisfied with the laptop. It plays World of Warcraft at 30-43 fps on lowest settings with max resolution fullscreen and even stays at around 16 fps in deleran.
Sorry for this massive post but I figure people should get a feel for the pc with the stock components so we can better understand the performance increase upon upgrading. I do have to admit that this 1.6ghz single core still pushes some programs even when it is at 100% unlike most low clockspeed cpu’s I have experienced in the past. Most of them would just freeze the program/game until the cpu load went below 100% but this cpu just keeps on putting along with the utmost consistency!
I have another question. Is there a way to get the touchpad to function while pressing keys or is that some kind of flaw that can’t be neutralized? First Person Shooters are unplayable with the touchpad because of this problem.
Thanks in advance.
When installing the new cpu did he use thermal paste and a heatsink?
I had this same problem. just uninstall the synaptics touchpad driver.
No, actually don’t do that. Don’t uninstall the driver. Just go in the control panel -> mouse -> click on the last tab “device settings” and then click on the “disable” button. There, it’s disabled. You can very easily enable it back without having to reinstall the driver.
Also…I dont have the laptop in front of me…but if I recall…by the power button, there is another button that has some weird symbol. I am pretty sure it disabled the touchpad…my kid uses a usb mouse a lot and I’m pretty sure you dont have to go into control panel.
Am I going to need to buy a heatsink also when doing this or just thermal paste?
Just thermal paste…no fake silver paste. Make sure it is Arctic Silver 5.
BREAKING NEWS!
I emailed Starmicro, asking about the difference between the 2 versions of the available TL-58′s and here was their response.
“Their few differences between TMDTL58HAX5DM and TMDTL58HAX5DC.
The core stepping and stepping code are the major differences between them.
Core stepping for the TMDTL58HAX5DM is “G2” which is higher compared to TMDTL58HAX5DM.
We do not have database to check the compatibility of the processors.
Please contact the manufacturer of your laptop for compatibility issues.”
Now, I’m not sure about this but I think I read somewhere that revised, G2 versions of the cpu have the same # of pins but a different layout/arrangement. I can’t really confirm what Starmicro said as they clearly mixed up the cpu names somewhere along the line because they said “Core stepping for the TMDTL58HAX5DM is “G2” which is higher compared to TMDTL58HAX5DM.” and the problem with that is they used the exact same model number when attempting to compare the 2 different chips, so I don’t know for certain which one is the “G2″ version and which isn’t. I am ordering the cheaper version because that seems to be the one everybody went with. I hope this guide gets me through the installation process.
UPDATE:
Its been a week since I did this upgrade from a TF-20 to a TL-58 (1.9ghz). Since then I have had Zero problems… I also thought I would mention that with the TF-20 my Windows Experience for the CPU was a 3.2, the installation of the TL-58 bumped that number up to a 4.7.
Nice to hear Penthos.
That’s exactly how my kids laptop was..and still running strong.
@ShaneXtopher:
It’s not silver paste, it’s Arctic Silver 5, a very efficient thermal compound. Been using it for over 8 years with excellent results. Here’s a link to the company that makes it: http://www.arcticsilver.com/ it has detailed descriptions on how to use it. You can find it online everywhere (I recommend http://www.newegg.com) or even in stores such sa Radio Shack. Beware of imitations though.
Advice? Well, for one make sure you don’t lose the screws when you take them out. Also, some of the screws can be hard to remove, you may need an electric screwdriver or even a dremel to deal with them (I had 3 over-tight screws, 2 under the keyboard which did come out after some coaxing, and the screw in the memory compartment that holds the DVD which I had to cut with a dremel). Just make a note of all you remove, and put it back together in the reverse order and you’ll be fine.
Oh, another place where you need to take care is the removal and reconnect of the flat ribbon connectors under the keyboard. They have a plastic tab of a different color that holds them in place. The way to remove them is pull the tab back to separate it from the body of the connector, then slip the ribbon from under that. Make sure you study the way the ribbon is inserted so you know how to put it back. It’s pretty easy to figure out if you pay attention to it. You’re better off doing it with tweezers than with your bare hand.
I received my TL-56 from StarMicro in the mail today. I have never upgraded laptop components before and learnt about Arctic Silver only through these posts. Is using this absolutely essenstial? Can I get by w/o using this?
Sid,
I’d highly recommend it…I didnt know that Radio Shack had it…but I buy it from newegg usually…just like Radio shack under 10bux…I lose them sometimes and find an old one, they last forever. Just keep some around for days you may need to buy a new heatsink/fan.
It is the best out there.
do any of you play games on this laptop and noticed a difference after upgrading and also what games are you playing
My kid plays the Sims 3 (and the lastest expansion pack) with no issues. I didnt attempt loading/trying it until after upgrading sorry. I think most any game will play at mid graphics detail at worst. The 3 gigs of ram should help all games a ton.
I play Panzer General (DOS turn-based strategy game). It plays as well as on my Thinkpad 755CX (pentium 90).
http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/3371/captureik.png
Do i need to buy a heatsink and thermal paste with this? Someone just say yes or no. =/
I have already left a reply on this above. No, you don’t need any heatsink. Yes, you need thermal paste. Arctic Silver 5 is the best there is, don’t waste your money on anything else.
@ Thrice…
Silviu is absolutely correct…Arctic silver has been the best as far as I can remember…around I know I’ve been using it at least 10-15yrs now. Never can have enough, for any spur of the moment upgrade, or fan/heatsink change. So buy enough to have spare!
Just wanted to extend my thanks to the author of this thread and to all who commented. thanks to you guys’ help i was able to get my processor upgraded today. bought a TL-50 after jumping the gun and pouncing on the first TL processor i saw on ebay, but after reading a little more throughly in this thread i purchased a TL-58 which should be here tomorrow.
today was my test run of sorts with the TL-50. the difference its made is phenomenal so i cant wait to see what the TL-58 can do. in the meantime i will need to find some of that Arctic Silver 5. i sorta got by this time with folding over the paste that was left over from the initial TF-20 chip (luckily there was quite a bit of excess) but when i get the TL-58 running in here i want to make sure that there is enough thermal paste to keep things nice and chill
Glad to help, never thought there would be so many people interested in this though! I’m pretty happy with my upgrade, though eventually I will tear it down again and take pics for you all… I think I should put better thermal paste on my CPU too while I’m at it just to be sure.
Thomas
Check you local Radio Shack for the Artic Silver – About $9
LOL…sorry Darntoothysam, I posted in probably 2 or 3 places and pointed them here.
So I may have sent these people your way…these are probably the ones brave enough dive in and upgrade…I’m sure many are pondering. 
For those of you pondering the thought…GO Ahead! this write up is simple…just keep track of your screws…(I used little dipping/sauce bowls)
Hello again guys. I have ordered the $28 Starmicro TL-58 and I am waiting for it to be shipped out (probably Monday). I did some googling and wiki’ing of the cpu voltage requirements. The voltage requirement for the TF-20 said 1.000v and the voltage requirements for the TL-56 through TL-64 had voltages of 1.075/1.10/1.125 for each one so I hope it won’t cause problems for me.
I also heard of people overclocking their TL-58′s in our acer 5532′s to 2.1 ghz at 1.075v so there is probably good leniency in the voltage department. Overclocking sounds kind of appetizing, however.
@ snurness, I am soon to upgrade (currently stock cpu 1.6ghz single core but soon 1.9ghz x2) and I have tested out a handful of games including World of Warcraft(played quite nicely at max resolution with min settings at around 35 fps), Runescape(plays in high detail), Fly For Fun at lowest settings and max res fullscreen(FLYFF), Left 4 Dead(barely playable currently), and Killing Floor minimum settings @640×480 full screen(some maps are very playable with respectable framerates in the 40′s while others can average 17 fps and less during intense moments). you can also youtube a similar model which is basically what the 5532 will become upon cpu upgrade and it is the 5536. Google 5536 gameplay or hd 3200 gameplay if you would like to see recordings of the dual core cpu’s at work in our laptops.
One major problem with the stock cpu is that almost nothing besides DVD’s will play in high resolution/fullscreen without being extremely choppy. The cpu just seems to be too slow to keep up with rendering the content. I have read in multiple places that upgrading to dual core reduces or eliminates the issue.
I hope this helps and I will keep you posted on my experiences.
@ Superchickens.
This should work fine…you ordered exactly what I did. It runs SIMS 3 really now according to my kid. My kid has a desktop with a 9800gtx and says it’s a little slower but very playable. I didnt see/look at overclocking. Heat is usually what I’m afraid of…and a laptop being so tight already, I’m just too scared to try to overclock in one.
Good Luck on your upgrade. (I got my Chip in like 2-3 days from CA to TN)
I have the ACER 5520 Lap top and it came from the manufacture with a AMD 64 AthlonX2 dual core CPU @ 1.7 Gig CPU speed. The dual core ran as expected and I also down loaded a side bar gadgit that monitored the CPU(s) and RAM usage in real time and all was good. A month or so ago I ran in to not being able to boot up my computer at all ( It is now 3 years old ) and had just had its H.D changed out due to HDfailer. During my many nights truing to figure what I did wrong I also inadvertently ran across a setting ( most likely a boot menu ) that let me manually set the number of CPUs I had and I set it to one out of desperation and now according to the CPU real time side bar meter I am using only one of my dual core CPUs and for the life of me I CAN NOT remember how to set it back to were it was originally.
Can ANYONE let me know if they know were to reset this so I can use my origianl dual core to its full use or any ideas or links I can might find out HELP / SOS / < My flustration.
It’s probably in the BIOS settings. Restart the computer (or when you turn it on) press either ESC or sometimes it’s F2 or similar to enter the BIOS setup screen. You will see on the splash screen what key to “Press xx to enter Setup”.
From there look for the CPU settings, that should do the trick.
Thomas
This is fairly strange, I have never seen a motherboard (desktop or laptop) that allows you to selectively disable CPU cores. I’m not saying they don’t exist, but it’s not at all common either. I’m very surprised such a thing exists in an Acer laptop.
I just upgraded to a TL-62 (TMDTL62HAX5DM) from STARMICRO – cost $80 + $9 for extended warranty. It took me about 4 hours, but I go into “Zen-Tech” mode for this kind of task, no hurry, one with the laptop and all that, so others will no doubt complete the upgrade a lot faster.
My completely unofficial but altogether-satisfying-to-me benchmark was to use 64-bit Reaper to mix and render two 1-hour long 16-bit stereo WAV files to an MP3. I had timed the process a couple of weeks ago for a project. Using the sames files and settings, the upgrade reduced the time from 8 min 23 sec before upgrade (stock TF-20 processor) to 5 min 25 sec after upgrade – a 55% speed improvement for the type of application I need the extra horsepower for, quite a satisfying result.
I’ve run this benchmark process several times, plus other misc applications over a couple of hours, with no apparent overheating problems, proper application of thermal paste no doubt being key (hence about 1/2 hour of my upgrade time – yeah, I was pretty pokey). One will certainly want to be careful to keep the bottom fan port unblocked while “laptopping” after one of these upgrades.
Thanks for documenting the process. It was a great help.
@ Wainwright…nice upgrade! I was too scared to go that high, even though I read that the board “SHOULD” support it. That’s an amazing benchmark stat too…minutes to seconds…nice!
I would first like to say thank you to the OP. Great write up! Now here is my question. What is a better upgrade for this laptop…adding more RAM from 3gb to 4gb or going dual core? I apologize in advance if this question has an obvious answer.
Definitely upgrading the CPU to a dual 1.8Ghz will be a much better upgrade than the RAM. After you do the CPU you can upgrade the RAM, put in two matching sticks of the same size (2GB ea) and they should then run in dual channel mode which will be yet another upgrade.
Thomas
Thanks for the quick reply! Well I guess that reassures me then. I’m going Dual core with it. Thanks again! Time to start shopping.
I will be upgrading my Acer-Aspire 5532 laptop with a TL58 1.9 CPU from “StarMicro”..I will also be adding 1 extra gig of ram and a 320 GB SCORPIO HD from Western Digital ..I have a question:
This laptop comes with an ATI Radeon 3200 ..Can I upgrade that?
Thank you very much and I really appreciate your work.
From what I saw the Video Card IS integrated so you can’t upgrade it. If you didnt order the ram yet, you better peek at yours 1st. I saw 1x2gig stick and 1x1gig stick. So to get to 4 you will need a 2gig stick and just replace the 1x1gig stick. There are only 2 slots.
Well, this thread convinced me to buy an Acer 5532 from Best Buy ($329) with the sole purpose of upgrading the stock 1.6 GHz TL-20 to the 1.9 GHz TL-58. Just ordered the TL-58 from Starmicro ($28 + $4 shipping). Will give a yell when installed and running again. Really looking forward to the improved performance.
Toothy, you should hit Starmicro up for a commission
Thanks for the post – very informative!!
LoL ya that’s what I’m saying…I think I originally posted it…because I have bought from them in the past, and they had the best price for this…but darntoothysam is definitely the reason they are getting extra business.
Just wanted to say this was a very clear and painless tutorial. Installed the 90nm TL-56. What an improvement! Heat does not appear to be an issue thus far. Took a little less than an hour to complete. I would say the hardest part was getting the center strip back into it’s original position.
Upgraded to a TL-56 65 nm and the speed is great! No issues till now. Took about 1.5 hrs. Windows experience index for the CPU jumped from 3.2 to 4.5.
yea i just ordered a tl 56 and im hoping i can do this right and put it back together also wondering if anyone knows of overclocking the tl 56?
Just ordered the TL-50 from StarMicro last night, and I’m hoping the process all goes smooth! I’m a little worried though, considering it’s my first time dealing with upgrading anything on a laptop. I’m confident though.
One main reason I’m upgrading is because I play Grand Theft Auto IV on it and only get a maximum of 10-12 fps while playing with most settings on low. I’m hoping that upgrading the processor will give me some more performance.
I did not apply any arctic silver when I upgraded my CPU – I just put in the new CPU and the heat sink on top with the residual paste still on. Guess that was not the best way. I see CPU temps going up to 63 degree Celsius on load and 45 when idle. No system crashes – only the fan goes on more frequently than in the past, hence battery drains faster. I’ll be opening the laptop up again and applying Arctic Silver. All tutorials advocate using a thin coat, but the older TF-20 had an excess of paste. Any suggestions? Also, I should be removing all residual paste from the heat sink, shouldnt i?
Sid you definitely want to clean up that messy paste. I have some type of alcohol based wipes from a long time ago used on CRT monitors so it dries fast and cleans really well. Clean it up…so it’s shiny new looking then put a thin layer about the thickness of a sheet of paper is what I’ve been told and always use.