Is it worth it to spend money on an old CPU?

[Ayman H]

Hello everyone, this is my first post and apologize if I'm posting in the wrong category.

Recently my daily driver Sony VAIO laptop completely died on me, CPU got fried, motherboard got fried, almost everything just went dead.

So I found another old Sony VAIO laptop that was sitting there for years, I thought why not use it till I get a new laptop, but what suprised me is the CPU is Intel core 2 duo P8400 and I am a heavy multi tasker and also I program;

so I went searching for a quad core CPU that could be compatible with my laptop and I found both Intel core 2 quad Q9100 and Q9000 both used for 25-35$

Is it worth investing my money on an old laptop that I may use for couple months? (Maybe years if the laptop holds well.) Also will I face any problems or compatibility problems?

Thanks.

 

[USAFRet]

Is the CPU actually removeable? Not all are.

 

[jaslion]

Hello everyone, this is my first post and apologize if I'm posting in the wrong category.

Recently my daily driver Sony VAIO laptop completely died on me, CPU got fried, motherboard got fried, almost everything just went dead.

So I found another old Sony VAIO laptop that was sitting there for years, I thought why not use it till I get a new laptop, but what suprised me is the CPU is Intel core 2 duo P8400 and I am a heavy multi tasker and also I program;

so I went searching for a quad core CPU that could be compatible with my laptop and I found both Intel core 2 quad Q9100 and Q9000 both used for 25-35$

Is it worth investing my money on an old laptop that I may use for couple months? (Maybe years if the laptop holds well.) Also will I face any problems or compatibility problems?

Thanks.

1 most likely the cpu is not replaceable
2. a laptop that has a dual core in it should not be upgraded to a quad core unless the manufacture confirms that it can handle it. The quad core draw more power and produce more heat and might not work or give you a very unstable system.

 

[lakimens]

Core 2 Duo P8400 comes in two versions, BGA479 and PGA478. BGA is soldered and PGA is not.
You have to check with the laptop if the CPU is soldered or not.

EDIT: I did a bit of googling and the laptop comes with a few different processors, it makes sense to be a PGA socket.

 

[Ayman H]

The laptop CPU is actually upgradable but I'm not sure if the system can handle such a CPU...

The CPU MHz and Bus Speed and almost everything is the same as my current CPU, but just with better speed and cores.

The laptop model is Sony VAIO vgn-cs120j

Any help is highly appreciated, thanks!

 

[lakimens]

Best to be able to try it before you buy it. Googling is a bit hard, because it's an old model, I didn't find any CPU upgrade posts.

 

[USAFRet]

Buying a used laptop with an eye to 'upgrading' it is usually not a good idea.
Unlikely any new CPU that you could put in there would show any real performance benefit.

Heat and power requirements usually limit how much you can actually change.

 

[Ayman H]

I've stripped down the laptop couple of times to clean it and see if anything is faulty or needs replacement, but everything seems fine. I just wanna see if my system can handle the CPU an if I'm gonna face any problems in the future.

I've cleaned off the laptop with compressed air can, reapplied thermal paste and everything is nice and cool, the CPU can be replaced, It's PGA478.

I actually have some hope that the upgrade will go smoothly and work, it's just a matter of swapping a weak CPU, to a more powerful CPU.

If you guys have any ideas or suggestions, write them so I can take notes before upgrading.

 

[CelicaGT]

I've stripped down the laptop couple of times to clean it and see if anything is faulty or needs replacement, but everything seems fine. I just wanna see if my system can handle the CPU an if I'm gonna face any problems in the future.

I've cleaned off the laptop with compressed air can, reapplied thermal paste and everything is nice and cool, the CPU can be replaced, It's PGA478.

I actually have some hope that the upgrade will go smoothly and work, it's just a matter of swapping a weak CPU, to a more powerful CPU.

If you guys have any ideas or suggestions, write them so I can take notes before upgrading.

Socket M or PGA478 I assume...best thing to do is research the laptop...see what CPU options were available at the time as the cooling solution and power will likely be the limiting factor. If indeed the machine was offered with a range of quads or even these particular CPU's I don't see any reason to not at least give it a go. In addition, I don't know where you found your CPU's but I found some brand new ones lurking on Amazon...$15 cdn got me a T9800 dual in OEM packaging...