Toshiba Satellite C50d a-11-q

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Casperiously

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Iv got this laptop Toshiba Satellite C-50d-a-11q from a friend for a 4-pack of beer and im trying to get it working properly. It was preinstalled with windows 8 which was barely working on this amd based laptop. So I somehow installed the win7 and I gotta say its much better but I would like to make it even better. I dont really use it that often, as I got a gaming rig but I like to stay in bed and watch some movies on it. So I came up with an idea of replacing the processor to something better (i3, i5?) and adding more ram and switch to SSD. And there goes the question - I have no idea what mainboard it is and what socket it is. I built myself my glorious pc but I have never really opened a laptop before. Can somebody help me? Is it even possible (in this laptop) to change the processor from amd to a newer intel? And what ram do I need for that? Is it DDR2 or DDR3? Thanks a bunch!
 
Your friend got the better part of the deal with the beer. With very few, usually quite expensive exceptions, laptops are built with the chips soldered in place on a custom-to-this-model motherboard, and nothing can be upgraded except perhaps memory.

Reminds me of when I was in college. A friend offered to trade his car for my bicycle. My bike was worth far more than his car.
 

tman1

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That's not true. The majority of laptops I have taken apart have all had removable CPUs, and I have taken apart hundreds.


 

tman1

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Seeing as your laptop is AMD based, no, you can not upgrade to an Intel i3/i5/i7.
But if you check system properties, it should tell you what processor you do have, and armed with that information, we can determine what options you have.
 
even if you could replace the cpu in your laptop - intel chips do not work on amd socket motherboards period. it would be impossible from that standpoint alone to do what you want. at the very best it would support an amd processor however the truth is as wk stated: the vast majority of laptops have soldered on cpus (BGA). generally only rather expensive laptops have replaceable parts and even those have limitations on what you can put in there.

if the laptop works, its worth the price of a 4 pack of beer, but i would not get too starry eyed over dreams of making it a powerhouse.

worth noting another user had the same idea as you, on a similar model https://www.avforums.com/threads/toshiba-satellite-c50d-a-138.1843684/
 
There are many models of laptop that potentially come with either platform, AMD or Intel, as options, so it's not a real stretch to think that you may be able to find a mainboard and cpu that WILL fit your model, however the cost involved is probably going to make it a worthless investment as you can almost certainly find a newer, cheaper model that will outperform that unit regardless of what compatible optional hardware you might find for it. Even if you could find NEW replacement hardware, again the cost would make it a silly investment.

If that unit came with Windows 8 then it's more than capable enough for watching video on and the problem is likely to be the OS installation (Not doing a CLEAN install and deleting ALL the existing partitions before installing) or a driver issue. Then again, if it's an A4 APU it might be rather slow, but the graphics should still be more than capable of HD video.

And personally, having ALSO taken apart probably 150-200 laptops for service, if not more, probably more, I'd say the number of BGA versus replaceable CPUs has probably been about equal except of course on Chrome and netbooks, which pretty much all have BGA style configurations.
 

jimmysmitty

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Most newer UltraBooks and ultra thin laptops use Intels BGA socket which is soldered on. It allows for smaller packages for the laptop saving much needed space.

Standard laptops themselves tend to still use a socket (PGA988 for Intel currently) which has replaceable CPUs but the CPUs themselves are very expensive and pulling them out can be easy or a massive pain in the arse.

That said, SSDX is correct. Your laptop is an AMD based system so you will not be able to swap out the CPU. You wouldn't even be able to swap the board and CPU as that laptop was designed with AMD in mind and so the layout and design of everything is around that specific board.

Sorry but your are SoL.
 

Casperiously

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Thank you all for your answers and time! Think im gonna just stick with a new ssd and more memory. The current processor is AMD E1-1200 APU with integrated graphic. And yeah - it is shit. Seriously, fk amd lol. Now I just gotta look for the ram I will need. Gotta open the laptop tomorrow after work and see what kind of memory it has. Also, any cheap SSD out there? Iv got 850 samsung evo on my rig, but Im sure there are cheaper versions out there. Its not like I really care about this laptop. Cheers!
 
For something like that, this is a good budget option without sacrificing too much in random reads/write speeds.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($57.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $57.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-11 01:57 EDT-0400

Memory-

Single 4GB:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: G.Skill 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1066 Memory ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $24.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-11 02:09 EDT-0400

2x4GB for dual channel. (Specs don't say whether this laptop supports dual channel operation, but they usually do if there are two DIMM slots and no soldered in memory, which your does not have.)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: G.Skill 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1066 Memory ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $45.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-11 02:08 EDT-0400

8GB single module:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: Mushkin Essentials 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1066 Memory ($41.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $41.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-11 02:07 EDT-0400
 
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