Laptop hardware component & upgrades forum: Acer Aspire 5515 Processor Upgrade???

Congrats on the new CPU, man, you really had bad luck with your previous ones...Good thing you didn't try the 3800+, it would've overheated in a heartbeat. In fact, I have one out of a AcerPower 1000 that died of -guess what- shot capacitors due to overheating (very common for that particular model).
I know your CPU isn't dual-core, but still a gigantic step up from stock. I strongly recommend undervolting, using RMClock. Go to "Profiles" and specify about 0.150V less at max frequency than factory (default), then let RMClock auto-adjust for intermediate freq's. Then take one power plan of choice - I used "Performance on demand" -, check the "Use P-state transitions" box for both AC plugged in and battery, and pick which frequencies you want to use for each (I picked every other starting with the highest, ending with the lowest). Then, in the "Profiles" main page, make the power plan you just modified active as "Current" and "Startup" (both for AC and battery). You have successfully undervolted your processor, which will produce LESS heat and MORE battery life, with absolutely no ill effects to hardware and zero cost.
P.S. Your voltage may vary, the values above work for the BE-2400 X2. It undervolts to 0.150V less than factory, any less and the system becomes unstable. So play with the voltages, choose one that will produce errors in Prime95 and/or crash, then go .025V up in RMClock, until it runs stable using the lowest possible voltage.

how are the temps? and wher did you find a be-2400? i had the same problem with my wireless, it didn't work again till i reinstalled vista. the switch didnt work at all in xp and the card would randomly disapear from device manager.

I just wanted to add the use of a good thermal compound to improve cooling. I used Arctic Silver 5 for my BE-2400, it's a bit pricey (I bought a little syringe for about $10 at the Shack), and it's STRONGLY advised to visit their website (http://www.arcticsilver.com) and read up on the proper application technique before installing the CPU. After installation and application of AS5, there will be a 200+ hrs. break-in period until AS5 reaches it peak performance, which will drop temps from 2C to 5C (or more). I heard that there are even better (and pricier) products out there, but, in my case, I'm happy with it... after one trial & error run, that I screwed up using WAY too much AS5 on the CPU.

OK, i should have read the instructions on the Artic Silver, .
I will be redoing my application of the compound. Also I will be unclocking as suggested. Thanks for the suggestions and help.

There are drivers out there for Windows XP for the 5515, I have downloaded them. From what I gathered the only issue is the SATA driver(s), but you can disable SATA and run the HD/DVD-RW in IDE compatible mode, if you go into the BIOS and set it that way during Win XP installation. Anyhow, try googlin' for the drivers, if you can't find them, email me at wolfm913@hotmail.com, and I will email you a ZIP file with all the necessary drivers (if it doesn't exceed my max attachment size, it's 112 mb, otherwise I'd need to burn them to a CD and mail it for a small fee, cost of CD & shipping).
That being said, why not upgrade to Windows 7? You prolly can't get the evaluation beta any more, but I've seen the student version (which contains both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, minus printed documentation) for 99 bones. And use all you Vista drivers. Trust me, I'm running 7, you will not regret it.

I was eyeing up thoes am2 quadcore's for some time now! it realy should work, all an am2 quad core is is a dual core with bothcores having multithreading enabled, so its no suprise realy!! but for the cost of a quad core and the lack of graphics in the 5515 its realy not a big performance gain. and then thers always the posabillity that it will not work, and that would realy be the only reson i would put one in was for bragging rights!lol then again seeing as how amd has haulted sale's of the 4850e and 5050e and other dual cores and its so hard to find an am2 X2, i guess it wouldn't be a bad switch up if thats all you can find!

The next step i take with my 5515 will be the 7200 rpm hard drive, a 120w power suply and i might cave and put win7 on it im not sure about 7 thow it just doesn't apeal to me that much. I've tried both vista and 7 and i would rather have XPpro still but i know like all good things they will soon phase it out and i will be forced to use one of the other alternatives!

It MAY work IF you never have to leave Windows AND use a throttling application, such as RMClock at the same time. Remember that you have to finish loading Windows to apply throttling/undervolting etc. The factory BIOS doesn't provide for this kind of thing, since it's set to work with the stock 2650e CPU. Now, I'm running a dual-core BE-2400 in my 5515, and everything was fine, until I had to restore my C:\ partition from a user backup. That was a real pain in the bottom, let me tell you. The laptop kept shutting down from thermal shutdown (CPU overheated). I finally got it done by removing the CPU cover on the bottom of the laptop and elevating it by about 1/2" in the back (setting it on 2 CD jewel cases), AND switching to the backup I saved on my hard drive (as opposed to the DVD disk set I made), thank goodness I didn't delete it. All that just short of re-installing the stock 2650e CPU, which I dearly hoped I didn't have to resort to. So, anyway: I am using RMClock to undervolt my CPU in Windows, and this works very well keeping the temps in check. Heck, with Windows loaded, I can even run the BE-2400 without RMClock, and by running I mean put some stress on the CPU. It will throttle back before it gets too hot. Point is, this ACER Aspire 5515 laptop was NOT designed with a 45W TDP dual-core processor in mind, let alone a quad-core CPU. Cooling is just about adequate for the stock 2650e.

but it may not suport all the am2+ features like hyper theading and such, it may be disabeled depending on motherboard! what cpu are you looking to try?

sorry but i am kind of new in this and i do not get this. So let me get this straight, i can run a quad-core processor on another power adapter right.

i am using the stock Aspire 5515 looking to upgrade it

As long as Windows is running, all is well. Problems occur at either:

a) The time it takes to fully load Windows, so that power plans can take effect
b) Anything that needs to be done outside Windows, such as restoring a backup, a boot-time virus scan, real time apps, such as diagnostic tools.

Without Windows loaded, things get real hot real fast.
I had negative fun restoring my C:\ partition, to get rid of my naggy Windows 7 Ultimate RC (thanks, Microsoft!! I would've bought it if it wasn't so obnoxious, so for now Vista will do just fine, and later I will be eyeing Linux, out of spite.) The only thing that kept the Acer from becoming fried was thermal CPU shutdown, a last resort precautionary CPU feature. Even though this is a (thin) safety net, you'd want to avoid it, since the folks at AMD (and Acer, for that matter), design real close to the threshold of permanent damage.
But when Windows is up and running, my dual-core CPU actually runs comparatively cooler than the stocker (with a little tweaking).

On a side note, how come that the TDP of the 9450e is lower than all the others, despite a higher frequency? Highest seems to be 9150e, at a lower frequency and same Vcore..? I think TDP refers to 65W for all these, and the wattage at the end is prolly typical use per core.

From reading some articles on the Phenom 9350e these AM2+ quad core energy efficient series appear to be mystery chips. No one has been able to find a distinct advantage in terms of speed vs. energy saving over the Athlon X2 e-series chips. Having Cool n' Quiet enabled appears to dog these chips to the point where they are almost slower than the 4850e. The 5050e I have in my Aspire 5515 may already faster in performance mode with QnC switched off. E-series Phenom X4 chips appear to have load recognization issues using QnC. They don't know when to upclock and raise their voltage for CPU demand and may not function any better in Balanced power mode than Power Saver.

For gaming clock speed usurps cores. Two higher clocked cores with QnC off can beat out four under-clocked cores with QnC on. This isn't a big issue as the Aspire 5515 has a shader pipe deficient(either 2 or zero) X1200 graphics chip embedded in it. This was never meant to be a gaming notebook anyhow and switching from a higher clock CPU to a lower one wouldn't result in any graphics performance change.

It appears the intent of the Phenom e-series chips was low power multithreading which is suppose to be it's strength. So few programs are written with multithreading that these two extra core may provide no benefit over an X2 CPU although in the future more multithreaded software may surface. Adobe image processing software appears to run quite fast on the Phenom e-series quad core chips. Many other multithreading apps, such as video encoding, that should run faster but don't because QnC doesn't recognize there is enough processing load for four cores to accelerate its processing pace. The only way to make an e-series X4 Phenom chips have any better results in our notebooks over the Athlon X2 e-series chips would be to have it run consistently in High Performance mode drawing 65W. We may get little extra performance, but a much hotter running CPU.

After this research I might be more inclined now to try an e-series Phenom X3 8450e clocked at 2.1GHZ. Three cores instead of four would require less energy saving from QnC to run effectively. This would likely speed and voltage control better with CPU load and Balanced power mode in a low wattage notebook. The TDP for underclocking is 46.7 Watt that puts us in the range of the Athlon X2 e-series CPUs. The concept behind another core past two is for a short burst mode above 45W but not over 65W and also not for the CPU to remain there as its normal operating state. Lapping the heat sink with that Arctic Cool compound would be highly good idea.

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Phenom%20X3%208450e%20-%20HD8450ODJ3BGH%20%28HD8450ODGHBOX%29.html

I just upgraded to the 5050e... great speeds but now my wireless card is not being detected. :(((( Please advise.

I need to upgrade the processor on my Dell and Sony from a p3 to a p4; Was I glad to read the Acer story; do you have any tips on how to get this done? Will pay top dollar...(818) 675-1398....joe...No tech in town will for any amount of money; but why would they; can someone please help?

Did you change the processor and the motherboard or did you just change the processor? If you did just change the processor please contact me about changing mine; zedscore2@aol.com, 818 675 1398; will pay for your time...

Let me check my laptop later and get the exact model. I got mine used on Ebay. I'll post when i can.