HP Pavilion dv7-1245ca Board Swap

[THRobinson]

I have an HP Pavilion dv7-1245ca that was given to me and so far it's a pretty good laptop, but given the age and CPU, a bit laggy.

Searched for a long time last night for this model's service manual, seem to be able to find every other version of it except what I had, finally looked up the CPU and socket, which is an AMD Turion X2 RM-72... from what I gather for this socket there really aren't many CPU options available, and none are Quad-Core. 

Will any other motherboards be a direct swap for this laptop? I know there was an Intel version made, which is what I'd prefer... can sometimes get a used board off eBay pretty cheap. I know for my niece her laptop's onboard video died, I ended up getting a slightly newer board with twice the video memory for $35CAD.

Anyone know if a direct swap mobo exists? Intel hopefully that will take a QuadCore? Or if the info I found was incorrect, is there a Quad-Core CPU that will fit this?

https://support.hp.com/ro-en/document/c01634424

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

Here's the Service Manual for the whole dv7-1000 series, AMD and Intel. 

Manual

None of the supported processors is a Quad Core. The T9600 Intel however, will run rings around any of the AMD processors. It is a very capable CPU and can keep up with many later i5 processors. 

The Intel board with the GeForce 9650M would be a dropin replacement for your existing AMD board, but you would need a different heatsink, fan and potentially a different wireless card. Also keep in mind that this model uses DDR2 memory. While it can accept up to 8 gigs, 4 gig DDR2 modules are very expensive and not that easy to find. 

This is the motherboard you want:

For use only with computer models equipped with Intel processors: ● With PM45 Northbridge and nVidia NB9P-GS discrete graphics subsystem memory and 512-GB of graphics subsystem memory 480365-001

http://www.ebay.com/itm/For-HP-Pavilion-DV7-DV7-1000-DV7-1100-Intel-Motherboard-480365-001-100-Teste...

Heatsink:

For use only with computer models equipped with Intel processors: ● For use only with computer models equipped graphics subsystems with 512-MB of discrete memory 480472-001 and 481144-001

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-HP-Pavilion-DV7-1000-DV7-7023cl-CPU-Cooling-Heatsink-481144-001-/291...

Fan:

For use only with computer models equipped with Intel processors 480481-001

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Adda-CPU-Cooling-Fan-For-HP-DV7-DV7-1100-DV7-1200-DV7-1000-AB7805HX-EB1-...

This model is also a bear to disassemble. I owned one once so can speak to that directly. Be careful working on it, lots of subassemblies and ribbon cables going all over the place. 

If this is "the Answer" please click "Accept as Solution" to help others find it. 

[THRobinson]

Thanks for the info...

I think likely I'll sell as-is and just get something a bit newer. By the time I get all the parts, plus no guarantee those will work... for example, manual shows a thumb scanner, mine doesn't have one. Plus I may need all those parts plus CPU and still need a wifi card.

Oh well, was worth a look. Like I said, my nieces gpu died on hers, got an upgraded board with a better gpu for $35, and in her case, just swapped the cpu over. I was hoping I'd have the same luck, $35 board and another $35 for a cpu.