Is my Compaq CQ61z 300 cpu upgradable?

[old_guy50]

Specs: Serial Number: [Personal Information Removed]

  Current CPU: AMD Sempron II M100

  Motherboard: Quanta 363F  (Socket S1G3)

  Chipset: AMD 785GX

I am trying to upgrade to a dual core and was curious if this was possible with what I have.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I can provide more spec info if needed.  Thank you. 

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

Heres the Service Manual:

Manual

Simple answer is "yes". All the processors listed are socketed and any of them could be installed on your motherboard. 

The cream of the crop would be 

AMD Turion™ X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processor: M600 2.4-GHz processor, 2-MB L2 cache, 3.6 GT/s HyperTransport speed

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Mobile-Turion-II-Ultra-Dual-Core-M600-2-4GHz-2M-s1-TMM600DB023GQ-/130524...

See above $12 shipped on eBay. 

This would be a dropin replacement for your Sempron and would make a big difference in performance. Be sure and use new Arctic Silver cooling compound and follow "best practices" for installing a new processor. Happy to explain if you need me to. 

It is a legacy (polite word for obsolete) system using DDR2 memory. It can actually take up to 8 gigs but 8 gigs of DDR2 is very expensive. 4 is not and will allow it to run pretty well. It is capable of 64 bit operating systems and your optimal OS would be Windows 7. 

Post back if you need any more help.

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

[old_guy50]

Thank you so much!  I was worried about the chipset being compatible.  I have no idea what I'm doing.  This is my first time "going in".  I'm trying to teach myself as I go.  Again, I really appreciate it!

[old_guy50]

I need to add RAM also.  Do you happen to know chips are compatible, or rather what specs I need to look for?  Thanks again for all of your assistance!

[Huffer]

Memory modules (PC2-6400, 800-MHz, DDR2) ■ 4 GB (CQ61 only) 575566-005 ■ 2 GB 573722-006 ■ 1 GB 573721-006

https://www.amazon.com/2048MB-Samsung-Original-PC2-6400-SO-DIMM/dp/B0026SD96G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid...

[old_guy50]

Thanks again!  I almost went with that one but I wasn't sure.  I couldn't find whether it fit my 61z or not.  I went with a company call memory stock.  I hope they are ok since I went with a generic brand.  It was basically the same price but they guaranteed compatitibilty.  I did get the cpu ordered and the Artic Silver 5 as per your recommendation.  I don't have any idea what I'm doing but I have learned so much in the past week.  Learning about about these machines and not being intimidated by them has developed into a fun hobby/obsesseion.   I will probably ask for some assistance in the near future once these shipments start coming in.  Once again, your help to me is so very much appreciated!!!

[old_guy50]

I have another question for you.  The screw holding in my wirleless card is increcibly tight and I have totally stripped it.  How do I get this thing out?  I have tried a regular drill bit in reverse, which I saw suggested  multiple times online, but that did nothing. Any help you could offer would be very much appreciated.   Thank again so much!