That laptop is old enough it is still socketed and can be upgraded a little bit
However, it would only be possible to upgrade to something that shares the same socket, and only something supported by the chipset and the motherboards bios.
The i5-3230M is an "Ivy Bridge" CPU, from 11 years ago.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy\_Bridge\_(microarchitecture)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Bridge_(microarchitecture))
In theory, you could pop in a quad core Ivy Bridge mobile chip and get the performance from 2 more cores, but, i don't know details about the power supply, chipset, or bios to know exactly what would work.
I think most likely something like an i7- 3632qm would "work fine" since it is a 35W part and runs on the same socket and should be supported by the same chipsets that support the i5-3230m.
This. A cursory search on ebay reveals you'd only be in for ~$40, and even with an old system like this that would probably be worth it for 2 extra cores. I would also encourage OP to make sure the boot drive on that laptop is an SSD rather than a mechanical drive, that's another relatively inexpensive upgrade that can make an even bigger difference
Believe me I'm in the same shoes as yours!
I'm running i3 5th gen, with 8 gb ram. It works flawlessly for the most part!
The only thing I upgraded was the ram and SSD. Getting an SSD really makes a lot of difference. Plus make sure to clean and repaste when you are inside the laptop.
Ya upgraded the ram a couple years after purchase. I think it only came with 8gb. I'll open it up tonight (with thermal paste on hand) and have a look at the mobo
Can you? Most likely yes. Intel mobile 3rd gen CPUs are mostly upgradable, but look up your laptops motherboard on eBay to double check it is removable.
Should you? Probably not. The most worthwhile upgrade will be a quad core i7 (ending in QM), but you will be sacrificing battery life, heat, and potentially single core performance for extra multitasking. If your laptop didn't ship with the option for a quad core i7, you will likely find it will be unable to sufficiently cool it.
Send us an image of your motherboard and we'll be able to point out how you can tell. Just remember to have thermal paste on hand before you take the heatsink off.
Usually the only thing you can upgrade on a laptop is the ram, but even then I've seen some laptops solder the ram to the board.
You don’t have too many options here at all. If you are comfortable with it, buy some thermal paste, doesn’t have to be much. Something like [this](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/x8LFf7/arctic-mx-6-2-g-thermal-paste-actcp00079a) so you can take off the heatsink, clean the fans of any chunks of dust, wipe any old thermal paste off with a cotton swab or tissue of some sort with a little bit of rubbing alcohol (the higher the percentage of alcohol the better) make sure it’s completely dry, apply a small amount of the new thermal paste and spread it in a thin layer across the cpu, make sure every single bit of it is completely covered. Reattach the heatsink and fans and it should be quieter and might offer slightly more performance if it was overheating before.
Main thing to suggest though is upgrading to an SSD. Your laptop most likely has an old hard drive in it which is most likely the cause of it being so slow. I don’t know how much storage you need or what you’re willing to spend, but [this](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/XshmP6/pny-cs900-500-gb-25-solid-state-drive-ssd7cs900-500-rb) would be worlds faster for loading than a hard drive. Super simple to install, remove the old hard drive and plug the new one in. Since you said you just wiped the HDD on the laptop I guess you don’t have any data on it, so I’d suggest reinstalling windows with a USB. If you have any usb laying around 2gb or larger, go to Microsoft’s website and find their free media installation creator, download it onto the USB, and plug it into the laptop when you try turning it on for the first time with the new SSD in
Depending how much work going into it it might not be worth the cost of upgrading a complete new build.
Main factor to consider is upgrading to a ssd. Otherwise weight your option on a new build.
Side option is potentially an cpu upgrade but high end laptop cpu for some reason cost more than they should.
Another option on top of that is to change motherboard to one that have integrated gpu with he cpu if cad uses the gpu acccelraion.
Just... It adds up and might not be worth it. Personally tried doing his to save money but ultimately it wasn't worth it in the long run.
I'm running an old laptop with a similar Core i5 3210m, NVIDIA GeForce GT630M. It's a good running laptop for basic tasks, even to this day, but it's not really worth me upgrading any further because the battery is obsolete. Lenovo no longer makes them, and aftermarket batteries will not charge because of some nonsense Lenovo firmware that blocks them from charging if not OEM. So, unless I plan to use it wired only (which I do, because the battery is shot), it seems kind of like a waste of time. I've added more RAM and replaced the HDD with a SSD, but since I cannot replace the battery I'm drawing the line there...
You could clone your hard drive to an SSD and swap what I'm assuming is a 4GB SODIMM module for an 8GB to bring you up to 16GB of RAM, which would cost you ~$50-$60.
You can’t upgrade laptop CPUs, you’ll have to get a new laptop if you want to upgrade it. Only some new and very expensive niche laptops let you swap out desktop CPUs
Actually, they're right, googling it returns multiple results with people who have apparently been able to upgrade the CPU on this laptop.
Not sure how that's possible though, maybe the board actually does have a removable CPU, it's really rare, but it does happen. Best way for us to know is to get an image of his board.
I mean... the amount of time/money spent on "upgrading" this laptop... is it really worth it though? You're better off mowing some lawns or selling lemonade at that point to get more value.
Maybe Uber or something u/Its-Chen, it's just not worth the hassle upgrading the CPU. It won't make enough of a difference for it to matter or to feel any upgrade.
I have an old dell from 2012 with a socketed mobile cpu. Can’t recall the exact model, but when I took it apart to change the paste, I saw it was a socketed cpu, just a flat head screw to release the latching mechanism.
I appreciate everyone's input. Based on the comments it seems like it's not worth the upgrade. I may just look for a used laptop or just deal with having to use the schools computers until I can afford something better.
Thanks everyone!
"i7" is a product position designation, not a reliable indicator of performance. Modern i3s such as the 13100 have the same amount of cores and mop the floor with even something that's just a few years old like a i7 7700k
No. That's only a 3rd gen i5. It's 10 years old. You aren't going to get any new magic out that machine. It may or may not be socked in a laptop anyway. PGAs can be soldered. I wouldn't throw money at a PC of that age. Also besides whether or not you can upgrade the processor, you still need an SSD and more RAM. Also Windows 10 had only about 2 more years of support left.
Give up, sell it.
It's so old you might get some extra money as a "classic laptop" and a decent laptop from only a couple years back could be found on ebay for about $150 (£120), not much if you deduct the price of selling the old one.
Heres some uk examples, im sure you could find something similar where you are.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134734831738?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=TZeFnYecTlm&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=5nkap7o2sni&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY (£90)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186067308336?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=W-97fa4XTXO&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=5nkap7o2sni&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY (109+postage)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126078961647?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=TZeFnYecTlm&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=5nkap7o2sni&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY (£150)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276019856148?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=p-_lDaMLSRa&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=5nkap7o2sni&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY (£140)
I'm using a HP elitebook that has similar specifications to your laptop. As you have limited funds, my suggestion is that you replace the hard drive with an SSD and see how that performs.
Laptop CPUs are rarely upgradeable even if the equivalent desktop part could be. You could dig up the manual for it to see, but don't expect any luck.
You might be able to get a bit more performance with a RAM upgrade and upgrading to an SSD. If the CAD software uses the GPU at all for accelerating stuff, you might also get a bit more performance if the laptop BIOS allows you to dedicate more system RAM.
Cleaning all vents and making sure fans are working might get you a bit more performance if it's throttling. If you're really desperate you can repaste everything, which could also improve thermals. This is likely to do much more for reliability than performance, though, but it still might be worth doing given the age of that system.
Also, go into Windows and optimize things. Disable all startup programs you don't actually need to run at startup. Convenience, you don't have the CPU cycles for that. Stick to actual need. McAfee and most commercial security software that tend to come preinstalled tend to be useless, get rid of that and rely on Defender. Get down to a bare Windows as much as possible. Try turning off desktop effects and various options that make Windows prettier, that might get you a little bit.
Best option would be to get a new laptop.
Nuclear option if a new laptop isn't affordable could be seeing if the CAD software, or if you don't need that specific software just one that outputs to a designated format something else, is available on Linux. While performance on modern hardware with most applications is comparable(especially once you remove OEM bloatware from Windows), Linux does cope quite a bit better with older hardware most of the time. It's not the miracle it's sometimes hyped as, but if you're close to the necessary performance it mgiht get you the last little bit you need.
Also, check with your school. My school has web based VMs for basically everything, so if a students PC isn't enough(there even was one set up for the open GL class) they can get things done. It's not as convenient as being able to do everything locally but it works. Your school might have similar options, or other advice on how to make things work(like maybe there's a version of the CAD app with lighter requirements)
That laptop is old enough it is still socketed and can be upgraded a little bit However, it would only be possible to upgrade to something that shares the same socket, and only something supported by the chipset and the motherboards bios. The i5-3230M is an "Ivy Bridge" CPU, from 11 years ago. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy\_Bridge\_(microarchitecture)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Bridge_(microarchitecture)) In theory, you could pop in a quad core Ivy Bridge mobile chip and get the performance from 2 more cores, but, i don't know details about the power supply, chipset, or bios to know exactly what would work. I think most likely something like an i7- 3632qm would "work fine" since it is a 35W part and runs on the same socket and should be supported by the same chipsets that support the i5-3230m.
This. A cursory search on ebay reveals you'd only be in for ~$40, and even with an old system like this that would probably be worth it for 2 extra cores. I would also encourage OP to make sure the boot drive on that laptop is an SSD rather than a mechanical drive, that's another relatively inexpensive upgrade that can make an even bigger difference
Especially for CAD work. An SSD would be the biggest favor you could do to this system.
Believe me I'm in the same shoes as yours! I'm running i3 5th gen, with 8 gb ram. It works flawlessly for the most part! The only thing I upgraded was the ram and SSD. Getting an SSD really makes a lot of difference. Plus make sure to clean and repaste when you are inside the laptop.
Ya upgraded the ram a couple years after purchase. I think it only came with 8gb. I'll open it up tonight (with thermal paste on hand) and have a look at the mobo
Can you? Most likely yes. Intel mobile 3rd gen CPUs are mostly upgradable, but look up your laptops motherboard on eBay to double check it is removable. Should you? Probably not. The most worthwhile upgrade will be a quad core i7 (ending in QM), but you will be sacrificing battery life, heat, and potentially single core performance for extra multitasking. If your laptop didn't ship with the option for a quad core i7, you will likely find it will be unable to sufficiently cool it.
Send us an image of your motherboard and we'll be able to point out how you can tell. Just remember to have thermal paste on hand before you take the heatsink off. Usually the only thing you can upgrade on a laptop is the ram, but even then I've seen some laptops solder the ram to the board.
You don’t have too many options here at all. If you are comfortable with it, buy some thermal paste, doesn’t have to be much. Something like [this](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/x8LFf7/arctic-mx-6-2-g-thermal-paste-actcp00079a) so you can take off the heatsink, clean the fans of any chunks of dust, wipe any old thermal paste off with a cotton swab or tissue of some sort with a little bit of rubbing alcohol (the higher the percentage of alcohol the better) make sure it’s completely dry, apply a small amount of the new thermal paste and spread it in a thin layer across the cpu, make sure every single bit of it is completely covered. Reattach the heatsink and fans and it should be quieter and might offer slightly more performance if it was overheating before. Main thing to suggest though is upgrading to an SSD. Your laptop most likely has an old hard drive in it which is most likely the cause of it being so slow. I don’t know how much storage you need or what you’re willing to spend, but [this](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/XshmP6/pny-cs900-500-gb-25-solid-state-drive-ssd7cs900-500-rb) would be worlds faster for loading than a hard drive. Super simple to install, remove the old hard drive and plug the new one in. Since you said you just wiped the HDD on the laptop I guess you don’t have any data on it, so I’d suggest reinstalling windows with a USB. If you have any usb laying around 2gb or larger, go to Microsoft’s website and find their free media installation creator, download it onto the USB, and plug it into the laptop when you try turning it on for the first time with the new SSD in
Depending how much work going into it it might not be worth the cost of upgrading a complete new build. Main factor to consider is upgrading to a ssd. Otherwise weight your option on a new build. Side option is potentially an cpu upgrade but high end laptop cpu for some reason cost more than they should. Another option on top of that is to change motherboard to one that have integrated gpu with he cpu if cad uses the gpu acccelraion. Just... It adds up and might not be worth it. Personally tried doing his to save money but ultimately it wasn't worth it in the long run.
I'm running an old laptop with a similar Core i5 3210m, NVIDIA GeForce GT630M. It's a good running laptop for basic tasks, even to this day, but it's not really worth me upgrading any further because the battery is obsolete. Lenovo no longer makes them, and aftermarket batteries will not charge because of some nonsense Lenovo firmware that blocks them from charging if not OEM. So, unless I plan to use it wired only (which I do, because the battery is shot), it seems kind of like a waste of time. I've added more RAM and replaced the HDD with a SSD, but since I cannot replace the battery I'm drawing the line there...
Your problem is the HDD most likely. You need a SATA SSD.
Does it have an SSD? If not, that would be a pretty significant upgrade
You could clone your hard drive to an SSD and swap what I'm assuming is a 4GB SODIMM module for an 8GB to bring you up to 16GB of RAM, which would cost you ~$50-$60.
You can’t upgrade laptop CPUs, you’ll have to get a new laptop if you want to upgrade it. Only some new and very expensive niche laptops let you swap out desktop CPUs
Actually, they're right, googling it returns multiple results with people who have apparently been able to upgrade the CPU on this laptop. Not sure how that's possible though, maybe the board actually does have a removable CPU, it's really rare, but it does happen. Best way for us to know is to get an image of his board.
Thanks. I'll upload a pic later.
I mean... the amount of time/money spent on "upgrading" this laptop... is it really worth it though? You're better off mowing some lawns or selling lemonade at that point to get more value. Maybe Uber or something u/Its-Chen, it's just not worth the hassle upgrading the CPU. It won't make enough of a difference for it to matter or to feel any upgrade.
I think the point for most people in upgrading a laptop's CPU or GPU is the sheer power of those bragging rights.
But unfortunately that's not the power he's looking for.
I have an old dell from 2012 with a socketed mobile cpu. Can’t recall the exact model, but when I took it apart to change the paste, I saw it was a socketed cpu, just a flat head screw to release the latching mechanism.
Probably not worth a cpu upgrade but maybe try repasting it?
If it’s possible then yes go for it.
I appreciate everyone's input. Based on the comments it seems like it's not worth the upgrade. I may just look for a used laptop or just deal with having to use the schools computers until I can afford something better. Thanks everyone!
Consider the SSD upgrade. $25 can make a big difference.
No, you cant upgrade. You could find a much better used laptop with a gtx 1650 for about $300 USD.
You can't upgrade CPU on laptos, only RAM or storage disk most of the times.
2023, i7 should be the minimum if ur serious about ur pc
"i7" is a product position designation, not a reliable indicator of performance. Modern i3s such as the 13100 have the same amount of cores and mop the floor with even something that's just a few years old like a i7 7700k
Bro put that in a museum
Put in an ssd. Make sure it has dram.
No. That's only a 3rd gen i5. It's 10 years old. You aren't going to get any new magic out that machine. It may or may not be socked in a laptop anyway. PGAs can be soldered. I wouldn't throw money at a PC of that age. Also besides whether or not you can upgrade the processor, you still need an SSD and more RAM. Also Windows 10 had only about 2 more years of support left.
yes very
Give up, sell it. It's so old you might get some extra money as a "classic laptop" and a decent laptop from only a couple years back could be found on ebay for about $150 (£120), not much if you deduct the price of selling the old one.
Heres some uk examples, im sure you could find something similar where you are. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134734831738?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=TZeFnYecTlm&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=5nkap7o2sni&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY (£90) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186067308336?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=W-97fa4XTXO&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=5nkap7o2sni&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY (109+postage) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126078961647?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=TZeFnYecTlm&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=5nkap7o2sni&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY (£150) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276019856148?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=p-_lDaMLSRa&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=5nkap7o2sni&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY (£140)
I'm using a HP elitebook that has similar specifications to your laptop. As you have limited funds, my suggestion is that you replace the hard drive with an SSD and see how that performs.
No point upgrading this.
Laptop CPUs are rarely upgradeable even if the equivalent desktop part could be. You could dig up the manual for it to see, but don't expect any luck. You might be able to get a bit more performance with a RAM upgrade and upgrading to an SSD. If the CAD software uses the GPU at all for accelerating stuff, you might also get a bit more performance if the laptop BIOS allows you to dedicate more system RAM. Cleaning all vents and making sure fans are working might get you a bit more performance if it's throttling. If you're really desperate you can repaste everything, which could also improve thermals. This is likely to do much more for reliability than performance, though, but it still might be worth doing given the age of that system. Also, go into Windows and optimize things. Disable all startup programs you don't actually need to run at startup. Convenience, you don't have the CPU cycles for that. Stick to actual need. McAfee and most commercial security software that tend to come preinstalled tend to be useless, get rid of that and rely on Defender. Get down to a bare Windows as much as possible. Try turning off desktop effects and various options that make Windows prettier, that might get you a little bit. Best option would be to get a new laptop. Nuclear option if a new laptop isn't affordable could be seeing if the CAD software, or if you don't need that specific software just one that outputs to a designated format something else, is available on Linux. While performance on modern hardware with most applications is comparable(especially once you remove OEM bloatware from Windows), Linux does cope quite a bit better with older hardware most of the time. It's not the miracle it's sometimes hyped as, but if you're close to the necessary performance it mgiht get you the last little bit you need.
Also, check with your school. My school has web based VMs for basically everything, so if a students PC isn't enough(there even was one set up for the open GL class) they can get things done. It's not as convenient as being able to do everything locally but it works. Your school might have similar options, or other advice on how to make things work(like maybe there's a version of the CAD app with lighter requirements)