upgrading CPU on an Ultranote II

[finaldj]

I bought the Ultranote ii about 5 years ago for the wife and it's getting a little outdated now with an i3 4000m.

I don't want to upgrade it till next year sometime so was looking to maybe better the CPU to an i5 it looks like the CPU can be swapped out but I can't find much info on the laptop anymore and was wondering if anyone had any ideas if possible. I've seen loads of i5-4210M on ebay for about £25 I'm sure this laptop model can be upgraded to that? there were options for different CPU's when I bought the laptop off here 5 years ago so assume it can be changed out?

these are the specs
Chassis & Display
UltraNote: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i3 Dual Core Mobile Processor i3-4000M (2.40GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB Kingston SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 4600
1st Storage Drive
250GB Samsung 850 2.5" EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
UltraNote Series: 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Power Cable
1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor
Battery
UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH) (Up to 7 Hours)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND

 

[SpyderTracks]

I bought the Ultranote ii about 5 years ago for the wife and it's getting a little outdated now with an i3 4000m.

I don't want to upgrade it till next year sometime so was looking to maybe better the CPU to an i5 it looks like the CPU can be swapped out but I can't find much info on the laptop anymore and was wondering if anyone had any ideas if possible. I've seen loads of i5-4210M on ebay for about £25 I'm sure this laptop model can be upgraded to that? there were options for different CPU's when I bought the laptop off here 5 years ago so assume it can be changed out?

these are the specs
Chassis & Display
UltraNote: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i3 Dual Core Mobile Processor i3-4000M (2.40GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB Kingston SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS MEDIA ACCELERATOR 4600
1st Storage Drive
250GB Samsung 850 2.5" EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
UltraNote Series: 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Power Cable
1 x UK Power Lead & 65W AC Adaptor
Battery
UltraNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (62.16WH) (Up to 7 Hours)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND

If you look on the underside of the laptop there should be a model number, can you post that?

It's very likely the CPU is soldered on and so not upgradeable.

 

[finaldj]

Its a W550SU1

This is a picture of the SPU socket it looks like it can be changed to a different CPU

 

[SpyderTracks]

Its a W550SU1

This is a picture of the SPU socket it looks like it can be changed to a different CPU

Cool, so yes, you can upgrade up to a Core i7-4702MQ which is Haswell generation including the one you mentioned.

I wouldn't suggest the i5 though, that's not going to provide much benefit as it's only dual core still which is going to struggle with modern OS alone, you really need the quad core in the i7.

 

[FerrariVie]

Hard to find these days.... I've upgraded the CPU on a few toshiba laptops a few years ago (maybe 8?), but nowadays it is very rare. The only issue I had with the toshibas was the heat... the fan and heat pipes were not good enough for the better CPU, so it would get a lot warmer and a bit noisier then what it usually did. But if that's not going to be used for heavy workloads and will be standing on a desk (and not your lap for long periods), you should be fine.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hard to find these days.... I've upgraded the CPU on a few toshiba laptops a few years ago (maybe 8?), but nowadays it is very rare. The only issue I had with the toshibas was the heat... the fan and heat pipes were not good enough for the better CPU, so it would get a lot warmer and a bit noisier then what it usually did. But if that's not going to be used for heavy workloads and will be standing on a desk (and not your lap for long periods), you should be fine.

That chassis was configurable up to the i7-4202MQ, so cooling should be ok:

Review Nexoc B509II Ultra (Clevo W550SU) Notebook

In-depth review of the Nexoc B509II Ultra (Intel Core i7 4702MQ, Intel HD Graphics 4600, 15.6", 2.2 kg) with numerous measurements, benchmarks and evaluations

www.notebookcheck.net

 

[FerrariVie]

That chassis was configurable up to the i7-4202MQ, so cooling should be ok:

Review Nexoc B509II Ultra (Clevo W550SU) Notebook

In-depth review of the Nexoc B509II Ultra (Intel Core i7 4702MQ, Intel HD Graphics 4600, 15.6", 2.2 kg) with numerous measurements, benchmarks and evaluations

www.notebookcheck.net

Perfect, that's a lot better then

 

[SpyderTracks]

Perfect, that's a lot better then

I should have italicised the should, it's always going to be a gamble.

 

[FerrariVie]

I should have italicised the should, it's always going to be a gamble.

But for sure the performance will be better and the laptop should be good for at least a year more. That was the case with the Toshiba, at least

A good thermal paste will also help 😜