The road to laptop upgrade 筆電升級之路

Restricted by poor cooling of my laptop, it was unable to run at full speed recently, especially when either Intel iGPU or NVIDIA GT 640M in use.
由於散熱不佳的關係，我的筆電近年來都無法全速運行，特別當 Intel iGPU 或 NVIDIA GT 640M 在跑的時候降頻更加嚴重。

Fig. 1 Thermal throttling (Disaster =[) 溫控調頻（徹底悲劇）

I, as a laptop user without disassemble or PC assemble experiences, finally could not tolerate that throttle so I disassembled my laptop and cleared the CPU fan.
以往沒有拆解筆電（甚至從未組裝過桌電）經驗的我在約兩星期前終於按捺不住，動手拆解並清理風扇。

I followed a YouTube video for roughly 8 hours to extremely-carefully disassemble, clean and reassemble the laptop as my first experience.
我依照一部 YouTube 影片來進行拆解、清理、組裝。因為第一次的關係，我非常十分極度小心翼翼地花了快 8 小時才完成。

This is what I saw inside my CPU cooler. Those dusts are the main reason of thermal throttling and turning my inhalt into exhalt.
這是我拆開 CPU 散熱器的情況，那些塵埃是導至降頻（以及進風口變成出風口）的主要元凶）。
Fig. 2 Dust LAYER (Disgusting ALERT) 塵層（厭惡物注意）

This is the result after cleaning. No thermal throttle anymore and I can use both Intel iGPU and NVIDIA GPU at the same time with CPU turbo boosted to 2.80GHz. (Running BOINC projects)
以下是清潔過後的溫度數據。跑 BOINC 時 CPU 2.80GHz 及內顯和獨顯同時使用也沒有降頻。

The story didn't end here. Since I have got a smooth experience of reassembly, I was confident enough to play around my laptop.
故事還沒結束。由於這次順利重組筆電，自信心滿溢的我開始搗弄我的筆電。

ALERT: The story afterward produces ZERO COST-EFFECTIVENESS so you would better buy a desktop PC rather than upgrading your laptop
注意：接下來的升級一點都不划算，還是建議買一台更好的桌電。

Disclaimer: I have just written down the hardware specification based on my memory. It may or may not be accurate.
免責聲明：我只是憑記憶將硬體規格寫下來，可能未必準確。

The following is the specification of my laptop before upgrade.
以下是升級前的筆電規格。

Acer Aspire v3-771

• CPU: Intel i5-3210M 2.5~2.8 (3.1) GHz 2C4T
• RAM: 4GB x 2 (8GB) DDR3L SODIMM
• HDD: TOSHIBA 750GB 5200rpm 2.5" HDD
• PS: Liteon 90W 19V 4.74A

I migrated the OS into a spare SSD using AOMEI Partition Assistant.
我把系統分區轉移到 SSD 固態硬碟上。

Then, I bought two sticks of 8GB RAM to upgrade the memory capacity to 16GB. (i5 CPU supports 2 slots of RAM only)
然後敗了兩條 8GB 記憶體擴充至 16GB。 （i5 CPU 只支援兩條記憶體）

And then, I bought a second-hand i7 CPU to upgrade from 2C4T to 4C8T.
然後再敗了一顆二手 i7 4核8線 CPU 替換。

Due to the fact that it is clearly written that TDP of the i7 CPU is 45W rather than 35W, it cannot run at full speed (3.60GHz) all the time while Intel iGPU and NVIDIA GPU are in use.
由於熱功耗由 35W 提升至 45W，所以 CPU 無法在顯卡同時運作時達到最高全載頻率 3.60GHz.

After several days of BOINC computing, CPU can be safely run at 2.80GHz while CPU and GPU temperature are 95 degree celsius and 76 degree celsius respectively.
經多天 BOINC 測試後，CPU 可以固定在 2.80GHz，而 CPU 和 GPU 溫度分別是約 95 及 76 度。

CPU can run at 3.60GHz full speed and even single-core turbo boost to 3.80GHz while both GPU are idle.
顯卡沒有負載的情況下 CPU 倒是可以全速跑 3.60GHz，甚至暫時單核睿頻至 3.80GHz。

If you watch the data carefully, you will find out that CPU itself consume over 50W power.
如果你有細心留意數據，會發現光 CPU 就吃了 50W 以上的電源。

Original 90W power adaptor cannot fulfill the power requirement and it will beep several times and throttle to around 1.xx GHz after load.
原廠附帶的 90W 電源適配器無法滿足電力需求，負載後會發出蜂鳴聲然後降頻至 1.xx GHz.

So I bought a 120W power adaptor which is bundled with i7-version of Acer Aspire v3-771G.
所以我又敗了一個 120W 的電源適配器（i7 型號的 v3-771G）。

Final specification of my laptop:
最終的規格：

• CPU: Intel i7-3840QM 2.8~3.6 (3.8) GHz 4C8T
• RAM: 8GB x 2 (16GB) DDR3L SODIMM
• SSD: PLEXTOR M7V 256GB SSD
• HDD: HGST 1TB 7200rpm 2.5" HDD
• PS: Liteon 120W 19V 6.32A

How on earth we would satisfy without full speed of CPU after upgrade?
升級後無法跑全速又怎會滿足呢？

I have just modified the cooling system and let's find out in my next post.
我又把散熱改造了一番，留待下一篇文章分解。

P.S. It DOES have improvement but not in full speed.
備註：是有改善可是還是無法全速運作。

TL;DR
太長沒看

1. My laptop was too hot so it throttled. I cleaned my laptop. It became cooler.
   我的筆電過熱降頻，所以清理一下後變涼。
2. I changed my CPU. It became hotter.
   我換了 CPU，又變熱了。
3. I modified my cooler. Not that satisfactory.
   我改造了一下散熱，結果未如理想。

Comment below to express your feeling on it. :facepalm:
請於底下留言告訴我關於你對於我作大死的想法。