The Goal:

Recently I attempted to upgrade the processor on my Compaq Presario R4000 laptop. I have been very pleased with its operation to date (I purchased it in September of 2005). It currently has a 939-pin AMD Athlon 64 4000+, which is a single-core 2.4GHz processor. I wanted a speed boost, and a bit of a challenge sounded like fun, so I bought a $200 939-pin AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+, which is a dual-core 2.4GHz processor, from Newegg. The socket is compatible, so I expected a relatively simple upgrade.

The Process:

To start, I found Compaq's maintenance manual for this model. Once the processor and Artic Silver 5 thermal paste arrived, I began. The manual has you remove, in order, these items before you can access the processor:

1. Hard drive
2. Optical drive
3. Keyboard cover (the strip above the keyboard with the power and volume control buttons)
4. The keyboard
5. The display
6. The base enclosure
7. The thermal dissipator
8. And finally, the processor

Many of these steps, I discovered, are unnecessary. The reason the manual instructs you to remove the keyboard cover, keyboard, and display (the most difficult procedures in this process) is because the keyboard cover and display each have screws which are also holding the base in place. The keyboard needs to be removed because it covers the wires from the wireless networking antenna, which need to be unplugged to remove the display.

So how best to perform this procedure? Follow the instructions for the hard drive and optical drive, but instead of removing the keyboard cover, only remove the screws. Do not remove the keyboard, and only remove the two screws from the base which hold the display in place. I kept these separated so I could put them back as I found them, however I am not certain this is necessary. Then remove the base screws (you will need a very narrow-shaft phillips-head for this), the thermal dissipator, and finally the processor. Do your best to wipe off the processor first, however, to avoid getting any of the existing thermal paste onto the pins.

The Results:

Unfortunately, even though I had upgraded my BIOS before I started, Compaq has not released a dual-core compatible BIOS for this laptop model. Nor are they likely to, as dual core processors are not available, and I don't think they want consumers opening their own laptops to do the upgrade themselves. Therefore, after I re-assembled my machine and turned it on, I received only a black screen as a reward for my hard work.

The Aftermath:

I replaced my original processor, and have since shipped the shiny new dual-core back to Newegg for a refund (minus a $30 restocking fee). I applied Arctic Silver 5 to my old processor, since I had wiped off all of the old thermal paste, and now my fan barely needs to turn on at all. The machine is amazingly quiet now, which is at least a partial victory. I definitely recommend to everyone adventurous enough to take apart their laptops to apply Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste in place of what it came with.

Other Notes:

For anybody who does want to take the keyboard cover and keyboard off, here are a few notes on how to do it, as I had some difficulty:

• The keyboard cover sticks on the inner hinge covers on both sides. To keep myself from feeling like I was going to break it when I pulled, I inserted my flat-bladed screwdriver up towards the hinge after pulling the side up a bit, and used it as a lever to pop the hinge covers off. Do this from both sides, instead of just the right side as the manual suggests.
• The ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) connector for the keyboard cover comes out very easily, just pull the little brown clip to the right a little bit with your fingernail, it will release and you can easily extract the cable.
• After unscrewing the keyboard, the ZIF connector is rather difficult to figure out. I stared at it for about half an hour, myself. When looking down at it, with the laptop facing as it normally would if you were using it, there is what appears to be a small brown cover on each of the two top corners (nearest the display). Push each of these towards the display, best done with a fingernail. They will move about a quarter inch, and once both are as far as they want to go, you can remove the keyboard cable with a little wiggling. Inserting it also takes a little wiggling, but nothing significant.
• Sometimes the thermal dissipator is difficult to remove, or difficult to distinguish from the surrounding equipment. With the laptop positioned so the thermal dissipation assembly is in the lower-right corner, as the manual suggests, it is made up of the two copper & black heatsinks on the bottom and right sides, the square surrounded by the four spring-screws, and the curve which connects the square to the right-side heatsink. There are tabs on the far edges of each heatsink which you can use to lift the unit out. I found that after I had applied Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste, the unit did not want to come out. I discovered why afterwards: it had been so well stuck to the processor that I actually pulled the processor out of its mount even with the tension lever set. Be careful as you pull, and if there is resistance, I suggest trying to twist back and forth to release the stick with the processor as you lift.

Disclaimer:

Good luck with your excursions into laptop-dissassembly! Also, please note that I am not responsible for any damage or loss of warrenty coverage that you may cause to yours or anybody else's personal property as a result of trying to follow my instructions and suggestions. These are simply my personal experiences, given only to be helpful, and not meant as an encouragement to actually attempt to perform maintenance to a laptop if you are not qualified to do so. To summarrize: tinker at your own risk, not at mine!