aspire m5201 possible upgrade ?

turbopete

i have the acer aspire m5201 and im trying to find out if there are any higher spec processor chips available that are compatible with the motherboard. I have googled the number on the board and im getting conflicting information as to whether I have an AM2 socket or an AM2+. the plastic surround on the socket says socket AM2 but ive no idea if it would say AM2+ on it, had the system been AM2+ compatible. I currently have a blown capacitor on the motherboard which im attempting to replace first and if that doesn't get the system operational i may just upgrade to a newer motherboard etc anyhow. currently I have an AMD Phenom 9550 quad core processor, 8GB of RAM (which I believe is the maximum the motherboard supports) but despite a recent clean install of windows 10, the system seems very slow, hence the consideration of a CPU chip upgrade.
can anyone help with what CPUs will work with my motherboard, or point me to somewhere that can tell me please?

brummyfan2

Hi,
Your motherboard is compatible with AM2 and AM2+ socket type CPUs, I don't think you will benefit much by upgrading the CPU, I would suggest you to upgrade the HDD to a SSD, if you haven't done yet, it will be a very good upgrade and improve the performance.
If you want to upgrade the CPU, go for one of the CPUs with 95W TDP and pay attention to the Upgrade chance column as well, I haven't done this upgrade, so you have to attempt the upgrade at your own risk.
http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/CPUs/AMD/Phenom_X4/9550.html

brummyfan2

turbopete said:

as a matter of interest, would something with a higher TDP work or would it damage something?

It may work but it could run slightly warmer, as you have a Desktop I don't think that's a major issue. 

brummyfan2

Hi,
Your motherboard is compatible with AM2 and AM2+ socket type CPUs, I don't think you will benefit much by upgrading the CPU, I would suggest you to upgrade the HDD to a SSD, if you haven't done yet, it will be a very good upgrade and improve the performance.
If you want to upgrade the CPU, go for one of the CPUs with 95W TDP and pay attention to the Upgrade chance column as well, I haven't done this upgrade, so you have to attempt the upgrade at your own risk.
http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/CPUs/AMD/Phenom_X4/9550.html

turbopete

thanks for the information. looking at that chart theres very little to be gained by a new CPU so if I can resurrect the motherboard (im assuming the capacitor is the only fault currently) I think a SSD will be the way ahead, although I will format the HDD I currently have as the c drive and use it as additional storage

turbopete

as a matter of interest, would something with a higher TDP work or would it damage something?

brummyfan2

turbopete said:

as a matter of interest, would something with a higher TDP work or would it damage something?

It may work but it could run slightly warmer, as you have a Desktop I don't think that's a major issue.