Acer Aspire 7741G CPU upgrade questions. What is the most recent CPU this rig can take?

Xeper8x8

Hello all. I want to upgrade the CPU of my veteran Acer Aspire 7741G. It been out of commission for quite some time, as a newfound hobby I like to fix laptops of any age, and i finally got a new motherboard for it since the old one was unserviceable, which is why it was out of commission for awhile (VERY hard to find a cheap replacement motherboard that was compatible). I want to make upgrades to it, and CPU is my first contender. I want to know 3 things:

1. What is the most recent CPU this rig can take? I seen a post on here about the i7-640m, but it didn't necessarily answer my question of it being the most recent, compatible CPU.
2. Do i need to get a stronger PSU to support a newer, more powerful CPU? The CPU thats in my rig now is a Intel Pentium p6000 (which actually aint too bad, but i want better and it has miles on it) and it has PSU thats 65w. I would assume i would need more power for a newer CPU right?
3. Would i need a better heatsink/cooling system for a stronger CPU? The heatsink in there now has only one copper pipe connected to one fan and the pipe connects to both CPU and the one GPU (ik these series can have two GPUs, but this rig only had one and that all i need anyway). I only ask because my main rig is an Alienware m18x and, when i upgraded that CPU, i had to go from a single pipe to a triple. Is that the same for these series as well?

Please take in mind that this is purely a hobby of mine, so telling me to "get a new machine/its not worth it/dont waste your money", isnt answering my questions. So please dont waste a post with those kind of replies. Its a hobby and i have the money to spare so dont worry.

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

JackE

(1) You must stay with the first generation Intel dual core mobile processors made for a replaceable PGA socket, not a soldered BGA socket. The i7-640m came in both flavors. The PGA variety may only be available used now. There's not much performance difference between first generation i7s so the 640m should be about as far as you can go performance-wise if it works. The original specsheet only shows first generation i3 & i5 mobile processors for this model. The pentium p6000 is actually a bit newer with about the same performance as the i5s

(2) & (3) First generation i3, i5, i7 & p6000 mobile dual cores all must dissipate about the same 35watts when going full tilt. So your power supply and thermal module should be able to handle any of them.

padgett

Best to get a 15W CPU and not a 65W.

JackE

First generation Intel dual core mobile CPUs must be used in this mainboard. They are 35watt, not 65watt or 15watt. The PSU is 65 watt

Tugrikk

Maybe it will be useful for someone. I successfully upgraded the processor in my 7741G to i7 820QM. To improve cooling, I replaced the thermal paste with Arctic Cooling MX-4. The laptop works stably and does not overheat, the performance has increased significantly.

JackE

Thanks for report. 🙂