I killed the motherboard in Acer 5315-2315 - what are my options

Hello

Let me start by saying that this forum is EXCELLENT source of information.

Now let me give a short history...

I had upgraded CPU before in Laptop (in my Acer 3680). So I decide to upgrade the CPU in my Acer 5315 as I gave my 3680 to my brother. I also have a work laptop which has a T7200 processor. My Acer 5315 has Celeron M 530 - from my research it should be ableto upgrade since it has the 965 chip. Before I buy any new CPU off of ebay I wanted to test and see if the Acer supports T7200 (Core 2 Duo) since I had the other laptop at hand I decided to try to work with that first.

So I disassembled the Acer 5315 took out the CPU (its very easy access) - disassembled my other laptop got the T7200 out and I put it in the Acer 5315, put it together and boot the system... Nothing... Thats when I realized that out of my infinite wisdom I had forgot to remove the battery in the Acer 5315...

So now I took the battery out, took the T7200 out from Acer, put it in my other laptop and guess what... the other laptop does not work either.... I put the celeron processor back in the Acer 5315 and it does not work either.....

So now I am out 2 laptops. My work laptop is under warranty so thats already being repaired... no worries there. But I think that I have fried hte motherboard and CPU in the Acer 5315. I tried to reset the CMOS but to no avail.

What are my options now? Here are my thoughts
1. Sell the laptop for parts on ebay and buy a new one - I think it will go for like 50-60 may be 100 if I leave the HDD and Memory in. New Core 2 Duo will cost atleast 600 for a decent one.

2. Get a new motherboard and CPU and fix the 5315 - I checked ebay and it seems that the mother board is like $200 - I dont think its worth it unless I can be sure that it will support Core 2 Duo processors - which over all will nd up costing me like $270 - still cheaper than new one.
--- Does any one know where I can find cheaper motherboards for laptops?

3. Not sure if this is possible - can I get a desktop/other laptop motherboard that will fit and work in my Acer 5315 frame? I dont think desktop motherboard will be possible - but what about other company laptop motherboards?? Can I find some aftermarket parts?

I think Option 2 is most viable but I want to be very price concious as I am on a tigth budget. If I can get it working for $100 I dont want to spend $110.


Please advise on your thoughts especially if you know where I can find cheap motherboards.

 

For a cheap motherboard your best bet is Ebay without a doubt, I sold a 5315 motherboard a few months ago for roughly £40 ($80ish).

The 5315 will 100% support C2D, i've put a T7500 in one. There's a real good thread for the 5315 here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=251959

When you turn the laptop on, does it do anything, any lights, any sign of life at all. Have you tested it with different RAM sticks in.

There's pretty much no chance you can put another board from another laptop in yours, the chasis's have very specific designs that the motherboards are made for. The only other thing you could try and find out is if Acer made anyother models with the same motherboard, there may be but i'm not sure which models.

I've found this on UK ebay (but they ship to america), roughly $131 with postage:

Ebay UK

Also found this on US Ebay $159 buy it now:

EBAY US

 

Thanks for your reply bangert. Rigth now, if I plug in the AC adapter and press power button, the fan spins for about 4-5 seconds. Then the laptop shuts down. During the fan-spin, there is nothing displayed on the screen - not even the backlight of the LCD. No beepsor anything. I took out the memory and HDD to see if there was any issue, but still the same. So my assumption is that its the motherboard. If it was bad RAM I should atleast see the POST screen complianing that there is no memory.

I also found a thread on this forum to reload the BIOS from a USB drive - that did not help either.

Can I do any other tests specific to 5315 to verify that it is definitely the motherboard?

Thanks a ton!

 

Steps you could try:

Take HDD out

Try different CPU

Take RAM out and test with different RAM. If you try without any RAM it won't work.

Open the laptop up and see if there a any visible signs of damage on the motherboard, burn marks etc. (This may not be easy as the components are small, and you may not see anything anyway).

 

Wait--- so if there is no memory, would the laptop not even get to the POST screen? In my desktop, if I take the memory out, it gets to POST screen and then gives an error saying that there is no memory. Just wondering... I will try another memory as well.

 

OK, I just tried with a new RAM module. Same thing - fan spins but nothing on the screen - and laptop shuts off after 4-5 secs. I do not have a new CPU to try with so I think a new motherboard is next step.

 

Yeah I think so too.



Check this link on ebay for a replacement motherboard. I am thinking about getting that one, and the buy a Core 2 Duo processor... but...

Can I use a Core 2 Duo processor on it?
If yes, how can I verify which CPU will work?

HERE IS THE DESCRIPTION----

Acer Laptop Parts & Spares: Acer Aspire 5315 / ICL50 Model: ICL50 5315 Series

Item: Acer Aspire 5315 ICL50 Motherboard LA-3551P REV 2.0 New

Brand New (extracted) Genuine Acer Supplied Spare Part

Part / Serial Numbers: GX-D-V0A VENDOR GCE /ICL50 LA-3551P Rev: 2.0

SOCKET: mPGA478MN

HDD CONNECTION: SATA

MEMORY SLOTS: DDR2

GRAPHICS: SLA5V (UP to 252MB Mobile Intel Graphic Media Accelerator X3100

DC JACK, 2 x USB Ports, VGA D-SUB for Monitor Out, S-Video Out, Audio in & out Jacks, Ethernet Port, Card Reader Slot,& Modem Board



Below is the Laptop Model Number Plate:

(see link above to see pics)

 

If you check this thread i linked in an above post, it pretty much gives you all the info you need about upgrading the processor:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=251959

I've sucessfully put a T7500 (socket P) in a 5315 after updating the bios, so you can 100% put a C2D in it!!!

 

Most laptop will not beep with out ram in them they just refuse to boot

black screen most laptop use light to inducated boot

try external montir
try broad

lose just mainbooard ram cpu fan etc on desk with key make sure nothing short out with external monitor hook up
try num lock see if turn off and on cap if machine light indicated respsons

 

Dredging an oldish thread, but to clear something up...

The 5315 will support C2D cpu's, if they are of the correct socket type.

The T7200 is a socket M cpu, the 5315 has a socket P, tho why this killed your lappie I don't know, BigO ( in this thread) tried a socket M cpu and it didn't work.... but then his lappie worked fine after putting a socket P cpu back in.

bangert's T7500 cpu is a socket P.

Check this thread: Aspire 5315 CPU Upgrade Guide
and look at this thread for socket P cpu's: The Ultimate CPU Guide
All socket P's listed there up to and including a T9500(confirmed) should work, the 'X' Extreme cpu's probably won't.

 

Unfortunately cause he did not remove his battery, it most likely damaged both the cpu and the mainboard chipset. IC's tend not to like to be unpluged while power is still being applied. Just my 2 cents worth. Unfortunately this is a somewhat costly learning experience.