Guide on how to upgrade the Acer Aspire 5935G
By Kris Verbeeck
Another fine Acer MXM machine.. and possibly one of the last. It would seem that with the advent Core ix machines, Acer stopped using MXM 
technology (see also here). The last generation of Acer MXM machies does, however, fearture MXM 3.0 cards. This revised (and backward incompatible) version of the specification is supposed to offer better crossplatform compatibility and the latest generation of GPUs is already based on the new revision. One of our readers, Richard, has the 5935G which has a MXM 3.0 Type A slot and he read this. Having twiddled with a lot of machines already, he wasn't afraid to order one of our cards, the GTS250, with a full money back guarantee in case he wanted to return the card for whatever reason. Obviously, going from his HD4570 to a GTS250 is a pretty decent performance jump.He already reported it works, albeit with a few limitations. Because of these limitations, he decided to return the card. As part of the deal, he will wrote up a full review which can be found below.
Make sure you've read it and understand the limitations before ordering.
By Meaker
By I have had a rocky relationship with Acer in the past with my first experiences with the 1694WLMi, their build quality was questionable due to the entire case flexing when picked up, which eventually killed the machine. However the layout back then was pretty impressive with easy access to all the major components.
My second experience was with the 6935g, this took things another step forward with a very solid casing and good build quality. Everything is under one panel, even the GPU is just as easy as a desktop card to get to. Unfortunately it’s an MXM II machine and of course everything is moving on to MXM A and B.
So I grabbed myself a 5935G, the subject I bring you today. It’s a slightly odd mix of technologies, it shares the same casing as the 5940g but is core 2 rather than core iX based. It’s very similar to the 6935G however there are good and bad points and the ones we care about are:
- MXM type A slot (and space)
- The GPU and CPU are now hidden behind the casing of the machine
Why not go for the fastest card, the GTS250? Well there are a couple of reasons that you need to think about. It’s a hot card, not stupidly so but you cant pair it with an X9100 CPU, you need a 25W to ensure that the machine wont throttle. It’s not even all the time with the X9100, it’s titles like Left 4 Dead 2 which load the CPU as well as the GPU. Therefore a P8700 say would give you breathing room.
The other point is that the GTS250 is not fully compatible, graphics switching will not work in AHCI mode (HDD). It looks like it will in IDE, but I use an SSD and that would kill performance. You can manually switch in the bios but that’s it.
Another thing to watch out for is black screens before the drivers are installed, get a set of drivers ready (you are best to get a modded set from laptopvideo2go.com) and be ready to restart the machine in the last known good configuration.
Remove all GFX drivers before beginning.
However if all you are interested in is pure graphics power (Or want CUDA power because boy it’s quick at video encoding) then this is the card for you.
So grab on to your hats ladies and gentlemen because replacing either the CPU or GPU means you have to pretty much take the entire machine apart. This is a definite step back but is workable.
This also means this voids your warranty unlike in the 6935g.
Before we begin, nothing in this machine requires any serious force, I’ll point out which bits are clipped in place and they might be fiddly (worst offender is the top casing) but if you are starting to apply force or pressure you are doing it wrong.
Firstly there are 3 major screw types and you need to keep track of where each one came from:
- Very small silver screws (found under battery and internally)
- Shorter black screws (found at the front edge and by the optical bay)
- Longer black screws
The following picture shows the user access panels removed along with the battery and what screws need to be removed:
Yes that’s a lot of screws, I suggest getting 3 pots to keep them in. The good news is that you are over half way with the screws now and that the casing will soon relatively easily come away.
Flip the machine right way up and open the LCD lid. The keyboard needs to be removed next. I used tweezers (metal, but plastic will be kinder to the machine if you have them) to push in the tabs running along the top of the keyboard. They should gently click back allowing you to prize the keyboard up (slowly). The top right of the keyboard is the easiest place to do this. If you encounter resistance check none of the tabs has gone back into place. There are two ribbon cables (LED power and keyboard data) that you need to lift the tab on the connector before pulling the keyboard out
With that done you should see this:
Note: I have removed the black cover which is secured by the single screw that I have circled. It is also clipped in so needs a little jiggling to remove. Also circled are the two connectors I talked about above.
Now while I mentioned we are over half way with the screws, what I did not mention was that we need to remove all the connectors you see, there are lots but they are all attached to the top of the casing (bar two of them) meaning that they will fall back into place on re-assembly at least. For now either pull them out if they are wires or pull the tabs on both sides towards the cable if they use a ribbon cable before removing them. These are fragile so be gentle.
Double check you got all the screws on the back (including the ones hiding behind the optical drive) and the cables at the front. You are now ready to remove the casing, just pull it apart from one of the edges (at the back is probably easier) and pull it away. Put it to one side somewhere safe.
The following should greet you:
Remove all the circled screws and connectors, the subwoofer at the top can stay loose. The large circle at the top shows a plastic cover that is secured by the screw under the hinge cover. The metal bar along the left will come out when the two screws to the left of that are removed.
The daughter board to the bottom right needs to come out, once the right metal bar screw has been removed it should lift up slightly and this allows the daughter board to be removed.
Now lifting the main board from the edge where the daughter board was located, it should just easily lift out and away from the left edge of the machine. If any force is required you have missed something.
Turn it over and you should finally see our goal:
I’m not going to insult you by circling the 9 screws holding the heat sink in place but watch out for the one I have, that has to come out too (and is one of the nine).
They are numbered and to get the right heat sink pressure follow that order when re-assembling. The GFX and CPU portions have different screws.
Once that is off we see the GFX, CPU and NB:
Remove the screws holding the GFX in place and it should pop up. Remove any thermal pads and place them on the new card or better yet use some fresh ones.
This would be a good time to use some nice thermal paste on the GFX and CPU (woot no pads for these), I used MX-3 from arctic silver.
You will also note my X9100 CPU. This is not a good combination for the heat sink. I would recommend a P8700 or similar as the GFX will be hot enough as it is. There are versions which ship with a GT240M installed and these may have a different heat sink (I have ordered one to see) so I will get back to you on that.
Re-assembly is simply doing it all in the opposite order. Watch the two cables not attached to the top casing, as if you don’t spot them then they can sit under the motherboard when you place it back down, if the daughter card wont sit right, then that’s a clue this has happened. Also remember to attach the little cable next to the daughter board.
The keyboard will just press down and the clips will spring back into place.
We'd like to thank Meaker for his excellent work!
If you have further questions, let us know. If not, you can order one below.
The below link may only be used for the Acer 5935G notebook. If it is used for any other platform, we reserve the right to refuse returns or warranty. |
Your purchase includes the actual card and shipping (regular postal services inside the EU, DHL for the US, Canada and Mexico). VAT is inlcuded for EU countries, so no nasty import charges. If you order a card outside these regions we will ship through regular postal services by default, if you wish to make other arrangements let us know. Premium thermal paste is also included.
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Acer 5935G GTS250 - 250€ |