Hp pavilion dv6 2150us
Core i3 330M
4Gb ram
320Gb HDD.

A laptop my Dad bought brand new as a family laptop back when I was in Jss 2 which was around 2010/2011.

This computer has served me and my siblings well, but its time is up I guess. It died last year 2020, when it refused to turn on. Whenever I'd click the on button the fan would start spinning as though it would turn on, but then stop, it would keep repeating the cycle like it would turn on but then it stops, while the screen never displays anything.
At first I thought it was the power adapter that was faulty, but I changed adapter and nothing changed.
After sometime I managed to diagnose the problem, it's from the motherboard.
The laptop has had overheating issues for sometime now, and the battery also died so that essentially made it a desktop, at the mercy of Nepa.
Not to ignore, I probably was the one that accelerated it's death, because I used it as my workstation for my blender modeling and rendering.

Thought I'd make this into something educational, and show the individual components.

The first picture here is the motherboard with the heatsink and fan.

Under the heatsink is the CPU (APU to be more specific).

Besides the CPU socket is the Ram slots to the left, and below the CPU socket is the bios chip I suspect.

Looks like a well used machine. You've only taken the cover off but piqued my interest in Pavilions if they withstand so much.

Gut it. Show what made it tick so well please.

Simms, lol.

RAM Sticks and Wifi card

The dried up thermal paste may be related to its overheating issue.

And this thing is dusty as heck.

The more arbitrary parts,
The CD drive, The speaker, the beat up keyboard, and deck.

I don't plan on scraping the the computer yet.

I went down a rabbit hole last night researching this computer's parts. This destroyed a myth I held about laptops that they can't be upgraded besides the ram and storage.

Turns out you could, there are multiple variations of this computer made by HP, and some MBs come with dedicated Nvidia graphics, and I was able to find ones compatible with this case, also the CPU can be upgraded as well.
I found a compatible i7 CPU, and motherboard with a GT 320 Nvidia chip, on AliExpress that would both cost me roughly 45k, and it got me curious if I'd be able to not only fix it, but upgrade it, into something worthwhile.
I can get two 4GB ram sticks for 6k locally, and also 3k for a new keyboard.

If I were to pursue this route, it'd cost me around 54k, this can add at least 5 more years of life to this machine, but is it worth it? Or should I just gather enough money to buy a new computer?

IMAliyu:
I don't plan on scraping the the computer yet.

I went down a rabbit hole last night researching this computer's parts. This destroyed a myth I held about laptops that they can't be upgraded besides the ram and storage.

Turns out you could, there are multiple variations of this computer made by HP, and some MBs come with dedicated Nvidia graphics, and I was able to find ones compatible with this case, also the CPU can be upgraded as well.
I found a compatible i7 CPU, and motherboard with a GT 320 Nvidia chip, on AliExpress that would both cost me roughly 45k, and it got me curious if I'd be able to not only fix it, but upgrade it, into something worthwhile.
I can get two 4GB ram sticks for 6k locally, and also 3k for a new keyboard.

If I were to pursue this route, it'd cost me around 54k, this can add at least 5 more years of life to this machine, but is it worth it? Or should I just gather enough money to buy a new computer?

sell d working parts n get a new laptop

If you plan to upgrade it do so for the hard drive, RAM and processor. Since the system is not gaming oriented, it won’t have the necessary airflow to deal with dedicated graphics. You can do that only if you change the casing. Back in 2005 technicians could fit laptop parts into mini ATX towers. They were basically desktops made from laptop components.

suffering:
If you plan to upgrade it do so for the hard drive, RAM and processor. Since the system is not gaming oriented, it won’t have the necessary airflow to deal with dedicated graphics. You can do that only if you change the casing. Back in 2005 technicians could fit laptop parts into mini ATX towers. They were basically desktops made from laptop components.

Upgrading the Memory and Ram will be simple, so they are not top priority.

The damaged part is the motherboard, and instead of replacing with the same exact board, I found other MBs from a different variations of this same laptop which all use the same casing.
Some of these boards have dedicated Nvidia graphics chips built-in, and that's what I'm thinking of getting. Their heatsink and fan will also fit my current case.
But you make a good point, since it's not a dedicated gaming machine it will still struggle with airflow.
The CPU I thought of getting was an i7 740qm, it's compatible with the system, has 4cores 8threads and 1.7-2.9ghz clock speeds, though it's still an 11 year old cpu.

I have a Micro ATX case from a much older computer, it's an interesting idea, I will look into it.

I've contemplated on it, and it seems like the cheaper route to getting a system with good performance. Because I want game and use the machine for heavy work loads like rendering animations.
I've asked around my local computer retailers, a decent used computer with an i5 processor will cost me North of 100k.

I got tagged by the bot.

IMAliyu:

Upgrading the Memory and Ram will be simple, so they are not top priority.

The damaged part is the motherboard, and instead of replacing with the same exact board, I found other MBs from a different variations of this same laptop which all use the same casing.
Some of these boards have dedicated Nvidia graphics chips built-in, and that's what I'm thinking of getting. Their heatsink and fan will also fit my current case.
But you make a good point, since it's not a dedicated gaming machine it will still struggle with airflow.
The CPU I thought of getting was an i7 740qm, it's compatible with the system, has 4cores 8threads and 1.7-2.9ghz clock speeds, though it's still an 11 year old cpu.

I have a Micro ATX case from a much older computer, it's an interesting idea, I will look into it.

I've contemplated on it, and it seems like the cheaper route to getting a system with good performance. Because I want game and use the machine for heavy work loads like rendering animations.
I've asked around my local computer retailers, a decent used computer with an i5 processor will cost me North of 100k.

Buying a used computer is a better option than refurbishing a ten year old laptop. If you have the money, why not buy one? I can see the appeal of coupling things yourself, but that fairly used system will likely be three to four years old while your complete build will turn out a high spec machine from eight or nine years ago. A single core processor from three years ago will utterly decimate an i7 from eight years ago especially if the software running on it is modern.

You can buy the second hand system then fix this laptop with whatever remains. Having something to compose documents and browse the web on is always handy. I will honestly recommend selling this laptop for parts then buying the fairly used system plus a tablet.

suffering:
Buying a used computer is a better option than refurbishing a ten year old laptop. If you have the money, why not buy one? I can see the appeal of coupling things yourself, but that fairly used system will likely be three to four years old while your complete build will turn out a high spec machine from eight or nine years ago. A single core processor from three years ago will utterly decimate an i7 from eight years ago especially if the software running on it is modern.

You can buy the second hand system then fix this laptop with whatever remains. Having something to compose documents and browse the web on is always handy. I will honestly recommend selling this laptop for parts then buying the fairly used system plus a tablet.

Alright, thanks for the advice.

Looks like sokoto.

IMAliyu:
Thought I'd make this into something educational, and show the individual components.

The first picture here is the motherboard with the heatsink and fan.

Under the heatsink is the CPU (APU to be more specific).

Besides the CPU socket is the Ram slots to the left, and below the CPU socket is the bios chip I suspect.

Are you a student of electrical/electronic or a professional electronics repair?

Seems you have knowledge about electronics.

Emusan:


Are you a student of electrical/electronic or a professional electronics repair?

Seems you have knowledge about electronics.

Not really, I just like computers, and I've spent sometime following tech channels learning about them.
I hope to be able to afford buying parts and building a desktop computer by myself someday.

IMAliyu:

Not really, I just like computers, and I've spent sometime following tech channels learning about them.
I hope to be able to afford buying parts and building a desktop computer by myself someday.

That's nice

Do you know how to read schematic diagram?

Emusan:


That's nice

Do you know how to read schematic diagram?

No, my knowledge doesn't go that deep, nothing outside of recognizing a few electric symbols I learned in secondary School physics.

IMAliyu:

No, my knowledge doesn't go that deep, nothing outside of recognizing a few electric symbols I learned in secondary School physics.

Eyah! But having the zeal to one day assemble your own PC should encourage you to go deeper.

Anyways, I'm good in schematic reading and PCB design.

Emusan:


Eyah! But having the zeal to one day assemble your own PC should encourage you to go deeper.

Anyways, I'm good in schematic reading and PCB design.

Oh, do you have any sources on an introduction to schematics?

IMAliyu:
Oh, do you have any sources on an introduction to schematics?

Actually, I can't say there's any source that specifically talks about schematic simply because schematic is just a symbollic diagram that shows how electrical components are placed and wired to form a complete circuit. So your search will always return with something like: introduction to electronics e.t.c. which will still be teaching you, properties of electrical components like Resistor, Capacitor, Inductor e.t.c in which if a person isn't a professional electrical engineer or having indepth knowledge of electrical/electronics might not still be able to put together.

But believe me, in the world we live today, learning has surpassed that.

So, to be a good Board designer/PCB designer, you only need to rise up to the challenge. That is, ready to dedicate time and your freedom because one thing a Board designer don't do is a mistake and by reading wrong Resistor part number is a mistake that can burn/destroy your board.

Having said that, the best way to go is to find a simple schematic diagram and try to study it first.

Let me use Arduino as example:

Arduino no matter the one you're talking about can only be divided into three sections.
1. Voltage Regulator - that is how power is supplied to it.
2. Voltage management - that is how various source of power are managed (Note: Arduino can be powered from USB connected to system, 9V DC Jack, VIN rail 5V, 3.3V)
3. The microcontroller section.

If you can get yourself familiar with a simple cuicuit like this then you can begin to grow your electronic design knowledge.

The most interesting thing about being a PCB designer is how one can easily pick a board and understand the working process.

For more than a month now, I've been working on a LAPTOP BOARD infact, I feel so excited because I fully understand how component like RAM is interconnected to PROCESSOR, if will plug power cord into power Jack, how the system distributes the power.

You can read more on this THREAD

Thou I decided to pause on it because I've been working on how to arrange online tutorial for people who have been showing interest on how to be a good PCB designer.