Question about getting some hardware upgrades for my laptop

pdegan2814

I have an Asus TUF FX505DU gaming laptop, and I'm looking to get some hardware inside it replaced in the near future. I have plenty of experience working in desktop PCs, but not with laptops, so I'd just as soon have a pro do it. I'd like to replace both the cpu and gpu fans(at least one of them grinds a fair bit, it might just need cleaning but I'd rather just replace them while I'm having it serviced to be cautious), upgrade to 32GB of memory(2x16), swap the mechanical 2.5" drive(data drive, the OS is a m.2 ssd) for a 2.5" SSD, and swap the 802.11ac wifi card with an Intel AX200 802.11ax card. I'm pretty sure you have the appropriate memory and SSD replacement parts available for sale in your store, but I'm not sure about the fans and the wifi card. Are those parts that your service department can order easily, or would it be easier to buy them myself and bring them in with the laptop? I'm also curious what level of access to my system is normally required for service like this. Do I need to provide my login credentials, or do you just check to make sure the hardware is showing up in the BIOS? This would be my first time having any work done on a laptop, I'm looking to find out as much as I can so I'm not wasting anyone's time when I bring it in.

JS_MC

Hello, @pdegan2814 Welcome to the community!

There is a fair amount here so apologies if I miss something. Please let me know. It's not intentional.

It's great to hear that you're looking to update your Laptop! We are an authorized service and repair center for ASUS laptops and we should be able to order these parts. We can't confirm that until we have your device in hand, however, since the device is fairly new, I would expect that we can order these fans. We are able to clean the internals of the laptop while we are performing the service as well!

Your laptop does have 2 RAM slots, so upgrading to 2x16GB sticks of RAM would be the maximum capacity possible for your system.

The laptops storage can be upgraded, I'm seeing that this has 1 M.2 slot and 1 slot for laptop HDD.

Your WiFi is also integrated into the motherboard of your laptop, and currently, we do not carry any 802.11ax USB adapters.

Typically, we will ask for your laptop login information so that we can ensure the service is performed correctly and everything is in working order.

Please let me know if I missed any of your questions! I hope this helps!

Thank you!

pdegan2814

From what I understand, the WiFi card is in its own m.2-formatted slot. The Intel AX200 is a similar card(in fact, most PCIe WiFi6 cards I've seen are just PCIe cards with an AX200 card plugged into them), specifically "m.2 2230 a/e key" and I've been reading multiple accounts online of people having success swapping the AX200 for the card that's normally installed in the FX505DU. It's supposed to be a matter of removing the small antenna wires from the card, removing it from the m.2 slot, putting the new card in and reattaching the wires. 

The memory and storage upgrades I imagine are pretty straightforward. I want to leave the m.2 SSD in place, and swap the mechanical 2.5" HDD for a 2.5" SATA SSD, something like a Samsung 860 EVO or similar, probably 1TB. The current memory is DDR4-2666, and I'm fine with the same speed in a higher capacity.  

How long does it normally take to order parts like the laptop fans? I use this laptop daily, and would like to minimize the amount of time it's gone. If that means ordering the parts myself and bringing them in with the laptop for installation I'm happy to do so. Parts shopping is something I've got plenty of experience with, but I've never cracked open a laptop before.

EDIT - Shoul've said straight off, thank you for getting back to me so quickly!

JS_MC

That's quite possible. I'm not familiar with this specific motherboard and you may be correct at the ease of the WiFi antenna swap. I'm not sure if this is a part we can order or not. We'd have to have the device in hand to be able to verify that info! We should be able to swap the storage with the new SSD. I too am a fan of the Samsung 860 EVO. 😊 RAM should be a very similar scenario, if we have the parts, it should be a very quick swap!

Delivery time for these parts can vary, unfortunately, I don't have a way to give you an accurate estimate until we have the device in hand. I'd recommend coming into the store to speak with a technician and then we can proceed from there!

If the laptop is still under warranty, we'd have to order all the parts internally and may not be able to use the parts you bring in. So I wouldn't purchase anything until you've had a chance to speak with our service department. They'll be able to give you an estimate for the length of time the repair will take as well!

You're quite welcome! Happy to help!

pdegan2814

I purchased it in August 2019(from another store), and both the parts and labor warrantees were for 1 year. I understand that the amount of information you can provide without a technician actually seeing the device may be limited. In addition to wanting to minimize the amount of time I'm without the laptop, I hope you can understand my desire to minimize in-person contact as well given the covid situation. I appreciate you taking the time to answer what you can in this forum. Once I'm ready to make the necessary expenditure, I'll bring it into the store and work out the rest.

Regarding the network card, if you look at the pictures of the Asus AX3000 PCI-E card your store caries, you'll see it's basicallly just a pcb with an m.2 slot on it and the AX200 card installed in the slot(I have cards just like that in my desktop PCs right now). The FX505DU's mainboard has essentially the same kind of setup for its Wifi. The m.2 slot for the WiFi is located underneath the m.2 SSD slot, so you have to remove the SSD first to access it. 

JS_MC

I completely understand and that's what we're here for! We have made many changes in-store to create a safe environment for you to shop and visit our service department. You can see more about this here!

I see what you're saying. I'd say that if we're able to order it, we'd be able to upgrade that part!

Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns!

pdegan2814

I guess my only remaining significant question is, assuming MicroCenter can order all of the requested parts, do I need to leave the laptop at the store while you wait for them to ship, or can I put in the order, wait for the parts to arrive, and then bring it in for the installation to minimize the time I'm without the laptop? 

JS_MC

It may be possible. It would depend on how the service department assesses the laptop. I don't want to promise that they definitely will be able to, but I believe that I've heard that they can offer to let keep your laptop once they confirm which parts need to be ordered.