Atom N550 retailers?

[idata]

Where can one buy an Atom N550? I know this is a fairly new cpu,but someone somewhere should sell it. Also,has anyone seen any instructions for intalling? I have an HP-210 , 2190NR I want to upgrade. Usually someone has a youtube post or a link or some info. I found out how to replace everything on the HP-210 except for the processor. I called Tiger Direct,they almost laughed at me for asking if they sell it. It almost seems as if this processor is built into the board,and the only way to upgrade is replace entire motherboard. I am no computer expert,but I have built probably 20 or more computers over the last 10 years, so I do know my way around installing a processor. I have never ran into a computer I could not upgrade. Anyone got any help on this one?

[DSilv11]

Hmm, very strange that the ordeer number is not on Intels site.

(which makes me think it may be special order OEM only.)

A little more digging found the S-spec in the spec update SLBFX

and a Google of that found the order number at CPU world. Order number is AU80610006291AA

As for how to put it on a board, That one is beyond the skill set of almost everyone except a professional rework technician,

(hence the tiger direct laughter), These are not socketed CPU's like you have on a desktop. These are soldered down 559 pin BGA's

I would not recommend trying it, but if you decide to go ahead I would find a BGA rework shop to do it for you.

Then you may still have BIOS issues.

Here are the general steps.

This is a 559-ball micro-FCBGA8 package. http://download.intel.com/design/processor/datashts/322844.pdf http://download.intel.com/design/processor/datashts/322844.pdf Pg 65

It is not a removable CPU.

• In general you heat the old processor past the melting point of the solder, but not so hot as to damage the board.
• Lift the old processor off and dispose of it as it is not worth the cost of re-balling if you even want to try.
• Clean the 559 pads of solder, flux or anything else while inspecting for damage. If board has been damaged ( ~ 15% chance). Scrap and start over..
• Place new processor exactly aliened on the 559 pins with a high power solder scope.
• Heat the BGA with a BGA soldering tool to seat.

When I have a professional rework technician do this with all the right equipment, the success rate is about 30%. ( When I need to test a BGA, I usually ship it to the factory and have them built it on to a new board.because the rework failure rate is so high)

There are sockets for holding a BGA rather than hard soldering it, but you never see them in a production piece of hardware. They tend to be flaky at best and it is just as difficult to mount a socket as the BGA.

More on soldering BGA's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed_circuit_board http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed_circuit_board

There are a variety of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldering soldering techniques used to attach components to a PCB. High volume production is usually done with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMT_placement_equipment machine placementand bulk wave soldering or reflow ovens, but skilled technicians are able to solder very tiny parts (for instance 0201 packages which are 0.02 in. by 0.01 in.)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed_circuit_board# cite_note-11 [12] by hand under a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microscope microscope, using tweezers and a fine tip http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldering_iron soldering iron for small volume prototypes. Some parts are impossible to solder by hand, such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_grid_array ball grid array(BGA) packages.