This is a DIY guide to replace the graphics card in the Aspire 5920 model. 

Warning! Do this in your own risk, please observe other similar modifications and understand your own skills on these tiny operations, unplug the computer and eject the battery for safer working enviroment. REQUIRES A STEADY HAND for the physical part. I am not able to hold responsible for any damages to your own systems.

PB071377

 
Table of Contents: 

1a. Suggested Tools 
1b. Materials 
2a. Open the back plate 
2b. Replacing the card 
2c. Close the case 
3a. Install the driver (ATi) 
3b. Install the driver (NVIDIA) 
4a. Remarks 
5a. Reference 
6a. Contact 

 
1a. Suggested tools: 

philips screw driver 

1b. Materials 

Aspire 5920 (With 8600m GS or GT, intel x3100 does NOT have the MXM slot) 
Thermal Paste/Pad 
MXM Type II card with Acer bios preloaded. 

2a. Opening the back plate 

First make sure you unplugged the laptop, pulled out the battery. There are 9 screws needs to be unscrewed to open the back plate they are indicated by the small red circled locations as follows: 
PB071365

Once all the screws are removed, you should be able to easily remove the back plate revealing the heat sink, graphics card, RAM, etc. 

2b. Replacing the card 

The card’s compatibility can be tricky, but if you chose the ones with Acer vBios preloaded, it shouldn’t be a problem. Which one is the graphics card? yes, the laptop graphics cards are very different then the desktop editions, you can be amazed by how small the card is compared to a desktop edition. The graphics card is shown in the image below: 
PB071370
Locate the 4 screws that holds the graphics card in place, while holding down the graphics card(avoiding the graphics card from poping out when you are unscrewing it) unscrew all 4 screws. 
PB071373
Remove the 4 screws and slowly let the graphics rise like shown: 
PB071375
Pull out the card 
PB071377
Here is a picture of the old and the new card 
PB071379
Looking at the heatsink, there is the old thermal pad, you can still use this one if you are swaping with a 8XXX series, they have the same thickness to the core, but if you have something with thinner core(usually smaller nm technology such as the ATi Radeon HD3650) you need to either use ALOT of thermal paste or a thicker version of the thermal pads, thermal pads are harder to locate in a local store. 
PB071380
 PB071381
 
PB071382
Here is a picture of the Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste 
PB071384
 
PB071386
If you have metal frame with your new card, you can remove it simply by pushing it out 
PB071389
Insert the new card in the angle you have pulled out your old one 
PB071392
Noticed that i kept the thermal paste from the shape ai squeezed it out 
PB071394
Push the card down 
PB071395
Screw the card in place 
PB071397
2c. Close the case 

Close the case as you opened it, check all the 9 screws are screwed back in. 

3a. Install the driver (ATi) 

You will be able to retrieve the driver from here(this is the ATi Vista driver provided directly for Acer laptops from Acer) 
you can also find drivers from here but these have touble playing HD-DVD or Bluray, but if you just care about games this will be better. 

3b. Install the driver (NVIDIA) 

You will be able to retrieve the driver from here(this is the NVIDIA Vista driver provided directly for Acer laptops from Acer) 
you can also find drivers from here but these have touble playing HD-DVD or Bluray, but if you just care about games this will be better. 

4a. Remarks: 

- I got my card off ebay 

- My card had Acer bios preloaded, a blind flash may be required if you have another brand 

- I am actually using ATi Mobility Radeon HD3650, since the 8600m GT had issues. 

- This DIY guide is written by me. 

- The primary opjective for this guide is to share my findings to worldwide. so others can follow, and no need to waste time for trial and error like I had to. 

Link to the picture gallery 

5a. References: 
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com MXM upgrade info can be found here 

6a. Contact 

If you have other questions, please reply on the bottom here,www.theacerguy.com or Email me at morrismurphy@gmail.com