W950TU chassis motherboard upgrade — looking for DDR4 compatible board
Hi all,
Long time lurker, first post. I have a PC Specialist laptop (rebranded Clevo/Topstar) that I'm looking to upgrade with a new motherboard to break through the 8GB RAM ceiling. Hoping someone here has done something similar or can point me in the right direction.
Current machine specs:
Chassis: Topstar U953 / PC Specialist branding
Motherboard: Topstar U953 RVP7, P/N 0195300136C2G7U101148, built 2015/11/25
Clevo base model: W950TU
CPU: Intel Core i7-6500U (Skylake, soldered BGA, 2.5GHz)
RAM: 1x Kingston KVR16LS11/8 — DDR3L 1600MHz 1.35V 8GB — single slot only, maxed out
Storage: Samsung 750 EVO 500GB SATA + SanDisk X400 512GB M.2 NGFF
WiFi: Intel 8260NGW (AC dual band)
Battery: U753-TS44-111, 11.1V, 48.8Wh
BIOS: American Megatrends v2.17.1255, dated 19/05/2016
OS: Windows 10 Home, Build 17134
Chassis physical dimensions:
Width: 37.5cm
Depth: 24cm
Height: 1cm (thin chassis)
Screen: 15.6"
Port layout confirmed:
Left side: USB-C, HDMI, 2x USB-A (one USB 3.0 SS), Kensington lock
Right side: SD card reader, 3.5mm audio, 2x USB-A
What I want to achieve:
The single DDR3L slot is the hard ceiling here — 8GB maximum, no dual channel, no upgrade path. I'd like to get to 32GB DDR4 headroom and ideally keep the chassis I have since the build quality, screen, and form factor suit me well.
The question:
Is there a Clevo motherboard — likely from the N850 or N950 series generation — that:
Physically fits the W950TU chassis footprint (screw hole pattern, board dimensions)
Has matching or compatible port cutout positions (USB-C, HDMI, USB-A placement)
Supports DDR4 with at least 2 slots (target 32GB)
Has M.2 NVMe support
I'm comfortable doing the swap myself — I've already fully disassembled the machine and have clear photos of the board, battery, ports and internals if helpful.
Any guidance on compatible boards, known pitfalls, or alternative approaches would be hugely appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
