Hi,
I have an Asus K43SJ with Core i3-2310M, HM65 chipset. I’m planning to upgrade to a compatible Core i7 processor.
Looking online for compatible processors, here is my shortlist:
i7-2630QM (Q1 2011, 45W)
i7-2670QM (Q4 2011, 45W)
i7-2710QE (Q1 2011, 45W)
i7-2720QM (Q1 2011, 45W)
i7-2760QM (Q4 2011, 45W)
Has anyone experienced upgrading the same processor model? Or better yet, the same brand/model?
Any downside?
@ronjerby - unless they are blocking a 10W TDP upgrade, then all should be OK, except possibly the one noted below, rest are all same 206A7 CPUID so microcode is already in your BIOS for the rest (And 2720QM if you get SR014)
i7-2720QM (Q1 2011, 45W) >> 206A5 (Q1CL) / 206A7 (SR014) << This only one to watch out for, as far as CPU microcode included in your BIOS
@ronjerby
I have checked your model. It has a 90 Watt power supply, with nVidia GTX-520M.
Personally I have a Sony VPC-F21Z1E Vaio notebook. I have upgraded it to i7-2860QM consumes 45 Watt and later, i7-2960QM consumes 55 Watt. My device got a power supply of 150 Watt. I have modified it’s bios with the latest spectre patch too. I see no problem. The graphics I have is nVidia GTX-540M with 1 GB Ram.
I have read many reviews, comparing those two processors. The tests overlays, too close results, both close to 55 Watt. Turbo core speeds are very close. i7-2860QM 4 core turbo speed is 3300 MHz, i7-2960QM is 3400 MHz. There is only a 100 MHz difference.
So what? Well both processors can play 4K video. When playing, CPU sometimes reaches to %100 for a short time, but lowers too quickly to %30~50. The graphics card speed is not much, thus the CPU takes the job.
I have a MSI Z77A-GD65 mainboard with a i3-3220 cpu on it, it is a 2 core 3300 MHz, not even 4. If I play with on board graphics, can not manage to play truly, skips and jumps, looses sync. If I put a GTX-680 2 GB graphics card, than it can play with about %30~40 CPU power.
Finally, I want to tell is that, nVidia 5xxM serie is not sufficient for 4K playback, so the CPU takes the job. I am using Mega Codec Pack by the way. So you better try to choose the fastest possible CPU like i7-2860QM (or minimum i7-2760QM, this ones 4 core turbo speed is 3200 MHz.) you may have no trouble with 4K video playback. 2720QM is a bit low for it, 4 core turbo speed is 2900 MHz.
But, be careful! Your power supply may not be enough. You may consider buying a higher power notebook adapter. That may or may not really be necessary. After upgrade, if blue screen or low performance issues occur, you can think about. I think, there will be no issues, but use a good thermal paste. I have used, Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut performed much lower noise than my Sony’s original CPU, which was a minimum 4 core model called i7-2630QM.
This is only by the point of 4K, if you have no need for 4K, you may choose whatever you want. Good luck…
Note: The 4 core turbo speeds I wrote down, may look 100 MHz lower than Intel’s spec sheet. But, why I wrote down like that? Because the base frequency at notebooks are a bit lower than BCLK 100. So, a CPU at max turbo can not reach to its max turbo for that reason.
Max turbo of 4 core 3500 MHz, can work around 3490 MHz, but the turbo core divider can not work (does not allow to run) at that speed, thus lowers it to bare 3400 MHz, for i7-2960QM. But if a notebooks BCLK clock (would have been) a bit higher than 100 MHz, it can run this processor at full 3500 MHz with 4 core turbo successfully. But nearly all notebooks have a bit lower BCLK of 100 MHz, so this 100 MHz drop occurs!
In contrast, nearly all desktop mainboards have a bit higher BCLK clock of 100 MHz, so generally they all can reach to their max turbo relentlessly…