2960xm Oem

There are a couple of 2960's OEM on eBay for about $950 and a friend has one for $850. Right now I'm using a 2630qm. Would a 2960 work in my computer and does the price seem right? I saw some OEM's on eBay for $11 &$1200

 

Only if you think you need the power. Remember it is a hell of a lot of money to spend.

 

if you don't need extreme overclocks...this 2920xm is an ES but is completely unlocked...and it will cost you $300 shipped

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Intel-i7-mob...400?pt=CPUs&hash=item3a708145e8#ht_926wt_1344

 

I remember reading one of GeorgieCakes posts that OEM's overclock better.

 

They do because they have higher max tdp's, however, if you don't need the highest bench score, this one is probably better for most people. Its a $300 completely unlocked CPU that will probably still allow you to get around 4ghz. I think this one maxes out at 99 so you're lookin at hi 3's ghz for sure, maybe 4ghz depending on the chip

 

In extreme overclocking scenarios, e.g. 4.4Ghz all cores and higher, plus stability at such an overclock at full load.

I've seen 2920XMs overclock better than 2960XMs as well. All depends on your sample.

 

thanks for the feedback guys, I'll do some thinking but the one SlickDude mentioned sounds good

 

Be aware of what that chip is. It is not a true 2920xm; it's a sort of hybrid 2820QM-2920XM combination that was an experimental chip that never reached the QS level. It essentially uses 2820 clocks with a 45W TDP, but has unlocked multipliers, an odd creature. Several folks in the M18x forum or at TI bought those chips, notably Akimox. They work as advertised but max out well before the legitimate 2920xm's do. So, it's an interesting chip but not a 2920XM. I note that prices for real 2920ES chips have jumped significantly, up to ~$650. See INTEL i7 2920XM extreme 3.5GHZ 8Mb -- best mobile CPU-- | eBay. I didn't see any ES versions of the 2960XM at all?

 

Rev, it is a hybrid for sure. Do you know what it maxes at? My guess is 3.8 - 3.9ghz depending on the chip

That's why i said, if you don't need the highest extreme OC, this may be a decent chip for most people and $300 is very affordable compared to what the OEM Xm chips are going for, or even the 2.5ghz 2920 ES's are going for

now the good thing is that at 3.8ghz, the temps will be much more manageable

 

I've forgotten the details, Slick. I'm not disagreeing with anything you've said, just suspected that some of it might not be clear to someone not familiar with the background and expecting a version of the true 2920XM. It could be attractive to someone looking for some extra oomph, but not serious overclocking.

 

I believe that you'll have to purchase a new heatsink, which has 3 heat pipes. If you purchased your M17x with a regular non-XM cpu, you will have a heatsink with 2 heat pipes, which is insufficient for cooling the CPU so there's quite a lot of hassel involved in switching to an XM CPU.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Can anyone confirm this? I have the 2 pipe heatsink and I'm thinking about buying the 2920XM ES

 

Widezu would be the happiest person in the world if they made 3 heatpipe cpu coolers for the R3, but unfortunately, there is only a 2 heatpipe cooler.

All those with 2920's and 2960's in m17x R3's are using the default 2 heatpipe cooling. It's sufficient but if you go to 4.2ghz+, you will be fighting temps. Probably 4ghz is about the max that you can reliably go with the stock cooling. (this assumes a repaste with good paste and the back of the laptop raised either with a notebook cooler or some other means).

Those that do 4.4+ ghz can only maintain for a short period of time as the 100c barrier will be met underload

 

There is no 3 pipe heatsink for the CPU, all use the dual pipe one. Back some time ago, we got sucked into a wild goose chase in search of the 3 pipe CPU heatsink alleged to be available in Europe based on some uninformed comments from a noobie. It doesn't exist.

 

Alrighty, I want one to mainly just lock in speeds around 3.5 or so constantly. Just wish I could sell my 2820QM afterwards to make up the cost, but I'll need it for warranty issues

+rep!

 

Yeah that was a lost search. The M18x has some ES units with 3 pipe CPU heatsinks. The cooling in the R3 is decent and it can handle reasonable OC's on an XM CPU.

 

did you get the extended warranty?

I already sold my 2630qm that came with my laptop stock. Sold it to someone upgrading from a dual core and got a really good price on it. I only have 1 yr warranty anyways, so for me it isn't a big deal

I assume that you saw that post on the m18x forums about the custom heatsink they were creating? Are they making one for the m17x r3? Can you beg them to? He would have a ton of sales

 

Yeah, I've got Complete Care until 1/11/2014. Technician asks, "Is this the stock CPU?" I say, "What? Now how did that get in there?" lol

 

lol yea, in your case, you have to keep the CPU for sure because you spent a small fortune on the warranty...but you know what they say:

"If you want to play, you've gots to pay"

 

Ah right, I was muddled up with the M18x then because the M18x from dell includes a tripple heat pipe with their XMs and a double heat pipe with their QMs

Also, I've been told that the lifetime of the XMs is not very good when you purchase it externally from a source like laptopmonkey. It may be better just to stick with the QM.

 

i wonder how much better the 3 heatpipe version is compared to the 2 heatpipe version in the m18x. Do you know of anyone who put an XM processor using a 2 heatpipe cooler? I would assume that the cooling would be similar to what we experience in the m17x R3 which means adequate cooling after a repaste and back raised for up to 4ghz

Usually, dell will put a large margin of error in there

 

@javilionaire Wow, you're wrong again. They don't offer 3 heat pipes at all, it's actually 1 for the QM & 2 for the XM. The M18x cools the CPU far more efficiently than the R3 though.

 

Actually it's a single heat pipe for QMs and the double for XMs On the m18x And I ordered a 2920xm from eBay $300 works like a champ **EDIT** sniped from GeoCake lol

 

The more I think about it, I think it's just the part inside me wanting the biggest and baddest all the time. I honestly propably wouldn't push it much farther than what my 2860 does in Turbo, so it not the best investment for me.

The warranty wasn't bad though. For $280, I could drop my laptop down a flight of steps and get a new one. They really do have the best warranty around.

 

Oh right, my bad. Would be pretty sweet if they had a tripple heat pipe sink!

So the M17x can only have a single heat pipe, heat sink.

 

Wow wrong again! The M18x has 1 pipe for QM, 2 pipe for XM. The M17x R3 has 2 pipes, period.

The efficiency of the R3 2 pipe is not as good as the M18x 2 pipe as the one in the heat needs to travel further in the M17x version.