The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    CPU Upgrade

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Pythagrean, Nov 20, 2011.

  1. Pythagrean

    Pythagrean Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    15
    Messages:
    52
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    My M17x R3 stats are below:

    CPU
    Intel Core i7 @ 2.00GHz i7-2630QM
    RAM
    7.94 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 699MHz (9-9-9-24)
    Graphics
    AMD Radeon HD 6990M
    Hard Drives
    733GB Western Digital WDC WD7500BPKT-75PK4T0 (SATA)
    112GB TOSHIBA MKNSSDCL 115GB-DX2 (SATA-SSD)

    I was thinking about upgrading the CPU to a i7 2820QM. Do you think I would even notice that much of a difference? All I really do is play games on this machine. I can pick one of those CPUs on ebay for a pretty good price and I just can't figure out it if it worth it. I would love to get an XT cpu, but damn those thing are expensive.
     
    Pythagrean, Nov 20, 2011
    #1
  2. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

    Reputations:
    3,079
    Messages:
    4,207
    Likes Received:
    168
    Trophy Points:
    131
    Yes they are expensive but look at what they can do :D Anyways what you do is play games, you really shouldn't need any more than what you've got. Maybe a 2760QM or 2720QM but no higher really. Waste of money if gaming is your primary concern.
     
    widezu69, Nov 20, 2011
    #2
  3. inzelux

    inzelux Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    244
    Messages:
    319
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Nah, i don't think you would feel that big of a difference. If you're looking for performance-difference ingame, i think i'd rather get another 6990m... Or just not buying anything at all, and playing the game allready at all maxed out settings? :p


    - Scott.
     
    inzelux, Nov 20, 2011
    #3
  4. qohelet

    qohelet Senior Member

    Reputations:
    306
    Messages:
    1,202
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    it does make a difference if you are playing sc2. better processor better fps in sc2.
     
    qohelet, Nov 20, 2011
    #4
  5. slacker84

    slacker84 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    31
    Messages:
    91
    Likes Received:
    59
    Trophy Points:
    26
    i guess, in that case. maybe civ 5 too. less waiting in between turns.
     
    slacker84, Nov 21, 2011
    #5
  6. Apocy

    Apocy Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    47
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I stand behind qohelet. I was with i7 720 QM and when I switched to 920XM it was almost 100% boost of FPS in SC2.

    Other games...less noticeable.
     
    Apocy, Nov 21, 2011
    #6
  7. SlickDude80

    SlickDude80 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    3,262
    Messages:
    4,997
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    106
    i went from a i7 2630 to a i7 2820 and i didn't notice a huge diff. Do it because you want the CPU and don't expect a night and day diff in games (most games)

    You're probably better off overclocking your 6990...now that, I noticed a HUGE improvement in my games
     
    SlickDude80, Nov 21, 2011
    #7