M17 R2 cpu upgrade Help

hello :hi2: great site many thanks to all who post. :thumbsup: Great work by all. :thumbsup: I've a M17 R2 and enjoy it. Bios is A02 Cpu i5 520M Gpu ATi 4870HD 8GB Ram Raid 320 gig hdd looking to install i7 920 not xm or m currently looking for a gtx 480/660 to help boost gpu but is it worth the trouble or should I stick with the syst ive got. Would like to clock the cpu/gpu and cool the lot witth ext fans. but all ive read about the bios upgrading can go a little off I understand the recovery process by rebooting via ext usb loaded in xp. Many thanks to Maxslo on the bios unlocked for the system if I chooose to flash the Bios, but still nervous of blowing the whole bloody system up as I like the system Ive got but I know it could be alot better with a little help time and patience. it is a budget buy as its what Ive wanted. for a long time.
Thanks in advance to all replies or suggestions
St1y

 

A10 is the latest BIOS. The R2 can accept all 1st gen i7/i5/i3 processors. If you are upgrading from an i5, I'd recommend at least a 740QM or higher quad core, otherwise it's not really worth the upgrade. 840/820QM aren't bad too. 920XM is the cheapest i7 Extreme you can find, though still floating 250-300, pending if you want ES/QS/OEM. ES (Engineering Sample) are typically given to OEMs/manufacturers for testing. They aren't supposed to be resold, but generally are the cheapest as they aren't always stable/overclockable. QS (Qualification Sample) is sent to OEMs/Manufacturer for releases but not for production use, ie a demo or CES. They are typically more stable than ES, but aren't as good as OEM. OEM are 100% working processors sold to manufacturers/OEMs for sale/retail. YMMV

As for the GPU, the best GPU's known to work is 7970M Crossfire (quite pricey, only really worth it if you buy an extreme processor and overclock it to not bottleneck the cards). Then a single 7970M or 680M (680M is quite pricey and SLI does not work, 7970M you do lose HDMI sound I believe). Then it's really a tossup, but there are reports of 670M/675MX working, albeit some issues with fan speed/HDMI issues. I think the best working Nvidia SLI is 580M SLI which TBH isn't really worth it..

 

Tsunade thanks for the reply and the info. Much appreciated. I flashed the old A02 bios with the modded A10 bios. installed great then lost my OS.. Turned round and did a fresh install of win7. Updated all the drivers and tinkered round with the settings not sure whats the correct settings for a non xm i5 520m processor but with the 5% OC cpu without stress test reads 3085 mhz up from 2945mhz so its an improvement. bus speed 140.40mhz lost raid on the twin hdd but gained space.. Unsure what to do the ratings went up in the transfer speed of the hdd from 5.7 to 5.9 so thats great. will still look into the upgrades. thanks a happy R2 owner who thought he bricked it but phew.
Cant say enough about the people here and their huge wisdom and talent
Thanks again .
Any advice on the best OC settings for i5 520M appreciated for the moment while I try to buy a New Gpu and Processor

St1y

 

I've got a 920XM still sitting here. Never needed to overclock it since it was already so fast. It keeps up with all the latest games and whatnot so yeah. :3

I'd be willing to sell it to ya. (Really not trying to turn this into a for-sale thread BTW but yeah...>.>)

 

@imglidinhere thanks for the offer buddy but i'm not sure as to the rules of selling on here pm me an offer
money is tight but id have something to aim for not sure of the retail price but its high sure you'd never know
its a processor that was recommended so ill have a think about it.
Having issues when then laptop sleeps Ive to restart again it wont restore to login or session. which is a a little frustrating
So ive a bit of fine tuning to do any WISDOM appreciated.

 

Issues with sleep mode are usually caused by video drivers or outdated BIOS.

 

hey thanks @ Alienware-L! flashed the bios with A10 i7 520m. Reinstalled win 7 and updated the Amd 4870 drivers after that I have lost Catalyst control center so thats down to not installing the drivers correctly... So start all over again. with win 7 then all the updates and drivers in correct order????

 

Hello, i'm also looking for an upgrade for my M17x R2 and I found this CPU
CPU Portatile Intel i7 Mobile 720QM - Informatica In vendita a Roma
It's a 720QM, now i've got a 520M; however I'm not sure if I can use it: it says that it's compatible with G1/rPGA988A socket; i found info about the R2 socket being PGA998, is this right? And it's the same?

The price is low so if it's compatible i'm going to buy it, however I'd just like to know if will there be any noticeable differences.

 

720QM will work...but it's the lowest end Quad core i7. I would recommend at least a 740QM or 820/840QM at least, the upgrade from an i5 to i7 isn't that huge IMO, and 740QM should be around the same price range as a 720QM.

 

I was asking about the socket (not sure if the same CPU comes in different socket types, that's the first time I upgrade the CPU).

However, I found this 720QM at 35€, while the 740QM is around 60-70€.
I think I can sell my 520M for 25€, so the upgrade is almost free.

 

It's socket G1. Socket G1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

All first gen i3/i5/i7 (Arrandale, Clarksfield, i3-3xxM, i5-5xxM, i7-6xxM, i7-7xxM, i7-8xxM, i7 Extreme 9xxM).

 

Ok thanks!