M17x R2 CPU upgrade to 920xm

As the title says I'm going to upgrade my CPU to the 920xm. I have been looking on eBay and there are a lot of them for sale for $300-400 range. Does anyone have any preferred sellers for those CPUs?

Also I have read so many different posts about heat paste and pads what is the correct info? Do I need pads for the CPU and what is the current best paste to use.

After this upgrade I will be thinking about a GPU upgrade.

Brandon

 

Hi,

Post your current config please.

I purchased mine with laptopmonkey, you can find it on ebay. Fast shipment and reliable guys. Paste, i've used Arctic Silver 5, but if lazyness will leave me a bit i'll repaste with some shin-etsu, since i'm using it on the gpu's and having nice results

 

I don't remember if there was any pads on the CPU. I used IC Diamond for the repaste, it seems to be if not the best, the best. Used to swear by Artic Silver but it's not even in the same league as IC diamond.

If you are using dual 5870's the 920xm will be a substantial upgrade, otherwise the GPU is actually the biggest bottleneck.

 

My current configuration is the i7 740 with nvidia 285's in SLI with 8 gigs of ram. Hard drive is a 128gb SSD and a 750gb data drive for the second drive.

 

laptop monkey on e-bay. Fantastic seller, and super quick shipping +1 year warranty. Just upgraded myself about a month ago.

I used OCZ Freeze for the processor and have been very happy with the results.

Good luck!

 

I was just looking on eBay at the CPUs and saw that they are all QS versions. Spec Q3B8. Are those ok or should I stay away from them?

 

Hello all, I purchased a 920xm from laptop monkey and installed it last night. The performance jump In crisis 2 was great! The config I had prior was i7 m620 w/ CF 5870's and 4gig ram. I only upgraded the CPU but before when I ran crisis 2 I was running native res @ 1920x1200 and hardcore setting (supposed to be MAX) and it ran okay but it lagged in certain areas and now, smoother than ever! I have lots of games to test it on but I did notice two games in particular that worsened SIGNIFICANTLY after the upgrade! Need for speed the run and the witcher 2. I ran need for speed the run on all ultra with AA x8 and it lagged sometimes but usually pretty smooth. Now, when I drive, it's like I'm going in slow motion!!! I changed the settings to recommended and still it's going in slow motion!! Maybe I need to reinstall? The same goes for the witcher 2, before I did the upgrade, it ran fine! Upgrade, used same settings and BAM, slow/laggy/unplayable... Any ideas? Other games so far are okay, I think if I reinstall the games it may help, I don't know. I mean, what can upgrading a CPU do that would make me need to reinstall certain games? Only thing I can think of is .net framework or whatever may need to be reinstalled when I install the game but right now, I'm totally stumped. Any advice?

 

What are your temps?

 

after running prime 95 for about 5 minutes, my temps were about 85-87 on two cores and 65-75 on the other two. i can run again and post images if you think itll help. i just dont get it though, other games run fine, just those two so far...

 

Mine idles at like 40's, and full load can get up to like 88-90C, no overclocks for mine and I haven't bothered to repaste mine. 27C ambient room temperature.

 

right now its idling below 50, moving between 45-48. i used MX2 thermal paste and torqued the heatsink evenly. computer isnt having issues, and games are doing fine, just those two games... im going to reinstall em and see what happens..

 

you could also try reinstalling your video card drivers and seeing if that helps. Just a thought.

 

when video card drivers are installed do they "sync" with the current cpu? i.e. are they linked? (gpu drivers and cpu)

 

Pull up CPU-Z and make sure it's reading 4 cores 8 threads in the bottom right.

 

Bigtony, thanks so much! i uninstalled ALL ATI and AMD stuff on my comp and reinstalled my ATI drivers (12.1) and its running better than before! nfs the run, all ultra, no issues. before the reinstall, my WEI was: cpu=7.4 ram=5.9 graphics=6.7 gaming=6.7 hard disk=5.9. NOW cpu=7.4 ram=7.4 graphics= 7.2 gaming= 7.2 hard disk= 5.9. the weird thing is, is i had a 5.9 for ram when i had the i7 m620 (4gig ram) and now i have a 7.4 (still with 4 gig ram) SO, problem solved, now i need to upgrade gpu's but the processor upgrade, HUGE improvement! thanks again Tony +rep ***any know why my WEI improved ALOT (5.9-7.4) on ram when i didnt upgrade ram?***

 

Not sure, but glad you got it fixed dude.

 

Hey guys.

I'm reviving this thread as opposed to opening a new one - I hope that's OK.

I'm too looking to upgrade to a 920XM from my 840QM in my M17x-R2, but I'm kinda a newbie when it comes to all this.

Is changing from the 840QM to the 920XM as simple as simply popping out one and popping in the other? Or is it more involved than that in regards to tinkering in the BIOS et al?

ALSO, is this the CPU I'm looking for? >>> "INTEL i7 920XM 3.2GHz quad QS mobile CPU processor for 55 chipset" (I didn't know if linking to ebay stuff was permitted!).

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Yes it's just a simple swap, no need to update your BIOS or anything. Yes that is the CPU you are looking for.

 

Awww brilliant, TY!

Although the 920XM seems like a nice deal @~£200, will it be much of an upgrade over the 840QM I currently have?

 

Yes. The 840QM cannot perform as well as the 920XM. You can run all the cores at max turboboost with the XM proc and set multipliers as you wish. You cannot with a QM proc.

 

Just a quick FYI as I understand it. The XM processors(920xm and 940xm) enable you to run all cores at max turboboost on all, whereas the other processors won't let you.

To take full advantage of this ability, you'll also need Throttlestop. Reason why I say you'll need Throttlestop(TS) to take full advantage is that even if the XM processor lets you run all cores at max speed, it will throttle the cores down if they reach a certain temp. Not sure what the default temp is where it'll start throttling, but with TS, you can change this to whatever you feel comfortable with. As the m17x R2 has quite reasonable cooling, you can set this level relatively high so that all the cores are able to stay at max speed for much longer under load(if not all the time).

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

you are correct ghost.
the older bioses didn't even need throttlestop for a nice boost. it auto set 24 multi across the board (920xm) regardless of how many cores were used.

i remember the rage when they altered their bios to match intels specs.

 

The latest bios will also set the default at 24 for the 920XM on each core. ThrottleStop doesn't stop throttling at a certain temp. The 920XM will throttle at 95°C Regardless of weather or not throttle stop is used. But for this chip what throttle stop does allow is to set the TDP/TDC limits for the CPU. This is basically the Turbo Boost power. The higher the TDP, the higher you will sustain turbo. For Instance, at stock and full load on wPrime 1024, you may be able to hold a multiplier of 19 across all four cores. This is at the stock 55W. Bump that up to 90W, and now your CPU has the power to run wPrime 1024 at a multiplier of 23 across all four cores now. But, now your CPU will run hotter since it's pushing more watts. Your 920XM will throttle back bigtime when it reaches 95°C

 

I have a i7 740qm with my Asus G73 , If I upgrade to i7 940xm will I see any improvement in gaming>?

 

I read replies from Mr. Fox, ghostdunks and xeroxide and got REALLY EXCITED! I never realised that all cores could be made to run with a TurboBoost at the SAME TIME - I thought it was the same deal as my 840QM whereby I see a clock of 3GHz on a single core when I'm just casually using my lappy, and always the 1.9Ghz across all 4 when gaming. I figured with the 920XM that'd be the same case, only this time with a 2.0Ghz whilst gaming, hence why I asked if the upgrade was worthwhile.


Then I read the reply from DR650SE and got a lil confused again. OK, so ThrottleStop will allow me to increase the power/TDP to the CPU, which in turn allows it to run all the cores at the higher multiplier of 24 at the same time, which translates to a clock speed of 3GHz+ across all cores at the same time. But the downside of this being increased heat, and the CPU will throttle at 95oC, no matter what.

>>> this begs the question, can a 920XM be made to run @3GHz across all cores, under significant load (gaming!), for any substantial length of time (hours!)?

As a "comparison" - my 840QM (CPU-Z says Max TDP is 45W) tops off around 74oC during lengthy periods of gaming, such as BF3 for example. HWiNFO64 logs show that no core actually ever hits 100% usage at any time.


+rep to all you guys BTW - I feel enlightened and smarter, and it's not even lunch time yet! TYVM!

 

@wonderpookie, it sounds like you have it all correct. If you have a good CPU paste job, then your temps will be fine. You'll have to run throttlestop and a benchmark to see where your temps are. I perfer wPrime 1024 with 8 threads so the CPU is at 100%. Eventually you will find a combo that allows you the most wattage/TDP and will remain in the thermal limits. Something like 85W would probably do. And your temps should max around 85°C-90°C It all depends but will take some trial and error.

So yes, the 920XM doesn't have limits on certain cores/conditions. All cores will utilize turbo boost as much as they can given temp and power consumption limits. The stock limit I believe is actualy 62W for the 920XM in an M17x R2. Dell left the limits out. So by utilizing Throttlestop, to increase the TDP (Thermal Design Power), you can increase the turbo boost limit.

Assuming you have decent cooling, the CPU can run at 3GHz on all cores for an extended period of time.

In fact at one point the released a BIOS I believe A08, which limited the cores. I did some testing and presented the results to the dell engineering team, and soon after (10 days) they released A09 which removed the limits for the R2. All bios' since then have no limits on cores.
Here is my testing for above situation

 

@wonderpookie, yup, thats pretty much the major advantage of the XM chips(Xtreme Mobile?) over the regular chips - the fact that they can be made to run all cores with max turbo at the same time. I too thought at first that the higher rated chips were just that, an extra 0.1 or 0.2 GHz, etc. Then when I found out that they could turbo all cores to the max at same time, I was sold! Bang for buck, I love it.

Thanks must go to DR650SE for explaining it in much more detail. I kept getting confused with the TDP/TDC with temps and whatnot, hence why I wasn't 100% on it. His explanation makes a lot more sense after I read it and also consulted the Throttlestop guide( http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...arket-upgrades/531329-throttlestop-guide.html)

Just FYI, I run at a TDP/TDC of 90/75 on my 920xm and I have run at 3GHz on all cores for quite some time while burning in/benchmarking. Temps are usually around 85-90, depending on ambient temp.

 

not much. you might gain a few frames, but your main bottle neck will be your vid card

 

Hey ppl!

I finally managed to get hold of a 920XM. I'll stick it in tomorrow (sleep deprived from playing Neverwinter Nights 2 all night).

I have a few n00b Qs first though, most of which have either been explicitly answered and/or implicitly implied (what other type of imply is there? )by various NBR'ers, but I panic whenever I open up my hardware and get nervous so I really wanna make sure I know exactly what's what so I don't screw anything up

Firstly, is if the change from my 840QM to 920XM simply a plug and play switch job? Take one out, put the other one in it's place? (making sure to line things up properly etc?)

>>>I don't need to play with any settings either on hardware or in BIOS?

Secondly, I used IC Diamond 24 not so long ago on all GPUs and CPUs. Although I am very happy with the job it's doing, I've since come to understand that it can scratch and/or corrode things ... is this going to be problematic? I used Arctic Clean to remove the original Dell TIM quickly and easily - can I use the same for the ICD? I have in fact emailed the ICD guys but have yet to receive word back from them.

Finally, pea-sized blob of TIM or something else for our rectangular CPUs? Again, waiting on ICD to send some word.

Thanks guys! I'll come back and bug you all for help with ThrottleStop when (be positive!) I get that far

 

Yea it's plug and play. Just don't forget to use a flat head on the lock down screw. Just twist it 180° counter clockwise to unlock the 840QM. Put the 920XM in the slot, twist the lock down screw clockwise 180°. Apply ICD. I like to spread it with a finger and baggy or credit card. heating up the ICD tube near a bulb for a few min will make it softer and easier to work with. Once the chip is pasted and locked down, reassemble and it should boot. Just ensure that you have everything plugged in securely. Then you shoul dbe good to go.

ICD will scratch the die slightly when removed because diamond is harder then the die, but it won't corrode anything. the scratches won't hurt anything either. TIM is made so it fills in the tiny imperfections and tiny spaces between the CPU die and heatsink.

 

Hey thanks for the advice DR and for putting my mind at ease!

Just got an email from the president of Cooling Innovations - he said to use a line down the centre of the CPU, 3/4 of the length. He also said to use a "good solvent such as Acetone" - same thing as Arctic Clean, right?

 

Yea, you can just use alcohol. I think all those things are just alcohol based and alcohol is a house hold item. I just like to spread to ensure the entire die has a very thin layer on it. Either method should work well.

 

One final question before I go do this thing!

My i7 840QM has this transparent brown plasticy paper around the main CPU. The i7 920XM I had delivered doesn't. Do I need this? Should I try and remove it from the 840 and stick it around the 920 before I paste and seal it all back up? Or does it not really matter?

What is that plasticy thing? What does it do? I'm assuming it stops your paste job from getting where it shouldn't - ?

THANKS GUYS!

 

Plastic is just there to keep paste off the chips. It doesn't make a difference. You don't need it.

 

Awesome! Thanks DR!

OK THEN - away I go!






If you don't hear back from me within a few hours, assume I've buggered it all up and am sat in the corner of my room, gently rocking back and forth and muttering incomprehensibly to myself.

Edit: I have indeed buggered something up

I'm sending this from my elderly neighbour's iPad, lol.

So, managed to get to CPU very quickly and easily. Managed to change out the 840 for the 920 which slipped in just fine. Pasted it. Put it all together. I was flying. That should've been my first clue.

When I came to turn it on, the the fans revved up and then the following lights flashed on the indicator panel... On top left of panel... scroll FLASHING, caps SOLID LIGHT, num FLASHING.

I thought maybe some ribbons were loose so went back and checked the keyboard and screen ones, took some off and reattached. In the process managed to snap the ill plastic bit off one of the keyboard ribbons that you use to make attaching the ribbon easier. Annoying but I guess that doesn't matter.

Switched back on, same lights.

Someone please tell me something is just loose and I haveni't screwed this royally.

Waiting on my neighbour'S iPad with baited breath! I'm amazed I can type this competently on it actuakly. I may have to rethink my apple hate.

ANYWAY GUYS... PLEASE HELP, TY!!!

 

I had exactly the same and it was one of the screen cables that wasnt seated properly ... took 2 or 3 attempts to get it seated properly .
HTH

 

Here are the flash codes ... points to lcd ?
Check for LED Behavior on Alienware M17x of M15x When a No Post Situation Is Suspected - KB Article - 367784 | Dell

 

i looked a few weeks ago and ebay has them for 288 for retail and 220 for ES...sorry if someone already posted this


http://imageshack.us/g/859/howtoapplyicdiamond.png/

i have posted these several times....if the cpu is rectangle use a line. a toothpick is handy to separate the ICD from the tub and gentle place it in place.

I'll post demo pics of this once i get my new fan for my cooling system

 

Yea, as Proz stated, reseat your LCD cable. It will be the cable with the larger plug. the other cable is for the webcam Alien FX on the alienhead/lid. try removing the keyboard and doing it again. Make sure the ribbon on it is pulled up and the plug is seated all the way down and snug. Then move the ribbon down so it's out of the way. Also make sure to clean the connections maybe a hair or something got in there.

 

TY SO MUCH BROTHER!

My complete guess about the flash codes was right then - LCD error. I played about with the 2 cables again, and now I'm back on my lappy with a new 920XM TO PLAY WITH!

That was a scary half hour... using an ipad and all

EDIT:- thx DR!

OK - I'm gonna go play with this thing- you can all expect more annoyance when I start to play about with ThrottleStop.

TY ALL, IT'S GREATLY APPRECIATED! <3

 

Glad you got it working. Not sure what is worse, not having an R2 or being forced to use an Apple product.

 

No problem ... Happy to help
I had exactly the same scary moment when i did my cpu

 

Even without messing around in ThrottleStop, The Witcher 2 is already much smoother. So I guess it was CPU bound just as someone said here @NBR. Only reason why I upgraded to the 920XM tbh!

Let's monitor some clocks with HWiNFO both before and after TS and see how that translates into performance. This is so much nerdy fun!

 

Increasing the TDP is where your going to find the most value. Up it from the stock 62w up to 80W. Your temps will increase, but what increasing TDP does it it gives the chip more power to turbo boost. At stock at 100% load you'd probably sit at around 18x-19x multiplier. 80W maybe around 20-21 multipliers. Try it and see. Just monitor temps.

 

So, I just hit the TPL button and edit TDP to read 80W? Do I need to change the TDC also or not?


And then just turn it on?

 

Yea just turn it on, TDC I don't think does a whole lot. Once you close out throttle stop the tdp values will remain as closing program will not reset your TDP. To reset it you will need to either restart or use throttle stop to set them back to default.

 

OK. Some results to report! I used both 3DMark11 and The Witcher 2, TW2 (using HWiNFO to monitor) as my benchmarks.

My 5870Ms were running @1.15V, 900/1150Mhz (up from stock 1.05V, 700/1000).

With i7-920XM@stock TDP of 62W;

3DMark Score = 5161
Graphics Score = 5186
Physics Score = 5776 (up from 4700 with my 840QM)

With i7-920XM@TDP of 80W;

3DMark Score = 5258
Graphics Score = 5187
Physics Score = 6699

So certainly in regards to benchmarking with 3DMark11, there's been a significant increase in the CPU's performance through increasing the TDP from 62W to 80W.





Looking now to The Witcher 2, with my 840QM, I'd get these drops in FPS (into mid 20s from 40-60) at certain places/directions of view - these coincided with drops in GPU usage and someone here @NBR told me about CPU bottlenecking and TW2 being heavily CPU dependant.

>>> with stock 920XM, these drops are better by ~4-6fps (I would guess)
>>> with TDP of 80W, these drops are better by ~5-7fps (guess, but I can tell it's a bit better than at stock 62W TDP).

When I look at the logged CPU core clock speeds in HWiNFO;

@stock TDP 62W, the cores usually all run at ~3191.8MHz/3187.1MHz, with the odd 1 or 2 occasionally registering as 1197.1MHz for a single reading.

@ TDP 80W, the cores usually all run at ~3191.8MHz/3187.2MHz, with the odd 1 ONLY (not 2) registering as ~1197.1MHz for a single reading.

>>> I don't know how relevant these core clock speed readings are, but it would appear on the surface of it that increasing the TDP from 62W to 80W has only very slightly improved things (in as far as playing TW2 is concerned). Certainly this would translate well into only a slight increase in FPS whilst playing TW2 that I can attest to.


So I dunno. I'm happy that the FPS drops in TW2 don't annoy me as much as they did with my 840QM where they were definitely more noticable. Plus, I've always cared waaaay too much about absolute FPS numbers and need to look more at the "smoothness" of play, which I admit, is definitely better now.

My CPU temps during TW2 never went higher than the low 80s. Is there anyway I can perhaps try and pump more from this 920XM? In ThrottleStop, I note I am able to change the "maximum turbo ratio limits" which are currently all set at 24. Will upping these do anything?

Also I recall reading a while back that the modded A10 BIOS unlocked some OCing features for the XM CPUs... anything I can play with in there?

Thanks for all the help DR. It's hugely appreciated, I hope it hasn't been too time consuming on your side!

Maybe if I'd known a few weeks back brother!

 

i dont know much about overclocking cpus yet....since i haven't installed mine but can't you set it for like 27 27 20 20 multipliers? does that help give you better FPS by focusing TDP on single/duel threaded stuff?

 

Decided to see what would happen if I upped those "maximum turbo ratio limits" to 25 from 24.

FPS in Witcher 2 increased 1-2 FPS, I would guess.
3DMark11;

3DMark Score = 5266 (up 8)
Graphics Score = 5192
Physics Score = 6736 (up 39)

I guess neglible diffs really, but being the FPS that I am

Can I up the TRL anymore? Temps seem fine.

OK, busy Saturday awaits. Bloody kids. Take care guys, have a great weekend!

 

in my case if i set TRL to 26 on 4 cores, when i run a bench, system crashes. I didn't try bumping the voltage, i think it is not worth the risk