920xm qs

hi. i was thinking to buy a 920xm qs tomrrow for 400$ to replace my i5 460m.
is it worth it? my temps are at 25 idle atm.. i was thinking to oc it with a 180w psu... should i buy the cpu? i do alot of gaming and multitasking.. i have msi gx660

 

First, check if the 920XM is supported by the system (you may need a BIOS update). Second, even at stock clocks the xtreme CPU runs way warmer, so, depending on the cooling potential, OC'ing may not be possible.

 

Chances are that it's supported, but really make sure it is... I don't really know msi, but they offers some quite hefty components for this laptop as far as I remember, for example the 285m, so the cooling shouldn't be a problem imo, but it will definitely run hotter then the i5 you're using at the moment.

I don't know what kind of PSU you have at the moment, but it's not sure that you're laptop can make use of more then the current PSU... it's possible that the power which the mobo drains is limited by the Bios or whatever.
What are your laptop specs anyway?

The 920xm is a real beast, especially together with trhottlestop, you can run it at 3.2 GHz across all cores as long as the cooling is good enough,so it will be a great upgrade when you really need CPU power.

 

i have read that other people have managed it with even 940xm so it should be possible.

specs
i5 460m
5870 1gb ddr5
1366x768 resolution
4gb ram
180w psu
with prime95 i never go over 80 and thats after 15min
30celsius idle atm

 

opinions? Im gonna decide to day

 

I would say no to the fact it can have a catastrophic effect on your cooling system. Just because someone else did it does not mean yours will be fine. Following that train of logic will you get in trouble.

Plus when SB becomes completely mainstream the 920/940XM will drop like a ton of bricks.

And do you really need a i7 Extreme over a Core i5? A i7 Extreme won't get you 500 fps in Solitaire.

 

Ok.. but yes i really need the i7 now , for max fps on games like bfbc2
u sure itll take my temps that high?? This mobo also sometimes come with 720qm, so 10more watt from that will hurt that much?

 

10 watts is almost 1/3 higher TDP the cooling system has to dissipate.

Why not a non-extreme i7? I am seeing 240~ for a i7-740QM. You could also try our Marketplace and see if you can get lower. In all honesty 400 isn't bad for a 920XM but again it's a risk you would be undergoing.

I believe, but correct me if I'm wrong, BC2 is more GPU bound than CPU. An i7 might be justifiable, but I think your 5850 Mobility is holding it back.

 

atm i want the best, since i dont want to regret and have to upgrade to 920xm later on. 10min with prime95 now and still running.. 75 celsius at max.
I have 5870 if that makes a diffferencee

 

Since you have a gaming laptop with a 5870 I think the cooling system is pretty good, especially when you got the temps you mentioned. I'm quite sure it will work without any issues as long as it's supported by the bios.
Of course it will get a bit hotter than the CPU you have atm, but nothing to worry about.

I don't think the price of the 920xm will decrease because of SB. The new processors need a different mobo, so all the it won't effect those who want to upgrade their first gen i7... SB is not in competition with the old i7s.

When you really need the power, get it, but you won't get a big boost in BFBC2 imo.

 

Ahh, thanks. do the qs core work as good? since you have it.. and will it run better than 460m where quad core is not utilised?

 

You can use Throttlestop to release the full power of this beast CPU... but it will outperform the i5 460m anyway.

I never had an issue with my CPU and I never heard of anyone who had a malfunctioning 920xm qs.

You will have to install it properly (don't forget ESD protection), apply thermal paste and you should be fine. Ah, and don't forget to do a power drain before opening your notebook...

It isn't really a big job in the end, exchanging the CPU.

 

Power drain? Cant I just remove the battery? Ill be using antistatic armchain btw

 

Yes, remove the battery and then press the power button (the one for booting the laptop) and hold it down for about 20 seconds... this will discharge the mobo.

 

Thanks alot for all the help! last quest.. what psu u have? how many watt?

 

I have the standard 150W PSU that came with my laptop. The M15x can't draw mor then about 150W from the PSU, it's restricted by the mobo or whatever.

Only "advantage" of a bigger PSU for me would be that the PSU doesn't get as hot as with the 150W.

 

920xm would probably make your fps more stable than actually rise them significantly. anyway the upgrade is a beast with ts it is competitive against even the new architecture, its downfall however is heat and power consumption. it isn't ideal for most laptops as it's essentially immobile technology.

 

I did.

I purchased 920XM QS from a reliable seller. In my MSI GX740 it colud only access RAM in single channel mode. In dual channel the second module was inaccessible for OS (Windows reported 8GB RAM, 4 GB usable; I tested different capacity modules in different configurations; tried reseating the CPU a million times; all problems disappeared after switching back to my 720QM OEM).
More details here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...538-intel-cpu-upgrade-engineering-sample.html

Luckily for me, the seller agreed for returning the CPU along with full refund.