ASUS G60JX i7 upgrade options

I am currently looking into upgrading the i5 430m that came with my g60jx with a more powerful i7, since I do a lot of numerical work and simulations which take a lot of cpu power, and I'm starting to notice the age of my laptop.

I notice that others have successfully upgraded their g60jx laptops with i7's, but I'm wondering what the upper limit is for this motherboard. Should I be alright choosing any i7 which uses Socket G1? It looks like the 840QM's are the fastest that use this socket type, but I haven't seen any posts where someone decided to use one. Any reason why it shouldn't work?

I'd appreciate any help on this matter.

 

You would definetly benefit from a faster CPU - but have to check whether your cooling will be enough. Thought i see that there is the same asus with 720QM on the market.
I don't know any reasons not to do it - you could save some money and get i7-740QM - 2MB Cache less but and for less money.

 

Although you will notice a substantial gain in performance going to an 840QM or even the 740QM from your 430M, I would still recommend getting a new platform if you really are cpu bound and need a major performance increase.

See:
PassMark - Intel Core i5 430M @ 2.27GHz - Price performance comparison

Your current cpu: PM 'score' 2360.

See:
PassMark - Intel Core i7 740QM @ 1.73GHz - Price performance comparison

740QM PM 'score': 3580 (~51% increase over your current cpu)

See:
PassMark - Intel Core i7 840QM @ 1.87GHz - Price performance comparison

840QM PM 'score': 3859 (~63% increase over your current cpu).

See:
PassMark - Intel Core i7-2630QM @ 2.00GHz - Price performance comparison

2630QM PM 'score': 6338 (~268% increase over your current cpu).


See:
PassMark - Intel Core i7-2670QM @ 2.20GHz - Price performance comparison

2670QM PM 'score': 6754 (~286% increase over your current cpu).


Notice that the last two cpu options may be as little as no price difference between them (or up to ~$50 more for the '70qm - which is worth it, imo)

Not only will you be able to sell your current system to offset the price of a new/current platform - you will also have a warranty along with a real performance increase (almost 3x faster) and not a risky (to me) and possibly sideways cpu 'upgrade' (sideways, depending on how much an upgraded cpu costs you).

My recommendation is that buying a new (or used), but modern platform/cpu with as much RAM as you can afford to throw at it is a better overall use of your time and money than a same-platform cpu upgrade can offer.


Good luck.

 

You can find OEM 720QM's on eBay for $90. You can off set that by selling your 430M for $60.

Passmark:

430M: 2360
720QM: 3294.

Decent boost for $30.

 

For a 30$ its a hell of a boost. Totally worth it.

 

$30 to get 3 minutes and 10 seconds shaved from a 10 minute task (cpu bound) on the 430M and the chance to make the current working notebook a door stop.

Vs. making that same 10 minute cpu bound task complete in less than 4 minutes on a 2630QM platform.

Sure, it will be in the $300+ range 'difference' when all is said and done - but the OP will also have a real upgrade advantage, plus the warranty of a new system and will not have to take the risk of bricking a currently working system.

In my mind that $30 is not well spent - $300 is the better, long term solution. (Or, as I said before - the cpu upgrade is a 'side-grade' not a true upgrade when done on the same platform).

Hope all the info helps the OP to make the right decision for him/her!

 

Unless your very careless, there's not much of a chance it'll become a door stop.