Best processor/video upgrade for Qosmio x505-q898

Hello friends! I'm a musician and this toshiba laptop, because of its huge (and quite unique) screen size (18.4 inches), I can use to see hundreds of songs. So, I want to make a nice upgrade, it's not working properly. It turns off by itself when I try to play games (like starcraft 2),or watch 1080p movies. These are the original specs:

Intel® Core™ i7-740QM Processor
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460M
4GB DDR3 1066MH (2x2)

I have read that it can support 16 gig ram (2x8). I thought about upgrading these 3 parts, what's the best that could be done? Thanks for your time!

 

I really hope someone can help me, I have the means to deal with this delicate soldering (I'm gonna have to replace the heatsinks anyway). The hard part is getting the right parts.

 

Best CPU: 920/940XM..

GPU wise not sure.. RAM, you should be able to do 16GB (8x2)...

 

The processors TomJGX listed are your best choices. However, you might want to look into a new computer. Screen size is one thing, resolution is another, 1920x1080 will display the exact same amount of stuff at 17.3" or 18.4" regardless of the fact that one screen is 1.1" shorter on the diagonal. You could be surprised at how expensive the whole upgrade might be. I am not saying don't do it, just that you should really evaluate your options and that in the end, upgrading to better hardware might be the better solution. It all depends on your budget, etc. However, your Qosmio gave you 5 to 6 years of service, that is already a lot from such a laptop.

 

The 940XM would give you ~25% improvement, but the cost ($250-$350USD) is not worth it vs. selling it as-is and buying a new/current platform.

See:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=852&cmp[]=865


See:
http://www.acer.com/ac/en/CA/content/model/NX.MV9AA.002


Even the above notebook will be a noticeable improvement in every area (except for the GPU) for just a little more $$$ than the cpu alone for your ancient platform. And that is with just a last gen platform (Broadwell) and dual core at that. But it includes AC class WiFi, USB 3.0, SATA3 storage subsystem connections and last but certainly not least; warranty on the full setup.

Of course, not knowing your budget, you can get an even more impressive system than the quick example I'm using. What I'm worried about with older platforms is the possibility of the motherboard or other associated circuitry giving you warning signs that it will die soon by randomly shutting off on you.

Given that your system is over half a decade old (with the tech approaching 7 years or more...), I think upgrading this system is not in your best interest.

What I would suggest though is saving for a current platform - with Skylake giving you the best bang for the buck. While you're waiting, you could double the RAM you're currently using to 2x 4GB sticks, but that is about all that would be worthwhile (and even then, depending on how long it will take you to save for a new notebook.

The Acer model I've indicated here is only about $560USD. If you spend closer to the $1K+ USD price point where notebooks become worthwhile buying at, you should be looking at a Skylake platform with an i7 QC and 16GB RAM (~2.5x faster than your i7-740QM plus the performance benefits of 4x the RAM) and a GPU (GTX 970M or above) that will exceed the Qosmio' graphics prowess by just over 3x too.

See:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=852&cmp[]=2586

See:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=93&cmp[]=2981




Do yourself a favor; start saving for a new system today.

Sell your Qosmio to finance the new system or better yet, donate it to someone less fortunate than you (if you can).

Either way, a new platform is not a mere ~25% jump in performance and no guarantees of the rest of the components continuing to work... This is a paradigm shift that will allow you to utilize new tech (AC class WiFi and SSD's, for example) to their limits. Nothing you do to the old platform will give you that (at any price).

Good luck.

 

Have you cleaned it? Cleaning and repaste would do wonders. The GPU is proprietary, so you wont be able to upgrade it. As mentioned already, the rest should go problem free - 920XM/940XM and 16GB RAM.

 

I'm pretty sure this platform won't support 16GB RAM?

 

It does, my G73Jh from the same era supported 16 GB just fine with a 920XM.

 

I stuffed 16GB in my M15x of the same generation, and although the BIOS showed 0MB of RAM, Windows was able to use all 16GB

 

The fact you say it turns otself off when you play SC2 or play 1080p video suggests it's massively overheating the GPU - in which case, check the thermal paste and the heatsink. I've seen the same issue on at least five other systems and it was dried out thermal paste on every occasion. Worked ok with regular useage until the GPU was stressed, at which point the heat kept rising until it triggered a thermal shut down. A repaste sorted out all of the systems which lived happy lives afterwards - except one that was driven over by a 15+ tonne tipper truck and understandably died as a result.

Check that the heatsink meets the GPU properly and apply new thermal paste. A temperature monitoring program such as 'HWinfo' would tell you in twenty minutes whether you have a problem with heat.

 

Is it the 920XM that allows 16GB RAM to be used?

Will the original processor (Intel® Core™ i7-740QM) be able to use 16GB too?

 

It's the quad-cores, so yes, the stock 740QM would do as well. You can check this table made by @Siorah for the 8740w.

As the others already mentioned, it works fine. I'm running 24gigs in mine and there are other 8740w owners that run 32gigs. Intel's Ark is not a rule, more like a general guide*, except the 16GB modules as it seems. When they drop in price I'll give them a go anyway.

*It was the case with the PM965 as well, Intel said 2GB modules tops, I and a few others were running 4GB modules flawlessly. Of course there were other users, with the very same chipset that were limited to 6GB and the third ones couldn't boot with more than 4GB installed.

 

As mentioned above CPU has nothing to do to your shutdowns. If you never repasted cpu+gpu for 6 years then do it... and then consider buying new one.

 

Pretty much this, Intel will only go as far as certifying that their CPUs will take whatever amount of RAM they tested for. It's to protect themselves, a good example of this would be the flaw in their ivy bridge and previous memory controllers that wouldn't address 16 GB DDR3 SODIMMs properly and you couldn't run a 2x16 GB or 4x16 GB configuration in laptops like my M6700. I can't remember if Haswell (4th gen core i) had that flaw or not. Skylate is obviously free of this and the new Dell Precisions 7510 and 7710 will take 64 GB of RAM just fine. Now if we had 6 core laptop CPUs to go with that...

Side note, my 920XM was running a 4x4 GB configuration for 16 GB total, not a 2x8 GB.

 

Haswell is affected as well as far as I know. As for the addressing of the 16gigs modules, some companies have done their fair share of work and I've seen examples of them working. It's all in the BIOS and I hope that HP did at least one thing right with the pretty messed BIOS that the 8740w one is.

 

I wanna thank you all for helping me!

I would love to buy a new laptop, but the budget is small as can be. But I love all suggestions and ideas for a near future! Tilleroftheearth, that acer laptop you said (nice machine by the way) is not $560USD but $800USD. Or, do you know where to get it for that price?


Thinking in terms of money, it seems to be worthwhile to do this small upgrade, what do you guys think?


I have lost the GPU and replaced with a new one - the same model years ago. My friend took a good care inside. RAM is a serious issue, it keeps peaking all the time. I was thinking about buying 16 gig ($44.62 + $44.62):


http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-1x8GB-Laptop-Memory-CMSO8GX3M1A1333C9/dp/B005T63BEM


As for the intel I7 processor, I found this nice offer ($142.95+ $5.75 shipping):


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=14PE8FBXCWZ2XTH57AVX


It all amounts to $237.94. I would love to know what you guys think about it, and thanks for taking the time!

 

Is it really a thing, this "propietary" concept? Has anybody attempted to do this?

 

I was also not really aware of this "turbo boost" technology, kinda crappy nowadays, I suppose? I went to the bios, there's not much to do there, and now I'm using throtllestop to 'overclock'. First I'd like to point out that the machine was reeboting by itself before i started messing around with this. It's still the same piece of **** unreliable machine! The velocity fluctuates a lot, but not near as effective and stable as it should be, I took 2 screen shots of the opposite peaks. Any comments are appreciated!

http://postimg.org/gallery/1n4csgubc/

 

That's normal - it's know as Intel Speed Step. Essentially it clocks down the processor when it isn't required as much and ramps up when it is required. Helps to reduce heat but also allows full power when you require it. If it's going down to 1.25GHz when you're doing something very intensive then there's an issue but otherwise that's fine. Turboboost allows your processor to overclock itself - depending on how many cores are being used, this can be between 100mhz and 700mhz or more - If you're not running a non-stock overclock (You aren't, based on what Throttlestop is saying) then it is very useful.

Try running a 1080p video for 10 minutes and see what the 'GPU' temperature shown in Throttlestop reaches (There's a GPU temp readout at the bottom of the window). I'd be interested in seeing what temperature it reaches before it shuts down/restarts.

I'll lett other people comment on the hardware side.

 

The processor link is not safe to buy (the seller is not reliable). But this one is: ($200)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-...099486?hash=item2eeb6a2c1e:g:aVAAAOSwvUlWs5g~

 

Same as with shutdowns your RAM fillings are due to clogged OS if it is over 5 years old.
1. Make a backup with Macrium Reflect Free.
2. Update to Windows 10 for free (to get free Win10 license). Now you have a choice either to stay on it (but Win10 is a spy) or clean install Windows 7 SP1.
You will always have a backup to restore previous OS.
Also you can run Cureit and Malwarebytes just in case but the best would be clean OS install: get info about proper driver installation order for your notebook, download Win7 SP1 and then update only security updates (NOT automatic)

 

It's a fresh install of windows 8.1...downloaded at kick ass torrents. The problem always persists. I agree with windows 10 spying on us, but there at kick ass torrents there are tweaked versions of it, too, I have thought about upgrading it to windows 10...

 

Win7 an on is 'spying on us'. For a very long time.

Win10x64Pro is still the best O/S by a long shot (especially with newer components/platforms).

See:
http://www.windows10update.com/2016/02/study-finds-windows-10-adoption-in-business-very-high/

See:
http://www.winbeta.org/news/microsoft-launches-new-website-touting-windows-10-security-features

See:
http://www.winbeta.org/news/two-yea...f-something-special-microsofts-transformation

See:
http://arstechnica.com/information-...ers-given-18-months-to-upgrade-to-windows-10/

 

There is a reason why the link which doesn't contain "win" in its domain doesn't contain hype too but informs about restrictions
@Andrew Masafari How much RAM you have? 8GB should be enogh for general tasks but you always can make it 4+8.

 

You may call them restrictions. I call it the new reality.

Just how long was Windows supposed to blindly support everything 'tech' that was ever produced since it's introduction so many, many years ago (since ~1984/85).

Go ahead and stick to Win7 or Win8.1 - these O/S' are already the old 'XP' and have been since at least July 29, 2015.