CPU upgrade i5 430m => i5 520M or more (540m 560m...)

hi everyone,
I wanna know if upgrading the CPU (from a 430M (2.26GHz ->2.53GHz) to an i5 520M (2.4->2.97GHz)) would help to have better performance ingame and especially in emulation speed (pcsx2, dolphin etc..) ?
A lot of CPU dependant games are coming to the market and there is no way i can afford buying a new laptop before 1 or 2 years..
I'm just looking for a way to squeeze more performance from the laptop for now..

 

At the most, you'll see ~15% better processor performance.

Translated to FPS... it would depend on the game/emulator in question; but it would not be more than that (so if you're at 20 FPS right now - you'll see a 3 FPS increase 'Max' - definitely in the 'not worth it league).


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


See:
PassMark - Intel Core i5 520M @ 2.40GHz - Price performance comparison



Considering the above, I would say save your money to get a new system sooner, rather than later.


Hope this helps.

Good luck.

 

I'm running the same CPU at the moment and am experiencing the same problems, most people seem to suggest the performance boost won't be massive, but looking at sites like ebay if you did want to upgrade, selling the 430M you can get around £30 for that, where you can buy the 520M for £40, so really you only need to spend £10, I don't see why people say save your money when its not really breaking the bank and may tide you over for just that little bit longer! even a 580m is only £50, which is a £20 difference, again seems to show you can get some performance boost to just under the 3k mark on passmark, I am really thinking about upgrading mine also.

 

The reason that I'm saying to not do it is that even if you get the 'full' FPS boost equivalent to the cpu performance difference: you will more than likely still be below 'playable' levels...

For $10 though - it would be worth to do it for the educational value.

If, of course, you're handy with your hands and tools.


...

 

@Tilleroftheearth Yeah I completely understand, I think games are still playable, but a boost would mean they were more stable, just wondering, with Intel® HM55 whats the highest mobile cpu that can be installed without mods?

@Sasuke256, I forget to mention these are uk ebay prices, but it just shows its not a huge investment to upgrade, the 580m was also listed as new with no defects.

 

If worried about bang for buck, the most cost effective is the i5-560m (there are heaps of cheap OEM ones on Ebay).
If you are looking for a good stopgap increase in performance, only consider the i5-580m or i7-640m. Even then, don't expect miracles, the improvement is about 30% at best.

 

The aforementioned Core i7-640M is the fastest CPU your notebook can handle. Beware the name; the dual-core i7 is really just a [slightly] improved i5; Intel calling it an i7 is just a way for them to charge more than it's really worth.

Generally a difference less than 10% isn't going to be noticeable. According to tiller's posts, it sounds like the i5-520M is the minimum. Look at the i5-460M and especially the i5-480M as well. ARK | Intel® Core
They might be a bit less than the i5-5xx series.

 

thanks for the answers, i will try to see what i can find in our "ebay".
I read on the internet that the 620M/640M are WAY more heating when loaded that the i5 models due to the high frequencies, knowing that my laptop hasnt ANY problem of cooling (70° max while playing bf3 or crysis 3 with GPU oc +35% over the factory underclocked clock of toshiba). I think i should stick with an i5 (460M/520 540 560M).

 

Actually the i7 640M shares the same 35W tdp as the 580M. Both would probably run a bit hot in your laptop due to high frequencies but doable. I cannot imagine the temp getting much beyond 80C. Not a problem. These old chips can take the heat. I have run my old 920xm at 95C 100% load for very long periods without a hint of throttle and that was day in day out over a year ago. Still kicking.