Can I upgrade my 720qm to a 940xm?

First off I have both the cooling and the power supply to handle this, the issue is that I'm not sure if they have the same socket Wikipedia lists both as having a g1 socket and Intel says the 940xm is compatible with my PM55 chipset, however I explicitly remember being told by a knowledgable source that the pin layout is different and my envy 15 will at best take an 920XM, which was a factory special option.

Can anyone clear this up?

 

Yes, it will take the 940xm, pin layout is identical to the 920xm. The only thing that would prevent it from working is a whitelist for the CPU, but who in their right mind would do that...

 

Ok I bought a new heatsink and fan assembly to fix the fan grinding noise from worn out bearings and figured I would also upgrade the processor. Going to place the order tomorrow. If I can get more confirmation I'd appreciate it, it would really be bad if it didn't work. Thanks!

 

THe 940XM is basically a tiny bit faster 920XM. All these chips are clarksdale and are made for the G1 socket. It will definitely work, although I shouldn't need to say this. Wikipedia and many others sources will confirm for you that the 940XM is G1 just like your 720QM and the 920XM and 820QM and 840QM.

My 5 eggs is save money and get a 920XM. The difference is TINY. Throttlestop will allow you to unlock either chip fully making buying the much more expensive chip pointless. Still I am surprised your "knowledgeable source" said the 940XM has a different pin layout. Perhaps don't listen to him/her anymore

 

Yes, if you can get a 920xm cheaper than a 940xm, go with that. They are the same chip, the 940 just has a higher stock clock. As they are both overclockable, this makes no difference at all, as you can overclock the 920 to match or even go higher.

 

I apologize if it's not really related here, but can i upgrade my intel P6100 cpu to i5-640M or i7-720QM? The socket appears to be same (988) and my max TDP 35W according to Intel, but cpu-z says mine has socket 989 with max TDP 25W.. so i'm confused now, please help me. Thank you!

 

The P6100 and i7-640M are both 35 watt chips. The 720QM is 45 watt. I don't think the 720QM will work because it doesn't have a GPU. Since your laptop came with a P6100 that has a GPU.

You can use any 35 watt i5 or i7. Just no quads.

What laptop do you have?

 

Thank you! I have Asus k52je:
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Notebooks- ASUS K52JE
I have the chance now to buy either the 460m, the 520m or the 720qm for the same price, but i read that the 460m is better a bit, than the 520m (and of course the 720qm is the best among them). If i buy the 460m should i change the cooling too? Or if both are TDP 35W then i don't need to? Why does cpu-z benchmark the P6100 as TDP 25W? Thank you so much for helping.

 

(I've just realised i wrote "i5-640m", it's the 460m i'm talking about, sorry...)

 

I wouldn't get the i7 720QM. For one, it doesn't have an integrated GPU, which is necessary for your laptop. Second, the i7 will run a bit hotter.

You can't go wrong with and i5 or dual core i7 though. I'm cheap, so I'd probably get a 430M or 450M. Either would be a decent upgrade over your P6100. What do you use your laptop for?

When you replace the processor, use a good thermal paste like Arctic MX-4.

Just to give you an of the cost/performance ratio:

P6100: 1513---$28
430M: 2357---$61
520M: 2362---$140
450M: 2466---$73
540M: 2469---$155
460M: 2608---$93
560M: 2671---$140
620M: 2795---$340(not worth it)
580M: 2810---$279(not worth it)
640M: 2950---$235(not worth it)

 

Thank you! I skip the 720qm then. I need the upgrade for video editing and converting, + hd videos, and sometimes little gaming (video editing really sucks with P6100). But can you please tell me why benchmark tests see my P6100's max TDP 25W instead of 35? Won't this be a problem, and the 90 to 105 C change? I've never done processor upgrade before, little worried.. (And i guess it's very stupid thing to ask but why i need integrated GPU beside the Radeon HD 5470? The integrated GPU is always "disabled" anyway)

 

Perhaps your chipset it designed to switch between the 2 to save power. However the only way to find out 100% might be to test it. Make sure you can return the 720qm for a refund if it doesn't work then it won't hurt your wallet. If it works then the 840qm might be your best bet. Matches the 920xm stock for stock in performance and still within 45W tdp.

 

Thanks! But 45W would be way more change from 35W (or 25W i don't know), isn't it? Hard to decide.. All i want is improved performance without any damage to the laptop (heat). Maybe i go for an i5, hoping it will work, thank you all!

 

Intel says 35 watt: Intel® Pentium® Processor P6100 (3M Cache, 2.00 GHz))