Intel i5/i7 VS Core 2 Duo

What game, what settings, what framerate? Bottlenecking isn't as simple as "this CPU bottlenecks this GPU", it depends on the situation.

 

All my games saw an improvement with my new cpu, even games that people say aren't cpu intensive like cod4 saw a boost in framerate. That weak cpu was holdinhg my gpu back in almost every situation. some were more than others though like source engine games.

 

Gah!!! lol stop contradicting each other!!

Would upgrading the CPU on my laptop help at all?! XD

 

That's going to be worse than your current one.

However, there's not anything you can change in your current computer for a little amount of money that would be worth the upgrade.

Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Esc) and go to the performance tab. Change View-> update speed to your liking. Set your computer's power profile to high performance (usually keep it on balanced, but for the sake of a sane chart, keep it on high perfomance for now) and keep your laptop plugged in.
Now, open up a game.
Play for a little while or till it feels slow, then look at the CPU usage graph. What does it look like? Is CPU usage high or fully on 100%?


Also, how are your computer's temperatures? Download HWMonitor and open that before you game as well. What are the highest temperatures reached for each component?

 

Barely. The GPU is definitely going to bottleneck you most of the time in your case, since it's only a 4650.

 

Ok, i tried playing Crysis at maximum settings.

According to the task manager it was using between 60-75% of the CPU.

And according to Everest Ultimate, the temps were all around 60 degrees Celsius.

I couldn't find out what the fps was though but i would estimate about 20fps maybe. It was rather slideshowy but fairly playable.

 

The problem is the GPU, as already mentioned. You should take into account that buying a Sony means you are paying a lot for brand and less for performance. You can get either Asus or MSI laptops with a far better GPU (both in 15.6'' screens) in the same price range. If you are willing to spend 1200usd I believe the Asus G73 is a monster, just that it is a 17'' screen.

I hope this helps.

 

If you want to test for CPU bottlenecking, you should test at a very low resolution, and probably turn the settings down so that the GPU stops bottlenecking you so much.

It's pretty obvious that a CPU upgrade will make barely any difference at maximum settings, though, because your GPU is clearly the issue - Crysis at maximum settings is extremely hard on the GPU.

 

best deal around is the MSI GX640 at $1099 with an Ati 5850, 3 years warranty and 1 year for accidents. 9 cell battery that lasts around 2.5-3 hours which is not bad at all, 15.4 inch screen. the color is a like or hate issue btw.

 

Yes MSI GX640 is great laptop and most or not all games should run on high to max settings... in ur price range it is best.. anyways , just for u to know G310M is crap ... ATi 5850 is high end card so now u know what to get.. alternative is slightly more expensive Asus G73 which is better.. but about $200-300 more.