Looking to upgrade from P8400

Hey guys

I currently have an HP DV7-1034ca ( http://partsurfer.hp.com/Search.aspx?type=PROD&SearchText=FF219UA / http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01490781&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en), which has a P8400 processor and a 9600M GT, and basically, I want to be able to play Dragon Age ;-)

I am thinking the CPU may be a bottleneck, and upgrading to a T9600 may be enough to make the game playable at lower settings. Currently it is close, just during larger battles framerates drop to about 10fps or so.

- I know the T9600 would be a big upgrade over the P8400. Would it have any significant impact on game performance?

- The P8400 and T9600 are both socket-P, but the T series has a higher wattage. Will the mobo/bios support it? if not, would the P9600 be worth the upgrade?

- If this is not a good route to take, any other suggestions for upgrading a laptop? I know video card is somewhere between next to impossible and impossible, maybe dual 7200 hard drives in raid-0?

Thanks for the help

 

It will most likely support it. Another processor that will have more chance of working is the P9700, as it has a lower power requirement, and will also save you a little battery life.

If you want to the T9600 route, you can achieve the power usage of the P9700 by simply undervolting the T9600.

Also, upgrading will depend on how much you can get the P9700 or T9600 for. The P9700 will be slightly more expensive, but it will use less power and will run slightly cooler. The P9700 and the T9600 will perform almost exactly the same.

 

The HP dv7 was sold with the T9600 so it will work. The P-series processors should work without issue as well. There isn't a huge difference between the T- and P-series in power consumption; I would not pay significantly more for one or the other.

Are you sure that Dragon Age is that CPU-dependent? I would look closely at more game benchmarks or ask in the gaming forum.

Getting faster hard drives isn't going to improve your gaming experience. I do not recommend RAID 0, you double the risk of data loss with it since you are depending on two drives. Also, only in specific instances does it yield a performance boost; otherwise it makes 0% difference.

Ask yourself if spending a few hundred dollars is worth the improved gameplay experience.

 

See DIY ViDock - My experiences so far. Can attach a desktop video card via expresscard/mPCIe slot.