Sony Vaio EB VPCEB3C5E Upgrade

Hello to all!

I own a SONY VAIO EB, VPCEB3C5E model. I am thinking to upgrade it.

- First of all I want to get an Intel i5-560M or i7-640M processor. Does anybody know if the standard cooler is capable to keep the temperatures low enough? There is any solutions to upgrade the cooler and the heatskin too? Maybe there are other processor more powerful than my i3 - 370M that can fit perfectly my laptop. If so, please advice.

- Also I am wondering about my motherboard, I really don`t know if it will recognize an i7 processor. There is any way to update the BIOS to do so?

- If the processor upgrade is possible with no harms for my laptop I will consider to install a SSD, 8GB of RAM and perform a clean Windows install.

Thank you all for replies. Any information and advice will be welcome!

Full specs:
- Intel i3-370M Processor
- ATI Radeon 5650M 1GB
- 6GB RAM
- 320GB 7200 RMP HDD
- 15.5 Full HD display

 

Upgrading to a SSD is far more likely to make your system seem faster than a faster CPU. For typical usage, 4GB is more than enough. I'd say unless you've got a specific need to run memory hogging applications like VMs, it's probably fine as it is.

 

If your Sony had integrated Intel HD graphics you cannot use a quad core i7 as they do not have on board graphics (i7 720QM, 740QM, 820 QM, 840QM, 920XM, 940XM). Also as ZaZ pointed out, unless you are CPU limited, upgrading the CPU has nearly no real world performance increases if you just surf the web or do Office work. A solid state drive might benefit you more.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

Actually I am running some memory hogging apps and I have already 6gb of RAM. Though, my pc is freezing on heavy excel files. Definitely I will install 2GB extra if I can make it with the processor. I am intending to extract all the juice from this laptop till I will afford to buy a stock powerful one. Thanks for your reply!

 

While the i7 460M 'upgrade' may net you up to a 45% increase in performance, I would still consider this a side-grade and not a true upgrade.

What I would do to increase the performance of your system is put matched RAM modules (2x 4GB), upgrade the O/S to Win8x64 (Pro recommended) and do this on a 240/256GB SSD (or larger).

This will give you real performance benefits vs. a simply hotter running system with either of the cpu options (and if the cooling system is not up to the task, they may even run worse than what you have already).


Can you try your excel file(s) on a current platform notebook? See how an IB or SNB system handles them... If the 'freeze' is gone, you may want to consider upgrading to a newer, more current platform than the 3+ year old platform you're working on now.


Also compare the cost of an O/S upgrade to Win8x64, 8GB RAM and an SSD to a new system... (~$450-$600...).

You can get a new system for that kind of money...

See:
Samsung NP550P5C-S03CA w/ Core i5-3210M, 8GB, 1TB, DVD+/-RW, 15.6in HD, GeForce GT 630M, Win 8 64-bit at Memory Express


That will be effectively double the performance (vs only 40% more...) of your current platform.


Hope this helps.


Good luck.

 

Actually I did it. On mine laptop heavy-duty excel files are freezing in the opening process. When it reaches 70-80%. Sometimes I can get it opened, but if the autosave feature is turned on, more likely in a short time the excel program will freeze. The OS upgrade I want consider due the overall Windows 8 usability. I prefer to turn off some windows 7 processes or features instead of installing Windows 8.

What is absolutely sure is that I will install an SSD and a 8GB RAM module (2x4GB). I will be able to install them in my future laptop. Getting a new middle range is not an option. I will go for a Dell Precision probably, but I can`t do it at the moment.

P.S. I did not found any information about i7-460M processor. You were talking about i5-460M? If so, the i5 is an option, This kind of processors were installed on Sony Vaio EB by the manufacturer and I am quite sure they were not using a different kind of heatskin and cooler. So there will be no problems with the cooling.