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    Upgrading N61Ja

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by MojitoS, Jun 11, 2013.

  1. MojitoS

    MojitoS Newbie

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    Is it possible to upgrade stock graphic card (ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730) and cpu (i5-520M) to something more powerful? And do I have to upgrade my motherboard too?
     
    MojitoS, Jun 11, 2013
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  2. Karamazovmm

    Karamazovmm Overthinking? Always!

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    no and no .
     
    Karamazovmm, Jun 11, 2013
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  3. Marksman30k

    Marksman30k Notebook Deity

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    No and yes. Your machine can accept all 1st gen arrandale i5s and clarksfield i7s. It also has no issues with Es chips. If you want lowish temperatures and good performance I recommend the i5-580m which can be found on eBay for about $150 for Es and $200 for oem.
    If you want all out high performance then I recommend the i7-920xm but be warned, the power constraints of the motherboard will only allow an over clock to 2.4 GHz on all cores, 3.2ghz on 2 cores and 3.46ghz on one core. So basically oced it will only outperform the i5-580m when all cores are loaded and even then it's only 20-30%. The cost is about double the power consumption and constant temperatures in the 80-90 degree Celsius range.



    However you won't really notice the difference in performance vs the i5-520m. Your best value for money upgrade is a good ssd.
     
    Marksman30k, Jun 11, 2013
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