Will it last?

Hello!
For 2 months ago, I bought a MSI GX660. I use it mainly for gaming
I5-460M
5870 RADEON MOBILITY
4GB RAM

In 3dmark06, I get around 14,1k with OC. Its at 35Celsius idle (CPU)
Do you guys think this Laptop will last a long time?

Will I also get a large boost, if I upgrade the cpu to i7-640M/840QM? The price difference between 640m and 840qm is around 50$ as im considering QS version of these.

 

In terms of reliability or gaming performance?

It also depends on the games you play. Games like SC2 are more CPU bound these days and you will benefit from an i7 processor, see if you can pick up an 720QM or 740QM from the marketplace.

 

Gaming performance.
Ill have it plugged in 90% of the time, so I dont care about battery life etc.
Is there a big difference between 740QM and 460M?
Oh, and how long do you think my laptop will last? Like for playing new games etc.

 

I mean for highest resolution, highest quality, maybe 1-2 years. For the newest games but not highest quality probably 3-4 years.

I think your 5870 Mobility will suit you well, you may want to look at a CPU upgrade. Maybe want to wait a few months as the older i7s will drop like a ton of bricks.

 

It all depends the resolution at which you run your games. If you want to play at 1920x1080, max detail all the time, the 5870 isn't going to last very long. If your system has one of the lower-resolution screens, or you don't mind playing at lower resolutions, it will last a good long while. I have the GX740, which has the same GPU and a 1680x1050 screen. The 5870 is great for most games at that resolution, and I personally don't mind bumping down to 1280x800 if necessary in order to maintain a consistent frame rate.

 

Awesome. It does run black ops 60fps at max, and same with mafia 2.
I guess I can upgrade the CPU then , when I have the chance.
Should I go for 840QM or 720QM?
The price difference between them is around 200$

EDIT: My Res is at 1366x768
So it should last long?

 

With Sandy Bridge around the corner, the prices of the current i7 mobile CPUs in the second-hand market should drop to the point where you would be able to get an 840 for the price of a 720 right now.

You'll be fine then.

 

Awesome!
Just one last question. How long do you think my laptop will last if I keep the 460M? Considering Im playing at 1366x768, and reducing the quality wont be a problem. Like 1-2 year? What if I get a 840?

EDIT: Im also considering the QS cores, as they are much cheaper. Are they much worse then the OEM cores?

 

At least that long. When making the change from dual-core to quad-core, it's more a matter of the benefits the extra cores will provide. If you do a lot of video encoding, it would help. There are some games (GTA4 and Starcraft 2 for instance) that will benefit as well.

Either save your money until the prices of theses CPUs go down or invest it in an SSD. Unless you like to have tons of games installed at the same time and/or have lots of media files, you'll see an immediate improvement by going with an SSD versus a traditional HDD.

If you're really feeling cheeky, you could swap out your optical drive for an SSD and use it for the operating system and a few programs while keeping your games and media on a traditional hard drive installed in the main bay.

 

Alright, thanks for your help!
I guess ill keep the 460m for a while, since itll last long. Although Im quite unsure buying a QS Core later, I guess itll have to do

 

Don't be too excited about black ops. It runs very well even on dated hardware. It isn't anything fancy and based on an older engine. Plus your resolution is very low.

The card you have is basically equal in performance to a desktop HD 4870, or maybe slightly worse. At low res you should be fine for a while.

 

you should get a 920xm.. it will work.. its quite cheap too.. but get it 2-3 years down the road.. it will be dirt cheap than.. if you really want to see how good your laptop is try playing black ops on full HD res or whatever is ur max res. If you can play , its good enough for now.

Panther214

 

Hey.
Im considering upgrading my CPU from I5-460M to i7-920XM(QS)
Im buying the CPU from a certain Shirley on ebay.
Any experiences with the 920XM QS?

I got MSI GX 660 btw

 

Seeing what SB offers, I would say no.

 

I bought an 920xm QS from ebay too and I'm very happy with it. The exchange was very easy in my case, but I don't know the procedure for your laptop...

Don't forget Throttlestop to get the full potential of the 920xm... you can easily run it at 3.2 GHz across all cores without any issues, it just depends on the cooling of your laptop...

In case you buy the CPU don't forget to get some good thermal paste too!

And last but not least, ESD is a must for a task like CPU replacement... sure it may work without but I'd never recommend anyone to do so.

 

SB seems to be okay, but it wont work for your mobo, so the 920xm is an excellent choice, especially as long as you got Throttlestop.

 

Did I not just tell you in your other thread to wait? Prices on these CPUs will drop once Sandy Bridge gets into the mainstream. Cool your jets for a bit.

 

i second that....less then 48hrs, onces SB chips are out... 920XM ES will drop way below 380...i guessing (~300) range. then Shirley will have 2920XM ES chips at $500...the cycle goes on~

btw 920XM was defeated by 2720QM (3Dmark06, Vantage CPU score)

I expect SB to be good, but NOT THAT GOOD that it trashes the old i7 Extreme processor with it low-mid tier chips~

 

i think it only beats the 920xm at stock clocks. but who runs an xm cpu at stock right.
imho an xm i7 cpu is a great choice if your laptop can handle the thermal/oc overhead and if battery life isnt important to you

 

I really don't think we will see a decrease in prices as the the "old" i7 series has a different socket than SB uses, so SB is not directly a rival to the 920xm for the people who want to upgrade their CPU. You can't get a SB without buying a new system... Therefore I really don't believe the sellers on ebay for example will lower the prices.

 

Yeah, they'll lower their prices when their products aren't moving like they want them to - and all because of SB based notebooks.

 

Please don't start two threads on a related subject -- keep them together. Your threads have been merged; thank you.