is it worth upgrading P7350 to P8600

Hey everyone, just a quick question

I've got a trusty g51vx (best buy version) that has served me well but is now showing the limitations of the standard core 2 duo P7350 @2.0GHz .

I am wondering if it is worth upgrading (or even possible) to a core 2 duo P8600 @2.4 GHz or if I should save my money on a Txxxx processor or even a new laptop. I am looking for a significant change in framerates for newer games like L.A. Noire and Assassins Creed Revelations, which are currently unplayable. otherwise everything is the standard G51vx - 1GB 260M , 7200rpm 320GB HDD, 4GB RAM, etc...

if you have any advice I would be glad to hear it

peace out

 

I think the CPU you have right now is just obsolete.

Buy a new latop that has the mainstream spec would show you a significant difference.

 

Thank you for the response, and I agree with you, but I would like to eek out a bit more performance from the laptop itself, and I just wanted to know if spending a couple hundred bucks on an improved cpu would be worth the performance improvement I expect to get, which is to render newer games like L.A. Noire and say, Assassin's creed Revelations to a playable (doesn't have to be perfect!) level.

 

Passmark CPU Benchmark:

P7350: 1407
P8600: 1628

I believe Asus includes CPU overclocking software. It boosts the processor to around 2.5GHz, I think. I probably wouldn't upgrade.

 

well I don't see any asus software for overclocking, but is it possible to overclock to ~2.4?

Would that mess up with the heat load, because already this guy pumps out enough heat I keep my coffee warm with the exhaust while I am working.

 

I had a G51, it ran cool enough when overclocked. I believe Asus allows you to overclock it in the Power4 Gear settings. Extreme turbo mode is the option.

I double checked, it overclocks the processor to 2.15GHz.

ASUS G51VX-A1 Performance, Battery Life and Conclusion

 

Thanks for the advice, it was helpful and I will look into overclocking it.

thanks again!

 

If it's cheap then sure. The overclock should work on the new CPU too.

Check prices for the p8700 and p8800 too.

 

I know there's a T9600 on Ebay for $75 if it matters.

 

Not worth it, unless if the upgrade is dirt cheap ($10 or less).

The main problem is that the return on investment is horrible compared to getting a new laptop, and will be even more horrible in a month or so when Ivy Bridge starts hitting the market and today's Sandy Bridge laptops get clearance discounts en masse.

 

I agree with Peon with this, it's almost pointless to go for a CPU upgrade of that old, tell you what, I upgraded my p8400 2.26ghz to a x9100 3.06ghz about a year after I got my g50vt, I even overclocked the x9100 to 3.6ghz, that's a 1.3ghz! increase in CPU frequency, besides some performance boost for dolphin emulation, I didn't see much gain in gaming performance, not much at all(it was often ZERO fps gain). GPU still bottlenecks modern games in most cases, at least for laptop gaming.

If you have other needs for a higher CPU such as video encoding/batches of photo processing, a CPU upgrade may be worth it(that still depends on which model you are going to get and the cost of upgrade), otherwise don't bother. You can't seriously expect a CPU upgrade can suddenly make your previously unplayable games playable. If you want to squeeze more juice out of your G51, start overclocking both your CPU and GPU as people suggested above.

 

Yeah well, you might not have seen an increase but you didn't go from a 2GHz 2MB cache processor to an overclocked 3.6GHz processor with 6MB cache. You went from a CPU that had a stock clock of 3.06GHz to 3.6GHz... Of course YOU didn't see a difference, you never had a bottleneck in the first place! Misinformation is NOT the key to helping someone.

- EDIT: Just because you didn't show any HIGHER frames per second didn't mean that your MINIMUM frame rate didn't increase and level out. Minimum fps matters more than max with gaming laptops and GPUs in general. Fact.-

The T9600 is a good placeholder and can help with resale values. Right now, you'd get maybe $250 out of it due to it's age (the laptop I mean), but the T9600 would push it up to around $350-$400. It's a solid CPU. The differences between the T9xxx line and the desktop E8xxx lines were little to nothing. Not joking.

P7350 (Laptop) = 1,407
T9600 (Laptop) = 2,184 (64.4% increase!)
E8400 (Desktop) = 2,221 (9.8% difference vs the T9600)

Now that's an upgrade. >50% increase in performance is definitely a fair gain for $75 including shipping. You'll see an improvement in CPU based games. Left 4 Dead and the other games after that line all use more than 2 cores and make better use of the higher clock speeds.

Remember that the E8400, even today, is revered for it's performance. If the T9600 is within 10% of that area, and it is, why wouldn't you go for one?

I'm going for the 920XM when I get my settlement money in, just to max out this Qosmio before I sell it.

 

Did you even read my post? You might want to do that actually before you start bashing someone next time. I had a P8400 2.26ghz before the upgrade.

 

He has a faster GPU and slower CPU than you had though.

 

Yes, I am aware of that, a slightly faster 260M(underclocked asus 260M) and slightly slower CPU. Still a faster CPU won't make his games run much smoother, save a few very CPU intensive games like SC2, GTA4, which he didn't mention in his post.

As others stated, unless the upgrade is insanely cheap(say 50$ for a T9800 or better), otherwise it's not really worth it. Spending a lot of money on such an outdated laptop is a waste, save it and put it towards a new laptop will be MUCH more cost-effective.

 

If I may:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...vx-rx05-cpu-upgrade-question.html#post7029357

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/550790-g51vx-new-cpu-again.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-upgrades/599169-intel-e8435.html#post7763209

I have a G50vt which is basically a G51vx hardwarewise now. Let me know if you have questions.

 

Upgrading the cpu in a laptop generally isn't worth it, as they tend to be expensive and don't offer much of a performance gain. Id see if you can upgrade the gpu (swap out the motherboard) first.

 

That'll be more expensive and probably won't be worth the time/effort either (you would rather just get a new computer). Since the Montevina Core 2 Duos are two genrations old now, the prices are more reasonable. A more significant upgrade would be jumping to the T9600 (2.8GHz), which is also affordably priced.

In either case, though, don't expect to see much, if any, gains in gaming performance.

 

There's a 3.06Ghz E8435 on ebay currently at $31. Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile Processor E8435 SLAQD | eBay . It's a MAC C2D cpu rated at 45W TDP so runs a bit hotter at full load than your P7350. I believe your cooling system would be OK for it since the G51VX could be specced with 45W quads.

 

I have a p7350 and wish it was a p8600 cpu then games like pro evolution soccer and other games like dirt 3 and test drive unlimited 2 would be better for fraps. I would advise you getting a p8700 or a p8600 as they around around £27 to £37 on ebay. I think my 9600m gt bottlenecks in cpu intensive games and i reckon a p8700 is what you should get and theres one on ebay uk for £37.69 or £29.50 delivered for a p8600. With your laptop you will notice at least 10fps difference in cpu intensive games, even some games you could play at much higher detail at more fps.

Anothr thing is the new laptops are coming out in a month so you could sell your current laptop and upgrade to a new one and then experience 60fps on most. However upgrading your laptop cpu by selling old and buying a replacement could cost around £10-£20 and offer 10fps at least more if not 15 fps.