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Upgrading a y500 cpu?


irishfighter930

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I was just wondering (I searched the forums and found nothing about it) if it were possible to put a newer cpu in the motherboard? I read that it was socketed in so I am curious to whether or not you could replace it with say a 4900?

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No you can't use a haswell CPU in a ivy bridge system.

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Will I see any increase in performance for cpu intense games?

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I don't know what your current CPU is but I guess it's a 3630QM, if so you will get a nice performance increase.

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Yes its the 3630qm. I found the 3940xm for a decent price. Im also curious about the 55w cpu.

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Well just so you know, you won't even be able to overclock that XM chip anyway, which pretty much defeats the entire purpose of having it. Not because it's guaranteed to overheat (which it will), but because there is no overclocking support in the BIOS, which I believe is a mobo/chipset limitation. I don't think it's worth paying hundreds of dollars for something which is at best 15% faster (3.7 GHz vs. 3.2 GHz), if it can even hit those high Turbo Boost bins in the first place, which is questionable at best considering even the 3630QM has trouble doing so due to overheating.

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Well just so you know, you won't even be able to overclock that XM chip anyway, which pretty much defeats the entire purpose of having it. Not because it's guaranteed to overheat (which it will), but because there is no overclocking support in the BIOS, which I believe is a mobo/chipset limitation. I don't think it's worth paying hundreds of dollars for something which is at best 15% faster (3.7 GHz vs. 3.2 GHz), if it can even hit those high Turbo Boost bins in the first place, which is questionable at best considering even the 3630QM has trouble doing so due to overheating.

The 3940xm goes up to 3.9ghz. I can get one for $485. Now im sure for that price it may not be worth it but I payed $800 for my lenovo and just purchased a 256gb msata ssd along with having a seagate 1tb hybrid sshd so that brings the total to around $1100. Most highend gaming laptops with this cpu are well over $2000.

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The 3940xm goes up to 3.9ghz. I can get one for $485. Now im sure for that price it may not be worth it but I payed $800 for my lenovo and just purchased a 256gb msata ssd along with having a seagate 1tb hybrid sshd so that brings the total to around $1100. Most highend gaming laptops with this cpu are well over $2000.

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I was referring to the 4-cores active Turbo bin of 3.7 GHz on the 3940XM vs. 3.2 GHz on the 3630QM. Regardless, it's a 500 MHz difference any way you slice it, 3.9/3.8/3.7 GHz vs. 3.4./3.3/3.2 GHz for 1/2/3-4 cores active.

If I were in your shoes, I'd be very hesitant to perform this CPU swap. That $500 is a big gamble in light of all the things that could possibly go wrong. Murphy's Law at its finest. Worst thing that could happen is you burn out the VRM and cause damage/failure if the laptop doesn't have the power and cooling needed to handle the XM chip. Those high-end Alienwares, Clevos, and MSI's were designed with the XM chip in mind. This Lenovo isn't, it can't even tame the 3630QM half the time.

But if you're not worried, go for it. You'd be the first to try it on this laptop. Just make sure you buy from somewhere that allows returns in case something goes wrong.

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It is upgradeable, because it is possible, and it will work.

Will you see performance increase? Probably not.

Will you have increased temperatures? Probably yes.

Will you have shorter battery life? Most probably yes.

Is it worth? Definitely not.

I upgraded my Y580 from i5 3210m to i7 3840qm only because I wanted an i7 and I got a really good deal on a used one. Otherwise I would not bother.

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The link I posted states the max upgrade for the y500 specifically is the 3940xm. Also it would be better to compare the base of 2.4ghz vs 3.0ghz. I kind of want to try it just to say I did. Im always looking to do things to my laptop. Now I dont know what the chances are of over heating. Im sure very high.

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Why don't you try 3840qm? Everything is the same except few things

- Slightly lower clock

+/- Is not unlocked (in this case there's not much gain because of unlocked multiplier, as the cooling system is not efficient enough)

+ lower TDP, power consumption and better performance per watt

+ probably cheaper

Lenovo officially didn't install anything above 3630qm. They claimed they can put it in, because the chipset supports it and sockets fits. Nothing else.

http://www.lenovo.com/psref/pdf/ipbook.pdf

(from page 71)

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Will the Y500 mobo support a 55 W CPU? What about heat? The cooling design in this laptop is subpar. The i7-3630QM it's already overheating as it is.

Subpar? Imho, the Y500 has one of the best cooling designs I have seen in a laptop, not to mention the (well, my) laptop generally stays completely silent in non-demanding tasks, such as browsing and typing. Even when I have the internal GPU overclocked to 1200MHz and the CPU and GPU are under pressure (e.g. in a game), I seldom reach more than 70 degrees C. That's not bad at all!

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Subpar? Imho, the Y500 has one of the best cooling designs I have seen in a laptop, not to mention the (well, my) laptop generally stays completely silent in non-demanding tasks, such as browsing and typing. Even when I have the internal GPU overclocked to 1200MHz and the CPU and GPU are under pressure (e.g. in a game), I seldom reach more than 70 degrees C. That's not bad at all!

LOL you're joking right? A single slow-spinning fan and copper heatpipe shared between the CPU and GPU qualifies it as "one of the best cooling designs" you've seen? Have you ever used or looked inside a high-end Alienware, Asus, or Clevo notebook? There's just no comparison.

And as for the temperatures you're claiming, turn on ThrottleStop and play a demanding game like Metro or Battlefield non-stop for an hour, then get back to me with screenshots of your maximum CPU and GPU temperatures. I simply don't believe you right now. I've personally used three of these laptops and all three had identical heat issues. The one I'm currently on has been repasted and sits atop a pretty powerful cooling pad yet I still get nowhere near the temperatures you're claiming.

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Will the Y500 mobo support a 55 W CPU? What about heat? The cooling design in this laptop is subpar. The i7-3630QM it's already overheating as it is.

Heat is a major problem with lenovo laptops. The y510p can barely handle the 4700mq. It already hits 80-90 degrees C. So honestly upgrading the CPU is not a good idea.

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