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SB CPU upgrade help and questions


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So I currently have the i7 2620M in my laptop and am looking to upgrade to a quadcore. I could sell my current 2620M for (hopefully) ~120$. (looked at sold listings) Downside to all of this. I'd certainly have to sell my current first (to get money). But I don't have another computer.

Specs of what I got:

2620M - 2.7->3.4 - 4MB

~120$

Dualcore.

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List of options and notes (best to worst) - prices from eBay:

2860QM - 2.5->3.6 - 8MB

~300$

Unless someone gives it to me, this is out of budget.

2760QM - 2.4->3.5 - 6MB

~260$ (not too many on eBay)

Same story with the 2860QM, out of budget.

2820QM - 2.3->3.4 - 8MB

~180-200$

I might be able to get this. Worth it?

2720QM - 2.2->3.3 - 6MB

~150$

Could do this.

2670QM - 2.2->3.1 - 6MB

~120$ (same as sell price of my current)

Certainly could do this. However @svl7 said I might run into heat issues since it is the 26xx series quads. There is a reason why it is so. He advised to go for the 27xx. So even though this is no cost (minus shipping), kinda put off by what he told me.

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Questions:

Normal Release vs ES vs QS (still says ES on CPU? confused by this one) @octiceps said that ES can have unlocked multipliers

Other benefits / issues with the different version? (like heat)

Speaking of heat. Heat!?

As some of you know my lappy is a micro volcano. I can now keep it tamed now that the die pressure is much increased. Usually don't go over 80C, and have to really beat it hard to break the 90C mark. So that's why I didn't even put the XM processors in that list, Too much power/heat I'm sure (even though some people have done it in this particular laptop). This goes back to the thing svl7 said with the 26xx series quads.

L3 cache size

Would I even notice 6MB vs 8MB? What kind of tasks do you have to be doing to notice this difference? Rather (since you don't know what I do on a day-to-day basis), what would entail requiring/suggesting a larger L3 cache?

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That should sum it up for now.

Thanks for the help,

atn

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You are game going for a quad in your mini-volcano. Would be worth improving the cooling subsystem first. I wouldn't count on having unlocked multipliers either as that function is usually BIOS locked an would require higher voltage (ie: more heat) to run.

The 2720QM looks like the most sensible option from the lot. If you run into heat issues you could even run it as a dual-core only missing out 100Mhz from what you now have. At only $30 more than you have now it's worth it as the potential is there to get nearly double the performance. REF: Processors - Limit Number Used by Windows 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums for info on how to run it as a dual-core.

I've also mentioned you might want to consider offloading the 13" T901 for a 12.5" HP 2570P. With a bit of luck you can pick a i5 one up for $350 on ebay. It's *Ivy Bridge* i7-quad capable and given the other performance features (eGPU, RAID-0), it has will likely be a sought-after classic for several successive generations. See http://forum.techinferno.com/hp-business-class-notebooks/2537-12-5-hp-elitebook-2570p-owners-lounge.html#post33901 if interested.

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Yeah, I certainly don't care to overclock or anything since I know thermally this laptop cannot handle it.

I could potentially offload my system for the 2570P, I'd have to part mine out to do so (since my case is mangled. Only sellable parts are the mobo, CPU and the LCD. Could probably get close to 500$ for these way overpriced parts. But I'd have to find an loaner laptop (might be able to borrow one from work).

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I was leaning either the 2820QM or the 2720QM, I might follow your suggestion on the 2720QM. Thanks.

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ES CPUs are usually cheaper than final. Also there are some that are unlocked while the retail version of the same chip is not, but this is rare and I am not aware of any for sandy bridge. In general problems with ES CPUs are that some laptops have poorly written BIOS that does not handle the ES properly. Also some ES have worse temperature sensors than final.

The ES or QS moniker does not really mean anything by itself. Sometimes final silicon revisions are labeled QS or ES even though they are physically identical to final, but ES usually refers to CPUs that are not final silicon. What matters is the stepping number or revision of the CPU. For sandy bridge stepping 7 (revision D2) is the final silicon. Some older stepping 5 and stepping 6 CPUs can be found on ebay. For sandy bridge the stepping 5 (revision D0) chips work perfectly fine except the temp sensors jump around a little at lower temps, but work well at higher temps. Stepping 6 (revision D1) works as well as retail I believe.

As for 6MB vs 8MB, the extra 2MB makes the CPU perform around 5% better on average. A 8MB sandy bridge performs as well at the same clocks as a 6MB ivy bridge.

Here's a 2820qm ES for $169 on ebay: Qty 1x Intel ES CPU i7 2820QM Quad Core 2 3GHz PGA988B for Laptop Q1NC | eBay

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