i7-720QM CPU on unknown laptop motherboard - can I upgrade CPU and which is best

[Triacona]

Dear All,
Thanks for a brilliant forum!
I have an HP laptop with an intel i7-720QM CPU @ 1.6GHZ.
It has turbo boost as per the intel website...
I have just recently got Farcry 3...so you can see where I am going with this.
My laptop has the following specs:
HP DV8
i7-720QM @ 1.6GHZ 6mb Cache, max supported RAM 8GB
8GB RAM
GEFOCE GTX270M 1024MB graphics dedicated (I think not at home right now)
1920x1080 18.4" screen.
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Apparently turbo boost works on how many cores are active and thus clocks it accordingly...
Therefore 4 cores would run at 1.73GHz?
If on 1 core 2.6GHz.
The specs of the game require intel core 2 duo - E6700 @ 2.6GHz Dual core or I3 530 @ 2.9GHz
with the above graphics card supported and a minimum of 1024MB Graphics RAM.
The game also requires 4GB RAM for Win7.

My question is 2 fold.

Could I upgrade my CPU to a better intel CPU on the Motherboard I currently have on My Laptop HP DV8, with a better clock speed ratio, for under £100?

Or would it be better to get a new laptop? MSI GT70 0ND-603UK?

Thanks for all your help




Thank you,

Kind regards

Triacona

 

[hairlessupportmonkey]

I would have thought for FC3 your GFX card might be the bottle neck. A core i7 is a quad core with Hyper threading. So should be enough horse power to run the game.

If the Dedicated graphics employs MXM technology, you can try and obtain a new GFX card, otherwise updating the graphics drives will employ performance gain on new games.

ACSS - SME
General Geek

 

[Sympology]

I've never tried one of these, but may be worth having a look and getting some reviews on it.

http://www.villageinstruments.com/tiki-index.php?page=ViDock

Robert Wilensky:
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.

http://alvechurchlounge.org.uk

 

[Triacona]

Hi Hairlesssupportmonkey,
Thanks for the update ...

How to I find out if my GFX card employes MXM tech?
What exactly does that mean? (Removable graphics Chip only, or include graphics mem?)
My GFX might be a Geforce GTX 260,270 or 280.
How much would the MXM upgrade cost?


So the processor would be sufficient? I'm having trouble playing Stronghold 3?? The fans really buzz.

The new MSI laptop would cost £1799.
Specs:
i7 3630QM @2.4GHz
16BG RAM
2 x SSD 64GB RAID 0
750GB HDD
Geforce GTX675M 4GB
Blue Ray
USB 3.0
Windows 8

Soo if the GFX card/CPU solution is more expensive that £120 I don't see the point...
Maybe I am wrong...

Thanks again for your help
I would also love to play Skyrim full specs...
Any more help would be really appreciated


Thank you,

Kind regards

Triacona

 

[rclarke250]

Although it looks like you should be able to upgrade the cpu to an I7-840QM, both are 45 tdp chips, the problem seems to be the video card, or chip in this case. I can only find hp DV8 laptops that have an integrated Nvidia GT230. And that is an why you are having such problems gaming. Also, if it is a GT230, and it appears to be, in the tear down I saw, it is soldered on the motherboard, and no upgrade path is available.

 

[Triacona]

Yes you are right, the GFX card is the GT230...downloaded new drivers yesterday, but still only can run at 720p...
So it looks like I have to get a new gaming laptop, my DV8 is 3 years old.
It'll be the last time I buy HP, as it gave me nothing but problems, from the touch strip going haywire to the wireless card dying, to the substandard sound card...got myself a Creative PCIe expansion card and a USB dongle for WIFI.

Any new laptop suggestions would be great, around about £2000 mark should do it

Thank you,

Kind regards

Triacona

 

[rclarke250]

I really like the MSI, I had an older one from a kit that I built myself, it ran great for about 3 years. I was looking at getting another one, and building it out myself, when I saw an ASUS G53SX for sale on EBAY. $650.00 USD, for an I7-2760QM, 8GB ram, crucial m4 128 GB boot drive, and a 500GB data drive, with an Nvidia GTX 460m. It runs Skyrim in full HD 1920 x 1080 at high settings no problem. But it ways a ton, almost 10 lbs. The MSI is lighter,and the battery lasts longer, but this one saved me a bit of cash, and not like it's going to be crushing my legs while I game on it.