Laptop Upgrade i3 to i7

[DaYn95]

Hello Y'all,

 

I am thinking about upgrading the processor of my old laptop from 2014. Specs listed below:

 

Motherboard: W65_67SJ

BIOS Version/Date: American Megatrends Inc. 1.03.05, 01/04/2014

CPU (old): i3-4100M @2.50GHz TDP 37W

CPU (new): i7-4810MQ @2.8GHz TDP 47W
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M TDP 45W
RAM (old): 1x 4GB DDR3 @1333MHz

RAM (new): 2x 8GB DDR3L @1600MHz CL11 (Crucial)

PSU: A12-120P1A with 120W

Operating System: Windows 10 x64

 

I have two questions regarding the planned upgrade:

1. The i7 has a TDP of 47W which is 10W higher than the i3's. Will this cause any problems?

2. BIOS: Will I need to flash my BIOS? I looked on CPU-Upgrade.com, but my board isn't listed there.. How do I check if my current BIOS is compatible?

 

If there is any relevant information I haven't listed, please let me know.

Thank you for reading and your input.

 

Cheers

DaYn

[steelo]

13 minutes ago, DaYn95 said:

Hello Y'all,

 

I am thinking about upgrading the processor of my old laptop from 2014. Specs listed below:

 

Motherboard: W65_67SJ

BIOS Version/Date: American Megatrends Inc. 1.03.05, 01/04/2014

CPU (old): i3-4100M @2.50GHz TDP 37W

CPU (new): i7-4810MQ @2.8GHz TDP 47W
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M TDP 45W
RAM (old): 1x 4GB DDR3 @1333MHz

RAM (new): 2x 8GB DDR3L @1600MHz CL11 (Crucial)

PSU: A12-120P1A with 120W

Operating System: Windows 10 x64

 

I have two questions regarding the planned upgrade:

1. The i7 has a TDP of 47W which is 10W higher than the i3's. Will this cause any problems?

2. BIOS: Will I need to flash my BIOS? I looked on CPU-Upgrade.com, but my board isn't listed there.. How do I check if my current BIOS is compatible?

 

If there is any relevant information I haven't listed, please let me know.

Thank you for reading and your input.

 

Cheers

DaYn

IMO, upgrading this laptop is a bit of a lost cause. Your gpu is also extremely outdated for any type of modern gaming. If you have the resources, I'd invest in a more modern system and maybe use this old laptop for plex streaming or as a retro gaming machine.

[DaYn95]

Thank you for your answer.

 

Unfortunately I don't have the resources for a bigger upgrade. This machine will mainly be used for university stuff. Don't know if AutoDesk will run on it, but that is not the problem since I have a fairly powerful desktop PC. I just need a mobile PC that I can take to uni and runs smoothly. i3 & 4GB RAM aren't sufficient. Total cost of parts is around 120€, which is way cheaper than a new machine. I'm not planning on doing heavy duty gaming on it.

[svmlegacy]

32 minutes ago, DaYn95 said:

1. The i7 has a TDP of 47W which is 10W higher than the i3's. Will this cause any problems?

Laptops of this generation have a nasty habit of not booting if the TDP is too high. I highly recommend finding a 37 W chip.

[steelo]

12 minutes ago, DaYn95 said:

Thank you for your answer.

 

Unfortunately I don't have the resources for a bigger upgrade. This machine will mainly be used for university stuff. Don't know if AutoDesk will run on it, but that is not the problem since I have a fairly powerful desktop PC. I just need a mobile PC that I can take to uni and runs smoothly. i3 & 4GB RAM aren't sufficient. Total cost of parts is around 120€, which is way cheaper than a new machine. I'm not planning on doing heavy duty gaming on it.

I understand. I would upgrade to at least 8gb of RAM. That should give you a relatively competent school/note taking laptop. I really don't see any other compatible cpu of that era giving you a substantial performance boost that would be worth the money.

[DaYn95]

6 minutes ago, svmlegacy said:

Laptops of this generation have a nasty habit of not booting if the TDP is too high. I highly recommend finding a 37 W chip.

After a little bit more digging I found the model of the laptop and it seems it was also sold with 47W chips.

Source: https://www.avadirect.com/Clevo-W670SJQ-Core-i7-Gaming-Notebook-17-3-Full-HD-LED-LCD-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-850M-Intel-GMA-HD-Graphics/Configure/8468646

I even found a review article which stated that the i7-4810MQ was built in.

Source: https://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Nexoc-M731-Clevo-W670SJQ-Notebook.115021.0.html

 

The i7 models of this Gen with 37W TDP cost more than the 4810MQ, which has more power. i5 models are 20€ cheaper, which I will gladly spend for extra performance.

 

I would love to try the i7. Worst case is I'm sending it back or is there a possibility of messing up the chip because of the Wattage?

[DaYn95]

24 minutes ago, steelo said:

I understand. I would upgrade to at least 8gb of RAM. That should give you a fairlycompetent machine for school work and note taking. I'm not sure about autodesk...

RAM will definitely be upgraded. Went for the 16GB because it wasn't that much more in terms of money.

The i7, which offers 2x the cores and threads is priced at 65€; an i5 of that generation is around 35-40€, which would at least give me boost capability. Why don't you think the upgrades would be worth it?

Edited April 7, 2022 by DaYn95

[steelo]

1 hour ago, DaYn95 said:

RAM will definitely be upgraded. Went for the 16GB because it wasn't that much more in terms of money.

The i7, which offers 2x the cores and threads is priced at 65€; an i5 of that generation is around 35-40€, which would at least give me boost capability. Why don't you think the upgrades would be worth it?

I don't see the harm as long as the cpu can be refunded. I doubt it would cause damage. Worst case scenario, it will be stuck in an infinite boot loop or it will not boot at all. Keep in mind though, core count means little when dealing with a very outdated cpu, so I wouldn't set expectations too high.

[svmlegacy]

1 hour ago, DaYn95 said:

After a little bit more digging I found the model of the laptop and it seems it was also sold with 47W chips.

Source: https://www.avadirect.com/Clevo-W670SJQ-Core-i7-Gaming-Notebook-17-3-Full-HD-LED-LCD-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-850M-Intel-GMA-HD-Graphics/Configure/8468646

I even found a review article which stated that the i7-4810MQ was built in.

Source: https://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Nexoc-M731-Clevo-W670SJQ-Notebook.115021.0.html

 

The i7 models of this Gen with 37W TDP cost more than the 4810MQ, which has more power. i5 models are 20€ cheaper, which I will gladly spend for extra performance.

 

I would love to try the i7. Worst case is I'm sending it back or is there a possibility of messing up the chip because of the Wattage?

That is a promising start, but you must make sure that the motherboards are identical between the two, which isn't always the case.

 

No chance of messing up the chip or the laptop. Typically it will either do nothing, power up with black screen, or power up for a second then power off, if the BIOS rejects the CPU.

[DaYn95]

8 hours ago, svmlegacy said:

That is a promising start, but you must make sure that the motherboards are identical between the two, which isn't always the case.

 

No chance of messing up the chip or the laptop. Typically it will either do nothing, power up with black screen, or power up for a second then power off, if the BIOS rejects the CPU.

 

8 hours ago, steelo said:

I don't see the harm as long as the cpu can be refunded. I doubt it would cause damage. Worst case scenario, it will be stuck in an infinite boot loop or it will not boot at all. Keep in mind though, core count means little when dealing with a very outdated cpu, so I wouldn't set expectations too high.

Thank you guys so much. Your input has been a great help.

Ordered the i7 and will keep you posted. 

[DaYn95]

10 hours ago, steelo said:

 Keep in mind though, core count means little when dealing with a very outdated cpu, so I wouldn't set expectations too high.

I'm not expecting night and day. But the i7 will run (boosted) @1.5x the clockspeed of the i3 (with twice the cores and threads). Whenever I'm doing small tasks the i3 is working at 100% of its capacity. I'm just hoping the machine will run a little bit faster and smoother.

[DaYn95]

So I installed the RAM and i7. Switched from  i7-4810MQ @2.8GHz TDP 47W to the i7-4800MQ @2.7GHz 47W TDP. That saved me 20 bucks and I don't care about the slightly lower frequency.

 

I'll start with RAM: HUGE bonus to switch from 4GB to 16GB. Chrome likes it too.  Chrome tabs now don't need to reload because RAM was capped out.

Regarding the CPU: Really nice upgrade. More than I expected. Great tip to set the expectations low. PC definitely feels "snappier" when opening programs and working on the machine. No more lags when surfing the web. Watching 1080p 60fps is now possible (Might also be that I was bottlenecked by RAM). 

 

PC started right up with no problems at all. Gave it a good clean while it was open.  Currently installing Guild Wars 2 and will be checking out the performance.

Really happy with the upgrade and looking forward to using it in uni and maybe bringing it to LANs where low intensity games are played (AoE, GW2).

 

I would like to thank you guys again for your input!

 

Cheers

DaYn