Jump to content

W510 upgrade

Ok lets get this out the way from the get go yes I know it is old hardware and yes I know it was made in 2009 but I own it and want to make the best of it while it lasts.

 

A friend gave me his old Thinkpad W510 with a i7-720QM and 12GB of ram. It had windows 10 grinding away in it which for the processor was way to resource intensive so I stripped the system cleaned out the hard drive and installed Bunsenlabs (Ex CrunchBang #!) on to it and have been tapping away at the keyboard like the diligent student I am. Fast forward a few weeks the system is doing right by me for all intense purposes UNTIL I load up a web browser and load a Linus tech tip video. This is where my problem starts the i7-720QM is dual core and lags madly if I have Libre Office word open and web browser for example.

 

So now I have researched and found that I can install the i7-940XM on to this board but I am wondering about heat issues. Can anyone point me in the right direction of an upgraded heat sink that will fit into this sleek yet bulky brick as I kind of fallen for its charm (Basically means I am broke at the moment and trying to get a better system for cheap price).

 

Kind regards

 

Killer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Can you identify exactly what is causing it to lag? If you open Task Manager, what is is the CPU/memory utilization like when you have Libre Office and a browser open?

If it is struggling...is it the RAM, CPU, or both that are maxed out or spiking?

Does it happen regardless of which Libre Office application you have open?

Does it happen regardless of which browser you use?

If you boot into Safe Mode with Networking, does the same thing happen?

 

It could be something as simple as a memory leak in one of the applications.

 

Stop and think a second, something is more than nothing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

I was just using Libre Office as an example even if I stop all processes from running in the background that are not vital the CPUs still run at around 100% and then slowly come down to around 82% while the video is running I have reverted to grabbing the Youtube url, closing the web browser and watching it in Gnome-Video (I think that is the applications name)

 

I have run several browsers and firefox seems to be the lesser of all evils when it comes to this issue. I just figured that A: the processor being dual core and a little older is not able to handle the newer browser not to mention new browser with youtube. I have ordered the chip from a friend in Malaysia but just wondering about heat issues at this point as the system i really like and would rather upgrade then toss out if you get me.  

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

the 720qm is a quad-core, hence the "qm" tag - quad mobile. 

 

check your bios. 

idk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well if that is the case then this system is only using two cores at present. Didnt know it was a quad core cpu cause I can only see two on my conky info where as the exact same script shows the 4 that I have on my other system

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Can you grep /proc/cpuinfo for me? 

 

I'd suggest checking the BIOS for what is enabled and what isn't - HT and Multicore may be disabled. 

idk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×