P170EM CPU Upgrade Options?

M

marvir

Enthusiast
Hey guys,

I guess I've finally given up on trying to upgrade my laptop's GPU, it probably is too expensive and not quite worthwhile cost-wise to do it.

That said, I've been checking games on the Can I Run It website for games, and it seems to always point out my CPU as "upgrade recommended". I run an i7-3610QM, and was wondering what my options were if I did try. Am I limited to whatever bridge (is it Ivy) models? Also, will any of these potential upgrades be worthwhile and cost effective enough to consider?

Thanks for any help in advance.

Martin

Edit: Just to mention, I have checked my upgrade options through the website and there are no options through PCS directly it seems. I guess I can't hope for much 2 years after I bought it.
 
Last edited:
J

Jamie0202

Enthusiast
That is a very good processor mate and not worth upgrading. The Can I Run It website is talking nonsense. I find game-debate.com pretty accurate for determining how well a game will run. If you create an account you only need to put in your specs once as well.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
That CPU pretty much equals the i7 4700mq.

Source: http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4700MQ-vs-Intel-Core-i7-3610QM

There's no need to upgrade at all. Is there no option to upgrade gpu? That's where you wanna focus really, if the website doesn't mention an upgrade available, it may be worth calling PCS and asking if any of the newer GPU's are compatible.

Are you having any issues with slow performance or just itchy for new tech? :eek:
 
Last edited:
M

marvir

Enthusiast
Oh right, thanks for that, I thought so. I guess it's the 675M that's starting to struggle.

No I've been trying for months actually. They said I could get one but I needed to be sure about the BIOS and stuff. I was in contact with someone from PCS before then they just forgot about me I think. I tried again months later and got no response. I think the only option I had for upgrading my GFX card was a 680M, and people seemed to think it wasn't the best idea in terms of cost to performance, as it would cost me around £350 more or less to get one.

Itchy for new tech, plus all this E3 news is showing way too much game for not enough laptop :D

That, and I'm struggling to run newer games on higher settings. I've only been playing Guild Wars 2 and recently tried Wildstar, and I can only get 20-30fps on medium-ish settings, which is kinda depressing.
 
Last edited:
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Have you given the laptop a clean inside since you had it? Performance can be affected quite significantly with dust buildup. A quick clean can produce remarkable results.
 
M

marvir

Enthusiast
SpyderTracks said:
Have you given the laptop a clean inside since you had it? Performance can be affected quite significantly with dust buildup. A quick clean can produce remarkable results.
Click to expand...

Hmm I keep meaning to do that haha. Are there any specific things I have to watch out for? I have never really opened up any laptops before, was always worried about voiding warranties, but my rig is way past that anyway. What's the best general clean I can do? Do I have to remove certain components?
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Firstly just crack it open to reveal the cpu and gpu. Get a can of compressed air from pc world or maplins. You wanna clear any dust buildup in the fans or gathered by the exhaust ports etc. If it's really clumpy then use a soft paintbrush.

That'll increase the airflow which should decrease temps on the gpu and cpu which will prevent them throttling at high load and return performance to max.

You shouldn't need to actually remove any component.
 
J

Jamie0202

Enthusiast
It's probably a good idea to check your maximum temperatures before and after cleaning.

CPUID HWMonitor is a good program for this.

Run the program then play a game for a while. When you come back out the game take a note of the maximum CPU and GPU temperatures. Throttling will occur on the CPU at around 95C, crippling your framerate. I'm not sure what temperature the GPU throttles at. Let us know your temps.

As a side note, Wildstar is still in beta and is terribly optimised so I wouldn't blame the poor performance on your rig.
 
M

marvir

Enthusiast
SpyderTracks said:
Firstly just crack it open to reveal the cpu and gpu. Get a can of compressed air from pc world or maplins. You wanna clear any dust buildup in the fans or gathered by the exhaust ports etc. If it's really clumpy then use a soft paintbrush.

That'll increase the airflow which should decrease temps on the gpu and cpu which will prevent them throttling at high load and return performance to max.

You shouldn't need to actually remove any component.
Click to expand...

I got carried away, I saw a video on Youtube of a guy disassembling his P150EM so I just went along with that. Considering I've never actually opened my laptop up to clean it there was a surprisingly small amount of built up dust. Which in a way kinda disappointed me, I was hoping to do a big clean then immediately "feel" the improvement haha. But yeah was easy enough. I'll need to do this for my W880CU that I gave to my girlfriend though, that really needs a clean. It just has this 1 stupid screw that none of my screwdrivers can reach, and I'll actually need to purchase a specific screwdriver for it.

Overall it is noticeably less noisy, though no real performance increase to speak of, but I don't mind, I was just being greedy.

Jamie0202 said:
It's probably a good idea to check your maximum temperatures before and after cleaning.

CPUID HWMonitor is a good program for this.

Run the program then play a game for a while. When you come back out the game take a note of the maximum CPU and GPU temperatures. Throttling will occur on the CPU at around 95C, crippling your framerate. I'm not sure what temperature the GPU throttles at. Let us know your temps.

As a side note, Wildstar is still in beta and is terribly optimised so I wouldn't blame the poor performance on your rig.
Click to expand...

Actually Wildstar has been officially released already, I think the launch was on the 3rd of June.

Unfortunately I kinda went ahead and cleaned before I read any of the later replies so apologies but thanks. I will do this the next time I give it a clean. My CPU has gone over 95 over long gaming sessions, so I'll have to see how it is when I get some time to play some games like that again.

Anyways thanks for the help guys, I guess I'll just have to suck it up and wait until I can afford a new rig, probably get a desktop from now, upgrading a laptop 2 years down the line seems a lot harder than it should. Just not very cost effective in the long run.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top