Processor Upgrade Questions

gp792

Butner Lines Railroad Co.
Hi all,

considering that I play a lot of games on my gaming laptop, I have realized that some of the new games that I want to play, are too demanding for my current setup. So, I was looking at intel i7 processors (already have i7-4710MQ installed), and am wondering what needs to be upgraded if I get an i7-5557U purchased and installed. The reason I am wanting to upgrade is, because I am not happy with how T:ANE currently performs, and also I would want to be able to run games like Subnautica, Red Orchestra 2, and Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, without having to worry about overheating my system. So, what needs to be upgraded? I want to make sure that I get everything done correctly, so I don't ruin this computer.
 
Alienware 17
GeForce GTX 860M
Intel Core i7-4710MQ CPU @2.5GHz
8GB RAM (7.93 usable)
 
Not that you can upgrade the mobile CPU (It's possible if the CPU is socket based and not soldered to the motherboard, providing chipset support is also available). Moving from an I7-4710MQ to an i7-5557U would actually be a downgrade. The part number may be higher but all it means is that the CPU is one generation ahead (In this instance, Broadwell as opposed to Haswell). The key here is the U. It's a low wattage chip with a TDP of roughly 15 watts, hence the reason it's a dual core... One needs to do some research on part naming schemes.

As Malc said above however, you're probably GPU bottlenecked, however we don't know if you have a dedicated GPU or are using the I7's integrated GPU, finding that out would help, however since it's a laptop, there probably isn't much that can be done.

EDIT: Beat me to it, you might be bottlenecked by the 860M in intensive games depending on the resolution you're playing at.

Jack.
 
Jack,

would resolution be 1920 x 1080, 60Hz? Is there a fifth-generation i7 that is an upgrade, not a downgrade?
 
Thinking here......... Make sure you have set T:ANE to use the GT860M in the Nvidia Control Panel, it may be using the intel chip, not all games switch automatically.
 
i basically have the same laptop a la Asus R.O.G. 751J. But, changed to SSDs and upped the memory to 24 GB for better performance. I have had no problems, less if any compared to my i7 975 extreme desktop computer, which also has SSDs and 24 GB of RAM. So, with that in mind, try changing some things on yours. Using Windows 8.1 on here, also.

Paul
 
Jack,

would resolution be 1920 x 1080, 60Hz? Is there a fifth-generation i7 that is an upgrade, not a downgrade?

Not to my knowledge, the issue with Broadwell is that there have been delays in moving from a 22 nano meter manufacturing process to 14, as a result, Broadwell was delayed. Intel decided however to maintain their release schedule and are bringing Skylake (The successor to Broadwell) this year, which may mean very few Broadwell based parts with newer high performance parts coming with Skylake.

As Malc said however, make sure you're even using the 860M for 3D graphics as the PC will default to the Intel GPU for power saving reasons.

Jack
 
Not to my knowledge, the issue with Broadwell is that there have been delays in moving from a 22 nano meter manufacturing process to 14, as a result, Broadwell was delayed. Intel decided however to maintain their release schedule and are bringing Skylake (The successor to Broadwell) this year, which may mean very few Broadwell based parts with newer high performance parts coming with Skylake.

As Malc said however, make sure you're even using the 860M for 3D graphics as the PC will default to the Intel GPU for power saving reasons.

Jack

Jack,

will the Skylake GPU's be available as mobile versions, just like Haswell? My processor is an i7-4710MQ (quad-core @2.5GHz, turbo boost up to 3.2GHz). As regarding the GPU, I am running TANE with my GTX 860M.
 
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