Help With CPU?

Well I have had my m15x for a good 2 years now and at the time that i bought it the standard CPU for it was the I7 first gen with 1.73 MGz which was absolutely fine for a while now but recently i feel that its just not enough. so that's why I'm here. i stumbled upon this amazing site and am in love so far. i have a feeling that this site is going to be a weekly thing for me from now on. well enough babbling, so i need a new processor and was thinking of sticking with the I7 family. the issue is that i do not quite understand how sockets work and do not know which one to get. So far I've been looking at this one " http://www.valleyseek.com/intel-bx80638i73720qm-intel-core-i7-i7-3720qm-2-60-ghz-processor-socket-g2/store/show_item/238870/?source=googleps" and believe it would be a nice fit in my computer but can't be sure without a little help. if this one does not work would you mind listing the best I7 I would be able to upgrade to?

I would just like to add that I'm always up to cheaper/better solutions, and if anything other than I7's can give me great speed and reliability for cheaper or just overall better performance I would be perfectly fine with that.

Thank you for your time and I would be very grateful if you would take a minute to help me decide on what processor to use for my system.

My System Specs:
Model: Alienware M15x
CPU: Intell i7 Q740 @ 1.73GHz 1.73GHz
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M (core 50MHz, Shaders 101MHz, Memory 135MHz)
RAM: 6G DDR3

 

As stated before, the motherboard of the M15x does not allow CPU upgrades to any 2nd or 3rd generation processors, and hence M15x users can only upgrade to a better first generation i7 processor.

The CPU provided inside the link would not work since it is a third generation processor.

Anyway, you could upgrade your current processor to a 920XM or a 940XM which you can easily find on eBay. QS or ES chips are widely available in the market and you can get them cheaper than OEM processors.

You can in fact overclock the above mentioned processors and its performance may even match a higher tier 2nd generation i7 processor, such as the 2860QM.

You can check out the link below:

INTEL i7 920XM 3.2GHz quad QS mobile CPU processor for 55 chipset laptop monkey 0735858211307 | eBay

 

You are right the i7 740 is not enough. On the other hand the the 920xm is plenty.

 

Yes for me if i was you i will get the 920xm , dont upgrade the 740

 

920xm is your best choice, though I have been seeing a couple of 940xm's for $350 though, they are coming down slowly.

 

Im confused, you say that the 940XM is compatible with my computer, which socket is a socket PFA-989, but the 940XM is a socket PGA-988. Is that ok?

 

Yes the 940XM and 920XM is fully compatible with the M15x. I am using a 940XM myself.

 

These 3 are all PGA988 for socket type.

Intel® Coreâ„¢ i7-740QM Processor (6M cache, 1.73 GHz)

Intel® Coreâ„¢ i7-920XM Processor Extreme Edition (8M Cache, 2.00 GHz)

Intel® Coreâ„¢ i7-940XM Processor Extreme Edition (8M Cache, 2.13 GHz)


Grab a 920XM and save a few bucks. There is no significant performance difference between the average 920XM and 940XM.