Would Like to Upgrade ASUS A52JK Processor from i5-430M to i7-640M or i7-940XM (If Possible)

Good day ladies and gentlemen,

I am a newbie here and would like to ask a question. I own an ASUS A52JK that was bought in 2010. It comes with Intel® HM55 Express Chipset & Intel® Core™ i5 430M Processor. The specification for the laptop is available in the link below:
https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/A52JK/specifications/

Beside the Intel® Core™ i5 430M Processor, this laptop model also comes with different processors (according to the link above), which are:
a - Intel® Core™ i5-540M Processor
b - Intel® Core™ i5-520M Processor
c - Intel® Core™ i5-460M Processor
d - Intel® Core™ i5-450M Processor
e - Intel® Core™ i3-370M Processor
f - Intel® Core™ i3-350M Processor
g - Intel® Core™ i3-330M Processor

My laptop is still in good condition, however lately it feels slows whenever I'm running newer programs such as Ms Office 2013 & 2016. At first I decided to buy a newer laptop (an MSI GE62 6QD Apache Pro, an ASUS ROG GL552VW or an ASUS ROG G501VW. Before purchasing the new laptop, my friend of mine suggested me to upgrade the HDD in the laptop to SSD. After upgrading to SSD, another friend of mine suggested me to upgrade the CPU to i7 (provided that the socket is the same).

According to ark.intel.com website, the processors that are compatible with Intel® HM55 Express Chipset are listed in the link below:
http://ark.intel.com/products/43183#@compatibility

Out of all the processors listed in the link above, I am interested with the following processors:
a - Intel® Core™ i7-940XM Processor Extreme Edition (8M Cache, 2.13 GHz Base Frequency, 3.33 GHz Turbo Frequency, 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 55 W TDP)
b - Intel® Core™ i7-640M Processor (4M Cache, 2.80 GHz Base Frequency, 3.46 GHz Turbo Frequency, 2 Cores, 4 Threads, 35 W TDP)

I have 1 question - can I simply remove the existing Intel® Core™ i5 430M Processor and then replace it with either one of the 2 i7 processors above (Intel® Core™ i7-940XM Processor Extreme Edition OR Intel® Core™ i7-640M Processor)?

If not possible, can I replace the existing Intel® Core™ i5 430M Processor with the fastest i5 processor that is compatible with Intel® HM55 Express Chipset? According to the http://ark.intel.com/products/43183#@compatibility link, the fastest compatible i5 processor is:
a - a - Intel® Core™ i5-580M Processor (3M Cache, 2.66 GHz Base Frequency, 3.33 GHz Turbo Frequency, 2 Cores, 4 Threads, 35 W TDP)

If still not possible, I think the only possible thing that I can do is to replace the existing Intel® Core™ i5 430M Processor with the fastest i5 processor that comes together with ASUS A52JK model. According to the https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/A52JK/specifications/ link, the fastest ASUS A52JK model is:
a - Intel® Core™ i5-540M Processor (3M Cache, 2.53 GHz Base Frequency, 3.066 GHz Turbo Frequency, 2 Cores, 4 Threads, 35 W TDP)

I hope I can get advice and guidance from all of you regarding this matter. Thank you very much.

 

You should be able to upgrade to any 1st gen mobile core-i series cpu. The chipset supports them, but the question is if your laptop supports them. Some processors may not work due to BIOS restraints and others such as the i7 series (except the 620 or 640um) will draw significantly more power than the i3 and i5 series. In that laptop the i3 and i5 CPUs will actually have a TDP of 25W (not 35W) because they are not utilizing integrated graphics. When you step up to an i7, the TDP goes from 45W to 55W (for the XM series). It will increase with the XMs if you overclock. This means your power adapter must be able to handle the extra power demands, and your heatsink needs to be able to handle the extra heat.

You should first try to figure out what's causing the slowness you are experiencing before investing in upgrades for an old PC. What kind of hard drive are you currently using, and how much RAM is installed?

 

The RAM has been upgraded to the maximum allowed for the laptop (8GB, DDR3 1066 MHz SDRAM). Three days ago I replaced my Seagate HDD with Samsung 850 EVO SSD ( http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/memory-storage/MZ-75E2T0B/AM). I have been using the SSD for only three days, so it is still early for me to judge whether the speed improves significantly or not.

All this time the laptop works fine while I'm using the MATLAB® and SIMULINK® software (I am an engineering student). However I start to feel that there is a very significant lag whenever I'm using the Ms Word 2013 & 2016 (as far as I remember, there was no significant lag when I previously used MS Word 2007). The more mathematical equations and high quality figures that I inserted in the Ms Word 2013 & 2016 documents, the more significant the lag is. The lag in my laptop while using Ms Word 2016 is worse than while using Ms Word 2013. A friend of mine suggested me to disable the graphic acceleration setting in the Ms Office (both 2013 & 2016), but it does not help much.

 

As you have found out, an SSD does little to give you more performance (even if it makes the system feel smoother).

Real (compute) performance is about having the latest platform (M/B), CPU and RAM (capacity and quality). Work = CPU+RAM and the more you can upgrade those two variables, along with having the latest O/S (Windows 10 x64 Pro highly recommended), the more work (real world) you can get done.

As you have maxed out the RAM already for your platform, here is an idea of what the CPU upgrade may offer:

See:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=775&cmp[]=850&cmp[]=865

As you can see (and mentioned above by kosti), the i7 will draw significantly more power than your system was ever designed for (specifically). You can also see that the i7 version will not give you the most single threaded performance upgrade either.

If you have not performed a clean install of Win10x64Pro on your new SSD yet, that is the first thing I would do.

If the performance is still laggy (this is a combination of the HM55 Express based platform and (imo) the Samsung SSD you have chosen for it), then the only reasonable upgrade would be to a more current platform (IB at the least) with 16GB RAM or more.

Are you simultaneously using all the indicated programs? If so; 8GB is not enough for the O/S, Programs and your data to reside (comfortably) in RAM (regardless of what Task Manager might indicate).

You can also try:

Turning off all animations, menu fading, (enable the Save taskbar thumbnail previews though) and sliding options.

Turn off Hibernate (in an Admin command prompt: powercfg -h off).

Set the Pagefile to 1024MB (min and max) or, 2048MB (if testing indicates it is better). But don't turn it off (Windows will be slower with it off).

Turn off System Restore and delete all the old Restore points.


If you have adjusted or 'tweaked' any other O/S settings (especially with the horrible Samsung software 'magician'), I recommend a clean install. And especially if you enabled CRAPID too. As I would also recommend to OP your SSD by 33% at the Windows setup screen(s).


The HM55 based platforms are noticeably laggy and very unresponsive (to me) when compared to a modern platform. Even with all the above completed optimally, you may still need/want to upgrade (fair warning...). But completing the above in the proper order (OP the SSD to 67% of it's actual available capacity during a Clean install (in the advanced Setup menu dialog boxes), disable animations, System Restore and hibernation and make sure you do not install (let alone run) Magician unless there is a firmware update for your SSD (and even then; do yourself a favor and wait a month or so before you attempt it).

You can also try on your existing and future builds:

Defragging the SSD with PerfectDisk 14 Pro using the SmartPlacement option with the SmartPlacement options setup under the data layout in Rarely, Boot, Directory, Recently and Occasional (with zero MB free space between sections). I know, I know... everybody and their dog knows that you don't defrag an SSD (yawn). But if you want to see your system performing as responsive as possible, try it for yourself and then decide (I've been defragging my systems with PD for over 5 years now).




I have seen systems with issues similar to yours (if the CPU+RAM combo wasn't the bottleneck) where doing a simple defrag like above was all that was needed to make the system feel relevant again.

Good luck.

 

Thank you very much for your reply in detail. I have question related to the clean install of Win10x64Pro. My current laptop comes with Windows 7 Home Premium. The problem is, when I go to the ASUS website to download the driver, the only drivers available are for Windows 7. The link to download the driver for my model is available in the link below:
https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/A52JK/HelpDesk_Download/

I tried to install Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (both clean installation and also upgrade from Windows 7), however I noticed that the CPU fan rotated faster, noisier and the laptop became hotter. I suspect this is because both Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 on my PC used generic driver (or the driver for Windows 7) instead of using dedicated hardware driver for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. If ASUS no longer release a dedicated drivers for newer Windows, I think I have no choice but to stick with Windows 7.

 

You can try searching online for Win10 drivers for all your devices based on the list of drivers listed on the Asus site. If you get an unknown device in Device Manager you can look at the Hardware ID of the device and do a search for it. You'll probably find most, if not all the drivers you need.

 

In quite a few (older) systems, I have used the Win7 drivers in a clean install of Win10.

If the fans are noisier and the platform still running hotter after being left on for the first 24-48 hours, that is a sign of wrong drivers being used. Keep searching until you find the right combination for your system.

Like I said; start with the Win7 drivers you are currently using.

 

Thank you very much @kosti and @tilleroftheearth for your feedback. First of all, I would like to say sorry for taking time to reply your messages. I was so busy lately and had not time to reply your messages.

Below is the link to download the drivers for my model:
https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/A52JK/HelpDesk_Download/

The driver that is listed in in the link is only for Windows 7, which are:
1) Chipset (Intel INF Update Driver)
2) Audio (Not Specified)
3) VGA (ATI Radeon HD5145)
4) Pointing Device (Not Specified)
5) ASUS Utilities
6) Wireless (Not Specified)
7) Bluetooth (Not Specified)
8) Camera (Not Specified)

So far I managed to find the latest driver for item 1 & 3 from Intel & AMD website. However I have no idea on how to find the latest driver for the rest of the items. It might be possible for me to spend some time on google, however I will try to do it later.

I just emailed the ASUS technical support team asking them about the latest driver for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. They said they will reply within 24 hours.

 

1 more thing. All this time I installed the Windows 10 by upgrading either from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. If I want to have a clean install, may I know which serial number that I should key in? Is it the serial number for the existing Windows 7 or Windows 8.1?

 

@kosti, is there any possibility that Windows 10 uses generic drivers and doesn't display as unknown in display manager?

So far I managed to find the latest driver for chipset & GPU from Intel & AMD websites. I have no idea where to find the latest drivers for other devices, but I will try to spend some time to google. At the same time I have emailed ASUS technical support team asking where could I get the latest drivers for the model (if possible).

 

After you have upgraded a specific machine to Windows 10, you can simply do a clean install of Windows 10 on that machine and choose to skip to input a serial number (will do so later...).

After the install is finished and you connect to the internet for the first time, you will see that the status of the system will change to 'activated' on it's own.

 

Understood. Thank you very much.

 

@tilleroftheearth, I have 2 more questions:
1) After I upgrade my current laptop from Win 7 to Win 10, and then successfully perform the clean install, wont there be any problem if I replace my hard disk/SSD and perform another clean install?
2) I have one windows 7 ultimate that was bought for my custom gaming desktop. If I upgrade the laptop from Win 7 ultimate to Win 10, and then successfully perform the clean install, is it possible for me to transfer the win 10 (the one that was upgraded from my win 7 ultimate) to another gaming desktop just in case I bought a newer gaming desktop in the future?

Thank you.

 

1. no (re-installing windows on same machine is okay)
2. no (installing windows on different computer needs a new license)

 

@ KLF, I have double-check with many websites. Most of them said the upgraded Windows 7 and WIndows 8.1 to Windows 10 can be transfered to other PCs iff it is a retail version AND NOT the Manufacturers OEM version.

 

Dear @kosti and @tilleroftheearth. First of all, I would like to say thank you for persuading me to perform clean install Windows 10 on my laptop. After performing the clean install (while the laptop is being connected to the internet), windows managed to find the drivers for all hardware except 1. I checked the ID for the hardware (as what @kosti taught me) and googled for the hardware. I found the following forum related to my hardware and managed to download the driver for the remaining hardware:
http://www.tenforums.com/drivers-ha...mmc-host-controller-win-10-driver-needed.html

So far I am very happy with the performance of the Windows 10 installed on my laptop. Thank you again for your endless support. I will decide later whether I will proceed upgrading my CPU or just leave it.