Sub 1,000+ gains aren’t worth the effort required. I would only do an i3>i5 swap if I had a compatible CPU and it cost me nothing personally with such close margins. You run into similar issues when you move up the i3 on the Intel side as you do with AMD (+864 points with the i3-2350M>i5-2450M). For Intel systems, the gains are better but you have to be coming from something very low end like a B950 to a 2450M to make this project worthwhile ($15-20 for a used 2450M).There are multiple problems I see on the value side: performance gain unless you’re going from a low end entry level CPU to a solid midrange or high end one (Ex: Pentium B950>i5-2450M/Turion II P560>Phenom II N970). The problem with CPU upgrades is not that it can’t be done if the CPU is socketed - the problem is time investment vs.
#Is amd turion ii p540 dual core equal to i5 or i7 update#
The OP really should update the BIOS to the latest version so they can max out the processor without worrying. I suspect a similar issue may be at play here on this HP - most of the times the compromise is max TDP and BIOS supported CPUs. I'm sure I would make reasonable gains going from an i5>i7, but the E6440 is kneecaped to the 2C/4T CPUs due to the cooler and BIOS anyway, and you can't modify it because of Intel Boot Guard. I used a PNY CS900 maybe the OP can take a note of that and see if they can find one locally or on Amazon? I changed the thermal paste, but I didn't change the CPU. The i7 4610M would probably make a notable improvement with 8GB RAM/SSD, but I'm already kneecapped by the cooler and BIOS so I can't go beyond dual core. I went for RAM/SSD first in my E6440 and it makes more of a difference then putting the i5 4310M in and that's not enough of a gain since you'd get more from an SSD over a marginally faster i5.
And yeah I'm with you on the SSD/RAM - max it out before going for the CPU and see if you're happy with it then - if not, the CPU is like $35 on eBay but they mostly come from China unless you salvage one from a compatible parts laptop.