CPU upgrade, any noticable difference in dual core i5 & i7 ?

marsay001

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Apr 21, 2009
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current CPU; i5 2520m

Hey all,

I use my laptop for music production and have lately noticed that now I've started using a LOT of VSTs I'm beginning to get audio glitches when my CPUs under high load, they're not enough to properly ruin the experience but they're a bit annoying.

So I'm gonna' throw a sandy bridge i7 in there. However while looking on the ARK website I've noticed some i7s are x2 core x4 threads, just like my i5. Will I get a noticeable difference with one of these chips or am I better going for a x4 core x8 threaded i7.

I think I might as well, however budget is an issue and on E bay there is an i7 2620m for £79 from a trusted seller, I have a buyer for mine for £50. is it worth it or shall I just wait and get something like an i7 2820QM for around £130.

Thanks for reading, any help appreciated greatly !
 
Solution
well dell says up to 6 mb cache the processor i posted has 6mb.if your cpu is not supported by the bios a bios update should do the trick.the laptop shouls last for at least an other 3 years.if nothing goes wrong even more.have in mind this laptop is desighned for buisnes so do not hae a lot of demands when you open vst's.more cache will defenitly improve responsiveness. ;)

JOHNN93

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give us your laptop model.
upgrading a cpu on a laptop is nos like a desctop.you will need to didademble the laptop to get to the motherboard.
the i7 has 4 mb cacheand 200 mhz higher clock speed might not make a huge difrence.
are you using intergrated graphics or does your latop have dedicated graphics.
the glitches might not be because of hardware but the software.
 

marsay001

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Apr 21, 2009
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Latitude E6220. The CPU is very easily accessible, as is everything in these machines. Just 1 screw, whip off the panel and you have access to the socket.

Using Intel HD 3000. Its definitely a bottleneck that's causing the glitch as the CPU meter (in the production software) spikes and turns red when the glitches happen.

If you imagine I have nearly 50 VSTs open. In that case I think I'll spend the extra money. Can you recommend an i7? best power/value

Thank you!
 

JOHNN93

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well the i7 has the same intel hd graphics 3000 the only difrence a higher clock speed.totaly not worh the money.
ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_latitude_laptop/latitude-e6220_setup%20guide_en-us.pdf.
well i found http://ark.intel.com/products/50067/Intel-Core-i7-2720QM-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_30-GHz
quad core 8 threads but the only thing is the graphics stay the same.there was no hd 4000 graphics when this came out.but i can not find anything from dell that says that it can support this processor.
 

marsay001

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Apr 21, 2009
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I know all sandys had hd 3000, which is more than adequate for what I use, and these laptops are compatible with pretty much all sandy CPUs as they are customizable at purchase

-http://ark.intel.com/products/52813/Intel-BD82QM67-PCH.

I think if I'm gonna' do it I might as well stretch for the best I can, Prolong my machine life :)
 

JOHNN93

Honorable
well dell says up to 6 mb cache the processor i posted has 6mb.if your cpu is not supported by the bios a bios update should do the trick.the laptop shouls last for at least an other 3 years.if nothing goes wrong even more.have in mind this laptop is desighned for buisnes so do not hae a lot of demands when you open vst's.more cache will defenitly improve responsiveness. ;)
 
Solution

Troulo

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Apr 22, 2016
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Just to clarify the info for the interested: Dell Latitude E6220 does have the CPU soldered to the mainboard. So you cannot upgrade the CPU.

The fact that they were offering different CPUs doesn't mean that they are not soldered, but that the maker were just soldering different ones.