Upgrade path for arrandale laptops...

[measure]

Post synopsis: Will the mobile processors which come after Arrandale use the same socket, thus proving some sort of upgrade path?

Pointless additional information: Hello,

I posted a question on here in regard to getting a new laptop to replace my going on 5 year old Compaq Presario, which still serves me very well thanks to some amazingly light linux goodness. Clearly though, with a 1.8GHz Turion and a heatsink and fan which aren't doing so well anymore, it is time to replace it. All of the feedback I got on the forums really helped, and the refreshed thinkpads fixed my one issue (they now have a slightly larger touchpad!). Therefore, I plan on buying a new Lenovo Thinkpad t410. Anyway, enough with the pointless introduction...on with the real question.

It is my guess that in the not too distant future, Intel will refresh its mobile processors. Instead of paying for the i7-620m now, I hope to settle for the i5-520 and upgrade later, if possible. From reading, I understand that it's not so uncommon for Intel to (meanly!) change sockets. Thus, I would like to know if anyone has any guesses (or perhaps even actual facts?) regarding socket compatibility with future mobile processors and the current Arrandale lineup. I realize there could be other factors, and mostly I'd just like to hear what everyone thinks.

If the upgrade path is looking grim, I might just go for the faster processor now, but I expect that the future processors will have the speed bumped a bit with lower power consumption (what a surprise, newer processors being faster and using less power?! I just came up with that concept, just now!). However, I am not going to wait for the new processors to purchase my laptop.

Thanks,
Ryan

 

[jedimasterben]

I don't think it's a good idea to upgrade a laptop's processor, especially from an OEM, as they usually customize the cooling for the chip that they put in it, and may not have the same cooling capacity as one that comes standard with the higher chip.

 

[measure]

I don't think it's a good idea to upgrade a laptop's processor, especially from an OEM, as they usually customize the cooling for the chip that they put in it, and may not have the same cooling capacity as one that comes standard with the higher chip.

Well honestly I expect to replace it with a more "refined" version of Arrandale which should, in theory, produce less heat. For example, when Core 2 Duo went from 35TDP to 25, would this still have applied?

 

[jedimasterben]

Maybe. Most laptops don't receive updates to CPU microcoding to support newer CPUs, as they are, again, customized to the options originally ordered.

 

[measure]

Maybe. Most laptops don't receive updates to CPU microcoding to support newer CPUs, as they are, again, customized to the options originally ordered.

Aside from the potential change in socket, this is the other factor I was worried about. Correct me if I am wrong (and I mean this sincerely, not in a smug way), this would be corrected by a BIOS update, no? Therefore, if the sockets didn't change, I would also depend on Lenovo to release such an update? This is how I thought things worked.

I should probably research to see if Lenovo offers (or has offered before) BIOS updates. As the Thinkpads are a business laptop, I in part share your pessimistic view of upgrading the cpu (after all, what business would buy a bunch of CPUs to upgrade their employee's laptops?). However, the dumb little optimist in me doesn't want to give up.

Thank you for keeping me informed, I really appreciate it.

Ryan

 

[jedimasterben]

Yes, a pretty good portion of BIOS updates (EDIT: on desktop motherboards /EDIT) are simply for updating the CPU microcoding to support newer models, and yes, they are motherboard specific (not just model number of the computer, as they can have several different configurations on different motherboards).

Although they most likely offer BIOS updates, they may or may not support newer microcode.

I don't blame you for having at least a little optimism, as I, too, have a little one inside me (I think he's invested in a megaphone lately, as he seems to yell louder now hahaha), but in looking at what I've seen in the past (from many different OEMs), almost all do not supply microcode updates.

Eh, it's no problem. I don't have any better things to do on a Friday night. Dishes are the only other thing on the list, and I definitely don't think that they're better!

Also, I just noticed your post synopsis at the top. That should seriously be a requirement to post on here!!

 

[measure]

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