cpu upgrade t430

[krissyneillie1]

hi there, which is the best plug and play CPU upgrade for my t430?, i currently have an i5 3320m, im wondering if having an i7 would make much difference?, i also have the original toshiba fan with the hd4000 graphics, any advice?, thanks

[zugu]

Technically, you can upgrade to any Ivy Bridge i7 CPU, which come in 35W, 45W, and 55W versions. 55W CPUs would run too hot for the cooling in this laptop. 45W is doable, but you have to fight the heat and you get worse battery life than on 35W CPUs. Which only leaves the i7-3612QM and i7-3632QM, both 35W quad core, eight threaded CPUs. I have a Delta fan with the 3632QM, and I have no issues. Sure, it gets hot in games, but then again, this is not a gaming machine.

[Jake.Werecat]

I'm successfully running i7-3632QM for more then a year now and I'm very satisfied. No issues with throttling, overheating or unstable work. After the mod the laptop needs a minimum of 90W power adapter, won't run on 65W.

[sktn77a]

I have 3 T430 computers with the i5-3520m CPU and one with the I7-3520m CPU. I don't see any difference between them. Now, going from windows 7 on a HDD to windows 10 on an SSD made a world of difference on both!

[WarhawkCZ]

I'm successfully running i7-3632QM for more then a year now and I'm very satisfied. No issues with throttling, overheating or unstable work. After the mod the laptop needs a minimum of 90W power adapter, won't run on 65W.

What are your temperatures? I use i7-3612QM (also 35W TDP) and the laptop with the original stock heatsink reaches 100deg instantly. The base clock 2.1GHz keeps it exactly at 100deg at 23edg. ambient which is just right below the thermal throttling limit.
I run the test in the docking station.

PS: No Nvidia.

[RealBlackStuff]

Run that test NOT on a dock.
The dock probably obstructs the in/outgoing airflows which cause those temp spikes.
When was that CPU's thermal paste last refreshed?

[WarhawkCZ]

Run that test NOT on a dock.
The dock probably obstructs the in/outgoing airflows which cause those temp spikes.
When was that CPU's thermal paste last refreshed?

I changed the paste about two weeks ago. Additionally, I played with various configurations (e.g. now, I have a copper spacer that improves thermals (measured)). Unfortunately, my use case is 90% in dock station.

[Jake.Werecat]

Hmm. I'm afraid I can't give you the read out in degrees as I last ran the test 2 years ago after changing CPU, and don't remember a digit. and i'm away travelling with X230 only. Though in normal low-demanding usages the computer is running lowest fan rpm or no fan at all, when I hire some computing powers for something more demanding like doing some engineering calculation the fan kicks in but it's not overheating. I do have nVidia.
I'm also mostly using this PC docked, and have never noticed any difference thermal performance when docked or undocked.
If you're interested I can run some prime95 test when I'm back home, but that would be within a week and a half.