Acer V3-571G possible upgrades

Faust

Hi,

I have an old Acer V3-571G. The exact model is V3-571G-53218G75MakkMFG, but after doing some search it turns out that even with this exact number there are STILL variations :D

This PC works great and after changing HDD to SSD, upgrading to Windows 10, upgrading BIOS to the latest (despite claims it's not up-gradable, lol) and changing to UEFI and GPT and of course cleaning it and replacing thermal paste I've realised this laptop can serve me at least several more years. Even battery is still alive and everything works fast, I think it can run even some older games.

My model has NVIDIA 640M GPU and i5-3210m CPU, thus as you can see the GPU is OK, while the CPU is really lacking. It has 8 GB DDR-1333 RAM.

My questions are:

1.     What is the best possible upgrade for the CPU? Please, take a look at the photo of the cooling system – I don’t want the heat from i7 to ruin the system.

2.I know there is an unofficial version of BIOS that makes these laptops cooler without a performance loss. Is this true? How is this even possible?

3.The most controversial part is RAM, the answers from different places just contradict each other. Officially, CPU supports 32 GB and 1600 MHz, while motherboard supports 16GB and 1333 MHz. HOWEVER, many users suggest to buy 1600 MHz claiming that actually motherboard not only works with this RAM with a downgrade to 1333 MHz, but in fact fully uses 1600 MHz. Which is true?

Thank you in advance.

JackE

1. The mainboard should support any one of the 3rd generation i7 quad core series processors. shown below with the rPGA989 pin socket . The quads use nearly 30% more power so it will definitely release more heat than a dual core. Frankly, I doubt you will notice much difference in most applications & programs except more heat and faster battery drain.
2. Modded BIOS are NOT recommended due to the significant risk of irreversible adverse side effects or bricking.
3. The official maximum RAM is 8GB with two 4GB dual channel DDR3 sodimms 1333MHz or faster. The BIOS might support two 8GB but not guraranteed Windows will recognize 16GB. Max mainboard DDR3 RAM bus speed is 1333MHz so faster RAM will downshift to accomodate the 667MHz or DDR 1333MHz mainboard bus speed.

I suggest that your run crucial.com scanner on your laptop to confirm what RAM recommendations it suggests.

JackE

1. The mainboard should support any one of the 3rd generation i7 quad core series processors. shown below with the rPGA989 pin socket . The quads use nearly 30% more power so it will definitely release more heat than a dual core. Frankly, I doubt you will notice much difference in most applications & programs except more heat and faster battery drain.
2. Modded BIOS are NOT recommended due to the significant risk of irreversible adverse side effects or bricking.
3. The official maximum RAM is 8GB with two 4GB dual channel DDR3 sodimms 1333MHz or faster. The BIOS might support two 8GB but not guraranteed Windows will recognize 16GB. Max mainboard DDR3 RAM bus speed is 1333MHz so faster RAM will downshift to accomodate the 667MHz or DDR 1333MHz mainboard bus speed.

I suggest that your run crucial.com scanner on your laptop to confirm what RAM recommendations it suggests.

Faust

Thank you for this answer!

As I see, I7-3720QM is definitely the fastest of all, while mine is only better than I3. However, I7-3612QM is 35V, thus it should have the lowest heat production out of all 77 here, right? 35V is actually the same as I5, which means it should be the best choice for this PC. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Regarding memory, I have doubts this motherboard supports 16 Gb, several tests including the one you've mentioned (Crucial) supports this. Thanks for confirming it wont work on 1600 MHz speed AND also that despite this it will still accept such RAM. The thing is, in my town it's quite difficult to find 1333 Mhz sticks, the choice of 1600 Mhz is FAR better.

Faust

Hm, some users also report that they use i7-3630QM, despite it's not in this table. There is also i7-3632QM with 35V, though I am not sure about this one. i7-3632GM is slightly better.

JackE

Yes, any CPU within the i7-36xxQM series or i7-37xxQM series with the same rPGA989 socket should work

But beware of the rule of thumb. If one CPU seems to be about 10-20% faster than another CPU in the same series, the heat generated will also be about 10-20% more. In other words, increased speed usually comes with increase heat within the same generation of processors.

And yes, since you already have 8GB DDR3 1333MHz sodimms installed, I see no advantage whatsoever in replacing them with 8GB 1666MHz sodimm since the mainboard bus will only allow them to operate at 1333MHz speed.

In my opinion, you've already made the most cost effective upgrade by switching to an SSD. Any further upgrades will probably not be as satisifying or noticeable in most situations.