HP Pavilion 17-e020us Motherboard/Processor Upgrade Question

[dixsoftware]

Hi, 

I am thinking about upgrading the motherboard on my HP Pavilion 17-e020us PC.  The manual (http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04069163.pdf) has a list of supported processors, and I am unsure which one to choose.  The computer currently has an Intel Core i3-3110M processor with Windows 10 64-bit.  I am deciding between the Intel Core i7-3632QM and the Intel Core i5-3230M (The processor's TDP has to be 35 W or I have to get a new power supply).  You can view a comparison of the two processors and the one currently in the system here: http://ark.intel.com/compare/71670,72056,65700.  Although the i7 has a lower base frequency, it has more cores; the opposite is true for the i5.  Could you please tell me which processor I should pick (I will get the corresponding motherboard)?  Here are the main things I do on the PC: web browsing in Edge or Chrome, using Microsoft Office, and developing software with Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 (which means I frequently use tablet and mobile emulators to test my app -- it also means I need it to compile quickly and be good with rendering graphics (for designing apps /games)).  

In additon, could you please tell me which motherboard from the ones in the manual (page 34 in PDF, page is numbered 24 in bottom-left corner)?

Thank you very much to all who answer.

[banhien · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Normally we use 3 C's rule to select a processor. They are Cache, Core and Clock. In this case, I would pick 6 MB Cache processor. It also has more Core and Clock is a bit slower but many applications, the slowing factor is not from processor but from other factor namely HDD.

Regards.

[dixsoftware]

Hi, and thanks for your fast response.  Could you please tell me which motherboard (the manual with the list of motherboards is in my original post) would go along with that processor?  

I also forgot to mention that I upgraded the PC to 16 GB of RAM and an SSD, if having the SSD would change your pick.

Thanks again.

[banhien]

Hi,

Looks like you need

Intel Pentium i7-3632QM 2.2 GHz processor (SC turbo up to 3.2 GHz, 1600 MHz, 6 MB L3  cache, DDR3, quad core, 35 W)
701658-001

SSD is ok with new motherboard.

Regards.

[dixsoftware]

Thanks for giving me a link to the processor, but which motherboard should I buy to use with the processor?  

It would be one of the ones on page 34 of the manual here: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04069163.pdf