ASUS ROG updating processor

Question

I have an ASUS ROG G73JH-A1 with an Intel Core i7-720QM, it has an Rpga-989 socket and I want to upgrade my processor and I was wondering what my best options are.

Answer 1

Intel's Socket G1 (rPGA 989A) was only ever used for first-generation Core iX chips (the original Nehalem μarch, with model numbers of the form 'Core iX XXX??') and a small number of Pentium and Celeron chips of the same generation.

This means, in turn, that you really don't have much in the way of upgrade options. The absolute best you could do is a Core i7-940XM, but that only gives you a modest bump to clock speed and nothing more. However, it probably is not compatible with your hardware because it's also got a higher TDP than what you have and you're dealing with a laptop. Factoring in that limitation based on the TDP, you're probably stuck with a Core i7-840QM instead, which is even less of an upgrade. There's also the possibility that your laptop used special packaging and actually has the chips soldered to the board (but this is not a certainty, laptops with socketed CPUs do exist). On top of that, you have to actually find one of these 12 year old CPUs in the first place, which will not be a trivial task.

However, I contend that you're better off getting a new laptop. The specs on your laptop read like a modern netbook or chromebook, and one of those is very likely to be cheaper than getting a new CPU for your existing system would be while providing a much bigger performance improvement.