Great upgrade to the i3 dual core in my Think Pad E520. Both use G2 socket. Not as easy a job as some units, required full disassembly down to motherboard but system improvement was worth the effort. I would think this is the max you can go for an upgrade, as the quad core i7 draws 45w vs 35 for this unit. Cooling in my laptop is shared with the GPU, so I elected not to push it.