I need help with deciding which two different future builds to pick

Honestly, there is very little performance to be gained from OCing a 5730 mobility... especially when it's ALREADY running at 70C while ONLY playing TF2 WITH cooling. I think investing in your laptop would be a lost cause. I recommend you to save up 800USD minimum and build a gaming PC in the near future. You can do SO much MORE; Skyrim, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, BF3, Mass Effect 2, Dead Island and the list goes on...

~Coffee

The seller told me that the i7 920xm is limited to an OC of 2.4 Ghz of all four cores due to my laptop's motherboard's power circuit. He is also sending me a 150 CFM fan and some VRAM heatsink pieces.

I decided to hold off building my new rig until the second year of my college during the summer as I maybe too busy studying to play games. However, I might do AutoCAD or other 3D design program work.

What GPU would a Mobility 5730 OC'ed to 800 Mhz core and over 1000 Mhz memory come close to?

I don't like giving disappointing news but... brace yourself; I originally estimated that the Mobility 5730 is the equivalent of a AMD 4670 512MB DDR3; after a little digging it turns out true. According to this; http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-573... Your Mobility 5730 is the equivalent of a Discrete [Desktop] 5570; even then the discrete version has faster VRAM.

Here is spec comparison between the discrete 5570 compared to a $130-140 discrete graphics cad; the AMD 6850 1GB.
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=624&card2...

As you can clearly see; the 6850 leaves the 5570 in the dust. The reason I used the AMD 6850 is because it offers better performance vs price ratio compared to what's available in the current lineup; the same goes out to the AMD 6870 which is priced about $15-25 more.

Hope this helps!

~Coffee

I don't plan on playing many games during my first year of college, and as a result, I don't feel comfortable paying full price for hardware that I will barely use until the second/third year of college, when I start using the rig much more frequently. By that time, the same hardware on the market would've been cheaper, and I would've saved money had I waited until I needed a gaming rig.

Since the seller lowered the price to $80, would that be a reasonable stopgap measure to wait for the future rig?

If you don't plan to play games during your first year of college; then there is no reason you should consider upgrading your laptop. Unless there are certain apps you'll need to use for your course(s) that will GREATLY benefit from a faster CPU.

Assuming this is your laptop; Asus N61Jq
http://ca.asus.com/en/Notebooks/Multimedia_Entertainmen...
According to specifications; it houses a i7 740QM; which is barely slower than the i7-920xm your considering to buy. The 2 main distinctions in my opinion is that the 920xm is clocked 200-300Mhz faster [which is insignificant] and offers Hyper Threading. However this doesn't warrant the purchase of $80 and the risk of hardware damage during installation as it offers diminishing returns in terms of performance. Laptops are generally more difficult to work with than Desktops and it's not recommended unless you know what your are doing 100%.

i7 740QM Spec/Benchmark Sheet http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i7-740QM-Notebo...

i7 920XM Spec/Benchmark Sheet http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i7-920XM-Notebo...

As you'll see from the benchmark/specs above; there is very little difference between the two processors aside from the two notable points I stated above. I would conclude this is not a worthwhile upgrade; considering the $80 price tag, risk of hardware damage(s) during installation and diminishing performance return(s).

~Coffee

Edit:



That's even more reason not to upgrade. . .