Upgrading Laptop CPU?

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  MrBuck1 year, 2 weeks ago #1Show comment toolsReply

  I will try and find an old thread on notebookreview about it, it can be done.
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  MrBuck1 year, 2 weeks ago #2Show comment toolsReply

  realblender

  (yes it is possible, just get the service manual from the dell website with step by step instructions. CPU compatibility is linked to bios and so look what dell have offered in this laptop)

  
  
  Some how I do not think the cpu in a consumer upgradable part that they would provide instructions for upgrading,
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  MrBuck1 year, 2 weeks ago #3Show comment toolsReply

  This is the best I can find at the minute, it does list the best cpu to upgrade to.
  
  http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/581746-l701x-cpu-upgrade.html
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  chris2010uk1 year, 2 weeks ago #4Show comment toolsReply

  realblender

  hasnt this already got cooling / fan noise issues? or was that the 501

  
  My one seems ok. Actually just replaced the cooling paste on the CPU and GPU earlier today. Was a shoddy pasting job Dell did and after a cleaned the crust off and applied some arctic silver 5, it seems to have dropped a couple degrees already. (around 44% on idle and 70% on absolute full load on all cores.)
  
  However, I did hear that the earlier XPS models overheated bigtime (mainly due to the nvidia graphics card in it)
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  chris2010uk1 year, 2 weeks ago #5Show comment toolsReply

  Thanks for all the help guys. I'm glad to hear that this is possible. Any ideas where to get the correct processor from though? Not sure I'll need to specifically get a laptop one or not.
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  chris2010uk1 year, 2 weeks ago #6Show comment toolsReply

  What's the absolute best CPU I could get for my first gen XPS 17?
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  chris2010uk1 year, 2 weeks ago #7Show comment toolsReply

  Oops... Well I guess that's a good thing then.
  
  Is the Core i7-940XM not compatable then because it's 55w rather than 45w like the 840QM?
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  mogsog1 year, 2 weeks ago #8Show comment toolsReply

  To be the negative voice in all of this, I don't think even if you could upgrade it that it would be both all the effort. When I had to repair a laptop just the disassembly and reassembly was a total nightmare. OP is the something you are looking for run on your laptop or is it just being sluggish?
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  chris2010uk1 year, 2 weeks ago #9Show comment toolsReply

  Opened and repasted my CPU and GPU today, and it crossed my mind that it should he easy enough for me to upgrade the CPU. Was just enquiring so I know in the future once these processors get cheap, whether it'll be possible.
  
  No problems running anything, as the graphics card is the main drawback if wanting to play games on very high settings. But I just figured one of the higher end i7 would, in the future, provide a fairly decent boost.
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  dxx1 year, 2 weeks ago #10Show comment toolsReply

  Laptop CPU upgrades are easy, and i don't understand why more people don't so it. For me, for example, it worked out that I could buy a laptop with a previous generation 1.8ghz CPU, and upgrade it to one based on a newer core architecture, smaller process, and clocked nearly a gigahert faster for about half what Dell wanted for the same upgrade. It was an easy upgrade job, and i didn't bother looking up any service manuals or compatabilty guides, reasoning instead that any chip with the same socket and bus speeds would, in theory, be compatible. I was right, and if I was wrong, I would've had my dsr rights to get me a refund.
  
  So, yeah. I definitely recommend trying the upgrade. Look up the list of i7 chips on Wikipedia, your laptop will probably support anything from the same family. If you want to be safe, Dell's part BOM'er lists compatible parts, so phone tech support and ask them to look it up for you.
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  mogsog1 year, 2 weeks ago #11Show comment toolsReply

  dxx

  Laptop CPU upgrades are easy, and i don't understand why more people don't so it. For me, for example, it worked out that I could buy a laptop with a previous generation 1.8ghz CPU, and upgrade it to one based on a newer core architecture, smaller process, and clocked nearly a gigahert faster for about half what Dell wanted for the same upgrade. It was an easy upgrade job, and i didn't bother looking up any service manuals or compatabilty guides, reasoning instead that any chip with the same socket and bus speeds would, in theory, be compatible. I was right, and if I was wrong, I would've had my dsr rights to get me a refund.
  
  So, yeah. I definitely recommend trying the upgrade. Look up the list of i7 chips on Wikipedia, your laptop will probably support anything from the same family. If you want to be safe, Dell's part BOM'er lists compatible parts, so phone tech support and ask them to look it up for you.

  
  
  You have opened my eyes, I did not know lappy upgrades were very popular, I have one I need to fix soon so maybe it will be worth a go.
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  dxx1 year, 2 weeks ago #12Show comment toolsReply

  mogsog

  dxx

  Laptop CPU upgrades are easy, and i don't understand why more people don't so it. For me, for example, it worked out that I could buy a laptop with a previous generation 1.8ghz CPU, and upgrade it to one based on a newer core architecture, smaller process, and clocked nearly a gigahert faster for about half what Dell wanted for the same upgrade. It was an easy upgrade job, and i didn't bother looking up any service manuals or compatabilty guides, reasoning instead that any chip with the same socket and bus speeds would, in theory, be compatible. I was right, and if I was wrong, I would've had my dsr rights to get me a refund.
  
  So, yeah. I definitely recommend trying the upgrade. Look up the list of i7 chips on Wikipedia, your laptop will probably support anything from the same family. If you want to be safe, Dell's part BOM'er lists compatible parts, so phone tech support and ask them to look it up for you.

  
  
  You have opened my eyes, I did not know lappy upgrades were very popular, I have one I need to fix soon so maybe it will be worth a go.

  
  
  Oh, the concept isn't popular at all. A few people are happy enough to upgrade the RAM or swap the harddisk with an SSD, but very few people are comfortable with upgrading the CPU. I guess its kind-of daunting a task to most people, but really, it's a very simple process. With my Dell Vostro, it's just a case of removing one of the base panels, unscrewing four screws to take the heatsink off, unlocking the CPU socket by turning a screw through 90 degrees, taking the old CPU out, and swapping the new one in. Five minute job, really.
  
  But yeah dude, I'd recommend it to you and anybody. There is the annoying pitfall in the sense that it's all pretty poorly documented (like, I really took a gamble when I bought my T9300, because the chip comes in two socket formats and there's no obvious way to tell them apart, and I'd have handed my Vostro's original 1.8GHz chip down to my 1.6GHz Acer if it wasn't for the fact that there's a single pin moved in the Acer's socket M that makes it incompatible with the Vostro chip's Socket P), but with some rational thinking, you'll be totally fine.
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  chris2010uk1 year, 2 weeks ago #13Show comment toolsReply

  The XPS 17 is rather difficult, as you need to remove more or less everything to get to the CPU. But with a bit of patience and care it can be done easily enough, albeit time consuming.
  
  Wouldn't mind trying to upgrade my HP Pavillion DV1000, and in particular my Dell Inspiron 6400. With the latter though, the core 2 duos do seem to be quite expensive still and I'm not sure what will be compatable.

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