E6510 (w/ NVIDIA) + i7-920xm

I have a Dell Latitude E6510 with the dual core i7-640M, and I am considering upgrading the CPU to an [ES] i7-920XM (or 940XM) in a few years when prices go down.

Will I run into any compatibility issues? and will I be able to overclock the CPU normally? (w/ the unlocked multiplier)

 

u have to check your chipset and see if it will support quad core i7s. some chipsets, like the ones on the vostro 3500, will not support quad core apparently. The odds are, if e6510 can be configured with quad i7, it probably will support it.

u wont be able to oc using bios, so your only shot is by 3rd party software, but the bios might lock the whole process so you might not even be able to oc using unlocked multiplier.

i am not sure how beefy the cooling system is though on the latitude. latitude and precision m4500 have the same chassis, but im not sure about the cooling it self. if it has similar size of the cooling, im sure it will handle the 55watt cpu just fine.

with sandy bridges rolling out, you might as well sell you old latitude and get the new laptop with sandy bridge. that might be cheaper considering that the i7 extreme might not even be THAT cheap

 

You should be able to but I don't think it is wise to go to a 920XM. Your cooling system is designed to cool 35 watt, even if you had the 45 watt i7s, it's still 10 watts more.

 

Dell offers the E6510 with the 740QM so the cooling system should be good for 45W. Anything more might be a problem. It might, if the BIOS accepts it, run OK under light load but would be more vulnerable to throttling when the load increases. Unless you know that you can use all 4 cores (=8 threads) then a fast dual core CPU can deliver better performance.

John

 

John, my mistake Wikipedia listed it the 740QM 35 watt but Intel's ark site lists it as 45 watt.

You might want to wait for Sandy Bridge to be fully implemented, it will drop the prices of the 920/940XM like a ton of bricks.

 

Wonder how different the motherboards are between the E6510 and the M4500. The M4500 offers the 940XM, but also comes with the 130 watt power supply.

 

I have a 920XM in my latitude E6510. I can tell you now i have had no problems with either cooling or chipset issues. I have a NVS3100M alongside it, and its awesome. I must note i have turbo boost disabled, though. Useless feature. Everything else is as stock. And no, overclocking is not possible.

 

m4500 offers a better gpu which is why it needs 130w brick

 

I'm testing out a i7 720QM in my E6410. Its the same situation. My E6410 is meant for up to a 35 watt CPU, and I'm putting in a 45 watt CPU. Your E6510 is meant for up to a 45 watt CPU, and you want to install a 55 Watt CPU.

10 watt difference in both our cases.

My i7 should get here by Saturday.