M1730 CPU Upgrade from T9300 to X9000 - Questions

I couldn't find an actual thread about this so I figured I'd start my own that can be easily picked up by search engines assuming your good selves can add some good info to it

I took the plunge after finding a final stepping X9000 OEM chip on Ebay for 269£ and I'd like to upgrade from my T9300. I'm fairly used to working on open laptops and I replaced the CPU in my old Inspiron 8000 with no problems so I figured I should be able to handle this swap as well.

However, I have a few questions.

1. I read in the M1730 thread "Dell is offering the X9000 but like ifti was saying it should be that hard of an upgrade because it looks like u can do it without removing the motherboard
the only thing is this may void your warrenty ud have to check that"

Has anyone successfully switched the CPU on the M1730, and can they confirm that you don't need to remove the entire board and the screws are accessible from the top of the board to remove the CPU?

2. What can I use to clean the existing compound that I will have to remove before applying my own compound (Arctic Silver 5)

3. Any other advice before I break open my M1730?

Thanks ahead of time. It would be very valuable if someone can tell me if I can get away with not removing the system board completely.

 

For your questions:
1) Don't know

2) Arctic Silver makes thermal paste removal solvent and it's fairly decent stuff, but I have found that 90% rubbing alcohol is just as effective and much cheaper.

3) Get everything you need ready before hand. You do not want to be in the position of having your laptop open only to not have your thermal compound. Also, be careful with your screws.

 

1) Ain't done it myself, but the service manual clearly suggests that you do indeed need to remove the system board. This is actually rare for Dell laptops, so there may be a way around it, but I'd trust that the manual knows what it's talking about.

2) As mentioned, rubbing alcohol is fine.

3) Read the service manual:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsm1730/en/sm/index.htm

 

For question 1, yes, you do have to remove the motherboard since the CPU and the heatsink are located on the opposite side right below the Ageia PhysX card.

My advice is, make sure you got all the screws. If you miss one, it's going to hold the whole system together. Of course, make sure you get all the connectors connected back in their places especially the keyboard (the one I always forget so does many Dell technicians). And don't over tighten the screws or you will have trouble opening the system back again next time you want to do something. Good luck!

 

Ugh I really hope I didn't make a mistake by buying this CPU and installing it myself.

With patience time and a clean environment though I think I should be fine. Are there any removal tricks I should watch out for, like any procedures where something might break if you're not delicate enough, etc?

I'm looking online now for a cleaning solvent I will use. I'm going to perform the "brain transplant" this weekend

 

I would suggest having a look at the video on youtube or on wiki xps page about switching videocards to help.
I had the upgrade done by a techician, at least in italy this move voids warranty but this will not happen if they will not notice: all you need to do is to keep the old cpu just in case you have big problem. I did it also for the 8800 upgrade.
cheers

 

How much will be gained by going from the T9300 to the X9000?

I couldnt seem to find a chart on that anywhere.

 

It's fairly easy to open the entire board to change the processor. I just done to my M1730 yesterday. It was easy I guess.... I admit, I didn't have to look at the manual again to open it. You'll have to gain access to the system board, unscrew 7 screws that secure to the base, unplug the device connectors, lift up the entire system board and turn over. The CPU is located underneath it.

I was upgrading from a T8100 to an X9000.

Actually, you have to do is to follow the instructions carefully and don't miss any one of them. Find a box and keep the screws and don't loose em'.

I took pictures of the process as well. Let me know if you need any help or assistance.

The gain from the T9300 to the X9000 isn't much, but can be clearly seen by two things; OCing it to 3.2GHz or rendering a 3ds Max file. The 300Mhz gain does the job for rendering. OCing it to 3.2GHz and I cut my rendering time by 15 minutes vs the T9300 at 27 minutes.

My sig will be updated later.

EDIT: I have the entire DCSE XPS M1730 manual if you want. All pictures, videos of the laptop's disassembly if you need.

 

@SomeFormOFhuman

This is something I am absolutely interested in. My machine came out of warranty about a month ago. Upgrading the graphics card from Dell is over a thousand dollars and out of my funds but I really want to get this machine to scream. It was my first name brand purchase after years of making my machines. I hate Dell . I would love to use your finding as a resource for my upgrading adventure. Can you point me to the best deal for the proper processor for the upgrade on this existing motherboard please? I am surprised that you can get that processor to work without swapping the motherboard

BTW: Do you know how I can get my battery to keep its charge. My laptop is not sending the signal for it to charge and i must keep it plugged in to stay on. This is happening even after I got a new battery

 

The x9000 is a p-socket cpu which should work, I was wondering though, if you change the cpu do u have to change the BIOS to use the cpu? Newbie question I know. lol

 

From what I have been reading I get both. Some say it is necessary to go into the BIOS settings to overclock this CPU to the higher setting. Did you manage to find a seller for the X9000?

 

How about using the X9100. Can we use that as well? Since the X9100 and X9000 both cost the same.

 

You need to stick with the same bus speed. The T9300 and X9000 use the same 200 MHz FSB while the X9100 uses a 266 MHz FSB. Intel sometimes lists these numbers x4 so you might see 800 MHz FSB Speed vs 1066 MHz FSB Speed. It means the same. There hasn't been much, if any success on NBR of people running the X9100 on a board designed for the X9000.

 

Wow this is an old thread but I guess "oldie but a goode" I have been successful at transforming the beast. The only thing I did not do is overclock it in the BIOS. I am not a true gamer but I dabble. Test games out on the beast. Just finished Mafia 2 (awesome) next up Arma 2. Been testing out Kane/Lynch2 (nice), Need4Speed Shift (nice), Transformers/Cybertron (ok). I have attached my system properties.

I advise on searching this post. A lot of solid gold info on here for your upgrade.

BTW: One more thing-- I raised my beast up from the back by putting two of the old block erasers just to allow breathing room. So it is angles higher in the back about 1 in raised at the high point. No overheating at all.

 

sunnah: If you don't know about ThrottleStop yet and what it can do for your X9000 then you need to download it, now!

When you right click on ThrottleStop, you will find a menu called Unlock Max FID / VID that lets you unlock the multiplier in the X9000 CPU so you can increase the multiplier and VID voltage from within Windows. No bios support is needed. Reliable overclocks of 3600 MHz are common for this CPU if you can keep the heat in check. Here's some more info about this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...unlock-core-2-extreme-multiplier-windows.html

 

I was wondering what it was after I saw it in your signature. I will investigate. Does it have to work in concert with overclocking to 3.0 or can I run it independent? I do not want to void any warranty I have. Thanks for the tip.

 

No you cannot. The X9100 has 1066Mhz bus speed. The X9000 is the highest option.

You got an X9000 and you didn't overclock it? Wow. You might as well sell it if you don't plan to OC that sucker. That's the whole point of getting the X9000 - to be OC'ed, because the BIOS only goes all the way up to 3.4GHz default.

And with OC'ing in the BIOS to 3.2-3.4GHz, your fans will roar to maximum RPM, maybe noise could be an issue but further cooling your components, thus lasting longer. You will want that, because alot of units are failing due to overheating GPUs.

And If you enjoy your following games at stock X9000, you're going to enjoy when it goes up to 3.6Ghz via throttlestop. Trust me.

Throttlestop runs independent. But it is recommended to run to 3.2GHz via the BIOS to increase fan speed first before OC'ing through ThrottleStop in Windows.

 

I try it out, thanks.

 

Thanks for the answer on the X9100

 

yes, having X9000 without OC is total wasting of money. It's not so impressive at the stock speeds. My X9000 runs at 4.0 GHz all the time sometimes 5-6 hours a day without any issues. At these settings X9000 stands well even against modern processors.

 

I tried it (Throttle/overclocking) last night and the processor fan is very loud. Is there a way suppress this or it just has to be ignored? Also, is there a way I can visually test the performance increase as an alternative to see the numbers?

 

Yes, the fan is supposed to run at maximum RPM and thus it is "loud". You will have to ignore it. But as mentioned, this will effectively increase cooling capabilities.

You can try 3DMark06 or wPrime to see how much you have gain performance. Or even your selected games, you can try them.

 

Thanks again. Now I must ask the simple question... Which Crysis version? Is this the ultimate test?

 

wPrime is an excellent CPU benchmark because it is 100% dependent on your CPU. A 25% increase in your CPU speed usually shows up in this benchmark as a 25% decrease in the amount of time it takes to calculate 32M. Here's an example of my QX9650 at the default FSB of 333.33 MHz. A change in multiplier from 9.0 to 11.0 shows up as the same percent of difference in my wPrime times.