XPS 15 component upgrades

So I just placed an order on a base i3 XPS 15. I had to choose the base cofiguration as I am short on money at the moment. However, I want to upgrade the CPU to an i7 and the display to the full HD model in a few months. I was wondering if anyone knows if there will be any compatability issues? Oh, and I will be upgrading the RAM. Thanks for your advice in advance.

 

I dont think i7 and i3 work on the same board. You CAN upgrade the LCD though

 

Gluck upgrading things like cpu on a laptop. Not saying its impossible but its nowhere near as user-friendly as a desktop.

 

The XPS 15 offers up to the 840QM so you should be able to swap in any other i7 (maybe not an extreme). As many people on this XPS forum have done so, yes the screen is upgradable to the FHD though the price has exploded if purchased through Dell.

 

Thanks for your replies! I have tortured myself and asked a live chat agent, and here is the response I got:

Who are the people on live chat? They always seem to put smiley faces ect. in the chat. Anyways, I don't have a service tag so I cannot contact tech. support, but my system is due to arrive on Monday or Tuesday.

I used to have an XPS M1530, had nothing but trouble with it, but for upgrades it was a breeze! I simply cannot believe the placement of the CPU and HDD on this system. Doesn’t XPS to you mean a powerful, luxury and easily upgradable product? However I think it's worth it. Plus the online service manuals are a brilliant help.

I will let you know what they say when I have a service tag. I hope it can be done, if not I guess an i5 is?

 

I looked at the Intel spec. sheets, and the i7 is a 45nm CPU, whereas the i3 and i5 are 32nm. Looks like the i7 does use a different motherboard? What do you think? If not then I guess I will have to go for a top of the line i5.

Here is the i3.
Here is the i5.
Here is the i7.

 

It doesnt matter that the arrandales are 32nm where as the clarksfield are 45nm.

However as the i3/i5 come with nvidia optimus technology, there maybe a hardware conflict when replacing with an i7quad.

You could try be a guineapig, to see if it works.

You also have the option of dual core i7s, i7 620m or 640m, ES 620m can be found for less than $200 on ebay

 

Socket G1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think an upgrade is possible just as long as the CPU's use Socket G1. I was searching if an upgrade to sandy bridge (Socket G2) is possible but there's not much info.

 

The i7 uses a different motherboard all together than the i3/i5. Even then the last two may use a different board as well. It won't be possible to upgrade from an i3 to an i7. As it stands I'm under the impression that the cpu is soldered to the motherboard anyways as is the gpu chip.

 

In the l501x, the chipset seems to be HM57 for all three types (i3/i5/i7). Also, apparently the socket for the cpu that are sold with these notebooks is rPGA988A (not soldered). So I still think an upgrade might be possible.

 

I'd also love to know if this is possible. I have an i5 460m, and would love to move up to an i7 sometime down the road.

 

At the moment I don't believe it is possible because the i7 doesn't support the optimus technology that nvidia uses yet. The boards are different because the i7 version lacks the onboard intel video chipset. There may be other difference that prevent the i7 from working on the i3/i5 board.

 

So, just to clarify, if i get an XPS 15 with an i3 processor, could i upgrade the screen to a FHD one later on?


EDIT:
Nevermind, I got it

 

So, this may be a dumb questions but has anyone try to swap out the i7 with an i5 and try to take advantage of Optimus using the 435M?

 

Sorry that won't work. The boards that come with the i7 pre-installed don't include the Intel video chipset. That chipset is needed to make Optimus work. Oh and trust me. From what i've heard you don't want it anyways.

 

Coming from a current XPS 15 w/Optimus owner, who has just ordered a new XPS 15 w/i7 & Optimus, please explain what you have "heard" he does not want.

 

Mostly the audio issues on HDMI due to the mix of Intel and nVidia chipsets and issues with external displays although I don't remember the specifics. My understanding isn't giving the battery life savings that was expected either but I may be wrong on that one. I don't have optimus so at this point my input is just speculation.

Sorry I didn't respond sooner but I just noticed this alert in my inbox.

P.S. - I recently found out the processor is socketed so you could try to upgrade from an i5 to an i7 but I'm not sure the board bios would of accepted it anyways.

 

I think maybe you'd need to upgrade your power brick also. Probably you have a 90w power brick and the i7 may be requiring something like 130w. Not pretty sure of this but you should check this out

 

I can confirm that, the i5 uses the 90w and the i7 uses the 130w.