first gen xps m1210 processor upgrade Qs

First of all a good day to you all.

As the title says, I want to give new life to my old m1210 by upgrading to a more powerful processor (a core2duo 2.33Ghz T7600 perhaps?). It currently has the coreduo 1.66Ghz with 1Gb RAM ang the nVdia Graphics option.

I read somewhere that someone did it with his M1210 maybe 2yrs back and i would like to follow the same route.

I already bought 4Gb of RAM (tho i know it will only recognize something like 3.25GB or so)

However I have some questions...
- is my processor upgrade choice just the right one?
- is there any other processor type that will do the job without the notebook becoming too hot?
- lastly, if by chance there's someone who has a spare processor (preferably used) for my needs please give me a bump.

thanks and more power!

 

No the T7600 will not work. Neither will any other Core 2 Duos. Your stuck with Core Duos.

 

That notebook isn't 64-bit compliant and the chipset has a 32-bit memory controller, so it won't recognise the full 4GB and anything more than 4GB....

A T7200 (2.00GHz) or a T7400 (2.16GHz) will be a better choice, as they are much cheaper than the T7600 (2.33GHz). Just update to the latest BIOS version before upgrading.

 

thanks for the replies...

@ qaz333 - please see the post "XPS M1210 Merom Upgrade/Review! (With Pics)" for reference...

it shows how the coreduo was replaced with core2duo on an M1210. done by govtcheez. this is the exact same procedure i intend to follow.

@ Andy - thanks for the suggestion... i did notice the big difference in price as you said... i'll definitely consider that. sadly, the 4GB really couldn't be recognized in full... still i put it in. haha.

Please post if there's anyone out there with these processors...
Thanks!

 

My previous notebook was a M1210 with a T7200 processor and 2GB RAM. It heated up more than I liked, therefore I don’t recommend putting anything faster than a T7200. Besides, few extra megahertz won’t make much of a difference. As for the RAM upgrade, it supports up to 4GB ( owner’s manual page 164), but you won’t see all 4GB, probably around 3~3.5GB due to 32bit address limitations.

 

thanks PhoenixFX! iL keep that thought in mind... just one question tho regarding the 4gb ram not being seen by the system due to the 32 bit limitation, even so does it still consider the installed 2 x 2gb dimms as dual channel? can't i do anything about this 32bit limitation? thanks for your patience....

 

The 2x2GB will still run in 'True' Dual Channel. And there is nothing, that can be done to overcome that 32-bit limitation.

 

thanks for the quick reply andy... hope to get a suitable processor soon.. by the way i already updated the bios to the latest available from the dell website... its now A08.