Upgrading Dell 1520

Hi there,

I was thinking of trying to upgrade a couple of parts of my Dell 1520, namely the hard drive and cpu (i've been told the 8600M GT is the best graphics card the 1520 can handle?).

Now I don't have a clue about what processors I'm able to upgrade to whatsoever, so if anyone can stear me in the right direction that would be fantastic. My current Dell 1520 uses an Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 @ 2.0GHz if that helps at all?

As for the hard drive, is the "Western Digital 320GB 2.5" Hard Drive Scorpio Black SATAII 7200rpm" drive compatible? I think the 1520 uses SATA right?

Thanks a lot for any help you might be able to give me

 

Your notebook can handle any Socket P Merom, and Penryn (800MHz FSB).

Yes, Inspiron 1520 uses SATA drives. The WD3200BEKT will work just fine.

Your CPU is good. Unless you're running heavily CPU-intensive tasks, there is no point in upgrading the CPU.

HDD upgrade will be good.

 

Thank you very much, sorry for not listing the hard drive model number, very silly of me haha.

Will the upgrades im planning on have any negative impact on my system at all such as added heat? The system idles at around 45/50C and when I play computer games that reaches 90+ easily

 

No, not really. All Socket P Core 2 Duos have a TDP of 35W, so the cooling system will be fine with a higher Merom or Penryn. If upgrading to a Penryn, updating the BIOS to the latest version will be a good idea.

You can also try and undervolt the current and upgraded CPU to reduce the TDP, and reduce the stress on the notebook's cooling system.

 

That hard drive will work fine. The video card is not upgradeable so that's what you'll have for the life of the notebook. For the CPU to upgrade it will cost you quite a bit of money at least $250 for any higher chip. I'd just leave it alone.

 

a new HDD might up the average temp in your notebook, but not grossly so.

 

Ok thanks a lot everyone, i'll leave the CPU well alone as from what I can see i'll only be getting a marginal increase for the vast amount of money it would cost. I'm definitely going to upgrade the rest though and try to undervolt my current processor.

 

I added a WD 320 (5400 RPM). It tops out at about 40c (heavy long duration load) but otherwise is easily is the coolest running part in my system at the moment.

I actually would get a samsung spinpoint M 5400 rpm at the moment if I had the choice. It is comparatively fast to many 7200 rpm drives out there. Save the noise and extra heat - you can get great performance from a more modern hard drive.

If it helps, my WD gets a 5.4 on the windows exp indicator. I think its something like 60Mb max transfer rate.

 

So a Samsung Spinpoint M 5400rpm drive is equal to a WD Scorpio Black 7200rpm drive? How does that work?

You've given me food for thought now haha, maybe I should go back and have a look at a few different drives

My current hard drive gets 4.7 on Vista's WEI

EDIT: I know this is unrelated but i've been meaning to try and get it sorted for a few months, but does anyone know how to tighten the lid of the Inspiron 1520, mine seems to of started to become a tad loose. Thanks

 

I have an inspiron 1520 too, so i too can upgrade the cpu...??? i have an intel core 2 Duo @ 1.5 GHz...... im thinking to go to 2.0..... what do u think...?

 

You can also long as you stay in the same CPU class and chipset. However, it is most likely going to be cost prohibitive to do so and you'd probably be better off staying where you are at.

 

i have a T7300 laying around if either of you are interested. Sitting in my desk :laugh:

 

Haha thanks but I think i'll pass for now, im liking the spec in you sig though. Very nice.

I'm having a little bit of trouble choosing the best hard drive for the money, i was set on the WD Scorpio Black but i've been told the Seagate Momentus and Samsung Spinpoint MP2's are better?

 

Thanks ^^

right now the WD and the seagate are the same price, i went with seagate because ive never had a problem with their desktop drives.

From the tests ive seen it comes down to WD or seagate.

 

In that case, then for the exact same reason i'm going to go with the WD as i've never had a problem with them in my desktop. Once again thanks

 

I think Andy already replied to this question. Did you read he's answer?

 

andy only mentioned that the WD was compatible, not a comparison between the two =)

you can pick up either for 100 at newegg at the moment with an external enclosure for 2 dollars more.

your other options are the 500gb WD blue and the seagate 5400.6 for the same price now. (wow they were 120 last week)