dell 1720 cpu upgrade?

hi i have a dell 1720 with a t2390 cpu running at 1.86 ghz with 2gb of ddr2 667 mhz ram and was wondering what is the fastest cpu i can run in this system without modification, just want a quick upgrade where i can drop in the cpu without changing heat sink etc? would i have to change the ram aswell?
any help most apppreciated,

andy

 

Best CPU you can get is the T9300 which is a 2.5 GHz. You will see a considerable differance. Prior to taking apart your 1720 installing the new CPU your going to want to update your BIOS. You won't have to change your heatsink, but you will need to get a tube of thermal paste and reapply it. Clean the old CPU with an alcohol wipe as well as the heatsink before applying thermal paste. Then sell the old processor on ebay. The fastest CPU is actually the X9000, but that CPU is designed for overclocking, and due to the 1720 BIOS limits, you can't over clock it. So it's not worth the extra money you would spend just for .3GHz since it runs at 2.8GHz. You really should change your RAM though. That should help a lot as well. Especially if your a multi tasker. You can get it cheap from newegg.com Your going to want the 4GB kit of 2 sticks at 2GB each. DDR2 667MHz. You can get 800MHz, but due to the chipset limitations on the motherboard, it will be downclocked to 667MHz, so it won't be worth the extra money again. Can I also suggest that you can install a second Harddrive for extra storage if you want that as well. You'll need to buy a kit to install it but it's only $30 + cost of a harddrive. I have a link if you want the 2nd HDD kit. Hope this helps.


EDIT: Also when installing the extra RAM, one slot for the ram can be accessed by removing the middle cover on the bottom with an "M" underneath it, and the other is under the keyboard. It is accessed by pulling up the cover with the power and sleep buttons, removing the 4-5 screws for the keyboard, and sliding the keyboard back.

Link for 2nd HDD kit here
Disassembly instructions here

 

hi thanks for the reply, so if you can fit the x9000 cpu could you fit the x9100 bieng as i can source this cheaper than a x9000 . cheers again,
andy

 

I don't believe so because the X9100 has a FSB of 1066MHz and the motherboard runs on 800MHz. The T9300 and X9000 are both 800MHz. The X9100 is a Socket P so it would fit, I don't think the CPU will downclock to 800MHz though.

 

@ DR650SE Looks like I've thought you well.

@ andylad, Well as far as concerned the X9100 doesn't work with it due to the BIOS not even recognizing the chip and may not boot along with it at all. I can see you are wanting to have the same setup in my sig. I would highly recommend the 2.5GHz T9300 for the best price : performance ratio CPU. Or a 2.6GHz T9500 if you can manage to get hold of the price a T9300. What do you plan to run on the system?

 

Definately, I had all the same questions a year ago. It's how I learned for sure I was waiting for you to chime in on this thread. lol Now I'm just running benchmarks on my new laptop, but still use the 1720 everyday. Love that laptop too much to let it go, and I have never had a problem with it and it's still competitive with todays everyday use laptops.

 

thanks for your replies guys took a while for me reply due to circumstances. the computer is mainly used for editing camera work and photo shop etc although i do watch some films on it occaisionaly. is there a decent ram you could recommend and how much would be needed if any . Thanks for your help again.

 

I would suggest any of these kits here But particularly the G.Skill It's not only one of the cheapest, but also has the lowest latency and timing on it. Although in all honesty you won't be able to tell the differance in any of them at all.

 

Happy New Years to all comp users and tech wizards in the awesome site!!

 

Now let me teach you

Taught is not spelled "thought".


I just thought you would like to know...

 

I did that on purpose. It was meant to be on both ways if you get what I meant.

 

Ok, but can you explain your two identical notebooks?