CPU Upgrade for Dell Inspiron 1520

Hello there,

First post, so I'm going to try and do my best here.

My fiance owns the above laptop, and I want to do something nice and make it better for her, by upgrading the RAM and installing a new CPU. I'm putting her laptop up to 2GB RAM, but I'm unsure on a suitable candidate for a CPU upgrade.

I want to get the best CPU for good value for money. It currently has an Intel Pentium Dual CPU T2330 running at 1.6GHZ per core, and Windows 7 shows it as being only a 2.1 on their index, so I want to improve this for a better laptop experience.

Also, would it be better to buy a 64 bit CPU vs a 32 Bit, like, if the 64 bit CPU's are faster but still good value, but it will run a 32 Bit OS.

A variety of suggestions and links would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

The real fist thing you need to ask yourself is does she need a new CPU. What is your wife's typical usage of her laptop. If she's just browsing the web and watching videos on it, the current cpu may very well be adequate.

The RAM will do her good no doubt, especially if she's running windows 7. I'd venture a guess that any T series C2D would work like a T9300.

 

Her computer can lag from time to time, even after I clean installed Win 7 Pro, and I think it is the processor and RAM that is making it suffer. She likes to make videos and picture edit as well as browsing the net and watching videos.

 

If she does mildly intensive video encoding, then she will definitely benefit from the T9300. Considering RAM prices, why not install a good 4GB in the laptop. Even on a 32-bit OS, you'll be able to take advantage of at least 3GB and there's nothing preventing you from installing windows 7 64-bit using the same key that you used for the 32-bit version if you want to take advantage of the full 4GB. If you stick to 2GB RAM, then there's no need to make the switch to 64-bit yet. With it's current config, my N50 is still working nicely and with a T9300, your Inspiron's specs won't be too different from mine.

I'd wait on a second opinion for the CPU upgrade though. I'm not too familiar with Dells. I did a little bit of research before suggesting the T9300, but take my CPU advice with a grain of salt.

 

If it's just watching videos, you could probably get away with using hardware video acceleration if her laptop has the nVidia GeForce 8400M GS or 8600M GT.

After that, if you still want to upgrade the CPU, according to wikipedia *cough* the T9300 should work; however the similarly clocked T8300 seems to be cheaper, on eBay at least.

 

nobody wants to know which chipset her laptop has?????

 

The Inspiron 1520 has the Intel GM965 or PM965 chipset.