CPU uprade in Dell Latitude E5400

I bought my mom a Dell Latitude E5400 from the Dell Outlet recently. It has a 2.0GHz Intel C2D T7250 processor, but for $249 I couldn't pass it up.

A friend just gave me a Latitude E6400 with a bad motherboard and it has a 2.53GHz C2D P9500 processor. It is one generation newer than the T7250 (Penryn vs. Merom) and has 6MB vs 2MB of L2 cache, FSB speed of 1066MHz vs 800MHz and TDP of 25W vs 35W.

I don't expect an earth-shattering difference in performance, but I'm thinking about installing the P9500 in mom's E5400. If nothing else, it might run a little cooler, right?

I still have a Latitude E6400 that I am rather attached to after four years. It has at 2.4GHz P8600 processor, so I'm thinking the performance increase of the P9500 would be negligible (and probably measurable only by benchmarks). So I decided it wasn't worth the bother to install it in my system.

But it might be a decent upgrade for mom's. Thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

 

I had a latitude e4300 with the P9400 in it and it was bga-style. You might not be able to switch. Still worth a try though, if you find a PGA p9500. Before you do, though, check the p9400 you have in the e5400 to make sure it boots.
As far as the upgrade is concerned, it shouldn't be earth-shattering, but it should be visible.

 

When I upgraded my R60 from a T2300 to a T7400, I could never tell a difference. I'd suggest a SSD or perhaps the Momentus XT as a better path to increased performance.

 

The P9500 will indeed work in the E5400, but like ZaZ said, there probably won't be a practical difference (especially if your mom is just doing email and office). The SSD or hybrid drive will help a lot more.

 

If it's BGA, then the CPU will probably not be swappable, as BGA is typically used to solder the chip to the socket. That CPU comes in two variants: PPGA478 and PBGA479. If yours is the latter, I think you'll have a more difficult time upgrading it.

But if it's doable, why not? You won't see "earth-shattering" performance, especially in mild day to day tasks/apps, but it will certainly show some improvement.