Dell XPS 15 CPU upgrade

Does anyone know what the fastest core i7 is that i can put in a Dell XPS 15?

 

Which XPS 15 do you have? Does it use first or second gen core i processor?

You can use any of the standard 45 watt i7 quads in your laptop.

 

It would help to know which XPS 15 you have as generation 1 is Arrandale HM55 chipset while 2nd gen is Sandy Bridge.

 

I have the xps 15 l502x with the sandy bridge i5 At the moment

 

Officially, your laptop will support the core i7-2860QM

however, your laptop has a hm67 chipset which will support the XM processors as well...so 2920xm and 2960xm. It just depends on whether or not your bios supports them

 

Are you sure i can use the extreme CPUs because it says that they use 55w while the others use 45w

 

Yes the XM will work, I highly doubt the XPS cooling system can handle the cooling of the extreme edition CPU's, you might be so badly throttled from the heat it's not worth it.

 

Well... if you don't mind Arrrrbol, I'll take some advantage of your topic, to don't ask a new question in another thread about near the same thing...

I recently bought my XPS 15 L502X, which came with a i5 2430M CPU, GT525M GPU and 6Gb RAM (4x2)... normally, I use it to simulate some electronics circuits and to play some games (Dragon Age II is the one at the moment)... it is used above an CM Storm SF-19 Strike Force, and with the processor at 95%, to turn off the turbo boost, trying to keep it a few degrees cooler (it's reaching something like 72°C when playing)...

However, if I decide to increase a bit its performance, the CPU would be the key, or I should take a look in another place of the laptop? And, if the CPU is really the key, is worth the money upgrade teh CPU to the i5 2450M, or I should give a chance to one of the i7 with four physical threads? And about the increase of the heat that the cooling system would be able to handle in this condition, what can you say?

 

Could i modify the heat sink in any way to improve its cooling performance? (excluding repaste)

 

You can add thermal capacitance by adding copper with a good thermal interface material and dissipation if there is some airflow over it. To add thermal conductivity to the sink however you would need to add heatpipes which are not productive to add without soldering.

If it came with an i5 CPU its highly likely there are multiple heatsink revisions with better heatpipes to use i7 CPUs.

 

is there a faster fan that i can put into it aswell?

 

Not a whole lot you can do to improve cooling other than a re-paste.
Those notebook cooling pads might help a bit