Dell XPS M1210 T2300 Socket M processor upgrade

Hello all,

I have a Dell XPS M1210 with the T2300 Core Duo inside.
I googled a lot and I found that the best Socket M processor that I can fit into is the Merom T7600. But that's xtremely costly even at eBay.
I found some comments somewhere about maybe using Socket P's on them. Anyone knows if that's possible? Or, if it's any other option?

And finally, no one knows where can I get some cheap t7600 or even t7400?

Best Regards,

 

You can use any of these

CPU speed FSB l2 cache
T5200 1.60ghz 533mhz 2mb
T5300 1.73ghz 533mhz 2mb
T5500 1.66ghz 667mhz 2mb
T5600 1.83ghz 667mhz 2mb
T7200 2.00ghz 667mhz 4mb
T7400 2.16ghz 667mhz 4mb
T7600 2.33ghz 667mhz 4mb

 

You can't use a Socket P processor on a Socket M motherboard. Period. You can pick up a T7400 for about $130 and a T7600 for about $230 on eBay. You can even get a T7200 for about $100; I'd say the T7200 or the T7400 gives you the best bang for your buck.

 

Yep. I'm pretty sure I would most probably never ever notice a difference between the t7400 and the t7600...
And what about the heatsink problem on m1210's? Do I need to worry about it?
I know that I can't max out memory to 4gb because the chipset would only allow 3.25, so 3gb would be a better option, but would I loose those twin modes or something?

And what's the best cost benefit for a new hard drive? Just a regular 2.5 sata 7200rpm?

 

The T7200 is excellent. Landing a 5400RPM 320GB drive worked really well for me. The platter density really does make up for the lesser rotational speed.

 

Do you mean 7200 right? like the Seagate Momentus 7200.3.
I saw this chart at the web:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2.5-hard-drive-charts/Average-Read-Transfer-Performance,675.html

 

Well, just bought the T7400 2.16ghz 667mhz 4mb.

Installed it perfectly using arctic silver 5 on stock cooler that was used to the t2300.
worked perfectly, except that it was hot as hell...

for 2 hours.
then, the computer was not even starting. not a single fan spinning...

I went back to the t2300. working just fine again.

You guys could have warned me about using the stock cooler!

it's probably damaged forever? the t7400?

 

Thats odd,
the T7400 in my E1505 runs much cooler than both the T5300 and T2500 I had in it.
Did you apply thermal compound to the top of the processor?

Also, you may want to download I8KFANGUI

It is a fan control software designed for alot of the older Dell laptops. I am pretty sure your system supports the fan control. You should set the fans to a full in order to maximize the longevity of your laptop

K-TRON

 

I have experience in applying thermal paste. normally on desktops, but,... anyway.
And it was arctic silver 5!

I've read on other post that some early models (like mine) came with a bad heatsink. is that right?

 

I do not know about any heatsink issues,
When you installed the heatsink, was it lying flat on the processor?

And try I8KFANGUI with your T2300 installed. Its a fairly simple program. Get to know how to use it, and you can use that T7400 in there.

K-TRON

 

yep, it seemed to be correctly installed. the fan was blowing hot air from the inside to the outside, so I assume the heatsink was correctly transferring heat from the processor...

Do you think there's a chance of the t7400 to be still working?

 

The T7400 should be fine. They are rated for 100C. Your system should automatically shut down in advent of too high of a temperature. It is a fail safe built into the processor. It s very, very rare for a processor to die from this. They usually only die from extreme voltage which is a byproduct of overclocking

K-TRON

 

So, do you think it should work again if I try? But what would explain the no power-up problem?
The small power button with the blue led, was turned on when I pressed, but no fan, disk, screen activity at all. After some seconds it was turned off again.
As you said, I thought it would automatically turn off the computer if temperature would go above 80, but what happens after? As soon as it's below it goes up again?

 

I am pretty sure your processor still works.
The processor will shut off at high temperatures in order to keep itself intact. However it will only power up again when it has cooled down.
So if you tried powering it up again shortly after it shut off, it will not turn on mainly because it could still be over the threshold temperature.

The processor shut off at 100C, you shouldnt be going over that anyways.
You should clean out all of the dust in your laptop, make sure the heatsink is mounted properly, and use fan control software.

Good luck,

K-TRON

 

I touched the die, when I was removing it, and it was not too hot. Well, I'm afraid, but I'll try it again tonight...
Now with the fan control software. But, I'm not sure if I'll be happy with the notebook fan spinning at it's maximum all the time.
An important information about my heatsink is that my notebook is the one without the Nvidia GPU. So, the heatsink is shorter, it only covers the processor (now with arctic silver 5) and the chipset (using the standard weird blue foam).
The fan control you suggested showed peak of 53 celsius on the stock t2300.
Just checked BIOS version and it's on the latest Dell version.

 

Researching on the net, I just found that the t7400 have a TDP of 34w, that's 3w over the t2300 which have a TDP of 31w. So, my 1st thought should be: The standard heatsink is capable of handling that difference?
My second one is: is there a chance of my t7400 having a problem that's causing it to generate more than it's stock 34w?

 

The T7400 is based on a 2 years newer technology than the T2300 you have. It has more advanced thermal clocking, and power control than your T2300. The T7400 should run cooler despite its higher TDP. This is because for one it is a more efficient core, and it has a larger die, maximizing the contact between the cpu core and the heatsink for better cooling efficiency

K-TRON

 

Yep, I noticed that. The die is almost twice as big as the t5300.
So, either I did something wrong (what could it be, because it's a very simple heatsink / exhaust design...) or the processor is generating more heat than it should.
Do you think maybe something with speedstep, or maybe wrong voltage detected by the BIOS?

 

To the guy who asked about the thread about trouble m1210 fan/heatsink:

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread195887-3.html

Unfortunately, not on this forum. Check this message:

"Update on this thread. Dell sent me a new fan and heatsink modules. I've installed them. The fan has LARGER fins yes... Larger then what I have before. apparently they recognized this problem. So for you older xps m1210 users. Be ready to contact dell to replace your heatsink/fan Modules. My temp now reaches a stunning 25C yes, low."

Yet, not related to my problem, which seems a processor problem, due to the fact that the T2300 runs much cooler...

 

Just to let you guys know, I tested again the t7400... It's history. It's not working, and I doubt it will never ever work again. Just bricked 130 USD.

 

Wow, its dead?
Did you double check the processor was locked into the socket?
If it wasnt in the lock position it may not turn on.

If it was locked in and set in properly, and it didnt work I guess you toasted it.
It should have shut off to save itself.

You may want to write an email to Intel and see what they can do for you. The processor should have shut off to save itself. Its not like you overclocked it or anything

K-TRON

 

Well, I'll try that...
Thanks K-Tron. It was locked!

 

may you R.I.P T-7400 cpu.

 

Hi. I'm from Brasil, and I apologized for my English. OmBAUdsman, what´s your system board (here we call motherboard)? My XPS M1210 has a MXC062. I tried to get the manual with the Dell, but, they only send-me the manual service and the owner manual. I think that they, or do not have this or do not want to send. However. So, I would like to know what your system board, because I want to change my processor also (for a T7600 or less).
Since now, thank for your, or any other user, kindeness.

 

First i'd like to say that i'm not sure where you got the 3.0/3.25 gb memory limit of the chipset. This doesn't exist on this laptop. It has a 32bit capable chipset which has a total of 2^32 addresses, meaning it's capaple of addresssing 4gb. After the onboard video card memory has addressses assigned to it's memory, and then all the crucial system functions take their nibble, you'd left with between 3.0 and 3.75 addresses left to assign to the remaining memory. I assume this is what you mean.

But considering the memory can run in dual channel mode, you should always just go ahead and pair up 2x2gb.


As for your cooler:
it's funny that you link to that other site because i posted on there as well. I had heat problems on mine and they have replaced the cooler with a slightly less crappy one and a bigger foxconn fan i think it was. The design is still horrible, but it does help. Regardless i Have a 2.0ghz t7200 and have run it up to 92 deg C on a regular basis (not intentionally) The bios automatically throttles the cpu speed down after around 69 degrees (which sucks cause it can easily hit 70-80 when editing video and that should be perfectly safe territory!) This would happen to me without the upgraded cooler as well and there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to run your processor on the stock cooler. It will just run hot.

Btw, you can buy the newer cooler for this system for less than 50 bucks off ebay if you're out of warranty.

You should also be using i8kfangui and set the fan to max ALWAYS. It's the only way to keep this beast cool for the long haul.

Anyway, if you wanna send me the cpu and i'll test it in my laptop just to be 100% sure then shoot me a pm and i'll send you my address.

 

can't you test the T7400 on a different laptop?

modern CPU are tough, and they don't break easily.

 

Yes, any laptop that supports core 2 duo's and i think even core duo / core sockets are the same. Oh wait, here's info i just looked up:

Micro-FCPGA

FSB frequency 533 MT/s, 667 MT/s, 800MT/s
Processors Intel Core Solo
Intel Core Duo
Intel Core 2 Duo (T5x00, T7x00 and T8x00)
Intel Celeron M

 

I think that, finally, I solved the problem.
I found that my original processor is a T2300E (the cheapo).
By looking here ( http://laptoplogic.com/news/detail.php?id=949), I found that it's rated at just 15 TDP vs 31 for the original T2300 and 34 for the T7400. That's a huge difference...
Maybe my cooler/heatsink is weaker than the normal ones. Anyone can point a good cooler/heatsink for my xps m1210 that I could buy from ebay?

Best Regards,

 

The T2300E also has a TDP of 31W. The initial 15W thing was just a mistake.

 

Well. Anyway, I think that it would be safer to buy a new heatsink. How could I know if I'm not buying one that's the same as mine?

 

Is this still not turning on? If so, a new heatsink won't help.

 

I'm running it back with the t2300e.
It's running pretty well BTW, But now I need virtualization.
i8kfanguy is installed and running well.
the t7400 is gone. I'm planning on getting a t7200.