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    Help upgrading motherboard and the processor.

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Pawel stepien, Apr 1, 2016.

  1. Pawel stepien

    Pawel stepien Newbie

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    Hi everyone, need help picking a new motherboard. I have a dell n5110 with i3 processor, i want to upgrade the processor to i7. I know that the i3 motherboards are diffrent from the i7. I just dont know what motherboard to get. Also i know some motherboard come with the nvidia graphics but does it come with the motherboard or do i have to buy it separately. Any help would be great. Thanks
     
    Pawel stepien, Apr 1, 2016
    #1
  2. kosti

    kosti Notebook Virtuoso

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    What model is your current i3? How many watts is your power supply?
     
    kosti, Apr 1, 2016
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  3. Pawel stepien

    Pawel stepien Newbie

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    It's Intel Core i3 (2nd Gen) 2330M / 2.2 GHz. The power supply is 65w
     
    Pawel stepien, Apr 1, 2016
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  4. saturnotaku

    saturnotaku Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    You would need to upgrade your power supply as well. For all that cost, you would be far better served just buying a new notebook. Even a refurbished unit with a Haswell or better CPU will be light years better than the Sandy Bridge chip you want to put in.
     
    saturnotaku, Apr 1, 2016
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  5. Pawel stepien

    Pawel stepien Newbie

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    Okay, thanks for the advice. What about using used parts( for example the cpu and motherboard) is it worth it?
     
    Pawel stepien, Apr 1, 2016
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  6. kosti

    kosti Notebook Virtuoso

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    You should be able to safely upgrade to any other Core-i 2nd generation mobile processor that has a 35W TDP like your i3-2330m. The fastest available is the i7-2640m. You should not need to upgrade your power supply by going this route.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge#Mobile_platform

    http://ark.intel.com/products/53464

    https://versus.com/en/intel-core-i3-2330m-vs-intel-core-i7-2640m

    If you want to replace the motherboard with the Nvidia model, you'll need the motherboard, a new heatsink, and a more powerful power supply to compensate for the extra power required by the 525m.

    http://www.overclock.net/t/1511038/dell-inspiron-n5110-build
     
    kosti, Apr 1, 2016
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  7. saturnotaku

    saturnotaku Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Current Intel HD graphics will run circles around the 525M. Not worth the time or expense to track all those parts down.
     
    saturnotaku, Apr 3, 2016
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  8. TomJGX

    TomJGX I HATE BGA!

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    Agreed, the 525M is ferni card and pretty weak now.. Better off selling it and buying a new laptop..
     
    TomJGX, Apr 4, 2016
    #8