I'm Hoping Someone Can Point me in the Right Direction re: Upgrading Inspiron 1545 Processor

Hello everyone, I've been trying really hard to find information on upgrading the processor in my Inspiron 1545. I ordered it with the T6500 (2.1ghz Core 2 Duo) processor, which I find VERY slow. It basically runs fine until I start running a VM, and then it runs like garbage. I wanted to upgrade it to a processor that supports hardware based virtualization. I thought all Core 2 Duo's had that, but I guess not.

So, I've been trying to figure out what processors my laptop will support. I've seen many people refer to the motherboard as Dell part number G849F, but when I look up my service tag on Dell's website, it comes up as G848F. When I type G848F into ebay, it comes back as a part number for the bottom portion of the case, not the motherboard. I'm trying to find the part number for my motherboard so I can figure out what processor I can stick in there.

I have called Dell, and they were no help. For example, the first person I talked to didn't understand what I was saying and kept asking me if I was referring to Windows 7 when I asked about my processor. I've spent hours on Google, and to no avail.

So I need to know what motherboard I have, and if the G849F and the G838F motherboard part numbers are the same thing. (Again, Dell's site reports that I have motherboard G838F). The bottom line is I want to upgrade my processor but I want to make sure I buy the right one. If anyone can help clear up my confusion, that person will be my hero.

 

All 1545s will have a 45-Series chipset; don't worry about the motherboard code or whatever. You can use any 35W or less Socket P processor. Quads and Extremes probably won't work. Something like the P8400 or P8600 is probably a good choice here.

 

P7000 series , P8000 series , P9500/9600/9700 and T9400/9500/9600/9800/9900 will work... Best price to performance ratio would be T9600/P9600... and also getting an SSD will speed up your system.. You don't need to worry about your motherboard.. you don't need to change it to change the CPU...

 

Keep in mind that a fair number of the P7000 series don't support VT.

 

Thank you guys so much!!!

I have been looking at the T9400 and P8700 processors, would those work? What would be the best choice for someone that wants hardware based virtualization?

Unfortunately, an SSD is out of the question for me, I have so many personal files I actually put a 500GB drive in it and am already thinking of going higher as soon as 1TB drives are introduced in 2.5 inch formats.

 

I also forgot to mention I will probably put my copy of Windows 7 Ultimate up somewhere for a processor upgrade. Does eBay have a trade section?

 

First, please don't double post. There's an edit button if you need to edit a post.

The T9400 and P8700 will both work. I'd say there's really no best VT choice; it really comes down to how much processing you're going to be using.

eBay doesn't have a trade section as far as I know.

 

Sorry about that.

My needs are very basic. All I do on my laptop is use OpenOffice, Firefox, and Thunderbird. Very basic stuff. My only other requirement is that I want to be able to use a Windows XP VM without slowing down my machine to a crawl.

Edit: And yes, even Openoffice, Firefox, and Thunderbird will slow down my machine to a crawl sometimes by themselves. This is probably the worst Core 2 Duo I've ever used.

Edit 2: I forgot to mention that the only purpose of the VM will be to run Microsoft Office which is required by my college, so I'm not doing anything too extensive there either.

 

Both are good for the tasks but personally i'll get the T9400... since it has more cache than P8700 so will be a little faster...

 

Thanks. I'll go with the T9400 then. I've made my decision and I appreciate you guys quite a bit! You all have saved me a lot of work researching.

Should I buy some artic silver compound for it, or any compound at all? I replace desktop CPU's all the time but not laptop CPU's. I'm assuming my existing heatsink it came with should be okay, right?

 

why do you need xp to run microsoft office i have microsoft office 2003 running fine on windows 7 and vista and they worked first time

and even if it is an older version it will still run with compatability mode

 

The laptop came with Ubuntu preinstalled by Dell, and I do not want Windows on my machine unless absolutely necessary. Microsoft Office is the only thing I have use of in Windows because my college requires it. That's why I choose to run a virtual machine, and I choose XP because it's the last version of Windows with decent performance.

 

ahh ok i thought you were running a VM in windows 7, not in ubuntu. my mistake lol

 

It's okay.

I finally sold enough items on ebay to be able to purchase my processor, and Paypal has decided to put a hold on the money. It looks like I won't be able to upgrade my laptop this weekend after all.

 

Windows 7 is the latest version and trust me , much better than Linux...time to get a windows 7 upgrade...

 

No thank you. I got Windows 7 Ultimate for free at a Microsoft event and I've used it for a little while. I already got rid of it. Unfortunately, I do not agree that Windows 7 is better than Linux. In fact, I don't feel it can come close to Linux. I'm not saying that Windows 7 is bad, just not as good (to me) as Linux is. Windows 7 is mostly hype, unfortunately.

 

Helo!

it may be a bit off here, but I would like to ask you, if you have already updated your machine, and is it work fine since that? Is it really supports the hardware virtualization? (please do not send back a link to intel page stating that PXXXX supports it, because that not enough, the bios, chipset, also has to support it, so the machine as a whole should be investigated, not only the CPU alone)

I found a post in another forum, where somebody was not able to start the hardware based virtualization on this kind of machine:

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19274159/19484016.aspx

But he posted it abot 9 month ago, since that the bios version is A13, and he was write about bios version A05 may be it is just a question of upgrade.

I would like to buy a same type of machine dell inspiron 1545 P8700 or P8600, but the virtualization support is a crutial point to me, so I will not buy it until I have an exact info about it. I have to run 4-6 machines sometime simultaniously, for testing things. If you have already upgraded your system could you check please what is the exact situation, does the Hardware based virtualization supported or not, in case of what bios version, etc?

you can check it for example by this tool:

http://www.grc.com/securable.htm

Thanks for your answer in advance.
nyga

 

I ended up buying a T9400 processor from eBay, and yes it does have virtualization support and it works very well. However, virtualization was disabled by default in the BIOS after I upgraded and I had to turn it on. After that it worked great.

 

good news. How's the T9400? is it faster?

 

It is faster, but I wouldn't say that it's a HUGE difference or anything. The biggest difference to me is that when I run a VM my system doesn't slow down to a crawl. With the new processor my only bottleneck is the Intel video card it came with. I enjoy this new processor a great deal. I could've bought a faster one but I heard good things about this one so I bought this instead. It took me a while to find one on ebay that wasn't an engineering sample. It was a BREEZE to replace.

 

Sorry if I'm invading,but while we're on the topic of the g848f.
I'm looking for a replacement for a g848f.

First I'm not paying $500+ for a new mobo from dell(I'd buy a new one then transfer the data from the HD before that).
Second I'm also having info problems with dell customer support and just plain finding info on this.

Compatibility question
I've checked ebay (and saw the g848f bottom of case) and all I'm finding is a g849f mobo.

Can I use this g849f in my inspiron which runs a g848f?

Thanks!

 

I tried the T7300 and my 1545 said it was not compatible with this processor can someone explain where i went wrong i would like to upgrade to a P8600 but don't want to order the wrong one again thanks in advance.

 

You have to be kidding me. What are you doing with firefox, open office, and thunderbird that is so intensive it brings your system to its knees? I run the same software 95% of the time and I have no trouble with less processor.

That's weird, my 1545 works with anything other than 533Mhz FSB processors.

 

Right know its has a t5850 processor and pc2-6400 ram i can get info cpuid if needed i would like to understand why it is not working and confirm that a p8600 will work with my 1545. I was wondering if the t7300 and my ram were not compatible?

 

P8600 will not be compatible. I don't think your machine will take a 1066 FSB processor.

 

do you happen to know why the t7300 didn't work for me? other user said the purchased the t9400 and that worked for them?
Is there different mother boards as the laptop was produced

 

I don't know. Maybe you need to update your BIOS?

Random question: What processors were being offered with the machine when you bought it?

 

The bios is upto date A14, And the processor i purchased with was the t3400.
Thanks for help.

 

Where do you come up with this? You really shouldn't just make stuff up. The Dell Inspiron 1545 takes 1066Mhz FSB processors perfectly fine, including my P8600.

I really can't think of any reason why the T7300 wouldn't work. Also how did your 1545 tell you it was not compatible with the processor?

 

in the bios it looked fine vt option was available but when i went to boot it told me that it was not compatible and told me to press f1 to continue or f2 to enter setup. I am going to send back and purchase the t9400

 

What exactly did it say? It is compatible on paper, and it booted with it, so I'm not sure in what way it was incompatible. You did press f1 to continue and load the OS, right?

 

same problem here - inspiron 1545 came with pentium dual core t4200
dropped a t7300 in and got the microprocessor not compatible when powering on.
able to press f1 and bypass, but i dont like that system beep and press f1 when resuming from standby or turning on. i think its a bios update necesary, i wonder since intel makes the board do they have bios updates not specific to dell?

 

you should use 1066MHz Processors like from the P8000 or T9000 or P9000 series.. ex P8400,8600,8700...T9400/9600... T9600 is the best upgrade.. ur going to have problems with the older Gen T7300...