Questions about processor upgrade

I have a 2 year old Dell E1505 with a 1.83GHz Intel Centrino Duo processor (T2400...in the "Napa" family, apparently...) and a little over 1gb of RAM. When I bought the thing, it was REALLY expensive so I'm hoping it's possible to upgrade the processor.

I'm really unclear on the possibility of upgrading processors for laptops...my research confused me a lot ^^; Here are my questions - I know they're probably idiotic, so I'm sorry

1) Is there a way to tell if your processor is soldered to the motherboard without opening-up the laptop?

2) If it IS soldered, how do you go about getting a new motherboard that's compatible with your laptop?

3) If it is NOT soldered, can you only upgrade to a processor in the same family as your old one? Or in other words, how do you know what processors will be compatible?

4) How do you know/find out if it's possible to upgrade the processor at all?

5) What is overclocking? Just out of curiosity...

6) What is the likelihood of overheating/etc if you do manage to upgrade?

7) Where would one go to have an upgrade done without risking the destruction of your laptop?? I doubt I'm capable... >>

8) Is it worth the money to get a 2.0+ GHz processor if you can't afford a new computer, and occasionally use resource hogging programs?

 

1) It's socketed.

2) See 1.

3) You can go up to the T7600. See the guide in my sig for others.

4) See 1 and 3.

5) When you run the processor above its rated clock speed. AFAIK, not practical/possible in an E1505.

6) Very little; all applicable processors have the same TDP.

7) Follow the service manual on Dell's site. It's actually not that difficult.

8) Only if you feel that you need more out of your computer. Oftentimes more memory or a faster HDD may suffice.

 

Ahh, ok. Thanks so much for answering! This was very, very helpful

I do have a couple more quick questions, though -- so the centrino duo and core duo are the same? I can get anything within the core 2 duo family?

Also, I forgot to ask in my first post...I'm a little confused as to the processor's connection to video and wireless, etc. If this is all integrated or whatever, how does upgrading work?

Thanks for your time and patience ^^

 

You can use any of the following processors; aka, any Socket M processor:

Core Solo T1350 1866 2048 533

Core Solo T1200 1500 2048 667
Core Solo T1300 1660 2048 667
Core Solo T1400 1833 2048 667
Core Solo T1500 2000 2048 667
Core Solo T1600 2166 2048 667

Core Duo T2050 1600 2048 533
Core Duo T2250 1733 2048 533
Core Duo T2350 1866 2048 533
Core Duo T2450 2000 2048 533

Core Duo T2300 1666 2048 667
Core Duo T2400 1833 2048 667
Core Duo T2500 2000 2048 667
Core Duo T2600 2166 2048 667
Core Duo T2700 2300 2048 667

Core 2 Duo T5300 1733 2048 533

Core 2 Duo T5500 1667 2048 667
Core 2 Duo T5600 1833 2048 667

Core 2 Duo T5200 1600 2048 533

Core 2 Duo T5500 1667 2048 667
Core 2 Duo T5600 1833 2048 667
Core 2 Duo T7200 2000 4096 667
Core 2 Duo T7400 2166 4096 667
Core 2 Duo T7600 2333 4096 667

Pentium Dual-Core T2060 1600 1024 533
Pentium Dual-Core T2080 1733 1024 533
Pentium Dual-Core T2130 1866 1024 533

Celeron 215 1333 512 533

Celeron M 410 1466 1024 533
Celeron M 420 1600 1024 533
Celeron M 430 1733 1024 533
Celeron M 440 1866 1024 533
Celeron M 450 2000 1024 533

Celeron M 520 1600 1024 533
Celeron M 530 1733 1024 533

I don't really understand what you're saying in that second part: processors and wireless modules usually aren't "integrated" in the sense that they're socketed, but GPUs usually are. Subsequently GPUs are usually not upgradeable while the former two are.

 

Well, maybe I'm talking about chipsets...I really don't know. I was under the impression after looking here http://www.intel.com/products/centrino/centrino/index.htm that my IntelPROSet/Wireless is somehow part of the processor, as in the software or something. And please forgive my stupidity, but what is GPU?

EDIT: nvm about the GPU, so it's graphic acceleration and unrelated entirely to the processor?

 

Commander wolf is right on everything.
I can add pictures and my personal E1505 disassembly guide

To disassemble the laptop. Unplug it and remove the main battery. Than flip the laptop over. Unscrew all of the screws you see on the bottom of the laptop. Than flip the system back upright. Open the LCD as if you were using your laptop. Than unscrew the two small screws which hold teh screen on. They are located on the back of the system (one is next to the fan vent and the other is next to the power jack - they are under small black circle stickers). Than look at the top right corner of the keyboard. You will see a small indentation between the silver bezel and the white bumper. Use a small flathead screwdriver to pry the bezel upwards. Once the bezel is removed you will have to unscrew the two screws which hold the keyboard on. Their is also another two screw which hold the power switch down. Once they are unscrewed, proceed to disconnecting the ribbin cable for the keyboard, wireless and touchpad. Simply disconnect them. Once unplugged you will be able to separate the palmrest from the base, allowing you to upgrade the cpu.

Here is the inside of my E1505:


Now for the cpu upgrade:
You must remove the three small screws which hold down the red graphics card. That will remove the graphics card. Than you must unscrew the four screws for the cpu heatsink. The heatsink is the metal near the fan.

Here is the socket which holds the processor:


Before removing the processor use some rubbing alcohol on a paper towel and clean the thermal paste off the processor die and the heatsink.
To remove the processor, simply turn the screw on the socket 180degrees to unlock the processor
Remove the cpu from the corners and make sure not to bend any pins. After the cpu is removed install the new processor. The socket is keyed so the processor can only go in one way. After the processor is installed use a flathead screwdriver and turn the screw on the socket 180degrees. That will lock the processor into the socket. Than you need to apply some thermal paste. Arctic silver 5 or any other Thermal paste is fine. Just put a small amount on the processor die (the shiny rectangular piece on the center of the processor) Than reinstall the heatsink and screw the system back together. Than when everything is together power your E1505 up and enjoy the faster processor.

The E1505 uses socket M processors, both core duo and core 2 duo processors.
The T2400 you have is part of the core duo family. If you stay within the coreduo family your options for upgrading are the T2500, T2600, T2700.
If you want to upgrade to the core 2 duo processors, the faster processors are the T5200, T5300, T5500, T5600, T7200, T7400, T7600

I had a T2500, and I must say that the lower clocked T5300 I have is a much faster processor. I would look for a T5200 or faster chip for your laptop. The core 2 duo processors are much faster per Mhz than the core duo processors are

The E1505 clock generator is not supported by any overclocking utilities, and the Bios has no features for overclocking.
The fastest memory the system supports is 2 x 1Gb of Pc5300 memory.
The system has a bios limitation of 2Gb, so you cannot install more than 2Gb of memory.

I hope this helps,

K-TRON

 

To answer other questions, the graphics card is on a dell proprietary socket. The E1505 was sold with three graphics options, the nVidia 7300, the ATi X1300 and the ATi X1400. The ATi X1400 is the most powerful graphics card the E1505 supports. The graphics card is completely removable and upgradeable. If you have a nVidia 7300 or an ATi X1300 you can upgrade to an X1400. I have an X1400 in my E1505. The Part number of the X1400 is: FBFM1017013
The wireless card is also removable and upgradeable. It is in the first picture i attached. It is the card in the upper right which says "WLAN" on it.
The wireless card uses the internal mini pcie port. I have a Intel 3945A/B/G wireless card installed, and it can be upgraded to the Intel 4965 A/G/N wireless card if desired.

Oh yeah,
Just as a side note, when you go to upgrade the processor, you should spend some time cleaning out the dust from the fan and the heatsinks.
You can use rubbing alcohol and some q-tips for this. Or you can buy one of those compressed air dust removal cans

K-TRON

 

Well thank you, this does really help... I have a lot more options than I thought! You guys are really, really helpful

I'll have to study your E1505 disassembly guide more closely K-Tron XD I have a feeling I'll manage to screw SOMETHING up x)

 

If you ever need help, send me a Personal Message. I have tons of images on dissassembly which will be helpful for you.
You need 15 posts to send a Personal Message, so if you need those images post away

K-TRON

 

lol I think I'll do that XD

 

lol how did I not think of that? ^^;
Well, I do have one somewhat meaningful question:
where might one get that thermal paste?

 

thermal paste, well their are some good options

Some will argue over what is best but using any is fine

AS5:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

Tuniq TX-2:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154003

ARCTIC COOLING MX-2:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020

The benefit of the last two are that they are nonconductive (electrically) so its a little safer around electrical components.

K-TRON

 

They're all pretty cheap, too. I suspected they might be expensive. Would places like Best Buy or Circuit City carry it by any chance?

 

The best buy stores around me are really bad, they practically focus 100% on tv's and video games. If you have a big best buy near you they may have it. If they do not have any, look around your town for local computer shops. Any custom computer place will have some form of thermal compound.

K-TRON

 

MicroCenter should carry all three... if you live in California you've got Fry's and CentralComputer too.

 

Ok, thanks. I'll shut up now and get the thermal paste and the processor If I have any questions, or if I destroy my laptop lol, I'll be back x) Thanks again for all your help

 

Commander Wolf and K-TRON, you guys are geniuses. I also have a Dell 1505, with the ATI1400 and and Intel T7200. I just got this new Gateway. Like to do a little upgrading myself one day.

Andromeda, be careful not dropping the screws and springs when you remove the heatpipe. They can do damage!!!