Upgrading Processor; Dell Studio 1555

I recently got my Dell Studio 1555, while i was picking what i wanted i went with the high end graphics card instead of the high end processor just because i had a limit to how much i could spend. But now i have the money for a high end processor.. But I'm kind of sketchy on upgrading it on my laptop. Well mostly because its a laptop not a desktop. I was thinking about building a gaming PC. But i thought it would be a waste since i move around a lot and cannot stay in a computer chair for more than an hour. That's mostly why i bought a laptop. Anyways back on topic, How would i upgrade it I've read other posts of people upgrading their processors in the same exact model laptop as mine. I currently have a Dell Studio 1555, with a Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 marked at 2.20GHz, I have the money to get a high end processor i have a lot of experience with desktops and laptops but I've never replaced a processor on a laptop, so I'm asking:
1: how would i even do it?
2: what should i be careful of?
3: what should i buy?
4: where can i find good deals?
5: what should i be worried about?
6: should i use thermal gel?
and finally
7: how can i make this happen with the least amount of trouble?

So I'm basically looking for help from experienced users who have successfully done this..

PS: Also if its possible to PM me and if this is in the wrong section sorry..

Thanks

 

Dell has tech manuals for every laptop. That's the best guide you can get for swapping your cpu. You will definately want to use a thermal compound.

As for where to buy, depends on where you're located.

Here you go.

 

well i'm mostly thinking about buying online I've been looking at newegg.com they seem to have mobile CPUs Just need to figure out which will work with my motherboard and wow i didn't think dell had something like that. I thought they were against users opening and messing with the computer.

 

They are - a CPU upgrade will void the warranty, if they find out that you did so.

Your Dell Studio 1555 should support up to a T9900, I believe, depending on BIOS support. I would assume it can use any of the T- or P-series Montevina processors.

Although I have one question for you - why do you want to upgrade the CPU? It will not improve gaming performance much, if at all, since your GPU (Radeon 4570?) will still likely bottleneck your framerates. Your CPU is plenty fast enough for daily use tasks, and you'll only see significant improvement in CPU-bound tasks such as video encoding/conversion.

 

so your saying I'm better off just building a gaming desktop?

 

With that mobile gpu, definately.

 

lol, well that was my first idea but was just wondering about the laptop

thanks,

Also would i be able to replace my regular keyboard with a back lit keyboard?
I think I've heard of people doing that also

 

Swapping out the keyboard for something like THIS would be a pretty simple affair and would only set you back $30 (US).

 

Thanks, i was just wondering if it needed an extra power source; so i would just take out this one and plug the back lit one in and I'm all good? and is it even worth upgrading to 8gb?

 

Usually not, unless you run very memory intensive applications. If you do, you'll probably know already. (Think VMs and heavy video and photo editing.)

 

It will require an extra power source, however since the 1555 presumably offered this keyboard as an option that source should be found on the motherboard (judging by the connectors it will probably be right next to the main keyboard connector). As far as the RAM is concerned I agree with the other poster.

 

As a noob, I recommend you don't replace the processor in the laptop. Unfortunately, the Studio 1555 requires full disassembly in order to reach the processor. I've done it a couple of times on the one I used to have, but if you are one of *those* people, and there are lots of them on this forum, then you really shouldn't dive into it straight away or you might be overwhelmed.

I agree that you should just build a gaming desktop. For very little money you will have something that will beat all the best gaming laptops out there.

That is correct.

 

Yeah, thanks i think i will go ahead and build a desktop. As for the keyboard topic i took my keyboard off last night to take a look and right next to where the keyboard connects to the mobo there's another connector, but nothing connected to it so im assuming that's the power source.

 

I just got my back lit keyboard and installation was easy. Thanks everyone

 

to the question of upgrading to 8gb of memory.. I max out my 4gb of memory near daily.

 

Try 6GB to start off with by just buying a single 4GB stick. The 1555 can take 8GB of ram no problem.

 

personally , i would just buy a 8GB RAM kit for $200 and sell ur 4GB RAM.. overall upgrade cost will be minimal..