0

I have a 2008 Dell XPS M1730 laptop, which has a Core 2 Duo X9000. I want to upgrade it to a quad core QX9300, but I’m not sure if the laptop will support it. These laptops were never sold with quad core CPUs.

This is what the official M1730 owner’s manual says the laptop supports:

Source, page 171

  • Processor type Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo processor Intel® 45 nm CoreTM 2 Duo processor
  • L1 Cache 64KB
  • L2 Cache 2 MB or 4 MB (Intel Core 2 Duo processor) 6 MB (Intel 45 nm Core 2 Duo processor)
  • External bus frequency (front side bus) 800 MHz (Intel Core 2 Duo processor) 1066 MHz (Intel 45 nm Core 2 Duo processor)
  • System chip set Mobile Intel 965PM

The X9000’s TDP is 44 W, and the QX9300’s TDP is 45 W.

The L2 Cache on the QX9300 is twice as big as the X9000’s.

The QX9300’s FSB is higher, 1066 MHz.

Cooling was designed for dual core processors, will it be sufficient for the QX9300?

Improve this question
5
  • Cooling should not be the only question, also power delivery and chipset support. Since the laptops were never sold with a Core 2 quad, probably no BIOS support...
    – Irsu85
    Commented Aug 25, 2022 at 4:25
  • @HyperBlend - nobody will give you 100% guarantee that it would work if it was never sold with it. That being said, from quick googling I found that the bios allows overclocking, which is not a standard feature everywhere, so it gives some hope. If you laptop came originally with 44W cpu, then thermals should be roughly the same with 45W. Check if socket and chipset requirements from motherboard are the same. I suggest you search if that same motherboard was used in other laptops, such as Latitude line, and if they did come with quad core - that would give more hope too. Good luck
    – stack3r
    Commented Aug 25, 2022 at 12:05
  • You're also going to be out of luck if the CPU is soldered. (BGA socket) Some older laptops do actually have socketed CPUs so it's worth cracking it open to find out.
    – Romen
    Commented Aug 25, 2022 at 20:04
  • It’s a ZIF socket.
    – HyperBlend
    Commented Aug 25, 2022 at 20:30
  • 1
    tbh, if you've got one right there, try it. If not I wouldn't bother buying one to see. You'd just be turning a very, very slow computer into a very slow computer. You will barely be able to tell the difference.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Aug 26, 2022 at 16:32

0

Reset to default

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.