Dell Inspiron 1520: Viable After Market Upgrades

[chrishug]

Glad I could be of help but just know that PGA-478 is the P-Socket CPU, that's the one I bought. You should buy that one and swap yours out, make sure you get IC Diamond for the Thermal Paste.

Edit: The one I linked you up there is a P-Socket CPU, just buy that and you should be fine.

IC Diamond 24 Carat Thermal Compound - 4.8 gram - $20.95

IC Diamond 7 Carat Thermal Compound - 1.5 gram - $6.95

Think I can get away with using the cheaper one? Especially since I don't think I'll need 4.8 grams of the stuff.

Funny you should say that. I don't think that these specs are correct. What it should have been is namely (FC)PGA(Pin Grid Array) or in other words Socket P. And this isn't even an isolated case. I've found irregularities with the specs on Intel's website not once or twice. Just an example - my current T9500 is an OEM SLAPW and according to Intel it is a (FC)BGA479 (Ball Grid Array) CPU with 479 tiny balls instead of pins. But in reality it isn't. It has 478 gold plated pins which undoubtedly makes it a (FC)PGA478 CPU. As far as I know, the only socket that Inspiron 1520 supports is PGA. Still, I might be wrong, but it's unlikely. But you should certainly get a second opinion.

I think I'm going to take my chances on this, especially since you said Intel has made numerous errors on their site before.

[Mihael Keehl]

I've installed 3 to 4 processors and still have some left over from the IC Diamond 7 and if for some odd reason it doesn't work out, you have a 30-day return policy.

[User Retired 2]

As for the X9000, I gave up on this idea, because I did have my doubts about it being able to run cool enough in my system.

HDX9000 folks have pinmodded a E0-stepping X9100 to run on their PM965 chipset. Runs cooler than a X9000. See *HP HDX 9000 DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 2* .

[chrishug]

I've installed 3 to 4 processors and still have some left over from the IC Diamond 7 and if for some odd reason it doesn't work out, you have a 30-day return policy.

Ok, so I ordered the IC Diamond 7 and the T9300. They should both be here in a couple of days. I've read a few different sets of instructions as far as how to apply the IC Diamond 7 goes. Here's what I surmised.

1) After the CPU is seated in the socket, squeeze a 5mm ball of it onto the IHS.
(I'm guessing they mean 5mm ball on standard sized CPU's. The T9300 looks smaller, so should I use less? Maybe 4mm? Is it ok if some of the IC Diamond 7 bleeds onto the CPU itself?


)
2) Let the ball sit on the IHS for about 10 minutes.

3) Apply the heatsink with approximately 50 pounds of pressure.

4) Start the laptop when finished reassembling so that the IC Diamond 7 can cure over the next two hours.

5) Great success?

[Mihael Keehl]

Yeah, but if you end up having any questions, I did do a full review of how I did this CPU replacement, this past April/March here: Replacing Processor for 1520, Before/After Effects

[chrishug]

Yeah, but if you end up having any questions, I did do a full review of how I did this CPU replacement, this past April/March here: Replacing Processor for 1520, Before/After Effects

Awesome, thanks!

I'll report back when I get this new thing up and running. I also ordered a 7200RPM HDD. I'm hoping I'll see a big difference once I slap both of these pieces of hardware inside.

[Mihael Keehl]

Oh that's awesome, yeah, let me know!

[Apollo13]

Nice, helpful thread. I'm a fellow 1520 owner, and although a lot of 1520 owners have probably moved on, I'm glad to see a thread like this. Looking at the upgrade list, my only suggestion would be that I'm pretty sure the optical drive is an IDE connection, and it would be good to mention that in the optical drive section. There's a lot of SATA laptop drives available now, and it would be easy to buy the wrong type by mistake.

[Mihael Keehl]

Alright man, will do thanks for point it out. I still have my 1520 and have been using it like a monster for the last 2 years.

[chrishug]

Oh that's awesome, yeah, let me know!

Ok. I installed the new CPU. Here's the weird thing. My windows experience index dropped upon rebooting the laptop with the new CPU. Before it was 4.7 and now it's 2.3 Please refer to the images below.



Before



After



CPU-Z analysis. Notice the "Core Speed" on the bottom, 598.5MHz. Why is that so low?....

Also when I looked at the CPU info in the BIOS, it said Minimum speed was like 1.2, current 1.6 and max 2.5. Please give me some feedback on this because I'm a tad worried my unit is bad. Thanks!