Advice Sought - Upgrade Possible?

A

AeonofOblivion

New Member
Hiya guys. Apologies in advance if this is in the wrong place.

I bought a refurbished Dell Latitude D520 not too long ago. Here's some information on what it is running at the moment;

Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit
Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2400 @ 1.83GHz (2 CPUs,) ~1.8GHz
2048 MB RAM


I'm happy overall with the laptop, but it's not that great for gaming. I don't do super hardcore gaming, but I do some light gaming that requires a little more 3D capability from the machine.

My question is, would it be possible for me to put two 1.80GHz Core 2 Duo processors into the laptop? Would they fit? If so I would get the guy from the local PC shop to do it, but he said I should find out if it is possible first.

A game I tried to install recently recommended I get "Shader Model 3" too. Is that easy to obtain? I'm not great with this stuff.

Thanks,

Aeon
 
No, its not possible to put another processor in there. About the only thing you can do is add more memory, it has a max memory of 4gb.
 
Thank you. This is also correct if I were to remove the processors currently in the machine? The new ones could not fit?

Just to clarify, because I know it would be silly to try to put additional processors to the ones already in there.

Thanks,

Aeon
 
First off, there is only 1 processor in the laptop, its a dual core so thats why it lists 2 cpu's. All depends on the chipset that it has on what cpu's it can support. If you can post the chipset model then it might help.
 
The chipset is a 945, and the T2700 is the fastest your computer supports due to the limitations of the chipset's 667MHz FSB. I wouldn't bother though, because you probably wont see a huge difference in performance.

Before you buy this however you should ensure the latest BIOS supports it, your socket is either PBGA479, PPGA478 and you are comfortable disassembling a laptop (not usually easy). I'd give Dell a call to confirm its compatibility if you go down this path.

You're better off upgrading and adding more RAM, and re-installing Windows 7.
 
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The real reason you can't play games well is the laptop has a weak integrated chip. Any modifications you make won't help you in gaming really. Also modifying laptops is pretty tricky.

If you want to play games save up some money for a new computer or make do with what you have.

A fresh install of Windows is a good idea though as long as you can restore all your backups easily.
 
I'm being told by dxdiag that the Chip Type is "Intel(R) GMA 950" although the name is listed as "Mobile Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset Family."

But no matter, I think it's clear from the information provided by you guys that I can't get much of a performance increase with this laptop. I may try and add more RAM, but eh, I don't know.

How does reinstalling Windows help? I'm happy to give it a go if you think it's a viable option.

Either way, much appreciation for your help in this matter.

Thanks again,

Aeon
 
Resinstalling WIndows will always give a fantastic boost in performance because (less so these days) generally Windows degrades in peformance over time. You need to make sure you back up all your files and makes sure you at least have the chipset drivers and LAN drivers so you can access the internet and update the remaining drivers.

Use your windows dvd and your key. If you don't know your key, then you can use this program to obtain it. Or you could simply do a factory resinstall, however I always prefer a clean install without all the bloatware.
 
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