Latitude E6400 XFR motherboard upgrade?

(First Post!)

I just recently picked up a Dell E6400 XFR laptop for $25 from a local surplus place. After installing a hard drive, installing Ubuntu and searching eBay to replace a few of the missing doors, I have come across a few of the E6400 XFRs that say they have Core i5 or i7 processors in them. Mine is equipped with a Core 2 Duo P8700 and the Intel integrated video.

What I want to do is to retrofit one of the i5 or i7 capable boards into this laptop. Except... I can't seem to actually find the motherboard. The only Latitude system I know of that has the Core ix series processors is the Latitude E6500 (I have a E6510 that is my work laptop that has a Core i5 in it). Looking at the two boards, they look like they might fit.

Worst case, I can at least upgrade to the nVidia graphics board instead of the Intel one.

I mostly grabbed this laptop for using with Amateur Radio software (I have a separate drive w/ Windows 7 x64 installed on it), but it would be nice if I upgrade it a little.

 

Dell's specs sheet for this notebook (dated 2010) states "Core 2 Duo CPUs while this review written in 2009 states that the internal components are shared with the E6400. By 2010 the Latitude E6410 had been released and maybe Dell just updated the E6400 XFR specs and didn't release an E6410 XFR. In which case your question can be translated to: Is the mainboard of the E6410 compatible with the E6400?

I've owned both notebooks in the past and comparing photos of the insides suggests there are no big difference in the layout. However, if you read my E6410 review then you will notice that the E6410 was given more generous air vents on the bottom which could indicate that putting some more powerful E6410 boards in your E6400 chassis might cause thermal problems.

If you are willing to strip your notebook down you will be in a good position to compare the physical appearance and connector layout of the E6410 mainboards with the board in your XFR. You might be correct that the boards in the 15" Latitudes were also the same - it would simplify the inventory.

However, I think the hardware change that would give the most obvious boost to everyday performance would ben an SSD.

John