M4600 CPU Upgrade Problem

I'm trying to extend the useful life of my M4600 and am upgrading the CPU/GPU. I followed the steps in the Dell Owners Manual and replaced the 2540m with a 2760mq. The replacement went pretty smoothly, however, I'm having issues. I cannot get the machine to power on. When I hit the power button, the GPU fan spins at what sounds like full speed for about 6s and the machine shuts off. It also attempts to turn on when I plug in the AC power plug with/without the battery installed. From my searching, this power plug issue indicates a CMOS battery with low voltage, however, I checked the CMOS battery voltage with a multimeter and it is 3.1V. I switched the processor back to the 2540m and the problem persists. Did I somehow induce a short in the motherboard? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

Does it give you any error code? Flashing LED indicators. Did you double check to see you tightened the CPU socket and made sure all ribbon cables are in and secured right?

 

They don't seem to support the same sockets:

ARK | Intel® Core i5-2540M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz)
FCBGA1023, PPGA988

vs.

ARK | Intel® Core i7-2760QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz)
FCBGA1224, FCPGA988

Don't know what effect that would have to your motherboard.

 

Sandy Bridge quad cores are usually compatible via the P988. I had an E6420 XFR that I put in the quad core in. Im sure Dell only uses one kind of M4600 motherboard anyways.

Is your bios up to date?

 

I have triple checked all of my cables and can't seem to find any issues. I checked the pin arrangement on the 2760qm and it has similar pin depth and layout as the 2540m. I would think that even if the motherboard doesn't support the 2760qm, mounting it would not mecahnically damage the motherboard socket..... I hope. Is there any way I could verify the MB socket is okay without swapping it out? Can I take off the socket hold down and look at the individual sockets?

I think I'm running A08 bios I think. I unfortunately can't get it running in order to check it.

 

Also, only the power, bluetooth, and WAN lights come on during the boot attempt. I can't hear any beeps or see any error codes as it shuts down before displaying anything on the screen.

 

If you triple checked and issue is there and if the old processor gives you same issue, yea something else went wrong.

But are you SURE, you got everything right? I know I hate to ask this again. And replacing cpu isn't that much of a work. But just to make sure.. Because if anything else, yeah, something else went bad.

 

I've seen similar problems if the RAM can't be recognised.

If the BIOS can't find the RAM then the boot process stops.

It may be worthwhile reseating the RAM and trying each module in turn.

John

 

Thanks guys. I will reseat the ram and also disconnect/reconnect all of my connectors. Hopefully I can make some progress.

 

I was able to get the machine running on the original processor. It turns out I need to give the cpu a firm push while I turned the cam lock in order to seat it properly. Most of the cpu install tutorials show that you can just sit the cpu on the motherboard socket mechanism but this was not the case for me. I then tried using the same strategy with the 2760qm but the machine didn't boot. Perhaps rQcreative is right and the cpu is not compatible. The machines running the 2760qm must have a different motherboard design.