upgrading vostro 1500 : CPU+HDD

Hi guys.

Im thinking about upgrading the t7250 to a t9300 and adding a seagate 7200RPM 200g hdd. I already have 3gb of ram and 8600GT. The CPU and HDD upgrade should keep me happy till mainstream quadcores in a years time.

First of all, is this possible on the vostro 1500 with the newest dell bios flash?

Also. what is the easiest way to transfer my OS and files to the new HDD? At the moment i plan to use vistas built in disk back up and then restarting with the dell windows vista disk.

does that sound like a plan?

I do actually need the CPU power for work[rendering, heavy CPU usage in rhino 3d].

 

I believe the 1500 has easy access to the CPU etc so its not a problem. Just make sure you have all the tools to begin with (thermal paste etc) and that you check the service manual on the dell site - so you dont miss taking out any screws and ripping anything.

I guess you could do an image of the HDD if you want and put it on the new one. But I find putting the restore disk and starting afresh is quite easy.

 

I will be using the restore disk actually. But it's a hassle installing all the softwares, their plugins and all the drivers i have, so im going to restore the disk image after i do a fresh install.

 

Access to the processor is not easy but you can do it if you follow the service manual.