The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Studio XPS 1645 not compatible with i5 520m?

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by arcticjoe, Feb 7, 2011.

  1. arcticjoe

    arcticjoe Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    66
    Messages:
    877
    Likes Received:
    67
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Just tried to downgrade my studio 1645 from i7 820qm to i5 520m for heat and power consumption reasons, but once switched on I'd get a blank screen and nothing else (power led's would light up as well)
    Switched back to i7 and it boots no problem, tested the i5 in another laptop and it also works. So my question is - are i5s compatible with 1645? I am running the latest bios and I've also tried re-setting bios via battery removal.
    any input will be greatly appreciated.
     
    arcticjoe, Feb 7, 2011
    #1
  2. arcticjoe

    arcticjoe Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    66
    Messages:
    877
    Likes Received:
    67
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Have just pulled out an i5 540m cpu from my girlfriend's laptop and tried it - again, black screen, led lights are on but no sign of life :(. Bummer, looks like I might have to get an i7 640m instead.
     
    arcticjoe, Feb 7, 2011
    #2
  3. Darkstone

    Darkstone Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    45
    Messages:
    253
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    i7 640 == i5 540, that wont work.
     
    Darkstone, Feb 7, 2011
    #3
  4. arcticjoe

    arcticjoe Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    66
    Messages:
    877
    Likes Received:
    67
    Trophy Points:
    41
    bummer, so no chance of a dual core cpu on 1645? Quad core i7's are just too hot for this laptop.
     
    arcticjoe, Feb 7, 2011
    #4
  5. seeker_moc

    seeker_moc Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    354
    Messages:
    2,141
    Likes Received:
    21
    Trophy Points:
    56
    There's no support for a dual-core CPU in the BIOS. Some people have modded the BIOS to try to get the opposite to work (put a quad in a 1647), but couldn't manage to pull it off.
     
    seeker_moc, Feb 7, 2011
    #5
  6. JKleiss

    JKleiss Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    261
    Messages:
    660
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    It may be due to the clarksfields (quads) having the memory controller on die, wheres as the arrandales (duals) do not
     
    JKleiss, Feb 8, 2011
    #6
  7. seeker_moc

    seeker_moc Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    354
    Messages:
    2,141
    Likes Received:
    21
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Yeah, but the arrandales still have the memory controller on the chip (embedded with the GPU die), so I'd imagine the difference is transparent to the motherboard. I think it's more an ACPI thing, but I could be wrong.
     
    seeker_moc, Feb 8, 2011
    #7