Dell Inspiron 1520: Viable After Market Upgrades

Okay, first off I have to say Thank You guys for all the hard work! Been reading this for quite some time over and over again. I've had my Inspiron 1520 since the Cyber monday deal back in 2007. Then I fell onto this site through google and absolutely love it! I just got my 4 and 2 gb rams yesterday and snapped those puppies in. Wow, immediate results from the 2 and 1 that originally came with it. Luckily I saw I already have the 8600t, but saw I had the 7500 processor which is one of the red flagged processors. I ordered a 9300 and is on it's way. Also waiting on Sandisk 128gb ssd sata II. I also got win7 64bit on it's way but am in need of drivers. Also Intel Turbo Memory? What's that and how do I get some... I'm used to building desktops and have never thought of even upgrading anything but rams on a laptop til I saw this site. It's like feeling you've just woken up!!!

 

My understanding is that turbo memory doesn't improve performance at all (and is especially useless if you have an SSD). It would be neat if you could boot from turbo memory, but I don't think this is possible (and ReadyBoost only uses it as swap space).

FYI, I just picked up a Dell D630 with a T9500 on craigslist for only $100 - a crazy good deal, given that the T9500 alone is worth $100. I'm going to switch the T9500 for the T8100 I bought last month (for $20) and put the D630 back on craigslist. I guess my point is that the parts you're looking for can sometimes be cheaply found in other machines (especially ones listed as broken or 'parts only').

 

Very good point. I've been buying them from pullers on craigslist myself. A couple of guys that I regularly see on there have been quite reliable. That's where my 9300 is coming from. I paid 50 bucks and he's gonna pull it out of a "good" used laptop. If his reputation holds up, I will be happy knowing my laptop will run cooler than the pits of hell it currently is.

 

Intel Turbo Memory works only if you are using mechanical hard-drives, not even Hybrid ones will help the case here. I decided not to splurge on SSDs with this laptop because it's almost reaching the end of it's useful time. I'll most likely utilize SSDs in the next laptop I get. I would recommend using 4GB ones, as they do offer a big-bang for their buck on eBay.

 

Oh so it won't work with ssd? Well update time... Got home from work and sitting on my front porch was my "puller" with the t9300 in hand!!! I forked over $50 and he installed the chip for me.(wanted to show it works). And it does!

 

I have the 1520 currently stocked with the T7500, 8600m GT, & 4 gig of ram. I'm waiting for the crucial m4 ssd to go on sale. But, should I consider upgrading to the T9300? I see it going for $60 used on eBay. Also, has anyone found a reasonably priced Blu ray burner that can be easily installed (no faceplate issues)?

 

At last I received my 2nd hdd caddy and my samsung 830 64gb, I had to change the faceplate of the caddy with the one of my optical drive ofc, but all went smooth.
Now i'm using the ssd for booting and a few programs and the old hdd in the optical drive for storage and big applications.
The old hdd has lost some writing speed according to crystaldisk, but all in all it's ok.
Now i was wondering about getting an external fan since after some time i play games my gpu and cpu get around 80 C°, do you know if it will be worth it?

 

If you haven't already, you might want to clean out your fans and reseat your heat sink with new thermal paste.

Here's what the cooling fins looked like on mine (click to enlarge):

 

I already opened it to clean the fan (it was stucked with dirt literally >_<) but i never used thermal paste.. I saw it ofc when I moved the heat sink but I did not know you should replace it, if you think that could be the problem do you have any advice on which thermal paste should I buy or tips on how to use it? (meanwhile I'll check for it on google too, i'm very ignorant about it :S )

 

You can get a brand new one for an extra $10 on eBay...

I do this every 4-6 months.

 

I'm not sure that's true. If you read the description of the items, the one listed at $75 was pulled from a laptop, & the one @ $86 is listed as 95% new (also pulled)?

I purchased a used one for $51 including shipping. Hopefully its not DOA.

 

Yeah, those are fresh pulls from laptops that weren't ever bought. They were tested for initial performance and etc. So the wear is minimal if any at all. Some used processors can be DOA, that's why I rather not risk it at all...

 

Any ideas on the blu-ray burner?

 

You can get the U J-220 Blu-ray Burner for the Inspiron 1520.

 

Thanks! I'll let you know how the upgrade process works. I should be getting my processor the beginning of next week. I'm still waiting on a good deal for the 128 Crucial M4.

 

The thermal paste that comes with the laptop is OK (but not great), but once you've lifted off the heat sink and seen your thermal paste, it's been completely ruined and must be replaced.

The main function of thermal paste is not act as glue or to form a layer between the heat sink and CPU, but rather to maximize metal-metal contact between the two by eliminating air gaps; once you've removed your heat sink, the old, dry, hard factory thermal paste has been twisted into shapes that guarantee poor contact.

The thermal paste everyone seems to love is Arctic Silver 5; on Newegg it has 4925 five-star reviews (90%). It's 99.9% silver and contains silver particles of three different sizes, which supposedly makes it good at evenly filling in microscopic pits of all sizes. It's not cheap though - on Newegg a 3.5g tube (which is probably enough for 1000+ CPUs) is $11.

You can find tutorials on how to apply it (or any brand) on YouTube or the company web sites. Note that instructions for laptop CPUs are usually slightly different than those for desktops CPUs (likewise for AMD vs. Intel). Here's how I do it:

1) Scrape thermal paste off the CPU and the heat sink using the edge of a credit card.

2) Soften whatever remains (on both pieces) with a drop of rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover (ideally clear/unscented).

3) Rub off the remaining thermal paste with a lint-free lens cloth or sponge-covered swab (not a cotton Q-tip). I usually use a coffee filter for this step. When the CPU side is done it should have a mirror finish.

4) 'Wet' the heat sink with a tiny dot of thermal paste. Spread it all over the heat sink with a lens cloth (anything other than a bare finger), then switch to a clean lens cloth and rub again, stopping when the cloth comes up mostly clean (you want to leave some in the microscopic pits).

5) Put a dot (some say 'grain of rice' but that may be too much) of thermal paste on the CPU. Put some plastic wrap over your finger and use it to smear thermal paste evenly over the mirrored part of the CPU (be sure to go out to the corners/edges).

6) Replace the heat sink and you're done.

For the experts out there, please let me know if there's anything wrong with the above technique (for my own benefit and so I can correct the post).

 

Thank you very much for the detailed instructions!
I had already planned to open my 1520 to replace the lcd hinges and clean the fan, I'll replace the thermal paste too as soon as I get the hinges then!

 

salmastro (or anyone else!),

Do you have a link for the specific '2nd hdd caddy' you bought? I'm keen to replace my optical drive with an SSD as well, but I want to make sure the caddy I buy has the correct shape for the inspiron 1520. Thanks!

 

NEW 12.7mm SATA 2ND HDD Hard Drive Caddy Adapter Bay for Dell Vostro 1500 1700 | eBay NEW 12.7mm PATA/IDE to PATA 2ND HDD Caddy Adapter Bay for Dell Vostro 1500 1700 | eBay
Mine is one of these, i'm pretty sure it was the second, and it's working fine.
I had to change the front side with the one of my optical drive since the one they sell it with doesn't fit.
I also removed the security screw stuff from the optical drive and mounted on the caddy since it has the holes for it but not the little metal piece needed.
The quality of the materials are not really good, but it seems enough to do the job.
They shipped it from china, not from the US as they state on ebay.
I hope i was helpfull.

 

thinking about it since my hdd is a sata it was obviously the first XD

 

CPU installation was successful. The chip looked like it was in great condition, with no residue thermal paste on it. I'm currently stress testing the processor with Prime95, so far its looking good.

 

Great, thanks for the link! I've ordered the caddy, now am planning to put my main 280 GB hard drive in the caddy and a 120 GB Sandisk Extreme SSD in as the main drive. We'll see how it goes!

 

Is it worth upgrading from 4gb of memory to 6?

 

For me, going from 4GB to 8GB wasn't worth it, I just wanted to upgrade and see, saying that individual needs are different and could experience a better performance.

 

has anyone found a compatible backlit keyboard by chance?
I'ld love to have one, but cant find any..
I don't even know if the keyboards are in some way standardized or not..

 

Most backlit keyboards require a special connector on the motherboard, an additional ZIF cable the 1520 motherboard does not have, so backlit keyboard is a no go.

 

thank you anyway! next time I buy a laptop I'll remember this!

 

Hi all again! I think I have a problemi with my 2nd hdd caddy connection: sometimes when i'm using programs installed on the 2nd hdd they froze for like 30 sec and i discovered that in the windows log it's written very often "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort0."..
Did it happen to anyone else? any guess if it's a hardware or software problem?

 

Just installed a 120gb Samsung 830 SSD. It's like I have a completely new computer. Absolutely worth the upgrade if anyone was considering it.

 

If anyone is looking for a cheaper option on the 2nd HDD caddy, this one is about $10 cheaper.
here

 

Brilliant! I am going for an SSD as well....10x brandensteinberg

 

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the info on this thread as it is freaking awesome!!! I've actually just stumbled across this page from a google search and I've got a few questions regarding upgrades to my Inspiron 1520. Any help would be appreciated!

I've just built a new PC and have stopped using my Inspiron 1520 that I have had for about 5 years or so. I'm looking to improve it a little on the cheap so my younger sister can use it every now and again. It won't be anyone's main PC.

The laptop only has 2gb of RAM and a pretty small HDD (120gb I think). It also came with XP but I have since upgraded to Windows 7. So my questions are:

1) Can I replace the current HDD with an SSD and only have this? I'd like to keep the optical drive if possible. Is any SSD okay to use?
2) Is it worth upgrading the RAM to 4gb/8gb? If so, what RAM do I have to buy?
3) What replacement battery should I buy? I have the original Dell charger.
4) Would you recommend any other upgrades? (I've never replaced anything in a laptop before, so I can't do anything too confusing haha)

Thanks in advance!

 

1. Any 2.5" SATA drive should work. This won't affect your optical drive.
2. Probably. Note that 8GB is not possible; 6GB might be (assuming you installed Win 7 64-bit)
3. Search eBay for "inspiron 1525 battery"; filter on 'New'; decide whether you want 6-cell or 9-cell
4. They're not as easy as replacing a drive, but CPU, webcam, and bluetooth upgrades are relatively cheap (under $15 each).

 

Thanks for the help... just a few more questions haha

1. Would you reccomend just replacing the current HDD or is it better to replace the optical drive with the SSD? (I can just use a USB CD drive to install an OS yeah?)
2. I might just go 4GB then. Any DDR2 will work?
3. Does it matter what charger you use or will any charger be fine for any battery?

Thanks again!

 

1. Just replace the HDD
2. I usually use the Newegg Memory Finder
3. Find a charger that says it's compatible with an Inspiron 1520 (or Vostro 1500). Choices are 65W and 90W (you may get a BIOS warning with the 65W, though it can be disabled).

 

2) Any DDR2 should work
3) If you have integrated graphics, the 65W adapter won't throttle. If you have discrete graphics, you should use the 90W adapter.

 

Hey guys, I have a Vostro 1520 and intend to upgrade the processor, RAM, and graphics card. I have a Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset and I've read that I'll need to swap the motherboard in order to upgrade it. Ive done some Google searches on the matter but can't seem to find anything helpful. Can someone point me it the right direction as to how to swap the motherboard, and what to purchase? I would also like to know about the compatibilities between what is already installed and upgrading what I've listed. What else will I have to do besides just install the parts? If you can help, thank you so much.

 

A Vostro 1520? I don't think that's the same thing as Dell Inspiron 1520.

 

Oh my... I need to read better. I could've swore your topic said Vostro 1520. I am very sorry.

 

It's alright, you can check the business class subforum of Dell for that help, if it was the Vostro 1500, perhaps I could have helped then.

 

Enjoyed this thread, lots of usful info. Does all the info pertaining to the 1520 also apply to the 1525?

thanks

 

The 1525 is fundamentally a different laptop with a different chassis, but it should be able to take all the CPU/RAM/HDD configurations that the 1520 can take. I'm not 100% sure about displays, but I'm fairly certain there are only integrated graphics 1525.

 

Hi All,

A few months ago, I upgraded my CPU & my Video Card thanks to the help of this website! However, I think I want to go for round 2

I purchased a 8600M GT for my laptop (Inspiron 1520). I was wondering, if I could go any higher than this, perhaps put a 512MB in there? I read somewhere heat may be an issue, but I always run this with a cooler anyway. Anyhow, any help anyone could provide would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

There is nothing better than the 8600M for the 1520. Period.

 

I have to thank you all for the accurate and useful information on our laptops. Without this thread I would have thrown my 1520 out by now.
I have the integrated video and am in the process of getting a KU926 motherboard and 8600m video card.
I already did the T9500 CPU upgrade, and the SSD drive with the 2nd HDD in the optical bay, 4Gb Ram (PC5400) and an Intel 4965AGN wireless card. (Couldn't get the 6200 or 6300 to work)
The SSD drive made the biggest difference.
Now I just got 1 4Gb Ram and 1 2GB (PC6400) Ram sticks.
I assume that 4Gb goes in slot 1, 2Gb in slot 2? Also will I have to install Win 7 64? to see all the ram working.

Thanks again for everyone's help and input.

 

There's no way for 32-bit windows to see more than 4GB, so you would definitely need 64-bit (assuming it's going to work at all).

If you do go with 64-bit, you may need this custom BIOS to avoid intermittent blue screens:

Vostro 1500 GMA965 memory corruption info & workarounds

 

Well as you can see from my profile the switch to win 7 64, and install of the 6Gb. RAM went well.
installing the Win7 was a pain, the Ram was Plug and play (Bios took a little longer to boot up).

Now I am installing the 64 Bit drivers. The link at the beginning of the post to the 64 Bit drivers doesn't work any more (MegaUpload).
Can anyone help me out, Win 7 recognized most of it. I am having problems finding the Telus Mobile Broadband 5720 (EVDO) Rev A drivers.

Am now looking for a KU926 Mother Board (for the upgraded video) and an upgraded screen.

I'd like to thank everyone for their help so far; it's been relatively painless and no horrible meltdowns or failures!

Thanks All!

 

The megaupload site was down by the time I got to this thread as well. I ended up finding all of the drivers I needed (though not the one you mentioned) using information from this blog:

• Dell Inspiron 1520 – Windows 7 64 bit drivers

As well as information from these threads:

• Inspiron 1520 Vista x64 drivers
• Inspiron 1520/Vostro 1500 drivers 32/64 up to date

 

Dell 360 Bluetooth Module Drivers for Win 7 64bit
Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United Kingdom]
I used this driver from the Dell UK website.
It works great! phone can be used as hotspot and connect to computer using wireless and bluetooth.

 

Could anyone tell me what I need to do to activate both cores?
I have looked at Dynamic Acceleration, and Speedstep in the BIOS. I'm not sure if I should have them on or off. Also downloaded CPUID and Throttlestop. as I heard you need to utilize all these programs and settings to enable both cores, set the voltage and get thing speeded up.
I have a t9500/16Gb RAM PC6400/160Gb SSD/WIN 7 64Gb.
I'm not really familiar with the software part of upgrading.
Thanks