Upgrade CPU for Dell 1545 Inspiron

Looking to upgrade my Dell laptop and would like to get the best CPU upgrade.

The following are the actual laptop specs:

Made in 2009, 15.6 inch screen, 8GB RAM, 500GB hard drive and right now, the CPU in laptop is a Pentium (R) Duel-Core CPU T4500 @2.30 GHz 2.30GHz.

Also, if any knowledge or reference can be provided if this specific Inspiron could handle an INTEL I3 Quad Core CPU??

Thanks for any helpful response(s) or recommendations, etc...

kleis

 

No. The laptop cannot handle and Intel I3 Quad Core CPU. This is a very old model. You can use T9600 if you have to upgrade the CPU.

 

kleis, T4500 is bad indeed. T9600 is the best for the buck, but X9100/T9900 perform better, while P9700 delivers same performance as T9600 running cooler.

 

Yes, Core i3 not doable. I'd get a X9100 or T9100 processor if possible, a T 9600 would still be an improvement. And get a little more out of your laptop with a little upgrade.

 

Kent,
(Carriee & Starlight5) THANKS for you guys' input and fast-too and I believe we'll be pursuing the T9600 and if all else.... next in line or as ideal, the X and/or T9100s is good to know about as well and Thank ya again*

kleis

 

SSD wouldn't hurt either.

 

Indeed. A SSD would be good.

 

Six year old Dell? Not worth it, imo.

But if you want a real bump in performance, you need the best cpu you can fit/buy for your system, along with Windows 8.1x64Pro, max out the RAM and then put it (the O/S) on an SSD.

Depending how much RAM you have now and the O/S you are running, an SSD may be something of a waste - even if it does provide some 'snappiness' to the O/S (but not any performance gains that a CPU+RAM does)...

 

8 Gb Ram currently and not too interested in SSD, though, appreciate input of those that are into and likely, have SSDs(?) but the laptop performs pretty well w/what've upgrade thus far and the CPU should bring it complete!

Thanks again*


kleis

 

I have one of these too. This one started life with a 250GB HDD and a T4400 when I acquired it over a year ago. I replaced the HDD with an SSD and the CPU with a T9800 and used it in that configuration until last week, when I got ahold of a T9900 and installed it. Surprisingly, the T9900 runs much cooler than the T9800 did, even though it's clocked 133 MHz higher.

Anyway, when I first got the laptop, I upgraded the CPU first, then added the SSD about a week later. Both upgrades made a big difference in its performance, and I'd recommend doing both of them. The CPU does matter more, if you're starting out with a Pentium. Going from a Pentium to a C2D Penryn chip made an enormous difference. I think it's worth the effort to upgrade the 1545, as long as you're not expecting to do any serious gaming on it.

 

I realize this is an old thread, but I just upgraded the Dell Inspiron 1545. I had to upgrade the bios to A14, but the T9600 processor was only $19. The 6Meg versus the 1Meg cache is a huge boost, the extra clock speed helps too 2.2Ghz to 2.8Ghz. The largest difference however was a 120GB Kingston SSD bought for black friday this year ($49). I just was upgrading it for the fun of it after recovering my wife's photo albums off of it, but the boot went from 3 minutes down to 12 seconds. It performed so well that I upgraded the 2GB and 1GB (3GB total) SODIMMS to 8GB--but completely not necessary as it was fairly expensive ($95). I also purchased an ATI PYNG5 ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330 512MB to try to swap out the soldered chip on the motherboard, but as you'll read elsewhere on the net, it's impossible to upgrade the soldered in graphics. I also finally upgraded the windows all the way through Win10 with the free microsoft upgrade.

With the upgrades, this machine is every bit as fast and useful as my alienware laptop--as long as you don't play 3d games on it (which we don't--it's mostly for photobooking and kid's homework/web apps).

The bottom line is that it was worth it for me and I was pleasantly surprised. I had only bought the thing for $250 to start out with as an overstocked Dell discount. Who would have thought it would last so long.

 

Thanks for showing us the other side of the coin (i.e. 'smart' upgrading).

I would argue that the 8GB RAM was a good and worthwhile upgrade.

But in the end, when the notebook tilts the scale towards 'useful' again; it is all good.

Thanks for this post.

Take care.

 

Thanks! I'm amazed at how well it worked out. Other than a few cracks and scratches on the plastic, this was one of the best electronics purchases I've made--and you wouldn't believe how may devices we have in the house.