Inspiron 1525 H/W upgrade

The RAM can go to 4 GB if you remove the 1 GB module and replace it with a 2 GB module. The upgrade in performance from 3 GB - 4 GB of RAM will be minimal.

The SSD is the best upgrade you can do, a 250-512 GB BX100 will suit this system well:

http://uk.crucial.com/gbr/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Dell/inspiron-1525

Also you should upgrade your OS as Windows Vista is obsolete (no drivers for new hardware, no IE10/11, Office 2013 support and no Digital Distribution).

Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 will also be obsolete in Late Summer when they are upgraded to Windows 10 for free and hence not worth purchasing.

Windows Vista is not eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 10 and the cheapest way for you to upgrade is likely going to be from the Windows 10 Insider build 10074 which is a pre-release testing version that is relatively stable. Install Windows 10 64 on the new SSD and note you have a MBR legacy BIOS (not a UEFI BIOS):

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-microsoft-windows-and-office/download-microsoft-windows/download-windows-10-technical-preview-iso/

Most the drivers for this systems hardware will be inbuilt or downloaded automatically with Windows 10. If any are missing try these drivers here:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/driver-sets/inspiron-laptops-windows-7/inspiron-1525-windows-7-64-bit/

Thank you for your prompt reply natakuc4.

Although I am more interested in upgrading the hardware than software. I am quite comfortable and friendly with vista os and not inclined to switching to any other at this moment in time. As you well know, with trying new things, come new problems as well as the problems that you'd need to spend new time finding new solutions to.

Anyhow, thanks for the SSD suggestion and as far as the RAM goes, I believe I would have to upgrade the CPU first to get the most out of maybe a new 800MHz DDR2 ?

I don't have much background information about Intel mobile CPUs, especially when it comes to Inspiron 1525.

Please advise on the CPU upgrade. There are dirt cheap Intel mobile CPUs on website such as ebay and amazon. Especially the Core 2 Duo ones.

Without the upgrade in the Windows OS, in particular since you are using 32 Bit you will not be able to address more than 3.5 GB of RAM.

The CPU upgrade requires a full dismantle and reassembly of the system only do this if you are comfortable with doing this and ensure to apply thermal paste. Have a look here, I listed some of the CPUs from the configuration page in 2008:

http://en.community.dell.com/what-do-i-buy/for_enterprise/f/4516/t/19166795

.

@natakuc4

Thank you for your suggestion !

Guess I would have to swap to Windows 10 now anyways. I might just do!

Also, with regards to SSD, please advise should I be going with SATA 2 or SATA 3 ?

@ejn63 : Thanks for your response.

But physically, will 'SATA 3' sit okay in the slot of inspiron 1525?

Because if it does, then I would preferably purchase a new SATA 3.

Thanks again !

It doesn't matter -- on a system of this age, you're likely to find you're limited by a first-gen SATA chipset or SATA to IDE bridge -- that is, about 150 MBps max.

Yes, any SATA SSD will work -- just at low speed.

Also note that the chipset in this system does not support memory remapping, so even with a 64-bit OS, you will see about 3.25G of RAM even with 4 G installed.

@ ejn36 :

Thanks !

So would that mean, it is going to be worthless to install 4GB RAM over Windows 10 x64 ?

Is the system only able to actually use the memory that is mapped by the chipset, or it actually uses all the RAM that is installed? Sorry for my ignorance.

This system is best left with WIndows 7 -- 8 or 10 require more video horsepower than it can deliver.

That said, the system WILL use all 4G but will not make more than about 3.2 GBytes available to the OS.

According to Crucial the system is SATA 2, SSDs being sold are SATA 3 but SATA 3 is backwards compatible. A SATA 3 drive can run in a system with only SATA 2 or even SATA 1 but it will run at reduced speed.

I've got Windows 10 64 Bit 10074 on a Latitude D820 and Inspiron 6400 which has even worse video than this system and it works fine.

Windows 10 64 Bit 10074 can be installed on the new SSD and evaluated, if you don't find it performing well you can look into other Windows Editions.

NGHTYVBZ, I would like to know what upgrades you were able to do to your computer. I also have a Dell Inspiron 1525 that I am considering making upgrades to, particularly the RAM and the hard drive. I understand that upgrading the processor is tricky so I probably will not attempt that. Were you able to install Windows 7? I cannot get the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to run on my computer, but it seems to meet the standard requirements. i know that you posted that quite a while ago, but I hope you will see my post. Thank you very much!

Alright nmr8177,

I upgraded 1525's CPU from Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 to Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 (FF80577GG0563M) SLAYQ SLAPA CPU 800/2.4 GHz. Bought this processor off eBay (cost approx. $12.50). Processor upgrade is very easy should you are even a little bit technical in what you do and have patience. Just unscrew and remove the back panel cover, unscrew and remove the heat sink, unlock processor, remove processor, replace new processor (make sure pins properly set in and the corner tiny triangle symbol on the processor is matched with the same symbol on processor's case/socket), lock the new processor in place, add tiny bit of thermal glue on the shiny surface of processor (also cleanse the old thermal paste off heat sink using nail polish remover / iso-propyl alcohol and cotton/ear-buds), replace heat sink, tighten screws using a cross/diagonal and half thread approach (screw a corner's screw first to half thread or low, then screw the diagonal screw to almost full thread then any other screw to full thread and so on; by the end make sure all screws are tight enough) this special screwing approach makes sure the thermal paste is evenly spread out.

CPU's replacement has increased processing speed + multitasking a tiny bit but the noise&heat is considerably down quite a few notches.

Also upgraded RAM from hynix 1GB x 2 ( = 2GB ) to hynix 2GB x 2 ( = 4GB toto).

But I am still on Vista Home Premium (x32 a.k.a. 32-bit). Have not had time (or spare money) to purchase a new x86 (a.k.a. 64-bit) OS yet. The upgrades I might still consider on this machine would be SSD (let these become cheap a little more), LCD (yeah! brightness is not what it used to be; I can feel the white backlight tubes are gradually coming to their EndOfLife; might try to replace the backlight tubes only instead of replacing the whole panel ! I don't like throwing away things since they are still in working condition) and maybe OS as well (should the PC not speeds up after installing SSD). This can have SSD in place of CD/DVD/Optical Drive with a compatible caddy (there are caddys available in the market for this purpose on inspiron 1525).

Also, even after installing the SSD, the access speed would not jump considerably as the laptop's motherboard doesn't support SATA III.

regards

hi,

i installed a sandisk ssd+  250 gb SSd on inspiron1525. with the spacer supplid along with the disk, it was a cakewalk !! there is  large difference in system performance now :-)  Thanks to ejn63 !!

As the system limits speed of SSD there is no point in going for a faster SSD and wasting money.

steps

1. remove two screws and remove existing HDD

2. remove 2 screws on caddy and remove HDD tray\

3. Place the SSD in the tray and fix caddy and fix two screws

4. fix the spacer (supplied by sandisk along with the SSD) on top of  SSD

5. insert the whole thing back to system

6. fix 2 screws at bottom of the system.

7. reboot and check bios !!

KPS

You can use the unofficial Windows 10130 Upgrade path to make your system a Windows 10 Pro Device:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/windows-xpvista-%e2%86%92-windows-10-free-upgrade/

Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit has been reported to work well on the Inspiron 1525.

NGHTYVBZ,

Thanks very much for your help. I don't think I would attempt replacing the processor myself, but I'm glad it worked out for you. There are some good YouTube videos out there, demonstrating how people have done this, and it does make it look pretty easy. However, I am still trying to decide what to do, if anything, right now. I am still getting some Windows Updates, and I understand that Vista will be supported for about another year. I would definitely like to have more hard drive space, though. Good luck with the upgrades you are planning. It sounds like you have things well under control.

KPSKPS:

I appreciate your advice also. I just have a couple of questions about the SSD. When I do an Internet search for a 250GB Sandisk SSD, I can only find 240GB, not that it matters much. But I do want to be sure I am getting the most compatible one. Also, is there a size difference between the HDD that comes with the Inspiron 1525 and the Sandisk SSD, and that is why a spacer is needed? I am strictly an amateur, so please forgive my ignorance. The specs given on the one I looked at show the width of the 240GB Sandisk SSD as being 2.75 inches, compared to the 2.5 inches of the original HDD. There are two at BestBuy that look almost identical, but one is a SanDisk SSD Plus Internal Serial ATA Solid State drive and the other is a SanDisk Ultra II 240GB Internal SATA Solid State Drive. I think the first one can be used in desktops as well as laptops, and the other is only for laptops.

Philip, Thanks for the link to the Windows 10 upgrade. I would definitely like to do that if my system would handle it. I am definitely going to upgrade the memory to 4GB, and I have done that once before so am not afraid to.

I forgot to include my basic system information:

If anyone else has more suggestions, I would definitely appreciate it. I am thinking that I will get some assistance from GeekSquad at BestBuy if I don't think I can manage this on my own. Like I said, I am not getting in a hurry. The computer runs great as it is. But I know that I will eventually need to do something. It seems that we are almost being pushed into buying new computers, when the ones we have are still really good.

Thanks to all of you for your help!