Dell Precision M4300

I have an M4300, T7100 1.8 Ghz processor. I am running Windows 7 64 bit with 8 GB of Ram (Google jeffreypalermo.com), a Momentus XT 500 GB HD, and SolidWorks. My only concern is it seems to run hot sometimes. Thought about getting a new heat pad ($3 from Dell) and blowing out the inside. You are correct, it is a workhorse. Probably obsolete by today's standards. I am trying to figure out if I can put a faster processor in it.

Randy

Dan:

1. Yes. There is an adapter you can get to run a second SATA drive in the removable bay (you give up the DVD RW drive in this case. Dual Momentus XTs would run, but I'm not sure you'd see the benefit in the second drive having the Hybrid setup. You may want to get one XT and another Momentus 7200.4 as the second drive. 1TB laptop, baby! (Sorry, no RAID support onboard - I've never heard on this attempted in a Latitude D or Precision - The Intel Matrix Storage Manager may tell a different tale though if you install it (Be sure to enable AHCI drive mode in your BIOS before installing the OS either way).

2. Most Core2Duo chips support 64-bit processing and the Intel 965 chipset supports memory mapping for 64-bit. You should be good on VT also in this lineup. I'd recommend going as high as possible with the chip - An upgrade to a T9300 or T9500 will go for 70-80 bucks on eBay...

3. 4GB? Try 8GB - $100 on Amazon. Do it. Especially if you're doing any VMWare work - More ram=Happy VMs.

4. As far as I know, there's only one battery size  (9-cell 85wh) for the D820/830/M65/M4300 chassis. There is however a Optical bay additional battery you can purchase that will add 1-2 hours of battery life to the rig, but again, you give up DVD RW capability, and your option of the 2nd HDD.

5. Yes. Even with only 2GB RAM and the stock config you've got, you're OK to run Windows 7 x64 and Workstation - You just won't get far with VMs until you get at least 4GB RAM.

6. Yes. All the way to Intel's 5300 WiFiLink series - A good set up 802.11a/b/g/n cards. (Be sure to get a "full height" MiniPCIe card - not a "Half Height" like the newer Latitude E series and M4400/6400 take.

I know it's been since Feb that you posted this, so I hope it still helps.. The M4300 is a bit older even now, but still a workhorse. Try to keep your vents clean and your contact with the heatsink tight... It'll keep on tickin'...

Randy:

You can upgrade all the way to a T9500 (Core2Duo 2.6GHz, 6MB Cache)

This would give you a pretty significant speed bump. You can also get the Core2Extreme X9000 for maximum performance (Hyperthreading. etc) but for the money, the T9300/T9500s are pretty powerful for the $$.

I'm actually in the process of building my own M4300 from eBay and Amazon parts, in addition to the frame/display from an old M65 here at the office that I just bought off the company (new plastics, keyboard and 4300 mobo are less than $200!

In addition, I'm getting an Intel 5300 WifiLink card for 802.11n, and a 4GB FCM and 8GB DDR2-800 RAM to see if that pushes performance to where it needs to be.

If I can get this thing to run Workstation 8 well with my work Win7x64 VM, I'll be a happy camper. I also want to be able to spin-up some Linux distros in VMs from time-to-time. I'll be running Windows Server 2008R2 in workstation mode as my host OS.

I also got the Momentus XT 500... It's one heck of a drive, even without the SSD hybrid tech - 32MB Cache!!!

Hi! GadgeGuy1981:

Any settings or modifications should be done prior to this upgrade of CPU on M4300?

I'm using an M4300 with T7300 and considering an upgrade to T9300.

I read your post of more powerful CPU's --- T9500 and X9000  for M4300, and want to go for it.

Is it as simple as just pull T7300 out and put T9500/X9000 on the socket?

Or anything else I have to do before and after the pull and put of CPU's?

- rhw5118

Randy: You can upgrade all the way to a T9500 (Core2Duo 2.6GHz, 6MB Cache) This would give you a pretty significant speed bump. You can also get the Core2Extreme X9000 for maximum performance (Hyperthreading. etc) but for the money, the T9300/T9500s are pretty powerful for the $$. I'm actually in the process of building my own M4300 from eBay and Amazon parts, in addition to the frame/display from an old M65 here at the office that I just bought off the company (new plastics, keyboard and 4300 mobo are less than $200! In addition, I'm getting an Intel 5300 WifiLink card for 802.11n, and a 4GB FCM and 8GB DDR2-800 RAM to see if that pushes performance to where it needs to be. If I can get this thing to run Workstation 8 well with my work Win7x64 VM, I'll be a happy camper. I also want to be able to spin-up some Linux distros in VMs from time-to-time. I'll be running Windows Server 2008R2 in workstation mode as my host OS. I also got the Momentus XT 500... It's one heck of a drive, even without the SSD hybrid tech - 32MB Cache!!!

I've never done a CPU upgrade on a pre-built system, but it should work pretty straightforward - I've always waited until I had the HW I wanted before installing Windows. Thats the only trouble you'll probably run into - Windows won't work properly (or will at least require re-activation).

Install-wise, I'd just get that heatsink off of there and get a new coat of thermal compound down before replacing... It would behoove you to clean he heatsink and remove ANY dust inside the vents and fan while you're in there - Especially if upgrading to a T9XXX or X9XXX hotter chip.... With the thermal compound, less is more. Use sparingly.

Most of all, Good luck!

Thanks a lot. Really great advices to me. Appreciated.

- rhw5118

Will the t9600 work in the m4300? Just swapped mine and it won't do anything but flash the HDD light for a couple seconds