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3 Posts
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86695
Dell precision M6400 upgrade to QX9300
Hello,
I own a Dell Precision M6400 with a T9600 processor and I'm planning to upgrade to a QX9300 quad core processor.
The Precison M6400 with a QX9300 is a original configuration that could be ordered, but I can't seem to find the answer whether it is possible to upgrade safely. I would expect that the Q43 chipset is listed in the compatibility list of the QX9300 processor on http://ark.intel.com/products/chipsets/36523, but it isn't.
Are there different versions of the M6400 with different chipsets (q43/q45/...), different chipsets or processors or what am I missing?
I see some people in forums etc. that have done the upgrade succesfully, but I'm just doing some research to be sure and confirm my findings.
I also found that Intel is not shipping the QX9300 processor anymore. Could this be the reason it isn't listed anymore?
Thanks in advance,
Daniel from Holland.
bstraylor
7 Posts
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September 21st, 2014 12:00
The first quad tried was an early engineering sample, but I didn't know it at the time. That particular s-spec was actually incomplete. Tried a released q9100 this weekend. Worked like a charm.
The m6400 processor is amazingly difficult to get to. I ended up having to go through the full cycle 3 times:
1) Install the bad q9100
2) restore the original T9550
3) Install the good q9100
By the last the wireless cables were starting to fray some. Fortunately the various wireless speeds did not degrade (270mhz in the case of wifi).
I could probably disassemble and reassemble the m6400 in my sleep at this point, but what a lousy nightmare that would be.
Next week: upgrade from 8GB to 16GB. That should be a piece of cake.
bstraylor
7 Posts
0
September 13th, 2014 22:00
Did you ever find out? I just failed doing an upgrade to a Q9100 -- very similar specs; only listed as compatible with pm45. The thing that bugs me is that the current processor (T9550) is also only listed as being compatible with pm45.
Very odd behavior after the install: it would get 60% through post, then powered off. It's a long long road to get to the processor, but I had to do it a second time to replace the new proc with the original. Came right up -- I'm using now.
Anyway, if the q9300 is compatible, I know a source on ebay.
danielm26
3 Posts
0
September 21st, 2014 07:00
Hello,
Sorry for the late reaction.
I successfully upgraded my M6400 precision with a QX9300.
Somehow I found an answer to this question, don't know where anymore.
Only thing I encountered was the many steps to replace the processor and a bug in Windows 7 that indicated the wrong number of processors in the task manager. This was solved in a service pack but can be misleading.
good luck and if you need more advice let me hear from you.
Greetings,
Daniel.
bstraylor
7 Posts
1
October 3rd, 2014 23:00
Update:
After the successful q9100 install, I upgraded memory to 16GB -- the only system I have with that much memory -- DDR3 1066MHz 4x4GB, then upgraded the disk to a mirrored set of 750GB WD black drives.
After that, my performance lust got the better of me and I replaced the q9100 by a QX9300. I got a full 12% improvement out of that. Now I want to overclock it, but the Intel Extreme Utility won't install on the m6400. 'Invalid platform' is what it says.
Has anyone out there with an M6400 managed to get the Intel extreme tuning utility to install?
DaveXS
3 Posts
0
December 19th, 2014 06:00
I'm using ThrottleStop, works great.