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November 3rd, 2015 01:00

E6420 processor upgrade - fastest possible?

Hello Dell Forums,

I have a question that I hope one of you can help with ... It is which processor would be the fastest one to upgrade my Dell E6420 with? I'm considering this one:

ark.intel.com/.../Intel-Core-i7-2670QM-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_10-GHz

however, if possible would like a higher base frequency while retaining the No. of cores and 6 MB cache or higher. Anyone have experience with what is possible - maybe a newer generation i7 fits in and works reliably (which is mandatory)?

Also, is it possible to put in RAM that works at a higher speed than the specified speed (1333 MHz)?

Anyone have experience with this? Thanks for any insights :emotion-1:

Jesper

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87.5K Posts

November 3rd, 2015 02:00

While that CPU will work, bear in mind you may need a new power adapter if your current one is 90W or less (the i7 will need a 130 W adapter).  It may also make it apparent that your bottleneck isn't the CPU but the GPU (which cannot be upgraded) -- or the disc drive if it's a conventional hard drive (an SSD is a better performance investment than a CPU upgrade).

The RAM cannot run faster than  1333 MHz, nor will newer generation CPUs work (beyond not being supported, most are designed to be soldered in, not socketed -- yours is among the last Intel mobile CPUs widely available in socketed form).

7 Posts

November 3rd, 2015 03:00

Hi ejn63,

Thanks for your feedback - very helpful it is  ... 

As it is I already have an SSD HD and it is also my experience that this makes more of a difference than changing processors - at least when the speed difference is not significant. 

In this context, however, I now have a core I3 2.1 GHz processor and it's simply just too slow for the use I currently have (sound processing). Although the developer of the software I may be using apparently is working on using the GPU for some of the processing I am not sure this will end up being the case ... So I am either in need of a faster processor or a different computer. 

With the I3 2.1 GHz processor being the reference I reckon the i7 will be noticeably faster - so maybe that's the one to go with ... 

Anyway - thanks for your feedback!

Jesper

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