Inspiron 1545 upgrade.

The memory upgrade alone isn't worth the cost ($200 for 2X4 DDR-2);  add the screen at $100 more,  a card for $50, $200 or so for a CPU, $100+ for an SSD, etc. and you're at over $600 -- or more than 3.5X or more what the system is worth, and well over 3/4 the cost of an equivalent (to your upgrade proposal) new system.

A good, mid-range new system will run $700-800 -- deduct the $100-150 you'll get for selling the existing one and it makes more sense to buy new.

There's no board you can use that will support any Core i CPU -- if you have upgrade plans that extensive, it's time for a new system.

The system wasn't shipped with that CPU  -  the P7450 was the fastest.  installing a 35W CPU where the system is designed for 25W is asking for stability problems.

Unless you know the screen you're buying is supported, it's a big gamble.  You will need at least a new data cable to make it work - you may need other parts (back cover, bezel, etc) as well.

The other parts should work

Thanks for your quick reply, however I've scoured the internet and how the parts for £320

ssd: £102

ram: £89

screen £42

card: £32

CPU: £32 (new)

caddy: £14

If you still think the price doesn't justify the gains then I'll heed. However I was more wondering if all the parts would be compatible.

hey patrick.

i have had my 1545 for 4 years now and it sill delivers because several upgrades i made to the cpu and the hdd (replaced it to an SSD one).

there is a very details post that shows how to do it  here - http://www.benshardwareblog.com/laptop-hardware/upgrading-a-dell-inspiron-1545-cpu

i hope it will help! :) 

Hello! 

I read your article and it was really informative! I've currently got it sat under the bed, but after reading that I may give it another go! 

Thanks. 

It will accept up to a T9700 or P9900 Intel Core 2 Duo processor

Just a small correction: P9700 and T9900. The List of Intel Core 2 microprocessors on Wikipedia is a good reference. Apparently the Dell Inspiron 1545 will also accept the E0 stepping of the Intel Core 2 Extreme x9100, but it's pretty hard to find.*

From what I understand, E0 x9100 is just the T9900 with an unlocked clock. In other words, it can be overclocked. I don't know what the limits for overclocking are for the Inspiron 1545, given its power supply and cooling, but it's worth looking into if one's looking to get the most out of an old laptop.

* This info comes from user pyjujiop, who commented on bengg's blog post, and also posted the same info here, though I've lost the link.

Thanks for the correction. I've put a T9600 in my Dell 1545.

I have also upgraded my Dell 1545 to Windows 10 x64 Home.

Then I changed hard disks to another 320gb hard drive and did a little experiment. I installed 10 Linux distributions in multiple partitions (3 Primary partitions, 1 Extended partition and 9 Logical partitions). According to some, you can install 15 to 60 partitions on a Linux hard disk, reliably. Using Linux Grub multi-boot software, I am able to boot any of the Linux distributions. They all recognized all of the 1545 hardware and automatically installed drivers. I didn't have to install any drivers. Out of all of the Linux distributions I've tired I like Linux-Mint the best along with Chromixium, a Linux Chromebook clone.

Here is the disk partition scheme: (I used Linux Mint and the Linux partitioning program Gparted)

/sda1 - swap
/sda2 - root
/sda3 - Linux Mint
/sda4 - extended partition
/sda5 - Ubuntu
/sda6 - Fedora
/sda7 - Mageia
/sda8 - Chromixium
/sda9 - Puppy Linux
/sda10- Kubuntu
/sda11- Neptune
/sda12- PCLinuxOS
/sda13- openSUSE

If you want to have some fun, experiment with Linux on your Dell Inspiron 1545. It works better and runs faster than Windows.