This post is more than 5 years old
4 Posts
0
65667
Vostro 3550 CPU upgrade
Hi,
I have a 2011 Vostro 3550 with i3-2330M and would like to upgrade the CPU. I'm wondering whether the BIOS limits the CPUs I can use? Or will any CPU with the proper socket and TDP work?
I am looking into the following:
-i5 2540M - cheapest option, should be a noticable upgrade, but not used officially in this model, so I'm worried the BIOS might block it.
-i7 2620M - best processor shipped with this laptop that I can find available online. Twice as expensive as the i5 above with minimal better performance.
-i7 2630QM - quad core with 45W TDP (vs 35W on my i3). The quad core is tempting, but I'm worried about the TDP.
Thanks for your help.
ejn63
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
87.5K Posts
0
March 3rd, 2016 11:00
There isn't a white or blacklist -- though any CPU released AFTER the final BIOS revision was made is likely to be problematic.
Benchmarks are where CPU differences show up - in the real world, few applications are CPU-bound. A faster CPU in an older system like this one will likely not show up as a major boost for two reasons: first, the differences between CPUs in overall performance aren't as significant as they show up to be in benchmarks, and second, the CPU on most newer systems isn't the performance limiting element - if you have a conventional hard drive, that is -- and if it's not that, it may well be the GPU that is, particularly with Windows 7, 8 or 10 -- all of which offload a significant percentage of the system work onto the GPU -- not the CPU.
A 40% boost in CPU benchmarks is likely to show up as a 10% at best overall boost - after all, the rest of the system can't be upgraded.
You will see an increase in going from an i3 to an i5 or i7 -- it just won't be the dramatic boost that replacing the hard drive with an SSD was.
ejn63
1 Rookie
1 Rookie
•
87.5K Posts
0
March 3rd, 2016 10:00
Only the 17" chassis 3750 shipped with a quad core i7 - you'd be right to worry about the extra 10 W of power the 15" chassis isn't designed to handle.
Using any CPU other than those shipped with the system is trial and error - it may or may not work but unless you get documented confirmation from someone who's tried, you're blazing a trail.
If you're looking for a speed boost and are still running a conventional hard drive, replacing it with a solid state drive is a much more cost-effective and speed-effective upgrade than a CPU replacement.
tmazur
4 Posts
0
March 3rd, 2016 11:00
I also found a quad core i7-3612QM with 35W TDP, but the price is ridiculous.
I'm probably going to go for the i5-2540 since I can get used ones for ~$25. Does Dell in general create whitelist/blacklist for CPUs on the BIOS? I already have a SSD, are you saying I won't notice the CPU upgrade? The benchmark differences seem promising.
tmazur
4 Posts
0
March 3rd, 2016 12:00
Thanks, I looked into the BIOS releases and release A09 says "Added CPU i5-2450M support.". The BIOS was released on 31 Oct 2011 while CPU seems to be released on Jan, 2012. The 2540M was released on Feb, 2011, so I should be OK. I'm not expecting performance boost in web browsing or office work, but the occasional RAW photo processing, gaming, and I'm also considering full drive encryption, so the hardware support of AES in the i5/i7 will come in handy.