Studio 1749 CPU upgrade, wont turn on

Hi Matt. I have been working on this issue for the last 2 weeks. AS you have probably read on my post, we are basically having the same issue with different models. That lock thing sounds so right to me because I have a PM55 motherboard and I know that it supports core i7s so we need to figure out how to get rid of that lock!. I talked to a Dell supervisor about this issue and we pretty much became friends now. He forwarded all my emails to Dell Technicians and he is still waiting an answer. He will let me know soon. I just purchased a core i5 520 and hopefully that works as it is a core i5 CPU.

Please let me know if you hear anything.  If dell has make it imposile to upgrade the cpu, it will be the last time i buy a dell.. The sales rep assured me it would take an i7.. I would have bought it with an i7, only that at the time, the 5650 GPU was only be sold with the i5.  hopefully we will find an answer soon.

-Matt

Here is the reply that I got from my friend (Well Kinda :) :

Hello Sarp,

I checked with my technical supervisor. According to him the chipset supports the processor i7 640M for sure. However the error code the video shows up indicates a memory configuration failure. Seems like the i7 processor you got is either non-functional or does not meet the specifications.

The process i7 620M 2.66G/L2 3 MB/1066 FSB is supported fully.

Is the processor you got of the same specifications?

I have forwarded your mails to the engineering team. They would get back and I would then forward you my replies.

Regards

Badri

Memory configuration may make sense - the quad cores use 1333 MHz memory - did you upgrade the RAM to faster memory?

It is not the memory I know it for sure. I have 8gb 1333 Samsung Brand NEW rams. The minute I put the core i5 back, it works immediately. It is some kinda of BIOS problem not recognizing the cpu or unable to adjust multiplier. I first bought a 820qm engineering sample and it did not work. Somebody said it might be the chip so I sent it back and got a 720qm and that did not work either. There is no way I got 2 faulty CPUS. The second one is not an Engineering sample but brand new OEM cpu. The motherboard, bios, or some type of lock is preventing it from working. Somebody also send me a message saying his new 540m is not working depstie the fast that it is core i5 which leads me the question whether the 520m that I just will work or not! It made me pretty upset  that the core i7 did not work; I wanted it so bad. I even bought new stickers for my laptop. It is frustrating and there must be a work around for this problem...

The core i7 and core i5 physically looks different. If it is a memory problem, I know that the 2 glassy looking things on the back of the CPU might explain something. I know that the smaller glass area on Core i5  is responsible for memory utilization and core i7's only have one glass area.  I highly think that my memory is not the problem since I have 1333mhz rams and they work fine with core i5) I mean I am trying to come up with many idea and solutions but who knows...

no i never thought about it.. im just using what ever memory came with it.  Im going to find out what is in it and get back to you guys.

There is much more to memory compatibility than speed.

What is the exact pattern of flashing?

ok I am gonna post it on youtube now so you can see it...

I am in agreement with the earlier poster - this is not a CPU problem.  It is a memory problem - the flashing caps lock on a Dell system always is.

If this is the RAM that came with the i5, it could be out of spec for the faster CPU.  If it's aftermarket RAM -- as someone mentioned - note that Samsung RAM can be used on other parties' modules, not all of which are of the highest quality.

An unsupported CPU would lead to a completely different set of flashing LEDs. -- the num lock would be flashing.

Her you go; this is what happens the minute I power on the computer with core i7 CPU!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMpXXT4nIHw

Ok, so definately not memory speed issue then?

-Matt

I opned my Studio XPS 1647 laptop and here is what the board looks like. Yep this thing does not accept core i7 for some reason!

Well, what is flashing on my stduio xps 1647 is the media key (Decrease volume key) ! I never had a caps lock flash! My memory is Samsung brand (Has Samsung stickers on it) and I bought it brand new OEM from an online shop. The original 1060mhz memory that came default with my Dell System was exactly the same except the speed and model number. I have 1333mhz 8gb Memories and that should not be the problem with core i7s as core i7s support 1333. My memories are not faulty that is all i can say bc everytime I put the core i5 back everything works great. I never had blue screen since I used these 8gb rams. I still believe that a lock, BIOS config, etc is causing the CPU not to work with my system. Again I have pm55 system board and it is suppose to support core i7s.

It's still the center light that's flashing - on every single Dell notebook I've ever seen, this is a memory problem.

As I wrote before, memory speed isn't everything - there may be a timing incompatibility with the system.  The LED sequence simply gets too far into the process before the single flashing starts - I've never seen a system with an unsupported CPU get that far.