Dell Inspiron 1545 CPU replacement issue! Help needed!

Question

Hello all

I've got a Dell Inspiron 1545 with 4GB ram, P8700, 60GB SSD.

I went to take my CPU out of my 1545 the other day as I got it from a previous owner and it ran abit warm so I got some Artic Silver 5 for it. Took it apart as you would expect but when removing the heatsink with all the screws undone it was really hard to remove still. I carefully removed it but once i had managed to remove it, it took out the CPU with the heatsink even though the cpu was "locked" into the socket. The previous owner had used some very very hard thermal paste and the CPU was stuck to the heatsink.

I tried to remove the CPU from the heatsink and the square in the centre actually cracked and fell apart half left on the heatsink half left on the CPU which iv never seen before. So i was like "great, new cpu time"...

So I ordered the same CPU it had in there (Core 2 Duo P8700, not sure of exact model number). It arrived today and is a P8700 SLGFE, I put it in with fresh thermal compound. Tightened it all up nicely and turned it on (on its battery). The light came on fan speeded up but... nothing on screen and after about 6-8 seconds the fan goes off and light goes off.

I then tried removing the battery, holding down the power button for 30 seconds and then putting the battery back in and having another go... no joy... tried it with the charger in, again no joy, tried it with no battery just the mains, no joy.

So i took it apart again had a good look at the socket, there doesn't appear to be any damage to it at all and when in the locked position i can see all the metal contacts are intact... Really confused with this... Can anyone help? I can't afford to buy another laptop.

Thanks in advance.

ejn63 · Accepted Answer

There are over 900 micro solder points below that socket - and one of which could be broken. So the answer to the first question is no - there is just no way to repair a CPU socket.

The symptoms are exactly those of a bad socket - meaning the only solution is a replacement mainboard. If it's the board with Intel video, the cost is $100 or less:

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and about double that if it has AMD video.

jason.n · Answer

One other thing to note, I've just tried it on without a heatsink VERY briefly then pulled the battery out right away and the CPU is getting hot so its working to a degree...

Really confused, I updated to the latest BIOS awhile ago (when it worked) so it shouldn't be that...?

Any idea's?

jason.n · Answer

Shame, oh well in the bin it goes. Thanks all for your help.

ejn63 · Answer

If the CPU was pulled out with the socket locked, with enough force to destroy the CPU, the socket was likely damaged - there are hundreds of solder points to the mainboard.

It's time for a replacement system board.

jason.n · Answer

No the CPU came out cleanly, no bent pins and everything completely intact. It was only once it was removed and I tried to remove the CPU from the heat sink itself that the core came apart. I've seen desktop and laptop CPU's come out of their sockets with the heat sink before and work fine so I fail to see how this has actually damaged anything!?? I know it's a possibility though.

Is there anyway to disassemble the CPU socket so i can check the pins under the plastic? I tested the machine without a CPU in it and it does exactly the same thing as when the CPU is in it so the board isn't "seeing" the CPU from what I can tell.

I really need to get it working as I don't work and cannot afford another board or machine.

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Dell Inspiron 1545 CPU replacement issue! Help needed!

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