Dell Precision M6500 Upgrade CPU and GPU

Put in the 940.  Runs nicely.  A little snappier.  Enjoyed working on it.

2/7/20

Firepro is over 50% faster than the 2800M and I noticed that it is a 50W card instead of 100W, so less chance of overheating.  Makes up for the 940 being 55W CPU replacing 45W CPU.

Now it is on to updating my other 4 M6500s from Q 720s to i7-920XM.  The 940s were just too much money compared to the 920s.  Got the 920s for $45 - $55.  Expect them next week.

David

Hope I got the right parts. Super lot to take a part!

This is super helpful info. Thank you. I'm currently doing the same.

@lambdapro2, I'm looking into upgrading my second-hand m6500 that came with a i5-560m dual-core & (luckily) a FirePro M7820. I've had it for about two years now and I'd like to install more RAM, but to do that I need to upgrade to a quad-core CPU. I've also noticed the GPU slowing, so I know I should probably apply a fresh thermal paste & clean the fans out, but admittedly CPU upgrades & GPU paste re-application is out of my wheelhouse. I tried looking at some videos to get a basic idea of how to replace them, but no videos show the process actually being performed on the m6500. 

Is there any chance you could let me know if the processor needs to be desoldered and resoldered in order to be replaced, or if it just needs to be freshly pasted and put into place, and same with the GPU? Also, you mentioned trying to use a 920XM; did that work? I don't see that as a stock configuration option, but I'm assuming it has the same proprietary layout as the other cards and it worked out for you, or was that a no go?

I'd really appreciate a response; thanks in advance for your help!

snap on cpu and gpu.

Bad news for you...  Here is a quote from the "Precision M6500 Setup and Features Information Tech Sheet"

"NOTE: Computers shipped with Intel Core i5-520M/540M or
Intel Core i7-620 M support only two memory connectors."

You would need to swap the entire motherboard to one that has 4 RAM slots.

Also, it looks like you already have the fastest GPU for that system. (This was the last generation before DELL switched to MXM cards.

That excerpt is ambiguous: is it the processor that only supports two memory connectors, or does the motherboard used on the dual core systems only have two memory connectors instead of four?

The article linked below seems to imply there is no difference between the motherboards shipped with the dual core and quad core processor systems, it is the processor that determines whether all four connectors are active or not.

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Hello, I see you are looking for technical assistance. If you need our help, you can start a private message with us and we will be happy to assist you.

I’m fact, I have one of those i5-520M machines and there’s only 2 slots for ram, I can see the layout on the motherboard for the other 2 slots but they are an empty space. Also, for everyone, if anyone really, is still around here, what’s the max ram for 2 slots motherboard, 8gb?

I found the same.thing: two slots on my M6500 laptop, too. It needs replacement speakers. Otherwise it works OK. It runs Windows 10…and I really only use it  occasionally for video calls, email, or internet browsing.  I admire the original poster for putting that much effort into his M6500. It seems like the M6500 was too old even three years ago  to be worth the effort of upgrading.

Mine also needs speakers replacement, but not a big problem as I mainly use headphones. I’m upgrading mine, it has an i5-520M, 4gb 800mhz single channel RAM, and a 500gb Samsung HDD. I already bought an i7 840QM as for my budget that’s the best I can get, at least I hope it is xD, also an 8gb RAM kit (2x 4gb 1333mhz) and a 500gb Samsung EVO 870 SSD. I’m running windows 7 Pro as it still is it’s original software and I tried dual boot with windows 10 but it hangs and freezes too much, and takes a lot of time to open even the file explorer. At the end it’s the only machine I have and I play light games on it.

Hi, the change from i5 520m (dual-core) to i7 840qm (quad-core) worked without any inconvenience?
I have a M6500 i5 540m dual-core, looking to change the CPU to an i7 quad core. Thanks

there is no difference between the boards.... you will find ram slots 3 and 4 under the keyboard for all m6500s. If your running a quad core, slots 3 and 4 can be used with pc3 or pc3l dimms. As long as the cpu is supported regardless of the core count the upgrade or downgrade will work.