To get this information you need to log on to support, enter your model number and most importantly Enter your Service Tag Number. 

That will open all the hardware information on your Particular notebook, You should download and read your Service Manual there you will find out how to open your notebook and you'll see all your upgrade paths, including all your current spec. and all the available driver updates and Dell software upgrades.

Upgrading the processor on such an old computer would be a waste of money with no apparent difference in performance. Upgrade by adding memory or a faster hard drive. Better still, use it as is until you can replace it with a new model.

Welcome to the Dell Community @Gust af 

@Mary G in what way did you reply to the OP's question???

Your reply of "Replace it with a new model" is not a catch all reply and is getting old!!!!!

@Gust af 

As far as a CPU upgrade the i7-640M will work just fine.

http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/CPUs/Intel/Core_i3_Mobile/i3-370M_(PGA988).html

It has a rating of a 28.1% increase in CPU performance. "Not to bad"

Add an SSD and max out the memory and you should be good for another 5 years.

I have 40-50 extra i7-640M CPU's.

To help you cut costs if you live in the US I can ship a few for free.

Just let me know.

Best regards,

U2

Hello

I have a hand me down dell I3. It was my daughter's, I think we got it in 2014ish-2016ish. Rather than buy a new one id like to upgrade this one. I dont need anything shiny and new, and think i can turn this into a capable machine much, much cheaper than a new one. Do you think its worth it? I also noticed you mentioned you had a processor that may work? I know this post is old, but I figured I'd give it a shot as this is the first place I landed on while researching.  I can provide you with any info you'd need from the device. I'm not super sharp in this regard, but I am confident in the ability to take it apart and put it back together. Your knowledge and experience would be appreciated. 

Thank you. 

Welcome to the Dell Community @jburke2831 

First.

What model laptop do you have???

What CPU do you have installed???

How much memory???

What size and type of HDD do you have installed???

Best regards,

U2

Just about any notebook system shipped after 2013 with very few exceptions will have a soldered-in CPU, so upgrading that isn't the easy CPU swap it once was - it will almost certainly require replacing the entire system board, which will make it less than cost-effective to do.

Most systems can be upgraded in RAM, or even more likely to speed things up, from a hard drive to a solid state drive.

If you want a more definitive answer, you'll need to post the exact model number of the system you have (i.e., Inspiron 3521,  3559, etc.).

I have dell vostro 3500 old model with cpu intel i370 M can I upgrade it to i7 640 M and can I also upgrade to ssd with 8 or 16 gb ram