Hardware Dell XPS M1210 - Upgrading Help

[jonthedit]

So I found an old POS Dell XPS M1210 laptop laying around that was scheduled for destruction. I saved the little bastard, and boy is it a POS!
It had 512MB of RAM, and I quickly replaced that with 2x 2GB sticks. Instant performance increase (obviously). Now it is usable, but the thing had no battery. So I bought a 9 cell 7800mah battery. That will come later.

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU clocked @ 2.00GHz (not bad). [T7200].
GPU: Mobile Intel 945 Express Chipset

Basically I am here to ask if I can upgrade the CPU and the GPU.
I looked around and saw that the CPU is easily changeable, I just do not know what I should get, and what is supported. I also found there was an optional NVIDIA GPU chip, though I would have to replace the main board to get a better GPU.

What are my options?

 

[FAST6191]

With laptops I tend to just work under the assumption that the CPU and GPU, barring something like a PCMCIA card or a dock, neither of which are especially useful if you want portable, are fixed entities. There are some exceptions but they tend to be in business, workstation or gaming grade stuff (I know XPS is supposed to be gaming focused, if you believe that....), or in those models that people found themselves willing to tear apart (usually IBM/lenovo business grade stuff).

No SSD yet? For the prices they are these days and the speeds they get to you (especially if are presently lumped with a 5400rpm drive) will probably not get a better upgrade, give or take a miracle in which you find a compatible screen with a good resolution for it (this was made in the earlier points of the bad years in laptop screens).

 

[jonthedit]

With laptops I tend to just work under the assumption that the CPU and GPU, barring something like a PCMCIA card or a dock, neither of which are especially useful if you want portable, are fixed entities. There are some exceptions but they tend to be in business, workstation or gaming grade stuff (I know XPS is supposed to be gaming focused, if you believe that....), or in those models that people found themselves willing to tear apart (usually IBM/lenovo business grade stuff).

No SSD yet? For the prices they are these days and the speeds they get to you (especially if are presently lumped with a 5400rpm drive) will probably not get a better upgrade, give or take a miracle in which you find a compatible screen with a good resolution for it (this was made in the earlier points of the bad years in laptop screens).

I tried an SSD, does not recognize it, This thing is REALLY old... so I am not surprised.

 

[geishroy]

u cannot change the GPU or the CPU just throw it in the garbage or blow it up and post it to youtube. maybe you will be able to get enough views to be able to afford a real laptop .

 

[FAST6191]

What BIOS options do you have for the HDD? Being a Dell computer I do not imagine there are many but it is still worth a look. Assuming it is a sata drive (IDE/pata SSD drives are odd things) it should be picked up by the BIOS at least, an OS installer might not but that is a different matter.

just throw it in the garbage or blow it up and post it to youtube. maybe you will be able to get enough views to be able to afford a real laptop .

Looking around the thing is a dual core of reasonable clock, now with 2 gigs of RAM. More than enough for basic internet, office stuff and the like, and probably a bit more beyond that too. I know I rescue laptops and spend more time than they are worth getting them working again (I don't know why I do but I do) but this is not one of those times.

 

[GreatCrippler]

What's so hard about the CPU? Usually under the keyboard on those Core 2 Dells. GPU is no go, but might be able to overclock it a bit for a touch of performance. It's not a gaming laptop, but those older Dells are still decent work horses. Snag a usb controller, and a SNES emulator, and go to town.

 

[jonthedit]

u cannot change the GPU or the CPU just throw it in the garbage or blow it up and post it to youtube. maybe you will be able to get enough views to be able to afford a real laptop .

CPU is changeable.
I should mention the thing has an empty PCI-E slot

What BIOS options do you have for the HDD? Being a Dell computer I do not imagine there are many but it is still worth a look. Assuming it is a sata drive (IDE/pata SSD drives are odd things) it should be picked up by the BIOS at least, an OS installer might not but that is a different matter.



Looking around the thing is a dual core of reasonable clock, now with 2 gigs of RAM. More than enough for basic internet, office stuff and the like, and probably a bit more beyond that too. I know I rescue laptops and spend more time than they are worth getting them working again (I don't know why I do but I do) but this is not one of those times.

It has 4gigs, I bought two 2gb sticks, sorry if I was unclear. It is certainly perfect for word processing, and now has a battery life of 6 hours instead of 10minutes. The thing is far from useless, though I was looking to get it more powerful.

What's so hard about the CPU? Usually under the keyboard on those Core 2 Dells. GPU is no go, but might be able to overclock it a bit for a touch of performance. It's not a gaming laptop, but those older Dells are still decent work horses. Snag a usb controller, and a SNES emulator, and go to town.

The CPU is not an issue, I just do not know what chip to grab. I read that 7800 is the highest for this MB, 2.6Ghz. Mine is a 7200, 2.0Ghz.

As for the GPU, it has a slot for a real card, just not sure what is compatible.

 

[Originality]

CPU can be swapped if the socket is standard form (some are hard soldered and have a different socket form). What determines the CPU compatibility is the BIOS version, socket type, and TDP limit of the cooler. Putting in a higher clock CPU may give a small boost in performance, but it may exceed the cooling ability of the laptop.

Now, when you say it has a slot for a real graphics card, what type of slot is it? mPCIe? M.2? MiniCard?