CPU Upgrade Opportunity

I have the opportunity to purchase a T2600 for a reasonable price.

I currently have a E1705 Core Solo(T1300).

Will this be an easy swap? Same BIOS? (mine is A00 right now).

Any help is apppreciated.

Well, Its more for the peace of mind before I spend the money on it, as i have some fear of making a rather costly mistake performing surgery on my new Dell PC.

Do you have any insight to add to my question?

Reading some of the other posts, it doesn't seem like the hardware aspect is overly complicated, however I am unsure of the BIOS and other software related issues I may encounter.

So, since you are so highly educated on the issue, and wouldn't have even had to ask the question, how about rendering some help to us less fortunate people with inferior experience?

Sorry to have come off so rude. Just really nervous about such a major(at least to me) procedure....

Well, I have researched some, called some people and feel pretty confident that I can do this now. In fact I am going to apply AS5 to the new processor and GPU at the same time since I will be inside.

I am going to swap the processor using procedures from from Dell and from this Forum. Doesn't seem to be very hard at all. From what I have read thus far, My BIOS will remain the same and should recognize the new processor upon installation and boot up. At that point things should be working fine. I have downloaded the Intel mobile chipset driver utility from Dell, but I dont think I need it because the chipset doesn't change. As far as any other drivers, well I dont know, but I think there aren't any more I will have to deal with.

This Processor is available for as little as $635.00 from online retailers. I paid about 10% less. So, coupled with my new 2GB PC5300 RAM I ordered it should make for a much nicer machine. Overall I will have saved a little extra $$$ from what Dell wanted for these upgrades.

If anyone else has advice It is appreciated, believe me.

According to the Dell website the same identical system to mine, but with T2600 instead of Core Solo would have cost me $900 more even with the same coupon and everything.

With the new processor and memory upgrade from 1GB 667 to 2GB 667 I would have had to pay Dell an additional $1205.

Basically, by upgrading myself I save around $500. Yes, the cost of the CPU's and maybe even the RAM will come down. I am just impatient. In fact I will probably have wasted my money if Merom comes out and is compatible with our chipset and is fully 64 bit. But it is going to make me happy if I can change to this CPU without a problem. I will let everyone know how the swap goes in this thread after I get the CPU. I will probably have it all done by Monday, depends on shipping at this point.

Edited to add: Dell also charges $550.00 USD just to go from T2400(1.83GHz) to T2600(2.16GHz), I paid about that to go from Core Solo(1.66GHz) to Core Duo(2.16Ghz)...

OK, I know what you are saying. However If I go to Dell and buy a Core Solo(T1300 1.66Ghz) System equiped just like mine right now the cost is $1622.00 USD

If everything remains the same and I just upgrade it to the Core Duo (T2400 1.83Ghz) The price goes up by $602.

People are paying this every day.

I can go from Core Solo(T1300) to Core Duo(T2600 2.16Ghz) for less than that.( I just have to upgrade it myself). And if I paid Dell(and some do) for the upgrade to T2600 it would have cost me at least an additional $900.

Some folks on here can get pretty significant discounts on new systems, however for most I think this would be a money saver if you really want the Core Duo no? I might be looking at it wrong, feel free to correct me.

I think the 2.0 is T2500(not to nitpick) and it retails for around $410.00 or so. It was a thought, but I can afford the extra for the T2600 right now..(dont tell my wife), but is still an affordable solution by comparison to ordering it from dell.

Dell E1705

With:

Intel® Core™ Solo Processor T1300 (1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)
17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
60GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
256MB NVIDA® GeForce™ Go 7800
No Other Upgrades Selected

Price with Dell $550 off on Sys over $1399 =$1322.00+Tax
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With:

Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2500 (2GHz/667MHz FSB)
17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
60GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
256MB NVIDA® GeForce™ Go 7800
No Other Upgrades Selected

Price with Dell $650 off on Sys over $1999 = $1974.00
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
With:

Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2600 (2.16GHz/667MHz FSB)
17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
60GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
256MB NVIDA® GeForce™ Go 7800
No Other Upgrades Selected

Price with Dell $650 off on Sys over $1999 = $2374.00
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To go just from Core Solo to Duo 2.0 Ghz = a difference of $652.00
Buy the processor yourself for $450 = $202.00 saved
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And to go from Core Solo to Duo 2.16Ghz = a difference of $1,052.00
Buy the processor yourself for $600 = $552.00 saved
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Using the best Coupons I could find.