Upgrading an old laptop

[DrPop]

Hi guys, I have an XPS M1330 (http://www.dell.com/us/dfh/p/xps-m1330/pd) that I use hooked up to an infrared scanner in my office. I like it for its small footprint and really thin size - at least for its day it was...
Well, it was feeling real slow, so I doubled the RAM to 4GB (went from 2 to 4GB of DDR2 800 SODIMMs). Then I swapped out the old, 5400 rpm notebook drive for a nice Corsair SSD. It really is "feeling" quite a bit faster now.
The GPU is unfortunately stuck at a Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS w/ 128MB, so I can't do anything there. Although, that is a lot better than being stuck with Intel graphics like a lot of other lappys! ugh... ;)

My question now is on the CPU. Currently an Intel Core 2 Duo T7500. 2.2GHz, 4MB L2 cache...other specs here (http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_2/Intel-Core%202%20Duo%20Mobile%20T7500%20LF80537GG0494M%2 0%28BX80537T7500%29.html).
The fastest CPU this Santa Rosa chipset seems to support is the Core 2 Duo T9500. 2.6GHz, 6MB L2 cache, other specs here (http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_2/Intel-Core%202%20Duo%20Mobile%20T9500%20FF80576GG0646M.h tml). Only real difference besides 400MHz increase in speed and 2MB more cache is the T9500 supports SSE 4.1 and the current CPU only supports SSE 3.

Does anyone think I would actually notice a difference in the processor or not really? I know some CPU architectures, that increase in L2 Cache would make a huge difference just by itself - but I have no idea if that applies to the Core 2 Duo family or not?

Thanks for any pointers!

[John P. Myers]

You had me worried for a moment :p Just because the chipset supports a certain range of CPUs does *not* mean those CPUs are guaranteed to work in your computer. The most common secondary restriction is current limitations. But you're lucky :) Power requirements are the same for both CPUs.

I have a personal bias towards cache, so based on that alone, i'd say get it :D Though no idea if it'll actually matter, but it does work out to be a 33% increase in your case which is kinda substantial.

Most BOINC projects haven't bothered too much using anything above SSE 3 in their apps so it'd be absolute luck for that to matter.

And of course there's the 400MHz. I guess if you can do the whole job for $80 or less it might be worth it. Otherwise...meh

[zombie67]

Also, be sure to check how the chip is mounted before you buy a replacement. If it is LGA, then fine. But many mobile machines have the CPU soldered directly to the PCB.

[DrPop]

Also, be sure to check how the chip is mounted before you buy a replacement. If it is LGA, then fine. But many mobile machines have the CPU soldered directly to the PCB.

Good point! Thanks for the feedback from both of you. I'm not much of a laptop guy, so maybe this weekend when I'm done using it for work, I'll pull it apart and have a look in there.
In addition to the speed increase, I read somewhere online today that the T9500 was a newer version that ran a little cooler actually - not sure how or what they did differently, but I suppose it's possible they tweaked something. As hot as these laptops get, anything is a bonus there!

[John P. Myers]

Yeah from looking at the specs earlier to make sure power draw wouldn't be an issue, as i said it uses the same amount of juice under load as the chip you have now, so something is definitely more efficient. Also the low energy states actually draw much less current than the chip you have now. Seems like a quality upgrade.