W510 cpu upgrade possible? Any input is much appreciated!

[theplayfuleyes]

Hi guys/gals,

I have a quad core i7-720QM variant of the W510 and I would like to swap out the i7 cpu for an i5-520M/540M dual core cpu. Would that be possible? I understand that the motherboard is possibily different considering that the original i5 w510 variant has only 2 DIMM slots, while the i7 variant has 4 DIMM slots. I know the processor socket for the i7/i5 is the same. Please help and I would LOVE to hear from you if any of you have done the upgrade. Much thanks!

[ZaZ]

Since the W510 came those CPUs, I don't know why it wouldn't work, but I suppose stranger things have happened. Most people who want to upgrade their CPU are going the other way.

[Soul_Est]

I'm guessing better battery life and less heat output are the reasons for the OP's decision.

Sent from my ST18a using Tapatalk

[freakwave]

I tried and the system did not start. Wasted a lot of money. My goal was to have the higher Clock of the dual core.

[erik]

I tried and the system did not start. Wasted a lot of money. My goal was to have the higher Clock of the dual core.

just curious but did you test it with only one memory module installed in slot 0 or 1 to see if it would boot?   the dual-core CPUs cannot handle four memory channels so that might be a place to start.   i don't know if the four SODIMM planar is compatible though, which is why i ask what you tried.

did you test a W510 or a W520?

[freakwave]

Sorry, I did not try to remove my memory modules. It was the W510. I think the CPU in W520 does solve the single thread performance quite well.

Wolfgang

[makaveli559m]

So has anyone tried downgrading the cpu on a W510? Any results?

[Adda]

I have, it does NOT work, the system refuses to start, it doesn't matter witch memory sockets are used.

[makaveli559m]

I have, it does NOT work, the system refuses to start, it doesn't matter witch memory sockets are used.

Hi what about the dual core i7 620m? I seen one on eBay though with the i5 520m 2.4Ghz, so its true that some of those have different boards? I updated the BIOS on my W510.

[Adda]

That was the exact CPU I tried, it does not work.

Some W510's are born with dual core CPU's but they have a different motherboard with only two memory sockets.