Upgrading Dell Inspiron N5050 CPU

R

Red Machine D

Gawd
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Jan 16, 2005
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I'm looking for a CPU upgrade to my parents' Dell Inspiron N5050. Motherboard code is 01HXXJ, and it's got the most recent BIOS (A05). Current processor is an i3-2330M.

The Dell support guy on the forums says the highest processor they've tested is the i5-2430M, but I figure someone [H]arder has some better information.

What's the best processor that will work in this thing?
 
Last time I checked, an i5 with 3.0 GHz turbo would be more than enough for anything, including gaming.

You'll see more of a performance improvement upgrading to an SSD versus upgrading the CPU above that i5. Even if you have the fastest discrete GPU offered for this model (HD 8730M) you will easily have enough CPU to drive things.

It's not unreasonable to believe that Dell did not include support for the i7, as this is a budget notebook.
 
What do they do with the machine in question? An i3 is more than enough for most tasks.
My current laptop has an i3-3k of some kind, still working great. (granted it's got a discrete gpu..) the first upgrade I did was to drop an SSD in there.
As defaultluser mentioned, that's going to be a better upgrade option.
 
I've already suggested an SSD. Dad's an old-school guy and has a thing for platter drives (he used to be a lead at Fujitsu when they still fabbed and tested in America), and said he would rather have a processor upgrade first.
 
I can't see why the 2C 35W i7-2620M wouldn't work. You're limited to 35W in this case and I wouldn't recommend exceeding that, as notebooks from this market segment are often "built for purpose" meaning their cooling and VRM abilities are barely able to handle what was installed at the factory. You can substitute a CPU that fits into the original's cooling and current envelopes but exceeding them with a CPU of higher TDP is at your own risk. What seems likely though is that if a higher TDP CPU is used (like a 45W quad core i7 QM model) you are likely to encounter increased fan noise and likely increased throttling. Before you consider a QM, inspect the CPU's heatsink size and the VRMs on the motherboard, although I wouldn't expect much surplus capacity for either.

Keep in mind that the above mentioned i7 would be an extremely incremental upgrade and i third the recommendation for a good SSD.
 
Red Machine D said:
I'm looking for a CPU upgrade to my parents' Dell Inspiron N5050. Motherboard code is 01HXXJ, and it's got the most recent BIOS (A05). Current processor is an i3-2330M.

The Dell support guy on the forums says the highest processor they've tested is the i5-2430M, but I figure someone [H]arder has some better information.

What's the best processor that will work in this thing?
Click to expand...

Dell has tested these to work.
52376.101.png


I had the same CPU in my N5050 and now I have running I5-2450, 16GB ram, 512GB SSD. It runs Folding@Home 24/7. I did disable speedstep and C1E because of constant throttling. Now it runs at well below 100c at 2.5GHz.
I read some other guy went from B800 Celeron to a QM chip 45 TDP and says after 3 months all is fine.
I5-2450 is not officially approved and neither is 16GB ram but I was never one to follow the rules.
 
Last edited:
Using a Coollaboratory Liquid MetalPad TIM I was able to increase the i7-2620M clock speed from 2.7Ghz to 3.2Ghz running Folding@Home at the same temps 85c with no throttling.
At idle it runs 3.4Ghz.
 
Thats amazing sparky, i applaud your courage in trying this out. I am doing the same thing to my n5050, just purchase the same intel chip with 16gb of ram. Is there anything else i need to do other then install them and add the heat pad thing? Could you record a video and upload it i would love to see your computer performance.
 
I think the N5050 should be able to handle an Intel i7-3540M. It's a dual-core quad-thread rated at 3 GHz base and 3.7 GHz turbo. Most importantly, its TDP is 35 W. All in all, it seems like a straight upgrade from the i5-2450M. The bus speed is also a match. The only part that worries me is that the lithography of the i5-2450M is 32 nm, while the lithography of the i7-3540M is 22nm.

Can anyone confirm whether my reasoning is correct so far? Can the i7-3540M can be used to upgrade an Inspiron N5050?

I guess the BIOS would be the deciding factor.
 
Burr said:
I think the N5050 should be able to handle an Intel i7-3540M. It's a dual-core quad-thread rated at 3 GHz base and 3.7 GHz turbo. Most importantly, its TDP is 35 W. All in all, it seems like a straight upgrade from the i5-2450M. The bus speed is also a match. The only part that worries me is that the lithography of the i5-2450M is 32 nm, while the lithography of the i7-3540M is 22nm.

Can anyone confirm whether my reasoning is correct so far? Can the i7-3540M can be used to upgrade an Inspiron N5050?

I guess the BIOS would be the deciding factor.
Click to expand...

Seriously? look at the dates, aka: holy necrobump batman... (this'll be time #2 this thread's been necro'd)
 
FnordMan said:
Seriously? look at the dates, aka: holy necrobump batman... (this'll be time #2 this thread's been necro'd)
Click to expand...
I'm aware of the dates! This topic ranks high in Google. This is old tech, relatively speaking. Makes no sense to start a new thread. Hope that's alright.

It seems that there is a BIOS lock that prevents using Ivy Bridge CPUs. There might be ways to bypass it, but the effort doesn't really seem worth it. According to the CPU-Upgrade website, i7-2640M is likely to be the best 35 W CPU the H67 chipset can support. I'll edit this post if I find more info.
 
I have N5110, HM67 chipset and i7-2670QM which is a 4C/8T 45W TDP CPU. Upgraded from i5-2430M - 35W TDP, working flawlessly, no throttling.

YF5NcIb.png


LwjteCc.png
 
Hi Guys!

I have Dell Inspiron N5050 (model N5050-0486). Bios version A05.
Basically it has Intel i3-2370M. Chipset HM67. (attention! It is not supported upgrade to Ivy Bridge!)
Big thanks to Dimitar for a good idea for upgrade.
I changed i3-2370M on i7-2670QM. Works with no problem, both on Linux and Windows. More power!). Difference between 45W TDP CPU and 35W TDP on cooler is don`t seeing.
Be careful with replace battery. On second start after CPU replace was displayed error that correct electric power adapter for notebook is 90w, but plugged 65w. Actually it is 65w, as i understand, it`s error on controller on battery. I replaced battery, plug it ones more and error was gone. Be careful when you plug in battery.

Best regards


Снимок экрана от 2017-04-02 15:58:27.png
 
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