What CPU can I put in my Dell C600 laptop

Karlsbad

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I was given a Dell C600 with a p3 750(ewww) that I'd like to swap the CPU for something faster, I'm pretty sure its a socket 478 so I'm hoping I can go like 1.5 - 2.0 gHz centrino which I've seen going for cheap on ebay. I know I should open it up first and get some numbers off the mobo, but I also know how much knowledge is stored in this forum and I have no place I can really leave it taken apart, so does anyone know what I can put in that baby? There are no mobo or chipset numbers in the bios, the only identifying info in the bios is version A22, Phoenix 1985-1988 and Dell 1990-2002.
 

killernotebooks

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Off the top of my head PIII 1GHz processor for sure, but judging from THIS post on the subject . it looks like there is 2 revisions of the motherboard which may make it so it can take an 800 MHz or 1 GHz Pentium 3 CPU only.

Might be best to sell it on Ebay and get one of the many $499 notebooks that are out at BestBuy or even DELL with coupons right now.


KillerNotebooks.com

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Karlsbad

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Dell told me it can take a 1 ghz but only cause thats all they tested and it could probably take a lot more. I'm pretty sure I saw a post in this forum which I can't find now that said 2ghz centrino. Maybe I'll try to find out what chipset is in there.
 

killernotebooks

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It would be awesome if it could, but that's quite a jump, since even the 610's still took PIII's. It wasn't until the 640's that the processors the size you are talking about got implemented.

I would check the chipset they used in each system and see if it is compatible with the Pentium 4-M. You can find Pentium 4-M's on Ebay for dirt. I found a 1.8 GHz for $48 shipped BuyItNow.
 

Karlsbad

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DOH! wtf am I talking abouit, celeron, not centrino lol. I saw a 2 ghz celeron the other day for 50 buckis or so I think.
 

killernotebooks

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Also consider that that system has a 133Mhz fsb, and the processors we are talking about are 400 Mhz. I know that in most cases the chip will automatically clock down, but we are starting to rack up a lot of reasons this will probably not work.

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Sonic_Reducer

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are you sure it's a skt478, usually p3 its socket 370 not 478 so if it's not 478 you can't upgrado to nothing unless its socket 370
 

killernotebooks

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Yes, it is Package Type: 478 pin PPGA

Processor
C600 microprocessor Intel Mobile Pentium III microprocessor with Intel SpeedStep™ technology
System chip set Intel Mobile 440BX AGPset
L2 cache for C600 256 KB
External bus 100 MHz front side bus
Microprocessor data bus width 64 bits
DRAM bus width 64 bits
Address bus width 32 bits
Flash EPROM 4 Mb
AGP bus 66 MHz
PCI bus 33 MHz
DELL support page C600

CPU question on DELL support forum.

The C600/Inspiron 4000 has three different mainboards - one cuts off at 750, the other at 850, and the last can go to 1 GHz.
Dell Support Forum.

Looks like a few people have put Linux on these machines, you might want to check out Linspire, looks like XP and is pretty easy. Mandrake is supposedly the easiest. There is even a guy putting OSX on his HERE which might get you some major "novelty" points.

All in all I would say that after researching this a little upgrading is pretty much out of the question. There are many people that give up frustrated posting on the internet. If the MAX you can get is P3 1 GHz, it might just be better to sell it on Ebay to some DELL nut for $200, add the money you were going to use to upgrade (maybe another $100) and then sell some plasma or something and get a new computer for $499 at BestBuy or Dell.