I did a small upgrade on laptop from Celeron M 380 to Pentium M 740. After first boot system detected new CPU, but system wansnt able to boot from any device anymore (HDD, DVD, USB). I checked BIOS, did load defaults, reboot, nothing. Then I ran built-in Dell diagnostics and it failed with error code 1000-0123. So I ran Memtest and somehow it booted off from CD, but hanged with OK e820 displaying on the screen. I tried booting with only one memory module, but symptoms remained same. Occasionally I get this on POST: "Memory write/read failure at 1118A000, read 640618F7 expecting 18F718F7 Decreasing available memory Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility" Then I re-installed my old Celeron M and everything was fine again - system was able to boot normally and no memory errors were reported. I put Pentium M back and system was broken again. I'm confused, because I can't thing other than faulty CPU itself..? Full system specs: Dell Latitude 120L Intel Celeron M 380 (originally) and now Intel Pentium M 740 Intel Express 915 chipset 1.5 GB DDR2 RAM (1GB + 512MB modules) 80GB ATA hard drive DVD-combo drive Any advice would be appreciated.
Yes, it should be supported, because even Dell offered my model with Pentium M 740 processor. http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=27590 And you can read it supports Intel 915 chipsets.
Ok but just because the chipset is supported doesn't mean that your motherboard supports it. The model with the upgraded CPU could have used a different motherboard. Dell's website has a BIOS upgrade. Try flashing your BIOS and try again. If not, get the motherboard part number and call Dell and see if its supported.
Then I suggest you call Dell to see if that CPU is supported or do some googling. Just because the motherboard has the correct socket doesn't mean every CPU with that socket will work.
I didn't just look out for socet, I also confirmed supported chipset and the fact that Dell itself sold those models with this CPU. I'll try other memory modules tomorrow and contact Dell which so far has proved to be real PITA if your warranty has expired.