Inspiron 1520 core 2 duo motherboard replacement

[nitram001]

Hi. I have a Dell Inspiron 1520 that has an original, non-integrated graphics, motherboard with a sticker clearly marked CN-0WP044 on it. Note however that mine has the mPGA478MN socket for my T7500 core 2 duo CPU on it (and presumably the required Mobile Intel PM965 Express Chipset in it)

From my research, it seems that 0WP044 motherboards available now over the web commonly come with 478B CPU sockets and do not have the Mobile Intel PM965 Express Chipset required for mobile core 2 duo CPUs. (In fact, I ordered one previously and it, of course, did not work with my T7500 CPU)

I see alternative 0WY041 motherboards with mPGA478MN sockets and PM965 chipsets on the web, but my original motherboard is labelled 0WP044. Are there, in fact, non-integated graphics 0WP044 motherboards available with the mPGA478MN socket and the PM965 chipset suitable for core 2 duo CPUs? I'd hate to make another mistake. Thank you.

 

[nitram001]

Hi. I have confirmed that Dell Inspiron 1520 WP044 mainboards do have either "478B" or "mPGA478MN" sockets. I have had both in my hands (my original clearly-labelled WP044 mainboard has the mPGA478MN sockets. A clearly-labelled replacement WP044 mainboard I received had the more common 478B socket). One replacement mainboard supplier that I heard back from today had the rarer mPGA478MN sockets on their WP044 mainboards. I also confirmed that the mPGA478MN (commonly referred to as socket P) is required for core 2 duo CPUs.

Now, these sockets are mechanically equivalent to each other, but they do differ electrically in one pin. The mPGA478MN socketed WP044 mainboards (with their different on-board Intel PM965 Chipsets) are the only ones that can handle core 2 duo processors for the Inspiron 1520 (e.g. Intel T7500 -- this was a higher-end option for Inspiron 1520's).

Because Dell labelled both of these non-integrated Intel-based mainboards as CN-0WP044-etc, it's created headaches in the service and replacement markets. Please ensure that your replacement WP044 mainboard's CPU socket matches your original CPU socket number.