• Tag Archives Inspiron

  • Digital Archaeology: Dell Inspiron 530s

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Physically, the Dell Inspiron 530s is identical to the 531s which I have looked at previously. Both are slimline systems. The difference is entirely with the internals. While the 531s is AMD based, the 530s is Intel based. The 531s I have has a Athlon X2 5000+ while this 530s has a Pentium Dual Core E2200.

    Hardware in this machine includes:

    • CPU: Pentium Dual Core E4600 @ 2.2 GHz
    • Memory: 3 GB DDR2-666 MHz (PC2-5300)
    • Video: Intel 82G33/G31 Express Integrated Graphics

    For more complete hardware info, check out the output of HardInfo.

    The E2200 is a low-end CPU. For some reason, Intel decided to co-opt what was once their flagship CPU name and relegate its usage to bargain CPU choices. Core 2 Duo era Pentiums were basically Core 2 Duos with less cache (1 MB of L2 instead of 2 MB in this case). It is significantly slower than the Athlon X2 I have, on the other hand, it can be upgraded to a significantly faster CPU. The Intel based 530s has far more of an upgrade path than the AMD based 531s.


    The integrated graphics of the Intel based 530s is not as good as the AMD based 531s but they are both so low end it doesn’t really make much of a difference. Like the 531s, the 530s has a slot for a video card so it is upgradeable but the limited power supply limits your choices. The best you can probably put in this is something like a GT 1030 which is actually pretty good for the CPUs this supports. A significantly faster card would be bottlenecked by the CPU. However, if you do want to push it a little further you can upgrade the power supply. While the TFX form factor is somewhat more obscure than ATX, it’s still a standard and you can still find them. I’ve seen ones up to 500 watts. Then you are limited only by what will fit and that you can reasonably cool in the small case.


    There are four slots for memory which is pretty good for a slimline system. I might have expected only two. You can upgrade this machine to 8 GB (up to 2GB in each slot) which is better than some Core 2 Duo based systems.

    The motherboard is a fairly standard Micro ATX board. However, the 530s does not have a removeable backplate making an upgrade a bit more of a challenge. The case is actually fairly nice and uncluttered for a small case. However, if you really want to reuse it with another motherboard, be prepared to do some surgery.

    At the end of the day, sticking a Core 2 Duo E8600, an SSD, and 8 GB of RAM is probably the best that is reasonable to do. That would actually make it useable in Windows 10 or Linux. I’m using Linux Mint now with an SSD and only 3 GB and it performs ok though I wouldn’t try to open 100 tabs or do anything else terribly intensive.

    Like all the machines I use, this one has BOINC installed and connected to various projects including Einstein@home, Asteroids@home, Universe@home, MilkyWay@home, Rosetta@home, and World Community Grid. You can see how it is doing at FreeDC.


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  • Digital Archaeology: Dell Inspiron 1545

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    The Dell Inspiron 1545 was Dell’s mainstream laptop circa 2009. There were a variety of CPU options including Celeron, Pentium Dual-Core and Core 2 Duo models. Memory configurations included anywhere from 1 GB to 4 GB with 4 GB being the maximum amount officially supported. Likewise there were various hard drives available ranging in size from 160 GB wo 500 GB (all 5400 rpm models). There were two screen resolutions available including 1366 x 768 and 1600 x 900 though the higher resolution screen was not very common. One option not available though was a discrete GPU. All models used Intel’s GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics.

    My particular model currently includes:

    • CPU: Pentium Dual Core T4500 at 2.4 GHz
    • RAM: 4 GB DDR2-800 (PC2-5600)
    • Hard Drive: 320 GB
    • Screen: 1366 x 768

    Mine is also black though it came in a variety of other colors including blue, red, pink, and purple. Check out the report from HardInfo for more details.

    Depending on your configuration, this model made for a decent general use laptop though the lack of a discrete GPU option meant that it wasn’t useful for gaming. Also, if you wanted a higher resolution screen, then there were better options. A lot of people seem to like the keyboard on this model. It isn’t anything as fancy as a mechanical keyboard but it does have a more tactile feel and is less mushy than most laptop keyboards.


    There are several possible upgrades depending on you specific configuration. The two most important are probably to upgrade the RAM and replace the hard drive with an SSD. While 4 GB is the max officially supported, this laptop will actually support up to 8 GB. You can also upgrade the CPU though whether or not it is worth it depends on what you are starting from. the fastest CPU supported is the Intel Core 2 Duo T9900.

    My laptop had a single 2 GB SO-DIMM. Whether it was configured like that originally or was cannibalized I don’t know. The only upgrade I’ve really done is to expand it to 4 GB and install Xubuntu. It runs pretty well with this configuration. Even web browsing is ok if a little sluggish. Like all the hardware I use, I installed BOINC on this laptop and attached to several projects. It is currently crunching tasks for Einstein@home, Milkyway@home, Asteroids@home, and World Community Grid. You can check out how it is doing overall at FreeDC.

    Even though there isn’t anything particularly interesting or special about this laptop, I’ll probably hang on to it. It’s in nearly mint condition which for a laptop this old is pretty special in itself. I don’t upgrade the CPU in laptops very often but this one may be a good candidate. The CPU is easy to access on this laptop and there is a fairly significant upgrade path.


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  • Digital Archaeology: Dell Inspiron B130

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    The Dell Inspiron B130 was a low end laptop that was near the bottom end of what Dell offered at the time. However, even the B130 had a number of configurations, mostly differing by CPU and amount of RAM. My particular model includes the following:

    • Intel Pentium M 740 (1.73GHz) Processor
    • 1 GB DDR2 Memory (PC-4200)
    • 300 GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
    • 24x CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
    • 15.4″ WXGA (1280×800) Wide Screen LCD
    • Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics with 128MB Shared Memory
    • V.90 56Kbps Modem, 10/100 Ethernet and 802.11b/g Wireless
    • Three USB 2.0 Ports and Express Card/54 Slot

    The 300 GB hard drive is not original. This laptop probably originally shipped with a 60 GB hard drive. It may have also only had 512 MB of RAM originally. For more complete specs, check out the output of HardInfo.

    In terms of the CPU, this was probably near the higher end of what was offered with this particular model. There were other Celeron based and slower Pentium M iterations but probably not many that were faster. In 2005, when the B130 was released, this processor was reasonably fast. However, the integrated Intel graphics were the lowest end available and definitely not suited for contemporary gaming. Other low end indicators were the DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive which could not write DVDs, and the lack of a firewire port which was standard on most laptops at the time. The resolution also wasn’t particularly high. 1280×800 was pretty typical for low end widescreen laptops at the time.

    There isn’t much that can be done in terms of upgrading. I’m sure you could put in an SSD if you wanted and the RAM is expandable to 2GB which would definitely help. However, you are stuck with the Intel graphics and while the CPU could probably be upgraded, there isn’t a whole lot of speed to be gained going that route.

    While having an entirely plastic exterior, it still feels pretty solid and the keyboard isn’t terrible. The B130 is very utilitarian looking but the mostly black design still looks ok. It’s definitely no powerhouse but if you were looking for a cheap (for the time) laptop (around $600 or so), then I suppose this would not have been a bad choice.

    Like all the hardware I operate, this one runs BOINC when it is on and participates in various projects. It has processed work for Einstein@home, Asteroids@home and World Community Grid. Check out its overall BOINC stats at FreeDC.



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