To answer part of your question, Quanta is the contract manufacturer who produce Lenovo laptops, whom also produce products for Dell Computer, Compaq, Gateway Computers, Gericom, Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Sony, Sharp Corporation, Toshiba, Fujitsu.The Motherboard on your machine may most likely be produced by Foxconn . Also...This is what I found after doing some digging and searching about : " My T9300 cpu arrived today from NewEgg. The cpu swap on my T2330 based Y510 went smoothly. I did apply some thermal paste on the heat sink contact area to get a good thermal connection. Buttoned it up (whole operation took about 20 minutes) and held my breath while I turned it on. The words "LENVOVO" never meant more than they did on the boot screen. It was ALIVE! It booted up and gave a "new hardware detected" message and indicated it was installing the device driver. When completed, it stated that a restart was required. After this reboot it seemed fine. I even ran a benchmark or two just to make sure it would take a load. But shortly I got an error that "Digital Cable device registration" had a problem and had stopped. **bleep**... I didn't know to expect this one...but happily a Google search found the solution. There is a DRM folder that I had to empty and restart. After that the Digital Cable error went away and all is well. I still don't know what that is all about, but it appears to be a common problem for overclockers and signficant cpu upgrades. So - the swap of a new T9300 for the original T2330 is indeed virtually "plug and play". The only anomaly I've seen is the two core cpus always display a few degrees difference in their operation temperatures. Core 1 is invariably a bit cooler than core 2. Not much (a few degrees F) but it seems odd. Perhaps this is normal... The Arctic Silver installation info indicates that sometimes it takes a couple hundred hours of operation to get maximum efficiency out of the thermal paste. Time will tell. Anyway, for those who have been reluctant to pursue such an upgrade, I'll just say that my experience was golden. Not much harder than swapping the RAM. Now - anybody need my old T2330 cpu? lol BTW - the simple Vista experience index value has improved. On my factory stock Y510 it was 3.1 (with graphics being the lowest performer). After the upgrade (including an upgrade to 4gb of RAM) it now registers 3.5 and the processor value is 5.4! Every test value increased with the single exception of primary hard disk which remained at 5.2. " Hope this is of some help , Good luck with the upgrade hope it works out for you
Suggested you simultaneously upgraded cpu with a new mobo. Laptops come with very rigid restrictions on hardware. FSB and voltage are normally fixed, at least at the BIOS level they don't allow any changes. If you change from 667 to 1066 mhz cpu, the voltage and the mutiplier should be different. They should be auto-adjusted if your mobo supports, but in case it doesn't, you may not get the expected result. I shall expect it will still run at 667 and not 1066, at the default multiplier of your new cpu, because any change will affect also you pci, ram.... etc. Don't expected your mobo are built with so many flexibilities because they cost. Laptops are not for DIYs!!!!
Bios and Ram I haven't seen an answer to this question. (Which could be because my eyes have blurred from all the reading in forums I've done looking for it.) Can the amount of memory a motherboard sees be changed by the bios? I have an Inspiron 1501 which Dell says can only take 2g ( 2 x 1g ). On numerous sites, I've read where ones claim to put 4g (2 x 2g) with no problems. When I try it, the machine won't even post. Any thoughts?
Did you answer my question? I'm not sure if you answered my question. Since I already know the Dell specs on my machine, pointing me to them doesn't answer the question which is really much more general. My machines limitations is what made me think of it. So I'll try again: Can the amount of memory that a motherboard sees be altered by the bios? It doesn't matter if it can or can't be done on my machine...just want to know generally?
The amount of memory that a CPU can address is determine NOT by the motherboard per say, but by the Memory controller. In your case you are faced with possibly 2 variables. Which you have not addressed , which processor do you have? Simply put and if I read Dell's site, it suggest that a Sempron or a Turion 64 are the available option. Issue here is that with AMD the memory controller is NOT on the motherboard but built in the processor - furthermore the Sempron and Turion processors have a memory controller which is SINGLE Channel limited to addressing 2 GIG of memory - 2x1 = 2Gig. Newer generation of the Turion processor have a new built in memory controller which is DUAL Channel which addresses 2 GIG, however 2 GIG per channel hence 2 x 2 = 4 Gigs. Beware older Sempron and Turion where based on what we call a socket 754 - newer ones use a different socket not compatible with socket 754. Intel processors address memory through an External memory controller built on the motherboard. Now that is changing or about to change for they are going AMD's way and will have or have built in controller now . (I Have not followed Intel development and product line closely for a few years now...) I hope this helps.
Not sure you understand what you are trying to ask!!! If Dell says max 2G it should be a normally hardware restriction for what ever they put in your machine. BIOS setting cannot improve your hardware. If they can have 4G max but telling you it should be 2G, what they are trying to heading for??? It is common sense!!!