Question Latitude E6540 unstable after CPU upgrade

[tlsparks1307]

Hello all! First timer here. I recently purchased a Core-i7 4810MQ from eBay to upgrade my Dell Latitude E6540. It came with a Core-i7 4610M. I've already upgraded the HDD to an SSD, and effectively maxed out the RAM (it came with 8GB it's now at 16GB which seems to be the limit for this system). The CPU came pretty quick, and the physical install was as smooth as you could hope for. I cleaned the old thermal paste from the heatsink and GPU, and applied fresh, and put it back together. The BIOS was updated beforehand from A24 to A27. BIOS reported the new chip without issue, system booted flawlessly (from power off to Desktop in under 20 seconds). Temps were good with nothing above 45 Celsius. I then tried to play a video file encoded with x265(HEVC) and after just a couple of minutes the system locked up. I had to hard power off to restart. I thought maybe there was a problem my kernel. I'm running Linux Mint 20.2, with kernel 5.11. So tried the other kernels I have installed (5.8 and 5.4) and had the same issue. I tried running a light load on it, opening Firefox, and firing up several tabs. System seemed to remain stable under a light load. I loaded a CPU stress test, and within a few minutes, the system completely locked up, requiring a hard power off. I put the old CPU (Core-i7 4610M) back in the laptop, ran the same tests under all three different kernels, and did not have issues. For now, I'm continuing to use the 4610M, since this is my daily driver.

Did I just get a bad CPU or is something else at play here? I have a Dell branded AC adapter rated for 180w, and just replaced the battery with a brand new one rated at 97wh. I know that the 4810MQ has a TDP that's 10w higher than the 4610M but there seems to be plenty of other E6540s out there rocking the 4810MQ without issue.

Any thoughts or opinions on this matter are greatly appreciated. I have a feeling it's going back to eBay

 

[Remeca]

Before sending it back, it may be worth testing with a live USB or installing fresh on a new HDD to see if the OS is just conflicting with the cpu change.

 

[tlsparks1307]

I wouldn't think so, based on the fact that in the past, I've been able to "drag 'n drop" an OS install between computers by swapping drives. However, in the past, I wasn't using UEFI either, so that COULD be a factor, I suppose. I'll give it a try and report back.

 

[SamirD]

10w TDP is HUGE for a laptop. Unless there was a version that came with this TDP and you swapped over the upgraded factory cooling components, I would be suspecting the TDP is the issue.

However, if the cooling solutions are the same for both the lower and higher TDP versions, then it does sound like you got a defective cpu, which is probably a fake if it was sold as 'new'.

 

[tlsparks1307]

Well, I'm confused and optimistic right now. I'm currently running the 4810MQ as we speak. I've been playing x265 video for the last ten minutes without issue. and I had a stress test running at the same time to really sweat it. Temps rose up to about 78 C and topped out there. System has not locked up yet. After killing the stress test, and waiting a minute, temps went down to about mid 50 C range, and the system has still not yet locked up. I think there might be something up with my new battery. I put in the old battery when I put in the CPU for a LiveUSB test. It was stable playing x265, so I tried the current install, and it appears to be running stable. The old battery's capacity is only 3% these days, which is why I bought a new one, however, upon a second look, the old one is Dell branded, and the new one is not. But it appears as though the 4810MQ is stable with the Dell battery, and unstable with the off brand. I'm going to shut down, swap batteries and repeat the same test. I'll report back with results.

 

[SamirD]

Fake batteries, fake power supplies, fake processors--waaaay too much of this garbage floating in from overseas so I wouldn't doubt the battery was having a thermal condition and resetting. I would get rid of that junk and find a genuine used battery--and definitely watch for the 'new' fakes that look real and probably came off the same assembly line but are probably seconds/failures/etc that the unethical ba....... sell as 'new'.

 

[tlsparks1307]

Yup. Looks like the battery was the culprit. I swapped for the off brand and within minutes got the same lockup. Even though the Dell battery is pretty well shot, it's maintaining system stability. Oh well. I'm actually jubilant over this, as I would much rather return the battery. I'll be much more diligent in the future.

 

[SamirD]

Glad you found it and it doesn't surprise me. All that chinese crap they unload here has done nothing but ripped people off (like yourself) and clouded the market so it's hard to find the real stuff. Return that pos and get a genuine used battery and I think you'll be happy.

 

[tlsparks1307]

Contacted Amazon about my defective knock-off battery. They gave me a refund without hassle, and told me to just dispose/recycle it.

Been running the 4810MQ with the Genuine Dell battery, for the last 15 hours. I've been throwing everything I can at it, to really stress test and push it, and everything is smooth as silk. Temps are topping out at ~65-70 C.

I found a used Genuine Dell battery on eBay for a similar price from a reputable seller, and it's on it's way. So everything is cool now, issues resolved, and I want to thank everybody who responded here. Peace.

 

[SamirD]

Yeah, that's the good thing about Amazon is their refund policy--unfortunately they use that as a shield to sell knockoffs. I would actually resell that copy battery locally as it will be good for someone that has the 4610M and just uses the machine stock.

Even on ebay and even with reputable sellers you have to beware as some of them will buy the ccc (cheap chinese crap) to augment their used sales when they need revenue/inventory. If it's a used part, you should be okay, but they can still get something new (fake) and then say it is excellent quality used. Luckily, your laptop will sniff those out pretty quickly, haha. But then you'll face another return situation.

There's nothing like the genuine parts. I have an older HP 8760w and found the extended battery that was new old stock (ratty looking box so it was real), and it's performed splendidly. Between the original battery that's still good for 2hrs and this extended battery, I easily get 4hrs+ will the computer fully on, no power savings--and this is with a 17" 1080p screen and 32GB of ram. I just picked up an older Dell M6800 that I'll be using as a backup system to the 8760w and it's battery is also still good. And then there's my oldest Dells, the D610 and those batteries also still have life in them.

The 'compatible' battery market is all about cutting corners from the original design, but they pretty much are all fakes these days, cutting corners to dangerous/unethical levels. Hence why I stay far away from all that crap.