Noobie G51 owner wanting to go all out

I recently wanted to build a gaming desktop but realized 1) i don't have the cash and 2) my G51VX-Rx05 isn't half bad. So for the past three days I have basically used all my finals study time and researched upgrading my laptop instead. What I have decided is that I want to go all out and do everything I can to make my laptop more powerful and more efficient. Doing things such as:

1) Upgrading processor (leaning towards T9600 for my price range)
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...m/545521-g51vx-rx05-cpu-upgrade-question.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...e-different-cpu-upgrades-asus-g51vx-rx05.html
2) Overclocking new CPU and current GPU
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/401345-optimization-guide-asus-g51.html
3) Modding a separate backplate
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/482015-g51vx-backplate-mod.html
4) Installing copper pieces to heatsink
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/414147-grab-copper-drill-now.html
5) Using better thermal paste for copper and cpu/gpu
SEKISUI 5760 Thermal Adhesive Tape 8"x1" 6 Strips | eBay
6) Possibly using color film to change keyboard back light
(D.I.Y) How to Modify Asus G73/G53/G51 Gaming Notebook Backlit Keyboard - YouTube

Also is this the proper CPU and a good price?
INTEL CORE 2 DUO T9600 MOBILE 2.8GHZ Skt P CPU 2.8/6M/1066 SLG9F E6400/E6500 on eBay!

And same for this backplate?
ASUS G50VT G51VX BOTTOM CASE COVER 13GNPY10P11X-1 13GNSZ5AP050-1 | eBay

And finally these copper pieces?
8 pcs Copper Heat Sink Heatsinks Memory Cooler fan For PC Computer DDR DDR2 RAM | eBay

I honestly have no idea where to start or if I'm even capable of all this. I have even more aspirations but this is more than enough to start. The most I have done is install a new GPU in my brothers desktop and that was simple. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

SEKISUI 5760 Dbl Sided Thermal Tape 8"X1" - 12 strips | eBay
get this thermal tape

I think these blocks are cheaper and better
8 X Copper Heat Sink For DDR DDR2 DDR3 RAM Memory RHS03 | eBay

check my cooling mod. I added a few things that forge didn't do and have plenty of pictures. and temps comparision.

Also make sure you use throttle stop to get duel IDA and what not. get setFSB if you want. (if that is needed)

Also overvolt your gpu and overclock higher. I am currently trying to do that but having issues.

EDIT: that is not the back panel you want to mod. its the top piece of that. Your already out of warranty so just mod your current panel. Also I even RMAed with the modded back panel a year and half ago and they did say anything but i wouldn't take chances.

 

Before buying anything, try to get an SSD, trust me in that it will be the best investment you can do right now for that laptop, I own one with an X9000 and giving it an SSD is preferable to the CPU upgrade!

 

Thanks for the input on the better tape and copper but I lost you after throttle =/

I really don't know much of anything but the basics when it comes to computers

Not sure what an SSD is or what it does

Poked around some more and learned about using an SSD. Seems like mostly positive things. What price range is an SSD and would it be very beneficial to gaming?

 

Newegg.com - SSD, Solid State Drives

its a solid state drive. much much faster then a hardrive. If you can't afford one or need more space get a hybrid drive. They are also good but not quite as good. You can get them on newegg too.

Also what are your specs...i dont know that model.

google search for the throttle stop thread and read it. it will help you a lot and get much more performance out of your CPU.

I would get a 256g SSD personally if i had the money. Don't ask me which one because I know nothing about them...as in quality.

EDIT: 35 bucks for an 9600 ES or 60 for a retail cpu is not too bad but only worth it if you got a crappy processor....need specs to advise.

 

Windows 7 Home Premium Edition
DirectX 9.0c
Intel Pentium III Xeon, 2000 MHz
-Intel Core 2 Duo p7350 @ 2.00GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M

this the kinda stuff youre looking for?

 

P3 xeon...huh? your laptop specs

if you got the p7360 I would definitely dump the 35 or 60 bucks on the T9600 and use throttle stop for duel IDA and get setFSB. Both are very easy programs once you read through the guides 2-3 times. Also get a hybrid or SSD drive. those two things will help a ton. You can ever overclock your gpu by tinkering with vBIOS. I assume your GPU is underclocked because that is common with ASUS...they suck Also do those cooling mods because if you use a T9600 and overclock with a 260m overclocked you will want it to be cool. For you, you really only need to drill out the bottom case and repaste with ICD7/24. 7/24 is size of bottle btw. I'll be updating my thread over the weekend to help with ICD application.

 

So is the $75 one i linked in my OP the right processor and is it too expensive? where would a i find a cheaper one?

I pretty sure I need a SATA II SSD but besides that I have no idea which SSD to choose from on newegg

 

post in the SSD thread.

T9600 | eBay

here is a simply search on ebay. ask someone else who knows more about the core 2s there is an ES model going for 35 0 bids 2 days left or get the retail for 60

 

Ive seen a few people talk about this and it seems vBIOS is where I need to start before I can dual IDA (whatever that means). I don't know what or where vBIOS is. If you could direct me to it that would be wonderful

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...arket-upgrades/531329-throttlestop-guide.html

IDA is processor not gpu. read the throttlestop guide it'll answer 99% of all questions. for vBios and overvolting gpu go to my 260m thread in hardware for overclocking it. It is my work in progress...so far can't get past step one lol. It has some useful links there. moral hazard has been helping me

 

Thanks so much, i'll give it a few more reads later tonight. Gotta get to work

Thanks again!

 

Oh I know IDA isn't the gpu but I don't know how to tinker with my vBIOS. Is it possible for me to use nTools from the Optimization guide I linked in my OP?

 

Did some more studying on the forums and practiced using a few programs just to get the hang of things. I downloaded CPU-Z, GPU-Z, CPUID Hardware monitor, 3Dmark06, and furmark. Alongside throttlestop from before. I'm still not 100% what I should be doing with throttlestop or how to check what I'm supposed to check. I did run 3dmark06 and furmark for a little bit.

3dmark06 gave me about 8500 marks i think and Furmark slowly crept my GPU up to 97 degrees before something in my laptop really kicked in and dropped the temp down to 92-93. I took a few screenshots.

heres my computer idling with various programs mentioned above open
Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

heres a benchmark for throttlestop, not sure what this does
Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

heres what my programs read after 10 minutes of furmark
Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

i dunno if any of this helps anyone but like i said i was just playing around with these programs to get an idea of what I'm doing. Any advice for this post or my original post would be appreciated!

 

yea start working on my cooling mod. Also i would just get the T9600 retail over the ES just to be safe...its 25 more dollars who cares


Why do you need to tinker with vBIOS for IDA? I thought enabling IDA was a simple click of a button on TS? Ask in TS thread. I never used Core2s and dont have time to read up on it.

Also use MSI afterburner and you can get your 260m running at Nvidia stock clocks of 550 1375 900. you should also be able to overclock to 580 1500 950 without issue if your temps are good. Again get T9600 and repaste with ICD and mod case.

 

Can you link a retail T9600 please and is that the right one to get? The sooner o can order the better

Idk im still having trouble understanding how to use TS in general.

Is MSI afterburner a program? Could you link if it is? And is that the best way to over lock? I was thinking of following the optimization guide from my OP but if your method is better I'll do that

 

just google msi after burner and go back to my link to ebay search i posted it is the 60 dollar one

 

Hey Hopeless hows the overvolting/overclocking going?

Also, I decided on the E8435 for $60 on ebay. Besides the thermal tape you linked me before should i get some thermal paste as well? Such as arctic silver?

 

thermal tape is a conductive sticky tape to hold on the heat spreaders you dont need paste unless you redo gpu/cpu which i would use ICD

overvolting is a bust unless your a wizard

also i blow my heatsink fan by doing a hardware overvolt mod lol....messing with registry and such was too hard...rather just plug it to an external AC adapter. I wont get a new fan until end of May. I am lucky that my mod is so overkill that my laptop can run without a fan in the heatsink lol. I am running at idles and its 50C and 59C and my room is warm lol. Can't fold or game until i get new fan :/

 

I know this thread is dead but I finally got around to doing the things I said I was gonna do when I made this thread. I figured it would be better to conclude my journey on this thread rather than make a new one. I had ordered most of the parts back in ate may or early june but it wasn't until a few days ago that I finally decided to take apart my laptop and mod it. I did this just in time for the Guild Wars 2 beta weekend and I had a blast and my laptop ran beautifully.

 

Blimey

What graphics card is that thing running? Its tiny! How does Guild Wars 2 run?

 

The card is a GTX 260m. I had the GPU overclocked to 600/975/1500 and the CPU overclocked to 3.4Ghz and Guild Wars ran very smooth at about medium settings. It was playable at the highest settings but I prefer smooth gameplay over pretty graphics. But I did also hear that the final game will be even better optimized for medium specced computers.

 

What cooling mods did you do? I m looking at upgrading the CPU on my friend's G51. We cut the blue wire and I re-TIM'd it last week. Hoping after cure time it will smooth out. CPU seems to be the bottleneck and a 3.0 overclocked to 3.4 would help wildly.