C90s memory upgrade / Win7

I recently had the 8600 video card replaced under warranty, and as the Norwegian warranty terms give 5 years of warranty, I still have 3 years left. As such I'm thinking of just being stuck with this somewhat disappointing laptop. My initial idea was to upgrade it from time to time to make it last for some years, but there seem to be few available parts. In addition it seems like Asus wants to forget about this laptop.

Anyway, I'm thinking about a upgrade to Windows 7. In doing that I would like to have a RAM upgrade as well. But, it's so much forth and back when it comes to the C90S that I'm just confused and pretty lost.

What type of RAM should I buy? I have the original 2GB installed. How much can the C90S make use of/how much does it support? And, will I be needing a 64-bit Win7 if I want 4GB? In that case, how will the difference in performance be with 32-bit Win7 3GB vs. 64-bit Win7 4GB?

 

Best to install 2x2gb. The C90S will be able to see between 3 and 3.5gb of ram in win 7 64bit due to the 945G chipset that limits it to this amount. I know what you mean in terms of graphics. The 8600M GT is a terrible card. My 8600M GT DDR2 replacement died today a week after they shipped it to me. If I were you I would look at the ati 4650 1GB DDR2 card available from mxm-upgrade.com and steer wide of the nvidia cards full stop.

 

Thanks for your reply. So, the ATi-card is compatible and plug and play? I've read something about some possible modifications, but that became too technical for me.

Considering the RAM, should I choose 1x2GB DDR II SDRAM - 667 MHz as this is the same as already installed?

 

That is the great thing the ati cards are plug and play unlike the nvidia cards and you will not need to do any modifications to your heatsink as the cards "cityscape" that is to say the whereabouts of all the chips and things that stick out on top match exactly the position of those on the 8600M GT. The 9600M GT,9650M GT and GT130M nvidia cards don't and as a result require a fresh heatsink to be made to fit them, plus they won't run full speed out of the bios without vbios tweaks.

 

I'm looking at some shops now for that card, but it seems there are some variations..
Sapphire Radeon HD 4650 1GB DDR2
PowerColor Radeon HD 4650 1GB DDR2
XFX Radeon HD 4650 1GB DDR2
Radeon HD 4650 1GB DDR2

Are all these the same, but with different names?

 

I think you are looking at desktop video cards, you need MXM II I think.

 

Indeed you need the MXM 2.1 version of the card. Those cards you listed are desktop cards of considerable greater size.

 

Oh, my bad. I was kind of surprised to find so many variants of a laptop card. Well, then I need to perform some detective work, because it don't seem that the MXM 2.1 version is available everywhere..

I asked this question above, but didn't got any answer:
Considering the RAM, should I choose 1x2GB DDR II SDRAM - 667 MHz as this is the same as already installed?

Or, how much difference in performance will it be if I buy two 800 MHz RAM and get rid of the 667 MHz originally installed?

 

You wont notice the difference between 667mhz or 800mhz. I would keep the original chip and install an extra 800mhz chip.

You should look on ebay for "mxm". There arn't too many cards out there.
The 3650 is ok isn't it?

Also see this guide:
http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/C90s.html

 

Yes look at the site moral hazard linked you to. They will also stock the HD4650 from march I believe which is the best option as they offer warranty on their cards.

As for ram. Save your money and get 2x2GB pc5300 667mhz DDR II ram over 800mhz. pc8400 800mhz ram will work but is a pointless investment as the C90S will run both rams at stock at only 533mhz while an OC will bring you at maximum to just over 600mhz. ALSO make sure you match your ram modules. As you will be getting a second 2gb module check that it is the exact same make and model of ram as the first. The C90S is a fussy machine with ram and may not like it if you install 2 different rams. So for example if it is corsair get another corsair etc. Tell tale side effects of miss-matched ram modules in the C90 can be anything from not booting up on battery to random crashes.

If you are less patient there is a good guide how to upgrade to the more common but similar performing 9600M GT 512mb DDR3 card :
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=316079

Please post away if you have more questions in that thread as there is still an active C90 community using it on a nearly day to day basis. I still recommend checking it out as it will give you an in-depth insight in how to change the GPU in the C90S/P

 

Thanks for your answers guys. Then I'll pick up the RAM first and take a look at the options concerning the video cards. I'm eager to try Win7 64bit, as I got rid off Vista after 2 weeks and downgraded to XP because I found it to be a lousy resource demanding OS. How's the driver availability for the C90 with Win7?

 

Windows 7 64 bit works really well. Quick to install and driver compatibility is good. The only driver I had a problem with was the Realtek audio driver. I simply downloaded the latest driver from their website and it worked fine. As a comparison vista is terrible I also had XP on mine before getting win 7.

You may also want to look into upgrading to the E7500 core 2 duo processor (2.93ghz) for even more performance; http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=351612

Then you will be flying. Have fun.

 

So, reading through that thread (with my not so high technical competence), have I understood it correctly if I could buy this CPU: http://www.netshop.no/aspx/produkt/prdinfoVnet.aspx?plid=141021, just install it and update the BIOS with the file in the thread?

And how about OC.. Can I just install a program and pull a slider towards a higher clock speed, or is it more complicated?

 

alrighty firstly you will want to update the bios then buy the new CPU. Yup that CPU is the one. One can overclock it using clockgen and yup it pretty much involves using a slider hehe. Use the search on the website and type in "clockgen guide" and you will no doubt find a nice guide about it or about its alternative "setfsb". People generally have been able to reach 3.25ghz with an OC on this processor.

download the iso file that ken from Gentech put up on the thread then burn it to a disc using nero. Then follow his instructions.