XPS M1330 Ram and windows 7 64 bit question

Hi,

My M1330 is getting a bit dated so I'm looking into a few upgrades so I dont need to buy a new computer.

At the moment I have 4gb of ddr ram running at 667MHz with a 32bit vista installed.The crucial system analyzer says I can have 2 x 4gb.

I have read in a couple places that people upgraded this model to have 8gb (2x 4gb). I know 32bit vista can only handle 4gb's of ram but if I upgrade can I buy 2 4gb cards? Right now with 4 gb im limited to changing the ram to ddr2 @ 800MHz. Dell says this would give me about a 20% performance boost.

I am also looking into a SSD so I really feel like this has the potential to be substantial.

Help would be greatly appreciated

 

What kinds of programs or uses for your computer are you trying to speed up?

 

Basically I use my laptop for everything. I dont have cable so I stream video online. I surf the net quite a bit and run multiple programs at once. I have a 2TB cloud network drive so lowering my frive to120gb with an SSD should be a huge improvement from the 5200rpm 320gb drive now (on 3rd one as 2 have died already).

Instead of spending $1000 on a new computer I want to max out this ones capabilities first.

spending 300-400 on windows 7 (which I prefer over vista) a ssd and ram sounds like a bargain for the boost I should get

 

How much of your RAM is actually being used? Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc and check.

I'm not very convinced that upgrading from 4GB to 8GB of RAM will really improve anything for you. Same for 667 vs 800MHz RAM. The difference is not really noticeable.

Same for upgrading to Windows 7. Maybe you can try a clean Windows Vista install.

The SSD would make things feel snappier though.

 

I am not doing much an it is at 66%. My last hard drive died a month ago so I basically have a new install at the moment. Before I found out about the 8GB I did a Dell chat and she said that going from ddr to ddr2 would give about a 20% boost.

I just prefer 7 overall so that not really a performance boost. I would need a 64bit OS so why not upgrade?

The SSD is a no brainier.

I dont play games on the system but I have definatly noticed a decline in performance when I became more reliant on it for entertainment. I use lots of flash based sites and i even have a sling box which will be smooth with the SSD for sure.

 

Your laptop is already using DDR2 RAM. In my opinion, nothing to change there.

Is your laptop already using the default Balanced power profile with SpeedStep enabled in the BIOS?

 

I have my own power set up for max performance if that is what you are asking? My laptop only has DDR 1 memory according to dells system scan. Im more concerned with if its possible for the hardware to handle the 8gb if I got to 64bit? The crucial scan said 4gb per slot was possible.

 

It's definitely DDR2. Intel Core based systems run on DDR2. They switched the type of RAM during the previous generation Pentium M CPUs.

Your laptop's chipset does support up to 8GB of RAM if you really do want to install it.

Are you sure that your power profile is set up properly? Have you checked with a utility like CPU-z or CoreTemp to make sure that your CPU's core clock is not being restricted? Slow performance on Flash sites would generally be a CPU limitation, not running out of RAM.

 

I got CPU-z, how do I tell if the CPU is restricted? Shows 332.5 frequency DRAM? Does look like DDR2 though. Also saw that there is a CPU upgrade possible but at 300+ I dont know.

 

Core spped and FSB look ok

 

I mean, check the CPU core speed. For example, if your laptop has a P8600 2.4GHz CPU, does core speed go up to ~2400MHz when you run a demanding program?

edit: 332.5MHz is normal at least.

 

Core speed is fine ..2.4 Ghz... Im reading that the Nvidia 8400M GS GPU is a faulty version so Im thinking I should call Dell before my warranty expires. I have had one motherboard replaced already and it gets hot. dont want to spend $$ if its a time bomb (warranty ends in a month).

The 332.5 mhz is that right? Dell says its 667? or is that something different?

Late for me off to bed... Thanks for the help it is appreciated.

 

I have a tip for you if you're interested. I'm still using my M1330, no board replacements since day 1, and that is mainly because my GPU never really reaches over 80C. Buy a antec laptop cooler. I'll link you to the picture so you know which one I personally use. It's great, and it's perfectly sized for the laptop, alongside that it keeps the laptop LITERALLY ice cold! (since the bottom of the laptop is metal and there's many vents)

I've never truly seen a need for any ram over 4GB for a core 2 duo, never have i used software that would be usable under a core 2 duo and need 8gb ram

Antec Notebook Laptop USB Cooler Workstation Lapdesk | eBay

Just look on fleabay for it, I bought mine's for 15$ used and it's still running after 4+ years use non-stop usage.

As for a SSD reccomendation.... I dont think you can stream movies on anything less than 350GB, i'd opt for a 1TB/500GB HDD @ 7200rpm. It's sufficient enough and it has enough storage space for movies and the like. However, if you're still stubborn (like me) and wish to use that + an external HDD for movie storage, Here's a list of the many deals on SSD drives:

Ben's Bargains - Internal Drives Coupons and Deals

P.S. I'd opt for hte 2.6Ghz core 2 duo chip, find a compatible version for your laptop and jump on it! It's a bit more of a boost IMO, runs way smoother than my aunt's M1530 (same specs, just 2.4Ghz). Don't know why, but I just prefer the extra 200Mhz

 

It's correct due to dual-data-rate. ~333x2-> ~666MHz.

You don't need much disk space for video streaming. The video isn't kept after it's downloaded.

If you can get one cheap, jump on it. I would not pay more than a few dollars (~$40) for a 200MHz speed bump. You unfortunately will not notice any difference.

 

i doubt they're THAT cheap but yeah lol.... i'd say anything around 200$, so you can sell your old c2d

 

you would go with 200 mhz vs doubling the ram? As for the SSD I have done research and the gains are way to good to ignore. Plus im sick of them dying.

Do you know what the highest CPU upgrade possible on this computer is? T9900 @ 3 possible or does the FSB need to be the same?

 

What is the current CPU model that is installed in your laptop?

 

Core Duo T8300 2.4...800 FSB

 

I would't mind upgrading my M1330's processor to something faster...What is the max that it will support?

 

ok so I talked to a computer tech today and he confirmed that you can upgrade limited to the FSB @ 800. This limits us to the t9500 @ 2.6 and 6mb cache (which is double mine). For me I dont think its worth it. Only 200 MHz more and I wouldn't really need the extra cache. About $150 ish on ebay.

Actually, this has been a great exercise for me. I have learned that I have a faulty (and recalled GPU from nvidia- 8400M GS)...Going to talk to dell and get this sorted out before I make any upgrades. I think at this point if I get the GPU sorted out my performance options in order of performance vs cost is:

1) SSD looking at a 120 GB for under $150. Its overkill at sata 3 and top read/write speeds with this computer but I can always use it on my next computer as they are very durable. (stock is 5200 rpm @320 gb but I have a 2tb cloud network drive)

2) Ram. 2x 4gb is about $160-180 due to the rarity of high capacity ddr2 capabilities. The issue as mentioned previously is that I need a 64bit OS which is a min of $100 unless I get lucky. I think I will wait for good sale on this one but I cant see the price of the ram dropping much. $250-300 to upgrade the ram from 4 to 8 seems a bit much for a 4 year old comp although the benefits of windows 7 to me could be worth it.

3)CPU. T9500 is max. I dont know if the Bios supports it (A15) but I assume it does. Installation is a bit out of my comfort level so I would need to pay for installation as well.

Note: I have a cooling unit but a better one might help as well.

 

You'll want to aim for the SSD drive, I can tell you this for darn sure, you'll never find the DDR2 ram getting any cheaper, outdated ram only gets more and more expensive due to rarity, so you can cross that off the list if you feel $160-180 is a bit much (i've been shopping for 4GB ram for an uncle of mine's for years now with no luck due to DDR3 release). I'm glad you admit that these sort of things are out of your comfort level, as most people will not admit it and screw up their PC, just remember to specify the installer to use something like MX-5 or MX-3, as I believe the CPU is exposed (it's been a while since i've opened up my laptop) and the AS5 thermal paste is metallic so it's conductive. It's what i've been informed after i slabbed on a bit of AS5 on it, so I switched back to my MX-5. Keep in mind, that if you pay someone to do the whole shebang, you shouldn't pay more than 15-20$ as the laptop is extremely easy to access and the installation of the CPU is uber easy. (not like most laptops)

Hope my 2 cents helped you out

 

Its nice to know I have options as I have thought I was more limited up until now. If I really want to tech out I can make myself a eGPU which I learned about on this forum.

How much did you notice the upgraded processor? Would you do this before the RAM increase?

Thanks again

 

grasshoppa, please do not waste your money upgrading the CPU and RAM in that laptop. Buy the SSD first and try it out. If you are only surfing the net and watching/streaming videos, it should be enough.

 

thanks namaiki, the SSD only is what I am leaning towards. I might spot a super deal down the road but the SSD makes the most sense for now. The other options seem like more trouble then they are worth at the moment.

 

SSDs that I would recommend are the Crucial M4 and also pretty much any Intel SSD. The Intel 330 series at newegg seems to fit your criteria. There are quite a few models there around $120-150.

For SSDs, you don't need to look at their sequential read/write speeds. The biggest improvement that they have over regular hard drives are their fast random 4k speeds. Most hard drives can do just about 1MB/s max while many SSDs can do 40MB/s and above where it matters. SSDs also have much lower read/write latency than regular hard drives and they just feel snappier.

I put an Intel X25M G2 80GB SSD into my dad's laptop. Sequential read/write is something like only 120MB/s and 80MB/s and yet pretty much everything loads instantly even though it only has 1GB DDR2 RAM.

 

If it was between processor and ram, yes... I'd go for processor first, as the C2D processor is always capping off. BUT if you were to go between an SSD and a processor, I'd go SSD first. SSD makes your laptop like 10x more snappier than a conventional disk drive. That's just me though

 

Nope that's how every forum, video and computer tech I talked to feels. $150 for such an improvement is sweet.

 

it is..... your biggest bottleneck is your HDD, if you notice on startup and during the opening of a lot of programs, your HDD light will go off for a few seconds to a few minutes. Your next bottleneck (if you're < 4GB ram) is your CPU (which is what I recc after your HDD to SSD conversion).

BTW, have you noticed any trouble watching videos that are of extremely high quality? Like say.... 10GB+ quality?

 

well I have had issues streaming high quality soccer games. I subscribe to a site and the HD is way worse then when I use my xbox...but I run HDMI out most of the time

 

I have a M1330 with a 60 GB SSD and 4 GB DDR2 RAM. I have a used Lunix on it with very good speed etc. Currently I have W7 Ultimate on it and it works just fine and should for what you want it to do. I run multiple programs (Excel, Email, Internet, etc). I believe you will get the greatest improvement from the SSD and would try that first before going for more memory (frankly I do not believe the 20% boost from the memory increase). What BIOS version are you runing?

 

HI there. I believe I am running A15. Do you find the 60 GB SSD is enough?

 

I wouldn't grasshoppa, I barely find 120GB sufficient, on a regular windows load with typical programs like word excel etc, GOM player (small software) and maybe one big game (Borderlands) i sit now at 66.4GB free (on a 120GB drive). Note that that is with windows backup records deleted (saved about 6gb+ from doing that two weeks ago).

 

120GB is sufficient and 60GB is enough for some people depending on what you're doing. Since you're not playing games, you won't be using much space. I only used my M1330 for watching movies, video streaming etc. I never download things and keep it on there so I wasn't concerned about free space. Think about what all you're going to need installed on the laptop and figure it out from there. I find that 120GB is a sweet spot. If you think you can get by with 60GB, go for it.

 

grasshoppa, how much hard disk space have you used at the moment on your laptop?

 

I just did a clean install and with a few programs I am up to about 72 gb used. I am thinking 120gb will be fine but I have seen 240gb's for $50-60 more so I haven't decided yet. Will make the purchase next week.

 

yes, sleep on it, because it's an expensive mod (even though it does not seem like it). 200+ can go towards some big things technology wise lol