3270 Upgrade Options

Are there any? I have just the defaults on it now (512MB DDR, 80 GB HD, 1.6 GHz processor, etc.) and was wondering all the things I can actually upgrade myself. I popped her open in the past, but had little luck getting to the core of things... I'm used to a tower, you know. So any and all help provided would be LOVELY. Thanks.

EDIT: It appears I was in the wrong forum, my bad, thanks for the move. It is an Averatec Notebook, 3270 model.

 

The easiest would be to double the RAM. I don't know if you have a slot available or not. If not you can sell the current one (or one of the two 256's) on ebay. Then pick up a 1gb stick of some quality RAM...like Crucial, Corsair, OCZ...etc.

Another would be to increase HD speed...as in, replace the current with a faster/higher capacity one. Go from 5400 to 7200 or from 4200 to 5400/7200 RPM.

Those would be my suggestions w/o knowing anything else about your rig.

 

On some Averatec models, removing the hard drive voids the warranty. You may want to check with them on what constitutes a user upgradeable part.

 

Oh, my warranty is already voided... hehehe. No worries there. I was wondering if there is a possibility to upgrade the video card from a 32MB to a 64MB? Just curious.

 

Short Answer - No. Especially since it has integrated grphics card. The only option might be to see if the BIOS allows increasing the memory by borrowing more from the system RAM.

 

I agree with Miner...there is no way to upgrade a video card in a laptop unless it is MXM or AXIOM compatable, which no cards are at this time.

Some laptops like the I9300 can be upgraded, but only because you can flash the bios and mod the computers heatsinks and stuff.

 

Ooo... BIOS. I'm kinda wary about that, but if someone can tell me where to look and such, I'll give it a try. Thanks for all the input.

 

For most Averatec's pressing the 'Del' key when you see the Averatec splash screen should take you into the BIOS. Under one of the sub menu's the option to change the video memory(if any) should be listed. In any case check with the user manual. It should explain the BIOS menu.

EDIT: Found a manual online(Scroll down to Pg 34 to see instructions on how to access and change settings in the BIOS)...
http://support.averatec.com/images/pdf/3270_Manual.pdf

 

Pretty sweet man. Did that, was able to get it to 64MB. This is awesome. If there are any other tweaks, please, don't hesitate to post them. Oh, another quick question. Using online hardware scans and other scans, they all say the same thing for my motherboard: "To Be Filled By O.E.M." What does that mean, and how can I find out what manufacturer made my motherboard? Thanks for all the support everyone.

 

Most companies like Averatec do not manufacture these notebooks and usually use contract manufacturing. To hide this fact they tend to not mention or identify them. But from what I have seen most(recent) Avertecs tend to be built by MSI, so your motherboard might be an MSI.

 

Oh, I see. That's good to know. One other thing, I did an online hardware scan and it says Expansion Slots as a title and it has an AGP and a PCI slot underneath. Does this mean I have two slots open, one for AGP and one for PCI? How can I open my guy up to actally see them? Any ideas?

 

errrrrr for some reason i think that is a bit off. AGP slots are used for video cards in Desktops, same with PCI. I just sold a laptop like that on ebay and let me tell you, you dont have those slots

 

Oh, ok, thanks! And thanks to everyone for all of their advice!