The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    DV500t upgrade!

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Casums420, Nov 29, 2009.

  1. Casums420

    Casums420 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    55
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Hello,
    I am looking to upgrade my DV500t notebook. dont really know where to begin...

    here is my current Chipset it is attached. im just showing the CPU and the Graphics page if you need more let me know.

    so basically i am looking for a faster better computer in general. i am running windows 7 and use the machine for basic stuff. (itunes, internet, MS Office, etc..) i dont game on the computer really except for solitaire.

    i dont really know where to start. i was thinking upping my Ram thats all i can really think of. any suggestions as to what i should do to improve this machine will be greatly appreciated.
     

    Attached Files:

    Casums420, Nov 29, 2009
    #1
  2. Casums420

    Casums420 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    55
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Oh and my HD is a Serial ATA. i forgot to mention. thanks again!
     
    Casums420, Nov 29, 2009
    #2
  3. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

    Reputations:
    5,398
    Messages:
    12,692
    Likes Received:
    2,717
    Trophy Points:
    631
    Casums420,

    I'll assume your RAM is 2GB for this machine and for your use, I don't think increasing this will help, nor be cost effective. If you only have 1GB then consider going to two.

    The biggest obvious improvement for you will be getting a current generation HD like the Hitachi 7K500 500GB 7200 RPM HD.

    They are currently out of stock at newegg (if you search you might find it as a 'discontinued' item, but that's how newegg shows no stock!), but when they're available again you may find them at around $80 or so.

    This will provide more of a boost to your computer as going from 2GB of RAM to 3 or even 4GB would.

    Hope this helped.
     
    tilleroftheearth, Nov 29, 2009
    #3
  4. Casums420

    Casums420 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    55
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Yes i do have 2GB ram (2x1gb)
     
    Casums420, Nov 29, 2009
    #4
  5. Casums420

    Casums420 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    55
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    ok so this may be a dumb question but i know that the hard drive is SATA but does it matter what GB/S it is? i see 1.5 and 3.0 can i upgrade to just one or the other? does it even matter? thanks again
     
    Casums420, Nov 30, 2009
    #5
  6. Judicator

    Judicator Judged and found wanting.

    Reputations:
    1,098
    Messages:
    2,594
    Likes Received:
    19
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Unless you plan to upgrade to a SSD, you won't even approach the SATA/I limit with a regular mechanical HDD at this point, so it shouldn't matter. If you want to upgrade to a high end SSD, on the other hand, then you'll want SATA/II to take full advantage of the speed increase. Note that whether or not your notebook can handle SATA/I or SATA/II speeds is built in from manufacture, but no matter what SATA drive you put in there, it'll just default to the lower of the 2 interfaces (a SATA/II drive in a SATA/I interface will run at SATA/I speeds, a SATA/I drive in a SATA/II interface will also run at SATA/I speeds).
     
    Judicator, Dec 1, 2009
    #6