Dell XPS M140

I have a buddy who owns a Dell XPS M140. This laptop was the most base version I think you could buy. I've alrady upgraded the ram to 2gb from 2x256mb.

Now I want to upgrade the processor and anything else we can. His budget is tiny, so I have to do it one thing at a time.

I wanted to do the CPU next but have NO idea the specs I should be looking for. I've been told it's a 479 socket, I know it's P4, and I think the one that's in it is a 1.86GHz. How big can we go without issues? If anyone knows the specs of what I should be looking for Please let me know.

If you have any idea what else I can do to boost performance without trying to OC this let me know, PLEASE!

 

You do not have a P4, you have a Pentium M 750. I used to own one of these bad boys, great machine.

Anyway, you can only install the PM 760, 770, or 780 into the machine. Those are the only processors that are faster than the 750 but still compatible with your machine. At most, you can get a 2.26GHz PM770...but that isn't going to be worth it trust me.

You already have 2GB of RAM in there, did you consider upgrading to a faster/bigger hard drive or maybe even a cheaper SSD? The processor upgrade really isn't worth it, the hard drive upgrade should give you a noticeable speed increase.

You might also want to consider reinstalling the OS. If you have had the machine for as long as I think you have, and have no reinstalled at some point, then you need that too.

 

Ok, thanks...not P4.

Anyway, he doesn't have any discs for it, so no OS disc.

Sorry but SSD? Brain not working right now.

We are looking to go with the 770-780 chip now. Pricing is good.

Any hard drive you recommend?

The main issue is some lag from grafix, and some running apps, I'm hoping this will help with the apps. A lot of the work i've done is to just update everything for him, it helped a ton (since he never updated drivers).

Thanks for your help btw!

 

I am pretty sure your laptop runs the PATA interface.
The best harddrive you can get for your system short of an SSD, is the Samsung HM160HC.
It is a 160gb 5400rpm harddrive. It usually costs around $60-70 depending on the e-tailer.

Here is my review of the drive:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=264209

SSD is short for Solid State Disc. The good SSD's are faster than mechanical harddrives, but since you are running the PATA interface, the only good ones are the very expensive M-TRON and Samsung drives.

As for the processor, I would only upgrade to the pentium M770 or 780
Look around for good deals. Check the for sale thread here, and hardforum.
Honestly do not spend more than $30 on the processor because it really isnt worth it. A harddrive upgrade will yield more performance.
If you have no operating system disc, you can clone your current operating system with Acronis Trueimage. A trial download is available on Acronis' website

K-TRON

 

Could this PC handle Vista 64 bit or 32 bit? (doubt it) We are thinking about blowing away the entire thing and starting over from scratch? Replace the hard drive with the HM160HC, the CPU with the M780 as recommended, and really considering new OS, and reinstall security program, and games. I'm considering Vista Ultimate for my desktop I built 6.5-7 years ago which will be my 6 year olds computer, and then running it on my new system build. Figured why not on his laptop. What do you think?

 

It can run vista x64. Vista may run slow because of the single core processor, but it will run. To get the most out of your system, you may want to use Windows XP

K-TRON

 

Sorry KTRON, but the PM cannot handle a 64bit OS. Intel made the dual core Core Duo, then followed up with the first Intel 64bit processors (Core 2 Duo).

I would avoid Vista on a single core computer.

 

Thanks Greg, I totally glanced over that part.
So just stick with XP

Honestly do not invest alot into your laptop because no matter how much you spend on it, a $400 new laptop will outperform it in almost all respects.

reinstalling the operating system, and cleaning the registry will help increase system performance, so you should try that first, considering it doesnt cost anything, given you have the discs

K-TRON