Fujitsu Amilo Pro V3205 Core Duo - CPU upgrade?

Hi everybody,

I'm just a step away from buying a sweet Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Pro V3205 which is currently going for about 860 EUR here in Germany. Spec is as follows:

Fujitsu Siemens AMILO Pro V3205 Edition - Core Duo T2050 / 1.6 GHz 533 MHz - Centrino Duo - 2 MB L2 Cache - Mobile Intel 945GM Express - RAM : 512 MB - HD: 60 GB - DVD±RW (+R Double Layer) - Bluetooth, 802.11a/b/g - Win XP Pro - 12.1" Breitbildschirm TFT 1280 x 800 ( WXGA )

I think this is more than I need at the moment but, as always, an upgrade should be needed in 2 years time. First thing for sure is to add more RAM. But then, I was wondering how easy and cost-effective is to put in a more powerful processor, and I have a few questions regarding such an upgrade:

1) Can I just buy and install a new processor later, for instance a 2.33 GHz 667 MHz Core Duo T2700? I think I can do it myself with a few instructions (once the warranty expires ...

2) Will such an upgrade give me a significant performance boost?

3) How can I check which processors are compatible?

4) Can I plug in a 64-bit Core 2 Duo processor, such as a 2.33 GHz 667 MHz Core 2 Duo T7600, and be ready for the 64-bit wave?

I could also buy the same machine with a faster processor now, but I'd rather postpone spending this extra money for a year or two... plus, the same processors should be much cheaper a year from now...

Thanks a lot!

 

1) Shouldn't be a problem, but it'll be expensive and you'll have a T2050 chip you won't have a use for sitting around.
2) Depends on what you use the computer for. Most people won't perceive a big difference unless you're doing lots of encoding work, rendering or high-end game playing (which you won't with integrated graphics)
3) All Core Duo's should be compatible
4) As long as you have a compatible BIOS, you should be able to. That'll take research time, though.

Your best bet is generally to buy the processor you want, and then upgrade other components. Processors are expensive and difficult to replace and upgrade, and leave you with parts you have no use for. I'd spend the money now... it'll save you money and headaches in the long run.

 

Thanks very much for the comments and help.

You're absolutely right, but as I said, the 1.6 GHz Core Duo T2050 should be fine for me for some time. I currently use an Acer TravelMate 4500 with a 1.6 GHz Pentium M with 512 MB of RAM, which does the job for me, really. I'm a programmer and compiling/running Java code under Eclipse is perhaps the most intensive things I do, other than ocasionally watching a DVD... I usually test/run my stuff on Unix servers, and computer games are definetly not on my thoughts.

So I should be happy with T2050. But I'd be much happier if I knew that upgrading the processor in 2 years from now would give me another year or two of happiness...

You can buy a 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo T7200 today for about 300 EUR, but a similar machine with a T7200 will certainly mean more than 300 EUR extra. My assumption is that a T7200 will go for about 100 EUR or less in 2 years(???)... so I could make a cheap but sound upgrade when 64-bit applications become standard.

Anyway, what other components (other than CPU and memory) would you suggest upgrading on this machine?