HDD, RAM, and CPU questions?

I picked up my secondhand ThinkPad about a week ago. I'm planning some upgrades in the near future, but would like to see where to begin, or if some of the parts I'm planning are even necessary. Here's what I got:

ThinkPad T400

C2D P8400(2.26Ghz, 3MB cache)
ATI HD3470/Intel X4500HD hybrid graphics
2GB PC8500, DDR3 RAM
2GB Turbo Memory
320GB, 7200RPM HDD
DVD/RW optical drive
Win7 Professional x64

This notebook is going to be my primary computer as it's far more portable than my M1730 and has much better battery life. I use it for Internet about 60% of the time, gaming about 25%, and Office apps about 15%. I am a student as well, and I do know that some of my later classes will be touching on programming... C++ and Visual Basic, namely.

Some of the specs look a little... weak. I tend to use a huge amount of hard drive space; the more the better. Even though I upgraded to a 320GB drive I had laying around I need much more space. Ideally I'd like to have two hard drives, one in an Ultrabay adapter. I hardly ever use an optical drive anymore, anyway. I've seen 9.5mm 640GB, 5400RPM drives on the market; having 1.2TB of storage on a notebook is really appealing, but I haven't seen much press on these drives. Are these decent drives? Speed is a minor concern as well; if I would be better served by 500GB, 7200RPM drives I'll look that way. I also know that SSDs are becoming pretty popular, but for my space and budget needs they are not practical.

I will be doing a RAM upgrade a little later on. My assumption is that 4GB will be more than enough for anything I use this notebook for, am I correct? I don't really have the budget for 8GB, or a single stick of 4GB. I don't think I'll be needing anything more than 4GB for a good long while, right?

And finally, the CPU. I'm honestly not sure if this is going to be a bottleneck or not, but I have been considering making a CPU upgrade to a T9600 or T9900... I know they're expensive, but I plan on keeping the T400 for a few years at the very least. My main concern is that many newer games are becoming increasingly CPU dependent, and I don't want to be left behind if I need a faster processor down the line. I know the T400 isn't really a gaming system but I'm able to play nearly all of my favorite titles on here(and smoothly, just at low detail settings). The caveat is that this will definitely void my warranty; I've got a year and a half left. I'm still on the fence about this, however.

So, any thoughts on my proposed upgrades?

 

Two answers easily:

1) Don't get anything less than a 7200 rpm drive. Unless your needs are purely lethargic, anything else will be obsolete. That's especially true in a system equipped with DDR3 memory.

As for storage capacity, 500 GB will more than enough for even the most ardent computer users. Only those interested in creating a computer workstations (say, for video editing, etc.?), would need more.

2) You are correct in your assumption that you will only need < 4GB of ram. Unless you know you will have a specific application that's spec. for more, your money can be better spent on other more important components or computer software.

Really? I'm no gamer, but I could have sworn that consensus was that gaming was becoming more GPU dependent?

 

For most of the tasks you've stated, what you have is perfectly adequate. Internet and Office applications usually don't put a lot of stress on the CPU, and so you're pretty well covered on that front. C++ and Visual Basic should also not be an issue. For gaming, the question really comes down to what sort of games you plan to play. Your T400 will obviously feel slower than your M1730 with its overclocked X9000, but the question becomes whether or not it's "too" slow for you, and that will depend on the specific game.

The 640 GB HDDs, while large, are almost universally regarded as being quite slow; suitable for a rarely accessed media drive, but not for applications or anything else that requires significant access. At that point, you almost might as well just go for a larger external drive, although that would end up giving you something extra to carry around.

As stated above, yes, 4 GB of RAM should be more than enough for most purposes.

 

7k500, 4gb, T9900 :d

 

1) Bump the RAM to 4gb first (cheap and effective upgrade)

2) Buy a Hitachi 7k500 or SSD

3) I wouldnt bother upgrading the CPU unless you really need the raw power. Upgrade it down the track when its cheaper to do so.

 

1. For CPU , get T9600 or if u can find a cheap T9900 on hp online spare parts store.

2. for RAM, Get 4GB... and if u really need more RAM , get 6GB then..

3. For HDD , get a 500GB 7200rpm one like Hitachi 7K500... or if u got a lot of cash , get an Intel G2 SSD.

 

Excellent... thanks for the replies, and the consensus on what I should be concentrating on. I will definitely stress my need for space; my M1730's two 5000BEVT drives are getting pretty filled; I may need to do some housecleaning but I store a copious amount of games and music on there. My 320GB drive on the T400 is getting stuffed, and I had to cut way back on the music and movies in order to fit everything on here. I'm probably going to get two 7K500's and run my system like that... I hate carrying around optical media so I may just image the few DVDs I need and place them on the second hard drive. As before, an SSD is out of the question, as I need quite a bit of space... and the only 500GB+ laptop SSD I know of runs well over a grand each.

The RAM will probably be the first upgrade, though. I'm thinking the RAM is the major bottleneck of this system at the moment. I'm seeing prices of around $100 for 2x2GB of PC8500... is this about par for the course, or could I do better?

And, I think I could wait on the CPU, at least until my warranty runs out. I'm still thinking T9600 or T9900... but in my experience the highest-end of a CPU generation stays very pricey even years down the road. My comment about games also becoming pretty CPU dependent was spurred on by some of the CPU-hungry games I've played. GTA4 in particular keeps the X9000 in my M1730 churning along at max pretty much 100% of the time.

 

Consider getting 2 WD 640GB if space is a priority, after the memory upgrade. Also, check CPU-Z to make sure what memory you have (if you have 1x2GB stick then it would be cheaper as you only need to add one more). As per the CPU, you will be fine with your current one for a while, don't bother wasting money on a CPU as it will only help in a few games such as GTA IV and RTS. Majority of games will be GPU bound, so unless your games are all specifically CPU bound, then it's not worth the cost.

 

hey there. Bumping this up again with just one more question. I've got 4GB of RAM on the way, as well as an Ultrabay HDD caddy and a 640GB, 5400RPM HDD for my secondary drive. This is going to be primarily media storage. I'm not going to have any applications on this drive, just archives, music, movies, and the odd backup or two. Now, I just need a larger primary HDD and I'm in business.

I just want a little more clarification. Is the Hitachi Travelstar 7k500 the fastest 9.5mm HDD I can get my hands on, or is there another model I should be looking at? Also, how's the reliability on these drives?

 

yes, Hitachi 7K500 is the fastest so far. for 5400rpm drive, WD is faster than Seagate. In my experience, WD is more reliable than Seagate, too.

 

I'm pretty sure the Hitachi is the current fastest 7200 RPM 500 GB notebook drive. The only other 7200 RPM 500 GB notebook drive is the Seagate, and there have been many, many, complaints about it on these forums...

 

Once again, thanks for the input! I ended up going for the Hitachi as my primary drive.

 

great choice! u won't regret it!