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    Most effective way to speed up my notebook?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by mr_bankai, Jul 16, 2008.

  1. mr_bankai

    mr_bankai Notebook Evangelist

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    I have a Fujitsu ST5020D tablet notebook. It has a 1.1Ghz PM, 512 RAM (pc2700), a 4200rpm HDD, and integrated graphics.

    Im runnning Vista for the sole reason that it has far better handwriting recognition. But it is rather slow with vista. Was planning on increasing the ram to 1.5GB since Vista is memory intensive and i currently idle at around 60% at the moment. I have 2 dims avalible and it maxes out at 2GB. After looking a prices it's about $40 Would this increase my performance more or less than upgrading the harddrive? My HDD light is on quite a lot as well but this may be due to vista not having enough RAM to work with. A 5400rpm HDD will cost me $10 more and i'll quadrupal measy 20GB hdd. and a 120GB @ 5400rpm is just $65

    Any suggestions?
     
    mr_bankai, Jul 16, 2008
    #1
  2. kimnicho

    kimnicho Notebook Evangelist

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    For Vista, they recommend 2 Gb Ram so I would definitely do that In Addition to Swapping out the HD...my understanding is that they go hand-in-hand unfortunately if you want to increase SPEED.
     
    kimnicho, Jul 16, 2008
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  3. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    Both RAM and HDD seem vital upgrades in your situation.

    If I had to choose I would go for the RAM first, then the HDD.

    Don't just get any 5400rpm HDD, make sure you get a fast one. Here's an overview of what 5400rpm drives are fastest: benchmark @ Tom's hardware
     
    Phil, Jul 16, 2008
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  4. mr_bankai

    mr_bankai Notebook Evangelist

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    Thats what i was thinking about doing. Dont wanna drop that much at once. What's the easiest way to tell which drive is fast? they dont always post the read/write speeds.
     
    mr_bankai, Jul 16, 2008
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  5. dondadah88

    dondadah88 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    what version of vista are you using for now turn off aero because of the intregated gpu and the 512 ram unitl you get more
     
    dondadah88, Jul 16, 2008
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  6. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    Phil, Jul 16, 2008
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  7. mr_bankai

    mr_bankai Notebook Evangelist

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    Im running ultimate. yes i know i should turn off areo but the stardard gui is just so ugly...
     
    mr_bankai, Jul 16, 2008
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  8. powerpack

    powerpack Notebook Prophet

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    That in and of itself could cause performance issues even with recommended upgrades, keep that in mind if still having issues after upgrades.
     
    powerpack, Jul 16, 2008
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  9. KUNFUCHOPSTICKS

    KUNFUCHOPSTICKS Notebook Consultant

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    How does vista even run with 512MB ram? I just upgraded my 1.6Duo to Vista with 1GB ram, and vista is unusable. Can't even copy files without ram overload!
     
    KUNFUCHOPSTICKS, Jul 16, 2008
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  10. dondadah88

    dondadah88 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    i saw a computer with 512 ram and vista home basic and it used 479 mb of ram with nothing open

    so ultimate with aero and everything else useless mmmmmmmmm
     
    dondadah88, Jul 16, 2008
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  11. mr_bankai

    mr_bankai Notebook Evangelist

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    My apologies. i have 768MB of RAM.
     
    mr_bankai, Jul 16, 2008
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  12. mr_bankai

    mr_bankai Notebook Evangelist

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    mr_bankai, Jul 16, 2008
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