To upgrade or not to? [HP 8710w]

Hey guys, I could really use an expert advice here since I'm not very hardware savvy.

My oldie, but goldie, HP 8710w GC124EA has become reeeeeeally slow for everyday work I perform, but
I don't think it's ready to go to retirement just yet...so, upgrade?

Since it has 2GB of 667mhz ram, I was thinking about adding another 2gb. Maximum for this model is 4GB of
ram? Please correct me if I'm wrong, because I have found conflicting info on internet.

Another thing, SSD drive. Currently it has 120gb 5400rpm hard drive. Now, I'm not so sure what to put here really.
All the SSDs I see in my local hardware store are SATA III drives. Is it even possible to connect something like that?
I'd be really gratefull for a recommendation here...

And finally, will all of that really amount to much? Is it worth it? It's not a big investment compared to buying a new
mobile workstation, but still... If I install all that new hardware, will processor be able to handle it?

I know...lots of question, but please, some help here >.<

Bene

 

you can pretty much pop in any SATA 3 SSD drive and it will run at the maximum speed you system can output.. SATA 2 I believe. I would say a nice intel, or SAmsung SSD and this will make a huge difference to your systems performance. I do not have an 8710W but if it is like a Probook I had way back it tended to run best on 3GB for some reason. but can not give you a definitive answer on RAM

and if you have not already, get rid of Vista and clean load a copy of windows 7 on it. Performance with the Pro GPU's is substantially better

 

What is the "everyday work" you perform? If you're just doing basic office and web work, chances are an SSD and a clean install of Windows will fix everything. If you're actually doing something intense and are actually compute limited, you might actually consider that upgrade instead.

 

According to the link below, you can put 8GB RAM in your system.

See:
https://h10057.www1.hp.com/ecomcat/hpcatalog/specs/provisioner/05/GC124EA.htm


If you do decide for that much (which I recommend 100%) I would also recommend Windows 8 x64 over any other O/S right now too - along with a 240GB or 256GB SSD to do a clean install on.

The best part of the above (new SSD and new O/S) is that if Win8x64 doesn't work for you or your system (ignore the new bells and whistles - just jump into the Desktop and you'll be comfortable once again) you can simply put in your old HDD and continue working where you left off.

If you did do the above, you'll be amazed at the performance your system still has - I wouldn't doubt getting another 2-3 years from it with your current workload (assumed from current setup) - and yes; still worth every penny of the ~$250 to $400 entry price to get all of the above (8GB RAM, Win8x64 PRO and Crucial M4 256GB SSD).


Hope this helps.



Good luck.

 

You guys are a wonder!!

I really appreciate all your help!
What confused me most is this - https://h10057.www1.hp.com/ecomcat/hpcatalog/specs/provisioner/05/GC124EA.htm
On that website it's stated that my laptop has Mobile™ Intel® 965PM Express Chipset. And when I take a peek here - http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/316273.pdf
There it says that maximum ram is 4GB, even tho I've read on many websites that it's 8GB. Also, it says it supports SATA I, and I think I've read on this forum from some ancient topic that someone installed intel SSD, and
saw that SATA II is actually supported...so confusing >.<

PS I removed vista as soon as windows 7 x64 got out, and have been using them ever since. But lately, it works reeeeeally slowly, even after fresh install. I even tried windows xp again, but ehm...
Everday work - surfing, movies, music, some light drafting in autocad 2010 (no 3D), using CSI SAP2000 v15.

 

I'd go with what HP says, a max of 8GB. Intel produces the chipset but the motherboard manufacturer/designer (HP, in this case) actually implements it.

4GB is plenty in my opinion, for the work you're doing; 4GB is as much as a 32-bit operating system can see anyway. The computer will only be able to see more than 4GB with a 64-bit OS. I don't think 8GB is worth it if it's more than twice the price of 4GB.

That said, I completely agree that more RAM, an SSD and a clean install of Windows would bring your system back to life. I like the Intel SSDs; the 180GB 330 series drive is a good one. They also have a 240GB version.

P.S. I like the 8710w very much; I reviewed it in 2007:
HP 8710w Workstation Review
Currently I have an 8740w which I also like a lot.

 

I ran into a bit of trouble...

My desktop PC has 2xSSD in raid 0, so I made a backup, took out the raid, and then one of SSDs to try it in my laptop
before purchasing a new one. These are the SSDs I have: SSD Corsair 80GB force series, Sandforce+MLC, CSSD-F80GBP2-BRKT.

There was no problem with removing the old laptop hard drive, however, when I tried putting in the SSD - ports don't match. I'm now sure what to do.
SSD is also 2.5", and I thought SATA ports should all fit even tho laptop uses SATA I and the SSD uses SATA II. Is there a way to solve this easily?

And one more thing, since laptop already has 2gb of ram, will it work ok if I just buy any ram that also has 2gb, 667mhz and same lat? I mean, will it
have problems if memory is different brands?

Thanks everyone!!

 

Highly recommend you buy matched RAM SoDIMM's - other mix n match sets may work - but if you have any random problems, it will be very hard to know if it is a software, O/S or hardware (RAM, cables, etc.) issue.

Don't forget you can always sell your original RAM too (after properly/fully testing the new set).

I don't think that the port/connections are different - does the notebook HDD have an 'adaptor' over the SATA ports that you can remove and use on the SSD?


Good luck.

 

2x2GB, maybe even 2x4GB new ram modules it is then I'll have to see what is the price difference. Thank you for the advice!!

Hmm, I didn't notice any special adapters or anything. It's probably my own stupidity and inexperience, perhaps I didn't orient the SSD the right way, I'll give it another try!

 

Give it a shot and if it is still being stubborn, take a pic and let us see if we can guess what the problem can be.

Do you have a 64bit O/S? If you have Win7 or older; Win8x64 Pro highly recommended for maximum performance from the hardware (new or old).

 

With win7, even SP1, there are alot of updates. This with a 120gb 5400 drive puts files all over the place. This will make the system slow and only 2gb ram leaves little for disk cache slowing things down more. 4GB ram, and 8 if it will do it, will speed things up considerably. especially with a boog SSD drive.

The big hold up on the hdd's is access especially of smaller 4k files. Even SATA III drives at 4k files will have trouble saturating a SATA I interface. Do not hessitate on getting a SSD, it will make a huge difference. I have heard mixed stories on the 965 supporting 8gb. The problem is when the 965 chipset was being made there were no 4 gb sticks. While some found they were compatible with the chipset the OEM's bioses had holes at about the 6gb limit for hardware. This of course caused some issues and no oem was willing, to my knowledge, to officially move the holes etc to officially support 8gb ram.

As an example, at new egg a reviewer put in 2x4gb 667 in a Dell m1530 which is a PM965 and claims it works.........................

Newegg.com - Mushkin Enhanced Essentials 8GB (2 x 4GB) 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Laptop Memory Model 996685

 

2GB to 4GB RAM is a noticeable upgrade performance wise - I'd say you shouldn't go with 8 GB since the cost is too high.

Go with 4GB of RAM and buy an SSD - these two components will make the most noticeable improvements. The SSD can also be reused in a new laptop when you get one (unlike the DDR2 RAM!). If you don't use the optical drive or use it sparsely, replace it with a hard drive using an ODD caddy (get it on eBay).

If you find one for cheap, get a processor that has at least 400 Mhz higher clocks per core than your current one - that will also make a noticeable improvement.

That's pretty much it - other upgrades don't justify the cost in my opinion...

 

Make sure the SSD was turned around the right way, also make sure the old HDD didn't have an adapter in its SATA port. The SATA connector is a standard and is always in one place. Sata 1, 2, and 3 are all the same connector too

 

Well, I've put 4 gigs of ram, installed Windows 8 x64...and laptop is already coooonsiderably faster

When I tried with ssd it was blazing fast. Couldn't imagine even in my wildest dreams that my old laptop could
work so well.... I think it will be good for another 2 years! Tomorrow I'm going to buy an SSD especially for laptop,
maybe change thermal paste on CPU and GPU because it can somethimes get hot, even tho it's much better since
I took entire laptop apart and vacuumed it

Guys thank you so much for all the help!! This has been a most successful resurrection

 

So glad it worked out so well!


(8GB+ will be even faster) lol...

 

It's a really big price difference between 4 and 8 gbs of ram. Plus, I can't find 4GB ram modules in my local hardware store.

Aaaanway, I've hit a little snag...bought this SSD yesterday:
Samsung 120GB 840 Series SSD, 2,5", SATA 3,TLC, Write speed 530 MB/s, Read speed 130 MB/s, Random Read Speed : Up to 85K IOPS
Installed it in my laptop with no problems. However, when I try to install windows 8 on it they tell me there is no hard drive installed
and ask for some kind of drivers. There is an option to browse for them. Any advice? Not sure what kind of driver I should provide,
or is it a matter of tweaking BIOS settings maybe?

 

does the bios recognize the drive. Also if there is an option for ACHI use that as well.............

 

I think you have the read and write speeds backwards - but try to format/initialize the new SSD before trying to install the O/S.


Good luck.

 

sure, upgrade.

I've got hp 8710p and already got 8GB of memory and Intel X-25M 120GB SSD for a long time..

Also using unwhitelisted BIOS + SLIC 2.1 embedded F.0E, the only thing that bothers me currently is high latency spikes when I try to download something over wireless. Tried few different cards already, so it seems it either a chipset bug or some driver is causing this.

About Windows 8 I don't think it's suitable for use yet, it's very very crude, better stay on Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64.

You can also install X9000 CPU but it costs a bit.
Seems to be the most powerful CPU for that model.

 

Hello everyone,

I am new to forum so please forgive me if I mess something up, as I am not sure if I should open a new tread or can post here.

I did the upgrade with new ssd disc but experiencing problem with old hdd.
Both works well in main hdd bay but neither work well in cd caddy (added as second disc).
IF hdd is in main hdd bay and ssd in cd caddy, all are recognized but win doesn't want to install to ssd and don't want to boot from it either.
If ssd is in main bay and hdd in cd caddy, win install and boot fine but hdd in cd caddy doesn't work. Actually it is recognized and i can reach it trough Disc management but the disc just disappear suddenly. After reboot hdd in cd caddy is sometimes recognized and somethings not. Strange!
Caddy works well as I managed to reach and format ssd attached to it before.

Any suggestions ?

Thanks

 

What is the model of the caddy you've got? I've got one from newmodeus it works just fine.

You did it right second time, SSD should be in the main bay, whilst HDD should stay in the caddy.

This way you'll get maximum out of your SSD.

Also there is a separate thread for 2nd HDD caddy mod, try posting there and searching over there.

Thread is located HERE

 

Thanks nbruser.
I will check this tread.
In the meantime I got other HDD for testing purpose. Strange but this one works just fine.
The one that didn't worked is Seagate 200GB and the new one that works is Fujitsu 160GB.
I will try to address the problem to Seagate support and will get back with info in case someone have the same mess up.