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    Upgrades

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by HP Invent, Jul 10, 2006.

  1. HP Invent

    HP Invent Notebook Enthusiast

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    What parts of a notebook can be upgraded, I want to know this because I've recently bought a notebook and wondered what part of the notebook I could upgrade in the future.

    Thanks for your help!
     
    HP Invent, Jul 10, 2006
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  2. Yair

    Yair Notebook Consultant

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    I'm no expert (although I am a Guru according to my tag line) but I know RAM and the Hard Drive are pretty easy to upgrade.
    And I've heard of people upgrading the CPU and even GPU.
     
    Yair, Jul 10, 2006
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  3. HP Invent

    HP Invent Notebook Enthusiast

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    The GPU! How do you do it? (Though I've heard that you can only do it on certain GPUs)
     
    HP Invent, Jul 10, 2006
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  4. Yair

    Yair Notebook Consultant

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    Again, no expert, but as you said some GPUs could be upgraded, I think.
     
    Yair, Jul 10, 2006
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  5. Aivyn

    Aivyn Notebook Consultant

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    there are certain notebooks where you can upgrade the GPU ie the E1705. People have upgraded CPU's before however you usually throw the warranty out the window when you do this. This may also cause some problems because the BIOS may not support your new upgrades. You can upgrade your HDD and RAM without any issues (usually), other than that you can upgrade with soundcards (ie Audigy 2 zs notebook PCMCIA) some wifi cards, LCD's and custom paints (check out the doc's carbon fiber mod in the other forum there...very sweet).

    In general you shouldn't buy a laptop hoping to upgrade it later...it often is costly and causes more headaches than it is worth. Just my 2 cents
     
    Aivyn, Jul 10, 2006
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  6. HP Invent

    HP Invent Notebook Enthusiast

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    But is a 1.6GHZ Celeron and an ATI X200M good enough for light 3D games?
     
    HP Invent, Jul 10, 2006
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  7. Aivyn

    Aivyn Notebook Consultant

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    you will be able to play LIGHT games. The celeron processor was by no means made to game. There is a thread around about the 200m graphics card and what you will be able to play on it...but don't expect a lot out of it, especially when it comes to the latest and greatest games.
     
    Aivyn, Jul 10, 2006
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  8. HP Invent

    HP Invent Notebook Enthusiast

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    I see. Thanks for the info! Also, is there any way I could upgrade my processor?
     
    HP Invent, Jul 10, 2006
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  9. Iter

    Iter Notebook Evangelist

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    i guess that your laptop only support Pentium M, not Core Duo, but you have to check and make sure the mainbaord can support 533MHz or 400MHz front side bus.
     
    Iter, Jul 10, 2006
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  10. miner

    miner Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    GPU's arent necessarily upgradable. MOst integrated graphics cards are not upgradable. Only laptops which have MXM modular graphcis and those which come with removable GPU's. But in this case the upgrades will only work if the manufacturer of the laptop offers thse upgrades. As far as MXM is concerned it is supposed to make the GPU upgradable by proviing a modular design but not many manufacturers have adopted it yet.

    The cpu is also usually upgradable. Some laptops have it soldered(like the Macbooks) and so will not be upgradable. but by and large most do make it upgradable. The ease of access might be difficult but in your particular case, the laptop miht be capable of accepting either a 400MHz or 533MHz Pentium M.

    The other upgradable components include the RAM, the HDD and the CD/DVD drives.
     
    miner, Jul 10, 2006
    #10