Upgrades to G73

I was wondering, i have purchased the Asus G73jh-A1 and have 500gb HD as oppose to the 1tb. Specs as follows:

Operating System: Windows ® 7 Home Premium 64 bit
• Processor & Cache Memory: Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 720QM 1.60-2.80GHz, 6MB cache (i7-820QM or i7-920XM optional)

• Chipset: Intel PM55 Express chipset
• Main Memory (RAM): 8GB DDR3 1333Mhz (4 x 2GB) (12GB, 16GB optional)

• Display: 17.3" 1600x900 FHD Color-Shine (Glare-type)
• Video Graphics & Memory: ATI HD5870 1GB GDDR5, DirectX 11
• Hard Drive: 500GB 7200RPM SATAII hard drive (upgrades available)

• Optical Drive: 4X Blu-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo (Blu-ray WRITER OPTIONAL)

• Card Reader: 8 in 1 card reader: SD,MMC,MS,MS-Pro,mini SD w/ adapter,MS-Duo,MS-Pro Duo via adapter
• Video Camera: 2.0 Mega Pixel web camera
• Fax/Modem/LAN/WLAN: 10/100/1000 Base T, 802.11 Wireless LAN a/b/g/n

• LED Status Indicator: Power-on/Suspend, Capital / Scroll / Number Lock, Wireless on status indicator (optional), Bluetooth on status indicator (optional)
• Interface: 1 x Microphone-in jack, 1 x Headphone-out jack (S/PDIF), 1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor, 4 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert, 1 x HDMI
• Audio: Built-in Azalia compliant audio chip, with 3D effect & full duplex, Built-in 4 speakers and array microphone, Support Dolby® Home Theater, Altec Lansing® co-brand speakers
• Keyboard: Numeric Keyboard
• Battery Pack & Life: 8 cells: 5200 mAh,
• AC Adapter: Output: 19 V DC, 6.32 A, 120W, Input: 100~240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal
• Dimension & Weight: 8.5 lbs , 16"*11.6"*1.8"
• Security: BIOS Booting / HDD User Password Protection and security lock, Kensington lock hole

What can i do to improve the performance of the laptop? I dont know a great deal about SSD's, though i do know this will improve it. Anyone have any suggestions as to which i should go for? Or what else i should go for? In the immediate future, im looking at around £100, but a few months down the line when i save, i should be looking at bigger upgrades. Cheers for any help.

 

1. Intel Core i7-940XM ($800?)
2. 16 GB DDR3 RAM ($1200?)
3. Get a 1080p or screen
4. Get a 512 GB SSD ($1000?)
5. Get a BD-RW
6. Intel WifiLink Ultimate N 6300 ($100?)

That's all I see you can do to improve it. The biggest improvement would probably be the SSD, then the processor, then RAM. The rest are preference. Prices are just my guesses lol, but you have a pretty good laptop already. For gaming I'd go with an i7-620M or an i7-940XM since they have higher clock speeds.

 

Thank you as for the SSD, what would you recommend and what sort of price range(s)?

 

Also, i am thinking of purchasing another 500GB 7200RPM sata ii hard drive link here - 500GB 3.5 SATA II Hard Drive 16MB 7200RPM ROHS on eBay (end time 28-Jul-10 13:16:38 BST)

How do i go about installing this into my laptop? I have never done this before so any advice is appreciated.

 

don't bother purchasing another 500GB hard drive. You have only 2 slots. Use the 2nd slot for your current 500GB and for your first slot buy a Intel® X25-M 80GB SATA II Solid-State Drive(or the 160GB one if you have the $) You also can add the Centrino Advanced-N 6200 Wireless Card. Those are 2 upgrades that are somewhat affordable.

 

Fair enough, one hard drive and one SSD, good combination. Only prob is...its 200 pounds UK for one of those SSD's haha! That makes me sad *sigh

 

Oh you have 2 hard drive bays? In that case, get a smaller SSD just got OS and program files, and use the 2nd one to store stuff. I'd go with a 128 GB SSD (so you can store frequently used stuff as well) and any other HDD.

 

I wanted the 128 GB SSD, but went with the 80GB, I didn't want to pay the extra $200 from powernotebooks.com. I'll just use it for the operating system and hopefully CIV V.

 

I think if you are working with large files (video editing, etc.) the SSD will help also. Gaming loading times will see an improvement with an SSD too.

 

if ur going to upgrade that much , u should just return the BB version and get the A1 version with full HD screen , more RAM and more HD size for $200 more..

 

Plus the backpack and cool mouse also I believe?

 

I just want to point out, since no one else did, and it's rather important; this drive will not fit your laptop. It is a 3.5" drive, meaning it is meant for a desktop. You need a 2.5" drive.

 

yes to bagpack and mouse... also 3.5 inch drive will not fit..

 

I see no need to upgrade more.

What are you doing that needs even more?

 

The main thing wa sjust to cut the boot and loading time, and maybe a few other's here and there, which is why im inclined to by an SSD. Though which one i dont know yet. Im thinking maybe just a small one to put the OS on (which takes up roughly 20GB) and maybe a few other programs. Like i said, not sure where to look really or how to go about installing it...

 

Just go with the SSD. The other things are fine.