Upgrading My Notebook... questions

Hi, I recently got a laptop and its pretty good for the most part but could use a little upgrading, however i really have no idea when it comes to hardware for computers in general.

Hp G61
G61-300CA

-Notebook PC
-15.6 inch Diagonal High-Definition Wide-screen Display
-802 11b/g WLAN
-250 (5400rpm) Hard Drive
-Super Multy 8x dvd+rw with dual layer support
-AMD Athalon II Dual Core Processor for Notebook PCs M300 (2.0GHz 1mb L2 Cache)
-4096MB DDR2 SDRAM (2 Dimm)
-6 Cell Lithium-Ion Battery
-Windows 7 64bit
-ATI Raedeon HD 4200 Graphics with 128MB DDR2 Display Cache

The areas i would like to upgrade are. Ram, hard drive, video card and graphics card. It has the spots in the bottom for easy access. So can i upgrade any of these areas, and what hardware would you recommend for upgrading so i can play better games and do some high end video editing faster.

-Thanks

 

get 7200rpm hdd, or if it's in your budget: SSD
Ram is fine with 4GB

 

You'll be able to upgrade all that except the graphics card, as the G6/7 series doesn't feature an MXM graphics adapter on the inside. The graphics are integrated onto a chip on the motherboard. And you also have a pretty good amount of RAM. With the money you were going to spend on RAM and video upgrades, put that toward a Hitachi 7k500 or an SSD.

 

if you really want to upgrade VGA so much, try DIY Vidock, search the thread in the forum.
It will allows you to use some Desktop graphic card to play on external monitor

 

Don't really understand why you would need more than 4GB of RAM, sure, you probably would notice the increase in performance if you were doing tasks that used it, but I don't think the performance benefit is going to be worth the price, unless you need to squeeze every ounce of power out of it.

As for hard drive, a good 7200RPM drive like the WD3200BEKT, or the 7K500 would be good. If you can afford it, an Intel X25-M 160GB would be great, but be warned - they are pricey.

For your model of laptop, it is pretty much impossible to upgrade the internal video card. However, as crayoneyes mentioned, the DIY ViDock would be a great option if you can go to the trouble of ordering the parts and building it. General rule of thumb is, that if you have an integrated GPU in your laptop, you can not upgrade at all. Very few laptops allow the possibility of swapping an internal GPU anyway, probably 10 - 20% of laptops on the market allow it - even then if you can swap it, you are limited to only a few choices of what you decide to put in. Compounded by the fact that HP does not generally support MXM, I'm sorry to say that it's really not possible.

 

You laptop is really not suited for the tasks u want to do... Although the upgrades will make it speedier , ur better off buying a new one for the tasks u want to do... as u can easily upgrade the RAM , processor and hard drive but they're not going to help much... the processor upgrade is very limited with AMD machines and anything intel has can beat it... Ur better off selling this and buying a new one.

 

Your computer isn't going to go a lot faster no matter what you do except for an SSD, and since you want to do video editing, that isn't a good idea.

The only way to game on a computer is to buy or build a gaming specific specific system (expect to spend A LOT for a gaming notebook). The only semi-worthwhile upgrade for you is going to be a faster hard disk. You also may want to check the bios and see if you can increase the video memory.

The best advice, don't try hardcore games on your laptop, it just wont happen unless you have a few thousand to spend. At which point, don't expect much for battery life. You also may end up with SSD's which would kill your video editing due to drive space limitations.


You need a desktop.

 

I would agree with sean and leslie on this one. I'd recommend getting a new machine for the purposes of gaming and video editing as no amount of upgrades will make your current computer suitable for the job. It'll run whatever you want, but it won't do it particularly well.

 

Well the OP said the machine already serves him right, he just want a little boost up.
- a 7200rpm hdd will make the system feels snappier in general
- a DIY vidock for better gaming actually a better investment, since most desktop GPUs will take on the best notebook gpu anytime, and you can use it with other notebook, or your next notebook(s)

 

Thanks for all the information and replies everyone. I probably should've been a bit more specific in my original post. The video editing im doing is on after effects cs4 and a little bit in some 3d programs, it runs it okay I would like it to be a bit faster though, and as for the gaming, I would like to but, its not a must have and I realize my computer won't be able to play games like crysis. Most the video editing will not be above 720p and most the games will be source games like half life, tf2 and it would be great if I could play l4d(2). Already it can run the half life 2 games at decent settings fairly smoothly, and tf2 at lower settings. I realize it isn't a great computer and at some point it is better to just start over than major upgrades. Either way I will look into the 7200rpm hdd and will check out the vid-dock.

 

It's not a bad computer, I think you just have unrealistic expectations for what a notebook can really do. I'm not saying this to be mean, MANY, MANY people think the same way. Macbook owners especially.

Notebooks are really more or less portable computers meant for limited use. They aren't full on workstations or gaming systems, it's just the reality of what they are. You compromise power for portability.



Yes, I probably just angered a lot of people. Get over it. Go look at cooling systems on desktops vs. notebooks and some benchmarks. "Desktop replacements aside (a joke in their own right), it's quite obvious the two are designed for different purposes.

 

I realize that now lol, The video editing is manageable atm, I do have a console, so its not like i need to game on my computer. I think maybe when I can afford it i'll look into a desktop.

 

your real bottleneck is ur CPU... u can hardly upgrade to anything better with what AMD has at the moment or in the future... Also DIY Vidock might be a solution for u but it itsn't portable and u need an external monitor... Really ur better off getting a new intel laptop with core i7.... and a proper GPU...

 

Just a short time ago that would have been true. But that was then and this is now. The term workstation and laptop can now be said with all seriousness in the same sentence; and there is no reason to expect otherwise.

That said, I'm referring to a fully equipped (I sound like a car commercial?) late model laptop. In the case of what the OP wants to do, you are completely correct as CS4 and especially After Effects is a very labor intensive program.

If you believe that, you haven't been keeping up. I wouldn't argue that a top of the line laptop workstation could compete with a top of the line desktop. But for what you get for the money, in a lot of applications (video editing included), they can come pretty close.

 

of course getting a new system with the all latest high tech is the answer for everyone's problem but that isn't applicable to everyone's budget.
That's why we try our best to help according to what OP wants and needs.

 

Yeah a intel cpu would've been a heck of allot better, and if I had the money i would've got something better. I got the notebook on boxing day for what i believe to be a good deal.

 

I also upgraded my system for the sake of fun! LOL

 

Niice, hahaha well if you are able to, why not. Either way if i can't upgrade my laptop much i've still learned quite a bit.

 

if you can pull out an upgrade with so minimal cost, you'll crave for more, trust me
I did and that's so addicting
No new machine (and the cost) would beat that fun

 

I stand by what I said.

 

I do agree, it's more fun than buying a new laptop. I have recently upgraded my Acer Aspire 5610z from a perfectly working T2060 to a bargain T2400(was bought for £14.99 on ebay) and worth every penny.