What Would You Upgrade??

I'm currently happy with my current laptop and have no plans for purchasing a new computer for a few more years. I was just wondering, by looking at the specs in my sig, what do you see as being the biggest bottleneck and the first thing I should consider upgrading?

I use my computer for a variety of things including gaming, photo editing, word processing, and mainly internet browsing.

I'm assuming most will say that I should consider a better HDD. If that's the case, then should it be 7200rpm or SSD? I think my laptop has room for a 2nd HDD so should I consider getting a small SSD and adding it? I'm looking to keep the costs low if I plan on doing any upgrading.

Thanks

 

it's definitely your hdd, and to a lesser extent your gpu, and then your ram

if you upgrade to ssd, you'll notice a huge difference in performance, from opening a folder to loading a map when you're playing sc2

even just upgrading to 7200, you will notice a significant difference, i'd say 5400 to 7200 = 1.25x speed difference, and 7200 to ssd = 2.5x speed difference, so.. for you, upgrading to ssd would be about a 3x increase in performance (loading stuff)... and if you use raid config, it'll be even faster (but i don't know by how much, maybe 2 ssds in raid config = 2x faster? so = 6x increase in performance over 5400? no idea)

but if you really want to play sc2 on more than low settings, then you could consider upgrading your gpu

personally, i would up the gpu and wait another half year or so for ssd prices to go lower, for me, and i'm guessing for the average user, i need a minimum of 256gb, and they just aren't worth the price right now, especially since the prices are dropping fast, if you can hold out, you won't regret it

and i wouldn't upgrade to 7200 .. the hassle of reinstalling everything and getting everything else set up isn't worth it

the easiest thing would be to up your ram to ddr3, since ram is relatively cheap now, but it wont make as big of a difference as an upgrade to 7200

 

Thanks for all the advice. I appreciate it.

What's your opinion regarding upgrading to the Momentus XT?

 

You can't upgrade RAM to DDR3 - a laptop either uses DDR2 or DDR3, they're physically incompatible. In any case, the RAM is definitely not the bottleneck. 4GB of DDR2 RAM is plenty, for years to come too: your other components will be obsolete far earlier than your RAM.

The biggest bottleneck in gaming is your GPU, but there's nothing you can do about that short of buying a new laptop.

The biggest bottleneck in general day-to-day performance is your HDD. You can upgrade to a faster HDD such as the Momentus XT, or you could go for an SSD. Obviously, the SSD will give you better performance, but at a higher cost and with less storage space. It's your choice as to which of these you do choose: personally, I had no need for more than 80GB of space, so I decided to splurge on a $200 SSD.

I would not go for any other upgrade other than HDD: it won't be worth your money. It's a far better idea to use the laptop until it no longer satisfactorily meets your needs, then spend money to get a new, better laptop at that time.

 

Thanks...ya I agree that a new HDD is pretty much the only option worth considering. My laptop still fits my needs perfectly and it's not worth going overboard upgrading everything. A new hard drive would be the best option for me.

I'm just trying to consider my options. I currently have a Fujitsu mhz2250bh g2 (250GB 5400rpm). My laptop also has room for a 2nd HDD. So I could:

1. Replace my current HDD with a Momentus XT (250GB most likely since I still have plenty of space on my current HDD)

2. Replace my HDD with an SSD (unlikely since it's more expensive and it'd be less space)

3. Add a small SSD to my 2nd bay and transfer Windows and some files onto it)

I think my best bet would be option 1. Just wondering a few things though:

Is Momentus XT going to be much louder or hotter than my current HDD?

What's the best way for me to transfer everything over to my new HDD?

 

Huh? I thought it was impossible to upgrade a GPU on a laptop?

I concur.

Mr. Mysterious

 

anytime! i'm glad that you found what i typed useful

sorry.. i dont know about the momentus xt, but from what i remember reading a while back, it can't compare to an ssd (but id guess that it's 1.5x faster than the 7200, so.. about 2.25x faster than the 5400)

now that i think about it, seeing that a 256gb XT is about 120$, this is probably the best upgrade for the price right now, and you can change to an ssd once they are both better and at an acceptable price

i say go for it! but lets hear from other people first

 

lol sorry, something in the back of my mind told me that you can't upgrade the gpu in that laptop

but i think there are some laptops that allow you to change the gpu

and sorry again, i didn't know you can't just go from ddr2 to ddr3

 

For the first, here you go: Momentus XT Review: Seagate's Marriage Of The HDD And Flash Memory : Seagate?s Solid State Hybrid Drive Reviewed

For the second, use something like Acronis True Image (trialware), which will clone your drive onto your new one.

Mr. Mysterious

 

The Seagate Momentus makes a sound like a 7200rpm drive. It's like a soft breeze, comparable to a low running fan. It wouldn't stop me from buying it.

Notebookreview might be publishing a Momentus XT review soon, look out for it.

In the mean time I'd recommend this review:
Seagate Momentus XT (500GB) Internal Hard Drive reviews - CNET Reviews

Another affordable option is to replace your DVD drive with the 250GB HDD and then build in a smaller SSD as boot drive. You could get a 32-40GB Kingston, OCZ or Intel for less than $100.

 

money spent on an older machine is money spent on an older machine.

your battery and hard drive are still wearing out and you're still out of warranty.

is that an led or cf backlight screen?

and you'll never get the 'upgrade' $$ back in resale.

careful what you spend on maintaining old machines.

 

My computer is far from old to consider it time for a replacement. For what I use it for, it surpasses my expectations.
A simple HDD upgrade is all I need to help keep it up to date for a few more years.

I'm pretty much set on getting the Momentus XT after seeing all the praises it's receiving.

Thanks for the info, Phil. Just a few last questions:

1. I only need the 250GB of space. Is there any reasons I should consider the 320GB or 500? Is there much of a performance difference cause I know sometimes that larger can mean better in some cases.

2. What's the easiest and best method of transferring my current files over to this new HDD?

The biggest external HDD I have is 160GB so it wouldn't even be possible for me to make a backup image using Acronis, right?

What are my other choices?

Thanks

 

I recommend getting the 250GB. It will be as fast as the 500GB. But since it only uses one platter instead of two, there's a good chance it's a bit quieter and vibrates less. It may also use a little less power since it takes less energy to spin one instead of two platters.

I recommend doing a clean install. It will boost performance. Migrate your data manually.

 

If you have access to a reflow and rework station, you can upgrade your GPU, and memory (you'll probably have to buy 2nd hand GPUs... not available retail)

The problem is, I suspect the 9650M GT will be the only feasible option... not really much of an upgrade... and there's a high chance you'll destroy another vital component in the process.

The Jovy 7500 is around USD$2,000, and promises "no damage to adjacent components". I've no experience with it, but it's pretty cheap and makes grandoise claims.

You might also need an oscilliscope, signal generator and, most importantly, test hamsters.

Also, we tend to replace the entire motherboard instead, a mobo with attached graphics card might be available refurbished or 2nd hand that's similar size, and contains a better g-card, given the popularity of 17" HP laptops.

 

Excellent advice. Thank You!

And regarding the clean install...how do I go about installing Windows 7 again? My computer came with Vista and I purchased the Windows 7 Upgrade. How can I upgrade if the new HDD will be completely blank?

And as a side note, my current HDD has an 11GB HP Recovery Partition. How do I go about transferring that?

 

If you're going to do a clean install I would not recommend migrating the recovery partition. It's a waste of valuable disk space in my opinion.

You can download the Windows 7 ISO from Microsoft BUT I don't know if the Windows 7 upgrade key can work on a clean installed Windows 7. Please someone else fill us in.

Clean install guides can be found in the HP forum and other places.

 

Hard drive.

 

Good point...the Recovery partition is pretty useless and just takes up space.

So I just need to figure out how I can install Windows 7 and if my upgrade disc will work.

If I were to go with the cloning software choice instead, I would have to have an external HDD to put it on right? I only have a 160GB external HDD but I'm only using about 70GB on my current internal HDD so maybe I could fit it, right? I'm thinking this might be my best bet. If I do that, it will be exactly as my current HDD is, right? Any drawbacks? I take good care of my computer and since I already did a clean install of Win 7 on it, it's already bloatware free. What cloning software is best (and preferably free)?

Thank You!

 

How long ago did you clone your hard drive?

Acronis True Image has a free trial version.

 

I've never cloned my hard drive before. But I did a clean install of Windows 7 not too long ago so my computer is pretty clean and updated so it'd probably be easier for me to just clone it all onto the new Momentus XT.