late to the party: upgrading Turion X2 RM-72 ("Lion")

Happy new year all.

This may seem absurd, but I just purchased a 17" HP Pavilion dv7 running Ubuntu 18.04. But I enjoy the challenge of using older hardware ...

The only purpose for this machine is streaming on the couch (Netflix, etc), and it doesn't seem up to that task right now: choppy and even halting video. I've only owned this machine a few days, but the machine seems a bit more underpowered than I had expected, and I'm wondering if I can remedy this in any somewhat practical way.

My first idea was to upgrade the CPU from RM-72 (2100 MHz & 2 x 512 KB L2 cache) to Ultra ZM-87 (2400 MHz & 2 x 1 MB L2 cache). On eBay these Ultra chips are $10. According to the wiki page, the fastest chip is the Ultra ZM-88, but that doesn't seem widely available. I have a very rudimentary understanding of CPU upgrades, but this seems to be the best chip available (S1g2 socket)? I've attached a picture of the table of the "Lion" architecture. Would this upgrade be noticeable? If so, by ROUGHLY what factor? 20%? 40%?

Any other ideas? Currently I have 4GB RAM. I don't know much about different memory types, but it seems like it's type: SODIMM, Speed: 800 MT/s. The RAM seems like streaming a video online uses approximately 50% of that with Firefox, so that leads me to believe that the memory capacity isn't the issue (but maybe the quality is?).

Finally, the temp seems higher than I'd expect. just typing up this post with about a dozen tabs open it's running around 82C on my lap. I wonder if the fan might be obstructed with debris? It runs constantly. Or is this a standard temp for this machine?

I'd love to get any feedback any of you experts! Thank you very much!

notes:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...rio-cq50-to-turion-zm-82.327197/#post-4225152
In this thread PhoenixFX wrote:
But going from 1900MHz/1MB to 2200MHz/2MB will not give you a significant performance improvement, especially for normal computing tasks. Considering the price, hassle of disassembling the notebook and potential warranty issues, I really don’t see it as a worthy upgrade.

I got a chuckle out of this:
The Pavilion dv7-1264nr is designed for users who require maximum performance in a mainstream Laptop.
http://www.computer-specifications.com/specifications/HewlettPackard-Paviliondv71264nr-Specs.html


table from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Turion_microprocessors#Turion_64_X2

 

Happy New Year @Brian85!

My best advice is to sell this laptop for parts. No matter what upgrade is possible, today's workloads (even streaming Netflix) are too much for this 12-year-old tech.

The heat, the lack of RAM upgradability, and the slower than watch specs of the platform are to me, insurmountable.

Cut your losses and save/buy a more current platform. Anything Intel in the older models you're looking at would be my first recommendation.

 

Thanks for the quick reply tilleroftheearth! If you don't mind, I'd love your opinion on whether you think upgrading to the chip I mentioned would be noticeable? If so, by ROUGHLY what factor? 20%? 40%?

Sorry for the basic question: Would a lighter Ubuntu distro or even dropping the GUI and just use CLI perceptibly lighten the load on the CPU?

 

I'm sure it would be noticeable, but even if it was 40%, the base is so low it isn't worth doing (even @ $10). There is just a (potential) ~19% increase. One which you may never see in the actual usage you want.

A lighter distro would still be too overwhelming for those 12/11-year-old platforms with modern workloads (even the 'web). A year newer Intel platform is (potentially) 2x faster, and anything past 2016 will 'just work'.

Don't forget, it's not just the CPU's you need for your workload, you need at least 8GB RAM for even the lightest workload today, not to mention the power of the iGPU (or, GPU) too.

See:
Intel Core i5-7200U @ 2.50GHz vs Intel Core i5-8250U @ 1.60GHz vs AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-72 vs AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile ZM-87 vs Intel Core i5-450M @ 2.40GHz [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

I still say sell it for parts or donate it where you can. A new platform is what is required here, not parts upgrade(s).

I'm not saying what you're attempting can't be done, in one fashion or another. But for me, time is too important to be persistent about forcing things to work when mere $$ are the only obstacle to making them work effortlessly.

Please don't think I believe that mere $$$$ solve problems, or that I don't appreciate the position the whole world is in today. I just want to open your eyes to the fact that you may waste a lot of time (and a little bit of money) and still not reach your goal(s).

I hope this helps in some way.

 

@Brian85 try Chromium, or if you insist on Firefox, trying with h264ify extension won't hurt. Clean the fan, repaste the CPU. Try Windows 10 if nothing else helps. Sorry to say this, but I really doubt the CPU upgrade or RAM upgrade can resolve your issues. Returning this machine would be the best course of action, if that is possible.

 

I tried to upgrade my wife's old Toshiba laptop with similar specs to yours, and it did jack squat for performance. You would be throwing good money after bad at this point.

 

I'm in agreement that upgrading this platform is impractical due to its age and limited usefulness even if it was fully upgraded.

You can get a Chromebook for a few hundred, even less if you go on eBay or shop refurbished. Or just a basic Dell Latitude 3000 series from the Dell Outlet. (Assuming you are buying in the U.S.).

Charles

 

Thanks @Starlight5 ! Why is Chromium worth trying? I'm surprised you mentioned Windows 10. Currently I have Ubuntu 18.04 installed, and I figured that was much lighter than Windows 10? I was actually thinking that I might try a lighter distro (Xubuntu or Lubuntu) if others thought that it might be helpful.

 

@Brian85 these steps will show in easy and very straightforward manner whether your problems are caused by Firefox or driver issues, respectively. If nothing helps, then the machine is simply unsuitable for your desired purpose. If Chromium or Windows do help, then there is a point in installing lightweight Linux distro and setting it up accordingly, and maybe even upgrading the machine to improve general performance a bit.

p.s. you don't need a license key to install and use Windows 10, just in case. Returning the machine and purchasing something adequate is still a better option, regardless of the outcome.

 

Those AMD CPUs are just too anemic, the upgrade would gain you 10% if that, more RAM always helps, more so if you are running just a single stick and go with two sticks, but even then, it was a crap CPU even when new, it was slower than any core2duo..

TBH, no laptop older than Haswell based is worth the money or time to be buying currently.

 

*cries in heavily modded x230*

 

I'll answer some questions you have since I own a S1G2 DV7 as well:

1. Is this a standard temp for this machine?

Yes. S1G2s run scorching hot by default - I've had a Acer 5536G, an HP 6735s (upgraded to an Athlon QL-62 tho, because it had some wimpy as heck Sempron) and a CQ60 - all three ran hot enough to burn my skin. S1G3s and S1G4s also suffer from that - I have 2 DV6s with a Turion and a Phenom - both run similarly hot as their older siblings, the S1G2 and S1G1.

2. Is it worth investing in?

Heck no. The heat, the fact they run slower than a C2D of the same era, and the fact that all S1 generations run hotter than the sun just make the S1 platform in itself not worth it and I would not invest too much on a S1 based laptop, if at all.

I highly doubt even a T9600 + 9600M GT based DV7-1000 will cut it in your case, but I haven't tried that (as I don't have an Netflix subscription or account in the first place) so I can't say for sure, and I will let other people chime in about that.

 

The main problem with that laptop (and actually most pre-Ivy Bridge machines) is the lack of built-in H.265/HEVC or even H.264 decoders. Even the GPU on that thing can't handle it. Pretty much all modern devices have hardware decoders for video, running it on software can bring even a Sandy Bridge to its knees. I have a couple of Core 2 laptops, and they're perfectly fine for storage/server/audio and even old games... but they won't play most videos, like not even recent Youtube videos.

Turions were always very slow, too. You can try to get the top of the line for that laptop (RM-77)... About the Turion X2 Ultras - it's a HP and they've always been assholes about processor upgrades. It may or may not work.

The performance increase would be minimal, as well - technically ~20%, but y'know, 20% of 0 is still 0 heh

 

They do allow upgrades for laptops of that era. My DV7-1214 came with a RM-72 and I swapped a spare Ultra ZM-82. There is a very slim chance you'll get a CMOS checksum error on every boot though, although the CPU is detected fine in the BIOS and in Windows.

As for Core 2, Youtube does work, just not on the 720p60 and 1080p60 (and any higher setting). Plain 720p and 1080p work just fine, at least for me, on a T9400 + Geforce 9600M GT 1GB.

 

Thanks everyone! Based on your helpful feedback I've decided to get rid of this machine.

 

Just curious: How has HP been difficult to upgrade?

 

Manufacturers will sometimes put locks on the firmware to only allow the original CPU or a very specific set of CPUs to work. This isn't really an "issue" any more since most notebooks have soldered components.

 

oh, interesting. thanks!