upgrading an asus K501E

I have a pentium T4400 processor in my asus K501E laptop.
I'm exploring the possibility of changing the processor to something better.

Does anyone out there know the better CPU's that are compatible with my machine?

 

While older, that is a fairly currently spec'd cpu.

What do you need your system to do faster/better?

What other components have you upgraded?

Others will help with the cpu upgrade ideas, but I just want to be sure it is the cpu that is limiting your notebook for you.

Do you have Win7x64 installed with 4GB of RAM? On a modern HD like a Hitachi 7K500 HD? Are you running a good maintenance program on your system that includes deleting temporary junk files, and defragmenting your HD thoroughly with a program like PerfectDisk?

You can also increase the performance by effective partitioning too. Have you tried that to increase performance? (Making your C: drive as small as possible will allow the O/S and apps to respond much faster to your commands).

Looking forward to your answers.

 

Yeh running Win7x64, 4GB RAM, the device manager says my harddrive is a Hitachi HTS545032B9A SCSI Disk.

Basically, my laptop runs fine. It can handle my multi-tasking duties quite comfortably.

My only problem is with the software AVS Video Converter 6. When I convert videos, my CPU usage goes right up to 100. I've tried using other "more efficient" video converters but haven't found one I like.

So if a better processor can handle the demanding video converting tasks set by AVS VidCon6, it would be super convenient.

Also, I'm not too familiar with how partitioning works. Whats the deal with that?

 

I believe your laptop can handle up to an Intel Core 2 Duo T9900. I personally would get something like the T9400, good price to performance ratio.

 

What kind of chipset does your notebook have? Download and run CPU-Z:
CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

 

Your specific use is definitely (mostly) cpu limited. An 'upgrade' to a T9400 seems like a sideways upgrade to me (for video conversion) as it is only a 15% increase over your current clock speed. An upgrade to a T9900 seems better at 39% - but the cost and risk/hassle of changing the cpu's is prohibitive imo.

My only/best recommendation is to buy a new system based around an i7 (real quad core) with at least 8GB of RAM.

Basically, you are trying to run the most resource intensive process on a low to mid range platform.


Either you can live with what you have while saving for a new system, or you can upgrade at a cost that is not in line with the performance improvements you might expect. Remember that the indicated clock speed differences in % will not directly translate to the same time reduction savings (and, the cpu will still be at 100% - or, it should be anyways if you want to be getting the most out of it).

Not being familiar with the specific program you use I can only suggest a couple of things you can try:

Try 8GB RAM (if you can in your system) with a 100% return policy - this may make a significant difference (maybe more than a T9400 will) with your specific program (does it thrash the HD a lot?).


If the HD is constantly being accessed while converting your videos...

Try this partitioning strategy:

See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-hitachi-7k500-benchmark-setup-specifics.html


With the above partitioning you can see significant differences from a 'standard' one partition install:

See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...le-copy-result-hdds-ssds-easy-comparison.html


In the above link look how identical HD's (Hitachi 7K500's) are #2 and #7 in the 'standings' for mechanical HD's. The major difference is the partitioning scheme used.


One more thing that may make a significant difference (if your notebook runs hot) is to try/use a notebook cooler. If the heat is enough to be throttling the cpu, then this simple change may speed up your video conversions by a significant amount too.

Good luck.

 

thanks for your advice everyone.
some real useful info here.