Older Compaq Presario V2000... how to juice it up?

I have an older (2 years ish) V2000 laptop from Compaq. Got it for free from my dad.

It has 256 mb ram, 787mhz processor, and some slow hard drive... i was thinking of putting linux on it, but wanted some upgrade recommendations?

Should I bother putting a new processor in there? Or just RAM and a faster harddrive? Does anyone know the max specs for it?

Thanks!
Charlie

edit... i found the specs here
http://www.mobilewhack.com/reviews/hp_compaq_presario_v2000_sempron_review.html

 

The CPU runs at ~800MHz while idle and jumps to full speed as needed. Use a program like CPU-Z to find the exact model. It's probably not worth upgrading the CPU but I've done it, upgrading from a Sempron to a Turion ML37. See what Socket 754 Turions are selling for on eBay.

Definitely upgrade the RAM. It'll take up to 2GB (pair of 1GB PC2700). Crucial is my favorite brand.

If it has a 4200RPM HD like most of them do, upgrading to a Seagate 5400.3 IDE drive or such would certainly help. Make a HP WinXP SP3 install disc and clean install the new drive.

 

so you think i should stick with windows then?

also, could i go into the 6K rpm range on a HDD or would that put off too much heat?

would this work?
http://cgi.ebay.com/AMD-TURION-64-S...ryZ86712QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

i'm certainly willing to lay down 35 bucks for a new processor.

actually the dumb thing just kicked up to 1.79 ghz... i guess it was running at 787 while booting up?

if that's a better processor, then i'll def consider switching.

also, any way i can beef up the graphics card?

thanks!

 

6K RPM with hard drives? I've never heard of that. If you really want to breathe new life into this old notebook, get a hard drive spinning at 7200 RPM, max out the RAM which is most likely capped at 2GB, and install your choice of OS. My personal recommendation for OS would be Windows, but if you so choose to use Linux, then by all means, go for it. Be warned, however, that WiFi support in Linux sucks.

 

I didn't even know the V2000 came in anything slower than 1.2ghz. I had one bought new in January '06 that was a 1.6ghz. I'd imagine it's either older than you think it is, or not as slow as you think it is. I know 1.4ghz was the cheapest Centrino option, the M710 chip, and I don't think anything went much slower than that. I think you might have a faster processor than you think you do.

Could use more RAM though. Mine came with 1gb. 256mb was the minimum you could buy on that model. That'll make a pretty big difference, actually.

 

it was just something wonky in the freakin system control panel processor thing that made it read at a lower speed. no idea.

edit... annnd it's back down to 787. weird.

 

try loading something like speedswitchxp that will show you what your maximum processor speed is.

Though, if you're running most of the time at 787 mhz, i don't think you'll really notice much if you went to all the trouble of a new processor.

 

cool, thanks guys!

i got a 160gb 5400 rpm WD hdd today... just gotta dig up the xp discs...

and i ordered new RAM from newegg... so we'll see how it turns out.

 

Power management is doing its job. 800MHz while idle, 1.8GHz when the CPU needs to do work. It wouldn't be worth upgrading to a ML34, which may be what you already have. If you can get a good deal on a ML40 or higher, maybe, but even then it's a low priority.

You're stuck with the integrated graphics chip.

That WD HD should be a very nice upgrade. A 7200RPM drive would work too but the diff between 4200RPM and 5400RPM is much greater than 5400RPM and 7200RPM due to the lower density of 7200RPM HD platters. Faster access time on the 7200RPM drives though.

 

I would make sure you have the latest BIOS update for that machine; there was an update to make the fan run more often, b/c of overheating issues. (My old "Lance Armstrong Special Ed.," which is really a V2000, is sitting 6 feet away from me, prostrate from heat exhaustion. But it ran fine for about five years, so don't take that as a bad sign.

And linux will run on it, but I could never get ubuntu to recognize the Broadcom wifi card in it.

Happy upgrading.