Satellite P305-S8825 Help!

So far I love the notebook, quick specs.

T5550 c2d 1.8ghz centrino
3gb ddr2 667
320gb hdd 5400rpm
ATi HD3470 256mB dedicated

So far I love it but vista's getting slower and slower :S

I love 64bit, so I wanna get rid of this 32bit OS.

What OS should I run?

I've used x64 xp for years stable, vista 32bit (I want 64 but don't have it), debian freebsd desktopbsd both 32bit and 64bit variants.

Any suggestions? I wanna use this laptop for "business" purposes with maybe alittle gaming, I was leaning towards x64 xp since I don't want to order vista home prem x64, shipping would take too long I wanna get this notebook setup

Also is the HD 3470 a decent card? for say compared to a 8500GT? So far it seems great until a large scene...

On the toshiba i notice an identical slot for where another hdd could go, is that what its for? would be crazy to have two hdd's in a notebook, or atleast I was wondering if I could upgrade to a 7200rpm drive.

Last but not least can I change the cpu and re-do the thermal paste and gain better performance? Runs pretty good now but wouldn't some artic silver 5 cool better?

thanks guys

 

Download CPUz and see which chipset you have got....if it is an i965GM/PM, then you can try upgrading to the higher meroms or the penryns..!!
if so go for the T7300 or the T8300 or the T9300....!! and do a BIOS update too before upgrading and it is always good to check whether there is a higher model of the laptop in the same family to know if the upgrade is feasible or not..!! + definitely apply AS-5 to the CPU and to the GPU if possible, not to anything else..

 

XD

http://evilpuma.com/cpuz

Mem freq is 1:2, that means I can add DDR2 800 right?

DO they still make laptops with dual channel disabled? I see two not matching sticks :-(

Module 1 DDR2, PC2-5300 (333 MHz), 2048 MBytes, Micron Technology
Module 2 DDR2, PC2-5300 (333 MHz), 1024 MBytes, Samsung

Also is laptop DDR2 the same as desktop? I got like 4 sticks :-( can't afford more ddr2 atm.

 

The 3GB ram you have got is enough unless you have got a x64 OS and the ram will only run at 667MHz max in the 965 chipsets..
You could try out the T8300 and also check if a higher laptop in that family has a penryn core 2 duo..!! And counter the date for the latest BIOS release with the release date of the T8300....!!

 

I want to get 64bit on here, so I need ddr2 667? I got two sticks for a desktop that are low latency and dual channel (basic sticks), would they work?

I'll look into the processor.

How hard would you say it is to redo the thermal pastes? I've taken apart a laptop a few times before but would it be recomended for someone that knows how to, to do it anyways?

Just got this puppy but I want her sailing good by tonight so I can not worry about it gunking up in the future.

 

No the desktop ram is 240-pin and the notebook ram is 200-pin..!!
run a scan on www.crucial.com....
Here are 2 guides on how to apply AS-5....just go through it and you ll be fine
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=77860
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3339276&postcount=1

Micron Technology is same as Crucial, so just buy a 2GB PC2-5300 stick from crucial....!!

 

Okay now what about OS

Any suggestions?

 

Okay guys I tried to add WIndows Professional x64, it says it can't detect a harddrive, wtf :S

 

I'm guessing the XP install disk doesn't have the SATA controller drivers, to see your hard drive. Get the SATA drivers from the SATA controller's vendor website, and when XP asks if you need to install a RAID driver (pretty early after it starts the XP process) put the disk in with the SATA driver.

 

Just burn it to a CD? We don't got floppy drives...

Also I found theres an aditional harddrive slot w/sata power too... can I have 2 laptop hdd's in 1 laptop =3

 

yup - I think that should work. ... and yes, many 17" laptops have a space for a second HDD

 

Gah!

I figured out the slow problem...

x64 xp wont work btw no drivers for the conexant hd audio with device tag DEV_5051...

I figured it out tho

The soundcard eats all my cpu

I made vista show processes from all users

audiodg.exe keeps using more n more cpu till my system crashed (toshiba's vista 32bit)

I can see theres alot of x64 drivers but i cant get it to work

halp