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Upgrading Stock Laptop

post #1 of 15
6/20/05 at 6:40am
Thread Starter 
Hello everyone,

This is my first post on NoteBookforums.com
My dad bought me a Compaq R4000 for my graduation present.
The primary reason he bought it for me was because I'll be going off to college and majoring in Graphics Design, so I'd need a Laptop with good performance.
Unfortunately he bought it with XP home SP2, and lacks several security features that I used on all computers I've set up (I'm a part-time computer technician). I haven't had much experience setting up laptops past putting apps on them and sending them off to customers, and this time around I want to get as much power out of my laptop as I can.
What sort of upgrades would you guys suggest? at the moment everything is stock except ram, which is at 512 and I'm looking to upgrade to 1 gig soon.
I'm looking for a way to upgrade to Professional but the only XP setup discs I have are 32-bit and lack sp2, so should I purchase XP Pro x64?
Will i be able to upgrade it or will i have to do a fresh install?

I'm going to be using a number of programs that suck up resources, primarily Adobe Photoshop, Alias Maya, and Adobe Premiere.


Thanks in advance!
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post #2 of 15
6/20/05 at 10:39am
sp2 is a free download as long as your copy of windows is legit.
XP pro x64 does not offer any performance boost over 32bit, and will often cause many problems with drivers.
XP home is not that much different from Pro, so if it's running ok the way it is and you dont have to use the features of Pro (domains, remote admin?, stuff like that), then stick with home. I don't think secuirty is weaker in home.
In order for anyone to suggest upgrades, you need to post your specs.
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post #3 of 15
6/20/05 at 1:30pm
Uh, this is noobie stuff! Well, you're using a 64bit CPU, so the upgrade to WinXP x64 is really suggested if you're going to use graphic software (you'll gain about 30% with CS/CAD). The drivers for the latest hardware is already out for x64, so you won't have any problem with drivers.
If you don't want to spend 200$ for the OS, then install your WinXP Home, and download all the updates. There is no difference in security between Home and Pro, the only difference is that XP Pro has a couple more add ons for networking stuff, that you probably don't know anything about. Then keep you Home edition, go to Control Panel->Add or Remove Programs->Windows Components-> Select All the add ons, if that can make you feel more happy.
For graphic the first thing you'll need is RAM, a HUGE amount of ram. Your laptop support up to 2gb of RAM, so the first thing I can suggest to you is to sell the 512 stick on ebay and get at least one 1gb stick (PC2700 or higher is raccomended).
Hard Drive: if you want to squeeze the power by your laptop, go to CompUSA and get a 100gb 5400rpm Seagate Momentus, and buy a 2.5" Hard drive enclosure for your actual HD, so you can use it as a backup.
Don't forget to always use the latest drivers.
"part-time computer technician" eh?
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post #4 of 15
6/20/05 at 10:35pm
Thread Starter 
heh, I was aware that I'd need to upgrade the ram a bit more. Plus there's a reason I'm only part-time, I'm like the lackey who goes and fetches parts for my master
So I have a pretty fair knowledge of parts as they go. I've customized my desktop before so I'm pretty good at that. I'm just a little iffy on doing it to my laptop since I'm not that sure on how stable they are, since you can't really build one from the ground up (well, you could, but it'd be a pain) so I'm acting the part of a complete newbie.

Specs:
Windows XP Home Service Pack 2
Athlon 64 3500
512Mb ram (upgrading to 1 gig soon)
ATI mobility Radeon Xpress 200M 128Mb vram



And I just noticed something while doing a check, the CPU is running at 990Mhz.
What the hell?
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post #5 of 15
6/20/05 at 11:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashex
And I just noticed something while doing a check, the CPU is running at 990Mhz.
What the hell?
Cool n Quiet/Power Now - working to keep your laptop cool when idle & increase battery life...

Read up...
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/...E10272,00.html
http://www.amd.com/us-en/0,,3715_12353,00.html

Oh, Intel calls the same sort of system Speedstep.
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post #6 of 15
6/21/05 at 10:16am
Thread Starter 
Okay, now it's more realistic....
running at ~2100Mhz

As soon as I can track down the packing slip and figure out exactly what came with this thing, I'll put specs up.
I don't feel like looking it up myself
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post #7 of 15
6/21/05 at 1:33pm
you want it to run low as long as you arn't doing too much with it, because it creates less heat and stuff, and would possibly prolong the life of your computer in whole.
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post #8 of 15
6/21/05 at 1:38pm
Thread Starter 
Ay, well, I'm sucking up as much as I can. I work a lot on this computer and I'm using it to work on a model right now, so I need as much power as I can muster from this baby
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post #9 of 15
6/21/05 at 3:55pm
DOnt exactly believe on the speed shown by the pc. SOmetimes it wrong too. BUt to be precise.WHen you are on power switch the power options to home/desk and them refresh and see what the cpu speed is showing.
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post #10 of 15
6/29/05 at 8:28pm
Thread Starter 
Hookay, after digging through my dads office and finally pulling it out from behind a desk, I have the packing slip, which tells me what exactly my laptop came with. Here it is!

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (2.2Ghz/512 L2)
15.4" WXGA widescreen
512 DDR SDRAM
Microsoft Windows XP home with SP2
60 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive
DVD-/+RW&CD-RW combo with double layer
128MB ATI Radeon Xpress 200M
802.11b/g WLAN w/Speedbooster(?)
12 cell Lithium batery

That's all the relevant information. I'm not entirely sure what type of upgrades I can do under warranty with a laptop so I'll have to look into that. Aside from upgrading the RAM, any other suggestions?
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post #11 of 15
6/30/05 at 10:12am
looks good. I'm not sure if it's under warrenty, but getting a 5400rpm or 7200 rpm hard drive will significantly improve the overall feel of the system.
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post #12 of 15
6/30/05 at 6:51pm
Thread Starter 
thanks, I'll look into upgrading the hard drive. by the way, what the fruit snacks is speedbooster?
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post #13 of 15
7/1/05 at 11:22am
it lets you double the speed of your 54mbps 801.11g wireless, given that both the wireless adapter and the access point have the same speedbooster tech.
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post #14 of 15
7/4/05 at 5:45am
Thread Starter 
ah, that makes sense. thanks for the help!
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post #15 of 15
7/7/05 at 4:41pm
for RAM, I would suggest Corsair
(and if you want to see ur CPU speed more accurately, get MobileMeter)
(setting the power option to always on makes the cpu run @ highest frequency)
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