T400 Upgrades Help

[juniper35]

Hello! This is my first time on the forums. Very helpful information here, I'm so glad I found it.

I bought a Thinkpad T400 off ebay about 6 months ago and I absolutely love it! I was never really a laptop person because I always felt like the desktop was more bang for your buck, but I needed one for college so after a lot of research on build quality, etc, I made my purchase of the T400. I definitely can see why ThinkPads are so popular. This machine is so durable. I don't have to worry about carrying it around in my backpack. It's like a rock.

Problem is, the software I have to use at my university is running kind of sluggish on the T400 and I was hoping I could upgrade it just enough to be able to get through my senior year. I have to be able to run MS Office 2013 (which freezes all the time), Visual Studio 2013, MATLAB editor, a few other IDEs, and the required Symantec Endpoint Protection to access the school network.

I think the ebay reseller already upgraded it somewhat... these are the current specs:

Intel Core2 Duo CPU T9600 @ 2.80GHz
RAM: 4GB
Mobo: GM45/GM47, 82801IM (ICH9-M)
Graphics: Radeon HD 3400 Series, RV620
Display: 1440x900
HDD: Seagate 2.5" SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 320GB
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1

Where would be the best place to make an upgrade? I was thinking maybe swap in an SSD? Or add some more RAM? Would it make a difference with what I'm looking for? Also, does this hardware actually take advantage of the 64bit windows?

Thank you for your responses!

[dr_st]

RAM is maxed out, CPU pretty much too, as is the LCD. The only possible upgrade is the SSD, as you stated.

[juniper35]

Ah, made a typo mistake, it only has 4GB RAM, I edited my first post. Sorry about that.

Is there anything I should look out for with compatibility when getting an SSD or extra RAM?

[dr_st]

Just get a RAM stick with the same speed and CL latency as the one you have. This will work in 99% of the cases.

SSD-wise - you need a standard 2.5" SATA drive. You may want a different set of rubber rails for it to match the SSD exactly, but usually it's not a big deal.

[juniper35]

Thanks!

I think I may try to upgrade the RAM first since the SSD is about double the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231265

Do you think I'll notice a better improvement from upgrading the RAM over the SSD?

[RealBlackStuff]

SSD will increase speed most, then RAM.
You could also replace your optical drive with an Ultrabay-caddy for SATA drives, and put your 320GB drive in there for extra storage.
If you ever need the CD/DVD again, you can just swap them out (or get a USB-housing for it).