Upgrade suggestions for a Z60M

[BuddyWill]

Hello,

I have purchased the Z60M (2529) when it had first came out and I have a few gripes about my purchase since.

My box feels slow with certain apps. I continually get bottlenecked when running software thta I thought would be fast with the addition of a 128mb ATI vid card. I'm not a gamer.

My Z60M: 1.8mhz pent M, 128 RAM ATI vid card, 1gig RAM, 70gig harddrive at 5400 rpm.

At these specs, my box hangs with Adobe Lightroom about 15~20 minutes into tweaking my RAW files and when I run iTunes with a video podcast, the frame rate is horrible and I can't run any of my other apps smoothly. When I open large image files on CS2 Photoshop, it takes over a good minute to process any actions while on my desktop of slightly higher specs, it runs twice teh speed. I have both a RAM and hard drive monitor software on my sys tray that I keep an eye on.

I feel that I can greatly benefit from a faster hard drive and additional RAM. Thus, I am seeking for advice on these two items. I searched for info on this forum and found that people are using Hitachi 7K100's 7200rpm and non-OEM RAM.

In terms of the DDR2 RAM, what brands are some of you guys using and which vendors will you use to purchase them from (newegg does not carry this)? A lot of vendors are stating 100% compatibility but those same sites warn others to watch out for different processors built into the RAM and other info which gives me the chills.

I am looking into getting two 1gig's which should be more than sufficient as I have also yet to find anything larger than that for the Z60m. Are the Z60m's maxed out at 2 gigs?

As for the hard drive, I find it puzzling that the drive looks way different than the drop in solution of the Lenovo/IBM versions. Do I need to crack that module open and then simply insert the new drive in and then placing the entire module back into the laptop? The Hitachi 7K100 7200rpm is maxed out at 100gbs which will suffice for now although I'd prefer a larger one and hopefully, it will come out soon.

Thanks for the help.

[jkahng]

if you're main application is photoshop. get the most memory possible. memory will greatly help with photoshop. 2 gigs at least 3 or 4 if possible.

i'm pretty sure that your machine can take the ddr2 5300 instead of standard ddr2 4200(just operates at a slower clock, but not guaranteed compatible) => i would go with a vendor that has a no questions asked return policy...

i don't know if your machine takes 2gig sticks (help anyone?)
first try a 2gig stick if it works you're in luck. if not keep trying.

this will be relatively cheap and effective upgrade.

the next step i would take is to upgrade your harddrive to a 7200rpm one.

and last thing that i would do (and if budget permits) get a faster processor. (this could be costly, ebay seams to be the best place to get one..)

[cmarti]

i don't know if your machine takes 2gig sticks (help anyone?)

jkahng,

You are correct it can take up to 2GB of ram.

[ryengineer]

i don't know if your machine takes 2gig sticks (help anyone?)

jkahng,

You are correct it can take up to 2GB of ram.

As a previous owner of Z60m with 2GB memory I can confirm that.

[jkahng]

thanks guys for the confirmation.
seems like you don't need to use the ddr2 5300 memory instead of the ddr2 4200. i only suggested this b/c here in korea, it's easier to get the 5300 and even cheaper to get...
good luck on your upgrades...
jkahng

[BuddyWill]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to max out my box at 2 gigs but i have trouble figuring which RAM to buy.

1 - Are these both the same? from Newegg:

DDR@ SODIMM 533 PC2 4200 1 gig ($54.99/each)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145097

Same as above but a little cheaper for the pair ($104.99/pair):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820146517

2 - Looks like the PC2 5300 is better but does anyone know if the Z60M (2529) has the technology (for lack of better word) to use the increase in speed?

DDR@ SODIMM 667 PC2 5300 1 gig ($34.99 / ea w $20.00 rebate included)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145048

I want the 7K100 100gb drive 7200rpm; too bad Newegg does not carry it.

[warder]

The z60m only runs at 533 - PC4200. I used Kingston KVR533D2S4 in it fine. Getting anything faster will be a waste.

[FRiC]

Anything faster than 533 would be a waste. However, 667 RAM is often cheaper than 533 now.

[BuddyWill]

Faster possible speeds and backwards compatibility? Cheaper it is. Maybe my next box can use the faster RAM and have more slots for more expansion.