options to increase A31p performance

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jeff w · #1 Post by **jeff w** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 6:52 pm

Rather than purchase a new machine, I'd like to upgrade the hardware in my A31p for increased performance. Current configuration is Pentium 4, 1.7 GHz with 1 GB RAM, running BIOS ver 1.05.

I've read about upgrading processor to 2.6 GHz, bumping up RAM to 2 GB, etc. Has anyone done such, and how do you feel about performance? Can you point me to places to purchase processor chips and memory?

Many thanks,
Jeff

#2 Post by **daeojkim** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 7:32 pm

I bet you that a 7K60 Hard drive will make the most difference.

The amount of RAM and the processor that you have is more than enough for average user's needs. For a 2.6 GHz processor, you are looking into paying $400 or more, which I don't think is worth the cost and the amount of heat that you have to put up with. Also I think maximum RAM for A31p is 1GB, os you are already maxed out.

The hard drive, however, that originally came with A31p were 2 MB buffer and at 5400 rpm that are quite noisy and lower performance than current 5400 rpm hard drives. You can get Hitachi 7k60 (7200 rpm 60 GB) hard drive for around $160, and my assumption is that that will increase the performance more significantly than both processor and RAM upgrades.

I am waiting for a 7k60 hard drive for my A31p, it should get here in a week or two so I can let you know how much difference it will make.

JHEM · #3 Post by **JHEM** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 8:31 pm

James,

Both the A31p and T30 will max out at 2GB, not the 1GB reported by IBM. This is more due to the fact that there weren't any 1GB sticks around when they were released than any ignorance on IBM's part.

Jeff, I agree with James that you'll see enough performance increase by installing a 7K60 HD that you might be satisfied with the results, at least for a while.

Regards,

James

a31pguy · #4 Post by **a31pguy** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 5:45 pm

One possible problem with all of the upgrades that can be done - is the heat factor. A laptop with a 2.6 Ghz CPU, a 7200 rpm disk, and 2 gb of memory sounds great on paper. The problem that I have found is that the additional heat generated by these components trip the EC thermal management into stepping down the CPU speed under load.

I've heard from a lot of people with performance laptops that heat is the major problem with Pentium 4s and Pentium 4M. The a31p just doesn't have enough cooling. The GPU and Northbridge chip doesn't have a heatsink or fan for instance.

Under normal business loads - this isn't a problem. But crank up a 3D application at full speed and you will find that the a31p turns into a thigh warner very quickly.

The Thinkpad T42p, however, does have some better cooling options. It's uses a Heatsink Fan with heat pipes connected to chip coolers for the GPU and Northbridge Chipset. It also allows some control over the fans.

JHEM · #5 Post by **JHEM** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 7:32 pm

Neither the memory nor the HD upgrade result in sufficient increased heat to impact the performance of an A31p.

Conversely, almost any processor upgrade above 2GHz will soon turn your beloved A31p into a pants presser.

It's a tradeoff when seeking to maximize the performance of an A31 machine and only the owner can decide what they're willing to put up with for that performance increase.

For the record, I don't consider any of the A3X series machines to be "true" laptops, they're desktop replacements and [censored] good ones.

Regards,

James

a31pguy · #6 Post by **a31pguy** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 11:41 am

that I have started testing is to reuse the Ultrabay spacer from the laptop and the docking station. I've put dual fans in each powered by the 44pin IDE connector in the ultrabay. The fans draw cool air in and the CPU fan pushes hot air out. No modification of the laptop - but heavy modifications of the (otherwise useless) Ultrabay spacer. With a total of five fans in the laptop - the thermal management rarely gets tripped and the hard drive stays below 40 (usually around 34-38 C). Not ideal for running on battery - but if you're into performance you would be using this on a docking station or AC anyway. The fans are very quiet.

Got to love the unique architecture of the A31p which allows you to use the Ultrabays for other options.

Oh and btw - I agree, a faster hard drive is going to show the most promising speed increase. But enough RAM and a faster CPU will remove any addition bottlenecks by reducing read writes to the swap file. Another major performance increase is to adjust GUI properties in XP to speed up the interface. TweakXP is also a great utility to set some of the most mundane and buried settings.

#7 Post by **daeojkim** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:15 pm

a31pguy,

Would you like to share sith us where you got the parts and how you managed to do that?
Where did you get the parts for them? I's interested to know as a future reference in case I decide to upgrade the CPU to 2GHz+ processor.
Pictures would be helpful as well.

Thanks

a31pguy · #8 Post by **a31pguy** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:58 pm

daeojkim wrote:a31pguy,

Would you like to share sith us where you got the parts and how you managed to do that?
Where did you get the parts for them? I's interested to know as a future reference in case I decide to upgrade the CPU to 2GHz+ processor.
Pictures would be helpful as well.

Thanks

The 44-pin 2.5 inch HDD connector provides power. You can use any of the ultrabay trays - but if you don't feel like sacrificing a good hdd or device carrier - you can use the ultrabay spacer as a frame. But you'll need the proprietary connector for the ultrabay interface or draw power externally from the usb bus. The fans were dual 40 mm units. I used two VANTEC HDD Coolers HDC-502A

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... b6cde60d62

After initially striping a hard disk ultrabay unit (have a few lying around) - I used the hdd connector and stripped a male 3-pin power connector (used only two pins) and soldered the +DC and -DC to the power pins to the dual fans (which are hooked up in parallel ++ and --) to the pins (on the ultrabay connector which is an ultra ata 44-pin ide connector) the disk logic would normally use. You can drill the sides of the spacer or hdd sled or use a put verticle cuts to vent it like the IBM case. I choose to drill holes since it's stronger that way.

added some small chip coolers to the interior chipsets - and I'm still testing the airflow. One of the things I am debating is to remove the plastic sheet above the motherboard (seems to be designed to capture heat and move it towards the fan. But the ultrabays seem to be designed to pull air (notice the venting below the bays - airflow was designed to be drawn in to the bays too cool hard drives mounted there). Been testing using mobile meter and cpuburn with fairly good sucess. Gaming has been at full speed with minimal CPU throttling. Maximizing the airflow is now my goal.

I'll try to post pictures later - but you get the idea. Not rocket science - but it's the best thing I could think of.

slagmi · #9 Post by **slagmi** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:06 pm

Interesting.

Cranking up the video ram and dac with the RAD utility yet?
If so how high?

a31pguy · #10 Post by **a31pguy** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 4:21 pm

Interesting.

Cranking up the video ram and dac with the RAD utility yet?
If so how high?

Yes - but before the mods - I tried with the RAD utility. But the first message that comes back is that it's an unsupported chipset. That said - I promply ignored the warning.

I did start cranking it up looking for artifacts - but since I was seeing thermal thresholds being hit on the CPU - I was afraid of frying my video card and CPU.

After some more testing of airflow - I might give it another shot. But carefully. I have burned out video cards before and the prospect was not comforting.

I might try the T40 method of cooling the GPU chip by connecting a heat pipe kit from the GPU to the CPU cooler.

Cooling the GPU even more for overclocking the GPU and memory would require an even robust cooling strategy. The T-series cooling system is similar to the T42p Long CPU cooler.
To the right of the cpu cooler is the heat pipe to the GPU cooler. I'm brainstorming on this one a bit more and take a trip to Fry's to see what I can find as far as heat pipe components are concerned.

jeff w · #11 Post by **jeff w** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 7:33 pm

JHEM wrote:James,

Both the A31p and T30 will max out at 2GB, not the 1GB reported by IBM. This is more due to the fact that there weren't any 1GB sticks around when they were released than any ignorance on IBM's part.

JHEM
I think I read elsewhere that the A31p can take 2 x 1 GB memory sticks. Are there any changes needed to BIOS or O/S when increasing RAM?, or is it simply a matter of inserting the new memory chips?

Can you recommend a reputable source for chips?

Many thanks,
Jeff

a31pguy · #12 Post by **a31pguy** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 9:17 pm

I know I'm not JHEM. He may have a better line on a source besides IBM. But the sticks run about $240 - $350 for 1 gb DDR-SDRAM 2700 (EDGE Memory) IBM Part number is 31P9834. The A31p was designed for 2100 memory but will accept 2700 memory with no problem.

You should have at least 1.10 BIOS as far as I can tell. A phillips head screw driver (and an anti-static strap for your wrist) should be all that you need.

JHEM · #13 Post by **JHEM** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:02 pm

jeff w wrote:I think I read elsewhere that the A31p can take 2 x 1 GB memory sticks. Are there any changes needed to BIOS or O/S when increasing RAM?, or is it simply a matter of inserting the new memory chips?

No "hacking" involved, just need to have an up to date BIOS.

jeff w wrote:Can you recommend a reputable source for chips?

Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 111&depa=0

1GB PC2700 $149.99 Just got four of them and they work great in my T30, T40, T41p and T42p.

Regards,

James

stingbandel · #14 Post by **stingbandel** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 8:48 am

JHEM wrote:
jeff w wrote:I think I read elsewhere that the A31p can take 2 x 1 GB memory sticks. Are there any changes needed to BIOS or O/S when increasing RAM?, or is it simply a matter of inserting the new memory chips?
No "hacking" involved, just need to have an up to date BIOS.
jeff w wrote:Can you recommend a reputable source for chips?
Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 111&depa=0

1GB PC2700 $149.99 Just got four of them and they work great in my T30, T40, T41p and T42p.

Regards,

James

To those of you who use the PC2700, do you feel the difference using the 2700 instead of the 2100?

What I have right now is 1GB PC2100, if I change to 1GB 2700, will there be any difference in performance?

thank you

JHEM · #15 Post by **JHEM** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 9:02 am

stingbandel wrote:To those of you who use the PC2700, do you feel the difference using the 2700 instead of the 2100?

What I have right now is 1GB PC2100, if I change to 1GB 2700, will there be any difference in performance?

No improvement in performance with the PC2700 over a stick of PC2100.

In the T30 and the A31 machines the PC2700 memory will only run at PC2100 speed, so there's no improvement simply because of the stick's potential to run at a faster speed. Same goes for the T40, T41, etc.

Regards,

James

jeff w · #16 Post by **jeff w** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 6:44 pm

Thanks for all the quality responses.

Let me see if I can summarize so far. Increased RAM (to 2 GB) and new HD (7K60) seem to be the best ways to increase performance without incurring greater heat issues. Increasing processor (up to 2.6 GHz) is costly and brings on heat issues.

I run Seagate 100GB HD in the left-side ultrabay (5400 rpm, 8MB cache), so a cooling fan isn't an option.

Has anyone tried to increase USB from native ver 1.1 to ver 2.0? If so, how did you go about it?

Many thanks,
Jeff

JHEM · #17 Post by **JHEM** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 7:39 pm

jeff w wrote:Has anyone tried to increase USB from native ver 1.1 to ver 2.0? If so, how did you go about it?

Can't be done internally as it would require changing chips on the MB.

Fully functional combo USB2.0/Firewire PC cards are widely available on eBay for less than $20 and non-combo ones for less than $10.

Regards,

James

a31pguy · #18 Post by **a31pguy** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 7:45 pm

Well, under normal loads - the 2.6 adn 2.4 cpu are NOT an issue. But for gaming and other intensive applications, I have found that the thermal limits of the CPU are tripped.

slagmi · #19 Post by **slagmi** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 8:17 am

One of the best 'upgrades' you can do on an A31/A31p is find an LCD panel for a T2x and swap.

No more yellowish tint and instant increase in brightness 20-25%.

IMO it wasn't a good move to save a few bucks on the panel as it appears IBM has done. Just a few short years ago Thinkpads were known for their bright, brilliant, flawless display. But put the A31 with the stock screen side by side next to just about any other brand of notebook and it doesen't look good.

JHEM · #20 Post by **JHEM** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 8:47 am

slagmi wrote:One of the best 'upgrades' you can do on an A31/A31p is find an LCD panel for a T2x and swap.

No more yellowish tint and instant increase in brightness 20-25%.

This is, simply put, nonsense WRT the UXGA-IPS displays in the A30p or A31p.

Regards,

James

slagmi · #21 Post by **slagmi** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 8:52 am

Yea the higher end ones look alright but the low end Samsing XGA- dont have the model # in front of me now- used in many A31's - not good! It's a shame when you can get a screen off a 2 or 3 year older notebook and it looks better!

a31pguy · #22 Post by **a31pguy** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 11:50 am

slagmi wrote:Yea the higher end ones look alright but the low end Samsing XGA- dont have the model # in front of me now- used in many A31's - not good! It's a shame when you can get a screen off a 2 or 3 year older notebook and it looks better!

I'd have to agree with JHEM about this. Beside the fact the my a31p screen is getting somewhat long in the tooth - it's hands down the best quality screen that I've ever owned in a laptop (really!).

slagmi · #23 Post by **slagmi** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 9:46 am

I've replaced the lcd's on 2 A31's in the last month.

Both were Samsung LTN141X8-L00 / 05K9677. Though they work, backlight and all, and have no bad pixels, they aren't even worth reselling IMO. I've got a reputation to uphold! I'll keep one as a test unit.

To be fair, these aren't new units. Maybe that model doesn't age well.
Maybe it's just dumb luck.

fongj · #24 Post by **fongj** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 1:43 pm

JHEM wrote:
jeff w wrote:Can you recommend a reputable source for chips?
Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 111&depa=0

1GB PC2700 $149.99 Just got four of them and they work great in my T30, T40, T41p and T42p.

Today only: Kingmax 1gb PC2700 SODIMM is $139 (+tax for some) with free shipping, and a free laptop bag.

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product. ... 6820155111

Edit:
Whoa... I just noticed my post looks like I'm advertising for newegg (especially since I'm such a newbie here).

I have an A31p (2653-xx9, which is a refurbished 2653-H5U), so I was looking through this thread and others to see if I should get the RAM mentioned above. I already have two 256mb sticks in, but that's pathetic for the powerhouse that the A31p is supposed to be. I'm glad to hear that I can keep one of the 256mb sticks in, and go above the "maximum" 1gb limitation. I might sell off the other to offset the cost of the 1gb stick. (I'm a poor college student).

I currently have an 80gb Toshiba hard drive. I wanted a 76K0, but Dell stopped selling them right before I got enough funds to replace my dead hard drive (60gb Travelstar). I have a Ultrabay 2nd HDD adapter (amazon.com has the best price for a new one, in case you're looking), but no hard drive in it yet.

Hopefully the additional memory will help with ridiculous slowdowns that happen when I open a big Powerpoint (200+mb), or let me work on making videos (Vegas 5.0) instead.

a31pguy · #25 Post by **a31pguy** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 2:19 pm

fongj wrote:Today only: 1gb PC2700 SODIMM for $139 (+tax for some) with free shipping, and a free laptop bag.

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product. ... 6820155111

Edit:
Whoa... I just noticed my post looks like I'm advertising for newegg (especially since I'm such a newbie here).

Edited by Moderator: Trim your quotes.

I'm still debating the update to 2 Gb. Since Corsair only makes XMS in 512 SODIMMS and not the 1 GB SODIMMS - It's either get the faster Corsair XMS RAM or more of it. I have 1 Gb now and I don't have any problems with running out of memory. Seems like the better thing for me would be faster RAM and a 7200 rpm drive - the Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100 GB drive should be at the retailers by the end of may - so I may wait.

slagmi · #26 Post by **slagmi** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 3:01 pm

Unfortunately, you don't have a way to tweak the latency or any other RAM related setting in the IBM BIOS, so I'm not sure that you would see any measurable difference at all with the XMS. But if you try it be sure and let us know please!

a31pguy · #27 Post by **a31pguy** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 3:12 pm

slagmi wrote:Unfortunately, you don't have a way to tweak the latency or any other RAM related setting in the IBM BIOS, so I'm not sure that you would see any measurable difference at all with the XMS. But if you try it be sure and let us know please!

I read your post and look into it deeper. Some people with T42p systems have had problems with it for the reasons you've said - no way to configure in the BIOS and problems with BSOD when running for a couple of hours. Timing is the issue. Too fast for unmodified Thinkpads.

So I bit the bullet and went for 2 GB of ram.

slagmi · #28 Post by **slagmi** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 11:08 pm

Don't forget it's an 845 chipset + ati m7...diminishing returns on investment at some point... after you upgrade everything you can then you're stuck with what you can't... but it is fun getting there though! Plus your HDD can move on when you do..

a31pguy · #29 Post by **a31pguy** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 1:40 pm

True - but for XP it's sufficient for now.

But the features I would be looking for in my next machine:

Three spindle machine.
Bluetooth
WiMax or WiFi G
USB 2.0
Firewire 800 mbps
Docking station with PCI slot + PCMCIA
Dual Layer DVD/HD DVD/Blu-Ray DVD + DVD-ROM/DVDR
CD-R/CD-RW
legacy serial port
USB ports
Touchpad
Modem
1000gb Ethernet
SD card slot
PCMCIA

Nice to haves:

Dual Core Processor
24-bit Sound
RAID with striping
Two batteries

The T42p and T43p are nice. But The price to feature comparison of all of the current laptops don't justifiy the switch yet. I don't think this machine will appear within the next year or so. By that time Longhorn will be out so .
Here are Microsoft's Longhorn minimum hardware recommendations:

Desktop CPU: 3 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor with HyperThreading Technology 530 (or higher) or 3 GHz Intel Xeon processor with 2 MB L2 cache, or AMD Athlon 64, Sempron, or Opteron 100, 200, or 800 processor, single or dual-core versions.

Mobile CPU: 1.86 GHz Intel Pentium M processor 750 (or higher), or AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technology, Mobile Sempron, or Mobile Athlon 64 processor.

RAM: 512 MB of RAM or more, all platforms.

Graphics Minimum: 64M Native DirectX 9 3D rendering engine.

#30 Post by **daeojkim** » Wed Apr 27, 2005 4:02 pm

These are "minimum" recommended specs?
Holy cow...
I guess I will be using XP for a very long time..... until fast enough dual core processor laptops become affordable.

options to increase A31p performance

options to increase A31p performance

Problems with performance.

One way around the heat problem on the A31p

easy

video

IBM part number is 31P9834

cooling

UXGA

1gb SoDimm sticks on sale @ newegg.com

Re: 1gb SoDimm sticks on sale @ newegg.com

Agreed

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