Fastest CPU for X31? + more RAM + 7200rpm HDD?

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nolifer · #1 Post by **nolifer** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 3:53 am

*edit*

CPU upgrading isn't interesting anymore.

Now whether I should get 2*512MB or 512MB+1024MB RAM?

And should I upgrade my 80GB/5400rpm to 80GB/7200rpm?

stgreek · #2 Post by **stgreek** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 7:30 am

nolifer wrote:Can I change my cpu to faster? And if I can, what is the fastest what x31 supports?

Any chance to Intel Pentium M 760 (2,0GHz)?

*edit*

Now 1,4GHz.

And is it worth changing from 1,4GHz to 2,0GHz?

You can change your CPU, but only if you want to take the risk as if by mistake you ruin anything on the MB IBM won't fix it under warranty (in fact I think changeing the proc voids warranty as well). I believe the X31 will accomodate the 2.0 CPU, with some concerns for heat, although P-M usually has low heat output even at high frequencies.

As for your question if it is worth changing, it is if you have a cheap 2.0 around, are willing to risk it and do CPU intensive activities (like programming). Otherwise enjoy your 1.4 X31, it is a pretty good laptop as it is

Thinkpaddict · #3 Post by **Thinkpaddict** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 8:02 am

I thought the CPU in all X series Thinkpads was soldered to the systemboard.
Does the X31 have a socketed CPU?

bhtooefr · #4 Post by **bhtooefr** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 8:31 am

Well, seeing as Intel never sold a 1.7GHz BGA (soldered) Banias, I'd say that it's socketed.

The X3 certainly is thick enough for a socket...

nolifer · #5 Post by **nolifer** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 9:24 am

Warranty is a big question, because it would expire somewhere 2007. So if I lose warranty by changing cpu, I'd say it's not worth it...

Mainly I use photoshop for editing images. How about extra ram, and how much? Now I have 512MB + 256MB. I could quite easily change that 256MB to 512MB, so I'd have 1024MB of RAM.

Opinions?

PS. Sorry for my bad english

Deckard · #6 Post by **Deckard** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 9:29 am

Hi nolifer,

definitely upgrade to 1GB RAM. My X31 came with 512mb and I upgraded to 1GB. It made a huge difference, it became a lot faster.

nolifer · #7 Post by **nolifer** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 9:42 am

And what about upgrading to 1,5GB

Just checked that new Crucial 1GB for X31 is 174 EUR /w shipping. What would you do, 512MB Crucial is 73 EUR /w shipping.

Deckard · #8 Post by **Deckard** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 9:49 am

I'd get another 512mb, 1GB should be enough.

But it's like in the cars, you can never have enough horsepower

nolifer · #9 Post by **nolifer** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 2:33 pm

Any more opinions?

1GB vs. 1,5GB

Would I regret if I'd buy only 512MB more?

Deckard · #10 Post by **Deckard** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 2:54 pm

You might regret getting 'only' 512mb, if you decide to upgrade to 2GB in the future, because you'll have to get 2 x 1GB chips.

But if you get 1 x 1GB chip now, all you'll need will be to pay for another 1 GB chip.

@RT · #11 Post by **@RT** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 7:58 pm

1 GB of RAM total + new 7,200 rpm harddisk will help a lot

wingman · #12 Post by **wingman** » Sat Sep 24, 2005 11:06 pm

I have the same system as yours (x31, 1.4 GHZ) with 1.5 GB of RAM. If you can go two GB do it, but make sure that you get as much as you can. It makes all the difference in the world. I do a lot of video editing, photoshopping, etc, and it really helps. I also have a 5400 rpm HD, which helps a lot as well. If I could have afforded it, I would have gone with the 7200, but for my needs, my system works fine.

nolifer · #13 Post by **nolifer** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 2:48 am

@RT wrote:1 GB of RAM total + new 7,200 rpm harddisk will help a lot

Just bought 80GB 5400rpm Seagate Momentus.

stgreek · #14 Post by **stgreek** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 4:11 am

If you are into Photoshop then the memory upgrade will give far better results than the CPU upgrade and it won't void your warranty. Although usually 1GB is enough, go and get a GB stick, that way if you need to upgrade to 2 GB later you only need to change your 512 MB stick, as others have already suggested. I really hope you are using an external monitor though, as Photoshop on XGA is just, well, painful

nolifer · #15 Post by **nolifer** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 11:13 am

Yes, I have 17" Eizo LCD. When I'm using 12" + 17" displays, it feels that it swaps more than with only laptop's 12" display.

bhtooefr · #16 Post by **bhtooefr** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:12 pm

Hmm...

Chances are, it's simply the fact that you've got more screen area, so you're using it with more apps.

dmdsoftware · #17 Post by **dmdsoftware** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 1:21 pm

@RT wrote:1 GB of RAM total + new 7,200 rpm harddisk will help a lot

Yep, simply blazes with this config.

nolifer · #18 Post by **nolifer** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 1:37 pm

I think that I won't change that HDD now, because that 80GB/5400rpm is only couple months old. And new 60GB/7200rpm is quite expensive.

I just can't decide whether to buy 512MB or 1024MB

dmdsoftware · #19 Post by **dmdsoftware** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 2:53 pm

nolifer wrote:I think that I won't change that HDD now, because that 80GB/5400rpm is only couple months old. And new 60GB/7200rpm is quite expensive.

I just can't decide whether to buy 512MB or 1024MB

Comparing my T42 with 2GB RAM and 5400rpm drive and my X30 with 1GB RAM and 7200rpm, the X30 outperforms my T42 on almost all routine tasks, despite the T42 has a significantly faster processor and twice the amount of RAM. On startup alone, the X30 is 3 times as fast as the T42 (they both have ibm factory images, reimaged at the same time).

Of course, if you use memory intensive applications such as VMWare, then the more memory is the best. Nothing short from 1.5GB will do.

To conclude, unless you find yourself always running out of memory space at 1GB, the best performance tuning you can do is to buy yourself the faster drive.

dmdsoftware · #20 Post by **dmdsoftware** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:01 pm

Getting back to the original question, upgrading the CPU should be the last thing you should attempt.

In my opinion, these are the order of best performance gains for your buck, in order of greatest performance boost:

1) upgrade to 1GB from 512mb (no noticable added heat or no noticable deterioration of battery performance).
2) upgrade to 7200rpm drive (no noticable added heat or no noticable deterioration of battery performance).
3) upgrade to 2GB or 1.5GB from 1GB (only if you find yourself running out of memory consistenly) (no noticable added heat or no noticable deterioration of battery performance).
...
...
10) upgrade your CPU from 1.4GHz to 2GHz (and suffer more heat and deterioration of battery performance)

nolifer · #21 Post by **nolifer** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:13 pm

Is Hitachi 7K60 the only 7200rpm drive? Or are there others?

bhtooefr · #22 Post by **bhtooefr** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:21 pm

Well, Hitachi's also got the 7K100, a 100GB drive.

Seagate's also got the Momentus 7200.1, which is either an 80 or 100GB drive.

nolifer · #23 Post by **nolifer** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 10:47 pm

bhtooefr wrote:Well, Hitachi's also got the 7K100, a 100GB drive.

Seagate's also got the Momentus 7200.1, which is either an 80 or 100GB drive.

Which one is better?

YukYukLee · #24 Post by **YukYukLee** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 11:03 pm

I think 1gb is enough for any computer\laptop.. just because if u have anything more than 1gb it might slow down your cpu because it has to render thru the memory etc etc

nolifer · #25 Post by **nolifer** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 11:20 pm

Seagate Momentus 7200.1 (80 Gt, 7200 RPM) - 220 EUR
Hitachi TravelStar 7K100 (80 Gt, 7200 RPM) - 190 EUR

Which one you would buy?

domi · #26 Post by **domi** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 12:19 am

nolifer wrote:I think that I won't change that HDD now, because that 80GB/5400rpm is only couple months old. And new 60GB/7200rpm is quite expensive.

I had a 60GB/7200rpm drive (Hitachi) in my X31 for a brief period of time. I found that it caused vibrations when the X31 was put on a hard surface (wooden desk). Nothing extreme, but definitely noticeable. I switched to a 60GB/5400 rpm drive (Toshiba) and the vibrations stopped. I find it fast enough for my needs. I have 2GB of RAM in my X31. If I were you, I'd stick with the 5400 rpm drive and invest in more RAM.

-Dominique

nolifer · #27 Post by **nolifer** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 12:41 am

domi wrote: I had a 60GB/7200rpm drive (Hitachi) in my X31 for a brief period of time. I found that it caused vibrations when the X31 was put on a hard surface (wooden desk). Nothing extreme, but definitely noticeable. I switched to a 60GB/5400 rpm drive (Toshiba) and the vibrations stopped. I find it fast enough for my needs. I have 2GB of RAM in my X31. If I were you, I'd stick with the 5400 rpm drive and invest in more RAM.

-Dominique

Ok, that sound good

Because if I sell that 80GB/5400rpm I lose money

stgreek · #28 Post by **stgreek** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 5:02 am

domi wrote:
nolifer wrote:I think that I won't change that HDD now, because that 80GB/5400rpm is only couple months old. And new 60GB/7200rpm is quite expensive.
I had a 60GB/7200rpm drive (Hitachi) in my X31 for a brief period of time. I found that it caused vibrations when the X31 was put on a hard surface (wooden desk). Nothing extreme, but definitely noticeable. I switched to a 60GB/5400 rpm drive (Toshiba) and the vibrations stopped. I find it fast enough for my needs. I have 2GB of RAM in my X31. If I were you, I'd stick with the 5400 rpm drive and invest in more RAM.

-Dominique

On the other hand, the 7k60 in my X31 doesnt make a single hiss or vibration, and emits MUCH less heat than the 40g 5400 drive it replaced, so YMMV. If you can afford it, the 7k60 is a BIG improvement over a 5400 drive, but I would also probably go for RAM first.

nolifer · #29 Post by **nolifer** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 5:07 am

stgreek wrote:If you can afford it, the 7k60 is a BIG improvement over a 5400 drive, but I would also probably go for RAM first.

Why some people say that the big improvement is 4200rpm -> 5400rpm and 5400rpm -> 7200rpm is not so big difference?

Is it because different laptops have different bottlenecks or what?

bhtooefr · #30 Post by **bhtooefr** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 5:13 am

Probably because of interfaces...

If the interface can't handle the added speed of the 7200RPM drive, then the speed will be wasted.

That said, I've heard the stories about loud vibrations with 7200RPM drives in X31s and 32s. The secret, from what I've heard, is making sure it's mounted correctly.

Fastest CPU for X31? + more RAM + 7200rpm HDD?

Fastest CPU for X31? + more RAM + 7200rpm HDD?

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