Speeding up a T23

Message

asiafish · #1 Post by **asiafish** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:24 pm

Okay, so I just bought a 1.13GHz T23 here on the forum and want to maximize it. I've already got a 512MB module to slot in next to whatever smaller module is in there, and a 7K60 Hitchai 7200 RPM hard drive.

Question 1 - Is the T23 modern enough to benefit from the fast hard drive, or should I instead put in one of my 5400 RPM drives?

Question 2 - Does "matching" my memory modules make any real difference in a T23? I'm not sure if its got a pair of 128s or a single 256, but would it be faster with just the 512MB module installed and an empty slot, or adding the smaller module to my 512?

Any other tricks? I'm not looking to pour a lot of money into it, so a faster processor is probably out of reach.

Andrew

#2 Post by **rkawakami** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:45 pm

AFAIK, the maximum CPU you can put into the T23 is 1.20GHz; not much better than what you already have. As I am not a CPU upgrade expert, possibly somebody else can confirm or deny my statement. As far as the memory goes, I don't believe that you need to "match" the memory. My rule has always been to add as much memory as possible to prevent disk-swapping. The T23 can support a maximum of 1GB. A couple of my T23s are already setup with this much memory.

You would benefit from the faster 7200rpm drive over the 5400 or 4200rpm models.

asiafish · #3 Post by **asiafish** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:10 pm

Thanks. As I said CPU is fine as it is, looking for other ways to maximize it. Will probably go with Windows 2000 instead of XP, keep the eye-candy off and use the 7200 RPM drive and as much RAM as I've got. 512MB modules are getting pricey, so as long as not being matched doesn't hurt it, I'll run 640MB or 768MB, depending on whether it comes with a single 256 or a pair of 128s.

#4 Post by **rkawakami** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:15 pm

I've been lucky in the last couple of weeks to get 512MB PC133 modules for slightly less than $45 each (shipped) off of eBay. I'm still fishing there for a couple of more...

asiafish · #5 Post by **asiafish** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 6:18 pm

Great price.

cinemafia · #6 Post by **cinemafia** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:24 pm

asiafish wrote:Thanks. As I said CPU is fine as it is, looking for other ways to maximize it. Will probably go with Windows 2000 instead of XP, keep the eye-candy off and use the 7200 RPM drive and as much RAM as I've got. 512MB modules are getting pricey, so as long as not being matched doesn't hurt it, I'll run 640MB or 768MB, depending on whether it comes with a single 256 or a pair of 128s.

Depending on what your needs are, you might be better off running XP, but in 'Classic Mode' (it looks almost exactly like 2k).

asiafish · #7 Post by **asiafish** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:29 pm

On this machine the important things are keeping it simple and fast. I need to be able to work in Word, load web pages quickly in Firefox, and the only really demanding task, watch TV shows downloaded through iTunes. I don't know why, but iTunes requires some serious horsepower for video playback.

pianowizard · #8 Post by **pianowizard** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:36 pm

asiafish wrote:I don't know why, but iTunes requires some serious horsepower for video playback.

The second T23 that I owned (1.2GHz/640MB/5400rpm/SXGA+/16bit color/XP classic mode) was barely powerful enough to play iTunes files of TV shows. There was a minor problem with the playback but I don't remember what it was, maybe it sometimes looked a little choppy. Had I gotten a 7200rpm HDD and increased the RAM further, it could have been better.

asiafish · #9 Post by **asiafish** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:41 pm

Could also be the SXGA+ screen. It takes a lot more to drive 1440X1050 pixels than 1024X768.

pianowizard · #10 Post by **pianowizard** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:45 pm

asiafish wrote:Could also be the SXGA+ screen. It takes a lot more to drive 1440X1050 pixels than 1024X768.

I remember now, I always stepped it down to 1024x768 or even 800x600 while playing iTunes files. I don't remember if that helped a whole lot though.

beeblebrox · #11 Post by **beeblebrox** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:22 am

pianowizard wrote:
asiafish wrote:Could also be the SXGA+ screen. It takes a lot more to drive 1440X1050 pixels than 1024X768.
I remember now, I always stepped it down to 1024x768 or even 800x600 while playing iTunes files. I don't remember if that helped a whole lot though.

No, the problem is Quicktime 7.1.3 in iTunes.
It is a crappy implementation on windows. I have video problems on a 1.8Ghz Centrino machine, too.

When I play the same video in the Quicktime player, it is perfect. Playing it in iTunes with Quicktime is a nightmare sometimes.
Unfortunately, iTunes turns into a bloatware monster...

pianowizard · #12 Post by **pianowizard** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:36 pm

beeblebrox wrote:No, the problem is Quicktime 7.1.3 in iTunes.
It is a crappy implementation on windows. I have video problems on a 1.8Ghz Centrino machine, too.

But somehow, when I play the same iTunes files using the same software in WinXP Pro on other machines (including a 2.53GHz Celeron D Dell Dimension desktop, a 1.86GHz Pentium M T43, and a 1.2GHz Pentium M X40), they run perfectly fine.

TomKroscavage · #13 Post by **TomKroscavage** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:31 pm

I have a T23 that I upgraded from a 800Mhz CPU to a 1.13Ghz CPU. It made some difference but the Arctic Silver I used made a huge difference. The biggest difference came when I upgraded to a 7200RPM hard drive. There was also a noticeable improvement when I upgraded from 128K to 640K. There was no change when I upgraded to 1G. At this point, Auto Cad would load on this computer in 5 to 10 seconds. However, video would get choppy when I would spin three dimensional objects and the CPU would max out. I found a link on this site for video drivers from someone in Korea and when I upgraded to the new drivers the choppiness in 3-D cad went away. And the CPU hits 95% maximum usage on my most detailed 3-D objects.

jamiphar · #14 Post by **jamiphar** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 8:05 pm

Spirit-1776 wrote:...I found a link on this site for video drivers from someone in Korea and when I upgraded to the new drivers the choppiness in 3-D cad went away. And the CPU hits 95% maximum usage on my most detailed 3-D objects.

Would you be able to provide the link for that driver? I wouldn't mind trying it on my T23.

TonyJZX · #15 Post by **TonyJZX** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 8:21 pm

i would like any recommendation on video drivers

i think right now the s3 video is the biggest problem

it has poor acceleration of video and i think it chugs at bit if you ask it to drive a 1,280 @ 32bit external LCD.

TomKroscavage · #16 Post by **TomKroscavage** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 8:51 pm

The file name is ChroMetal49_2kxp.exe its about 27.2Mb it took me an hour to figure out how to download it last time because of the foreign language.

jamiphar · #17 Post by **jamiphar** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 9:05 pm

Spirit-1776 wrote:The file name is ChroMetal49_2kxp.exe its about 27.2Mb it took me an hour to figure out how to download it last time because of the foreign language.

Yeesh. I found the page....which question mark do I click on?

TomKroscavage · #18 Post by **TomKroscavage** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 9:16 pm

Heres the link
http://manian.dreamwiz.com/software/vie ... e=01070199
Click on the pink arrow that is pointing down

jamiphar · #19 Post by **jamiphar** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 10:39 pm

Spirit-1776 wrote:Heres the link
http://manian.dreamwiz.com/software/vie ... e=01070199
Click on the pink arrow that is pointing down

Thanks, that worked.

Asiafish, sorry to hijack the thread.

TomKroscavage · #20 Post by **TomKroscavage** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 1:38 pm

Question 1 - Is the T23 modern enough to benefit from the fast hard drive, or should I instead put in one of my 5400 RPM drives?

Yes, a fast hard drive is it is the best money you can spend on a T23. I like the k7100. Don't skimp here.

Nolonemo · #21 Post by **Nolonemo** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:23 pm

Spirit-1776 wrote:Yes, a fast hard drive is it is the best money you can spend on a T23. I like the k7100. Don't skimp here.

After you max out the RAM, that is (IMO).

BlueDevilTide · #22 Post by **BlueDevilTide** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:57 pm

I've got a 1.13ghz, 7200rpm drive, and about to improve from 640mb to 1 gig of RAM soon. I love it, personally.

I don't use iTunes so I can't verify its video problems. I have trouble watching a massive, full HD quality video because of choppiness. Short of that, never had a problem. I run 1024x768x32 on the TP and a 1600x1200x16 on an external, extended desktop. Watching videos is great in VLC or mplayer2.exe.

pianowizard · #23 Post by **pianowizard** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:11 pm

Just for your info, based on the OP's signature, it looks like he no longer has the T23 for which he started this thread.

#24 Post by **dorronto** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:35 am

pianowizard wrote:Just for your info, based on the OP's signature, it looks like he no longer has the T23 for which he started this thread.

That is correct. I have it now and it's speed is fine with me.

Ron

Speeding up a T23

Speeding up a T23

Re: Speeding up a T23

Who is online