x31 2672 160gb 2gb xp sp3 1.7hz what can I do to speed it up

[jayqi]

I know this is flogging the dead horse but it was a pressie from mummy. I am trying to run some Adobe CS5 progs on it and...

I've ordered an SSD 60gb and I am going to try Windows7. But is there anything I can do with it...even if I have to get the soldering iron out? Eg, is there anyway one can input more ram?

Thx, Jay

[Harryc]

2GB is max on RAM for an X31. The SSD should add quite a bit of speed. No other improvements to be made that I am aware of.

[jayqi]

A mobo of a dead end or built-in obsolecence? I can't believe there is no way one can't soup up an old laptop. The trouble is I am not computer-savvy enough to know what the design contraints are but thanks for the reply.

[Harryc]

Laptops are not as upgradeable as desktops. Usually you can upgrade the CPU, RAM, and hard drive, that's it. Sometimes you can overclock the CPU/GPU. Unfortunately you've chosen a laptop that is an ultra-portable and has a CPU that is soldered onto the systemboard.

[sojourner]

Harryc covered the main hardware components to look at when wanting to speed things up (HDD and RAM).

There is another area to look at but you said "I am not computer-savvy enough to know what the design contraints are" so I hesitate to mention this, but hey, nothing ventured nothing gained.

Have you looked at your mom's software setup? One could have the fastest most powerful computer hardware on the planet but absolutely cripple it with software! Does she use a bloated, 'bog down the computer' virus program, in addition to a malware program, in addition to a spyware program (well, you get it)? Does she have scores of programs launching at boot (I have 28, and have heard of 80+)? OR, have you noticed whether a program is a CPU hog? If you have even ONE program which is a CPU hog you could see poor performance! Also, if it doesn't have virus, malware and spyware scanners you may have an infected PC and the slow-down could be due to that.

It may help to do a Ctrl-Alt-Del in XP, press 'T' (for task manager window), click 'Processes' tab and report back with how many processes are running (bottom left corner). Next click 'Performance' tab and view CPU usage. What numbers (percent) do you see? Mine shows 0-4%.

Hope you get it figured out. I have an X31 and absolutely love it. Sure, the 16meg video is a thumbs down but heck, I can even play HD videos on it without a hickup! It too is a 1.7GHz with 2GB ram and it flies.

[jayqi]

You're right. The X31 is really neat. Apart from who gave it to me, I enjoy using it for itself, the way one does anything that integrates into you. I get the same kick when I get on my road bike - it becomes an extension of yourself.

Brill. I have spent the morning looking this. I discovered a Troj Gen17 and another one. CPU usage was down 1-3% until I went online, then with nothing else loaded it was 12-20%! And I also pulled the services back to 30 from about 40.

I'm buying a KingSpec SSD 64gb, which I want to complement with a 32CF udma. I will caddy the existing HDD and use it for storage. I think that will give the X31 a new lease of life.

But thanks. I am still ironing out the bugs.

[sjthinkpader]

The Kingspec PATA is really a deadend device, low end controller and expensive to boot. Almost same price as a top ranking intel SSD. If you are serious about SSD, go for a SATA platform. My apologies to George bashing him on promoting X6x.

[jayqi]

Thanks for the tip on the Kingspec. But an x31 cannot convert to Sata except externally, which kind of defeats the whole purpose. Can you advise on the fastest ide SSD. And the sky is not the limit. I may settle for an expensive 32gb ssd for the OS and my working files and use a big CFII for extra data. Is that viable?

Jay

[sjthinkpader]

X31 with a 2.5 inch slot is in better position than X4x and I use a Transcend SSD with pretty good results. At least you have warranty coverage with Transcend.

[jayqi]

But I just had a quick gander at the write and read times of the Kingspec and Transcend 64gb SSD ide and the Kingspec knocks spots - according the the quoted performance - off the Transcend.

The Transcend 2.5" IDE Laptop Drive MLC

* High quality genuine Transcend product
* 64GB Solid state laptop Flash memory
* Fast read and write speeds
* Read up to 26MB/s, Write up to 13MB/s

I mean that is snail pace. Or have I got this wrong?

[AvalonXIII]

I think he means this:
http://www.transcendusa.com/Products/Mo ... unc2No=171