Upgrade memory, or ditch the t61p entirely?

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bkrodgers · #1 Post by **bkrodgers** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:07 pm

I have a t61p that's a few months shy of 3 years. It's got a T9300 processor (Core 2 Duo, 6M Cache, 2.50 GHz, 800 MHz FSB), and 3GB of RAM. It's been getting a bit sluggish lately. The 3GB of memory seems to be one bottleneck. I usually hover around 70-80% use, with it often heading into 80-90% range, and into the 90+% range at times. I don't usually see it at 100%, but it seems like Windows starts using virtual memory more aggressively before 100%. I can definitely feel the lag switching once I'm up to 80% or higher. The CPU also can be a bottleneck at times though, but I think memory may be the bigger problem. It's also much easier and cheaper to upgrade.

I'm debating whether to upgrade to either 4GB or 6GB (not sure I need 6, pretty sure I don't need

, or whether I should start thinking about a new machine entirely. I'm already on Win 7 64-bit, so I'm ready for the memory upgrade. Obviously, there's a huge difference in price between upgrading from 3GB to either 4GB (~$27) or 6GB (~$60) and buying a whole new high end laptop for $1000-1500. I've still got 15 months of warranty left, and I replaced the battery a year or so ago, so I don't expect any maintenance or repair costs to come up. Naturally, getting some more time out of the t61p would be nice.

If I replaced, I'd wait for the new generation of i5 or (more likely) i7 to be available. But I wonder just how much better these laptops would be over my current laptop with a memory bump. I do use my laptop for some development stuff (Java and Android), though at the moment it's mostly hobbyist stuff (I have a work laptop for the day job). When I'm doing that, I can have Eclipse, an app server, and sometimes a Virtualbox VM running. Other than that, most of the time it's the usual stuff -- web browsing (often with lots of tabs), photos, video, and some basic productivity. I'm just not sure whether upgrading my memory will do enough to solve my problems. But on the flip side, I don't know whether the current generation of processors has really advanced all that much to justify a full system upgrade yet. Is there anyone out there who's used a loaded i5 or i7 based system and compared it to a T9300 based system with 4-6GB memory who can offer any guidance?

Thanks!
-Brian

miscthree · #2 Post by **miscthree** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:53 pm

You probably know this but a nice fresh install of the OS and apps always will breathe new life into a machine...

If you're running vm's you'll want all the ram you can throw at it..

I dread having to reinstall all my apps and OS, not to mention that every time I reinstall the system, the machine is different in a lot of ways but once it's done, it feels like a brand new machine.

I haven't bought a brand new laptop in over 10 years, as prices always drop so far so fast..

bkrodgers · #3 Post by **bkrodgers** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 4:54 pm

miscthree wrote:You probably know this but a nice fresh install of the OS and apps always will breathe new life into a machine...

If you're running vm's you'll want all the ram you can throw at it..

I dread having to reinstall all my apps and OS, not to mention that every time I reinstall the system, the machine is different in a lot of ways but once it's done, it feels like a brand new machine.

This is true, and I've thought about doing that too. I dread it as well though.

Part of the reason I went with the 4 year warranty was because I figured at the time that chips were no longer evolving as fast as they had before. I'm just not sure if that's really panned out though. Those Sandy Bridge CPUs with 4 cores + Hyperthreading looks mighty sweet. Of course, there's always something better out now than there was 3 years ago, and there will be something better out a year from now. Decisions, decisions.

I'm thinking that spending $60 to move to 6GB is probably a good choice. Right now I've got a 1GB and a 2GB chip, so I'd replace the 1GB with a 4GB chip. I'd still be running asynchronous or "flex mode" dual channel (which I've been doing since day 1). A 2GB chip to go to 4GB total would match what I have, switch me to synchronous, and only be ~$27, but I'm not sure it's enough. I don't know if I need 8GB though, and that'd be $120. Newegg's got one of their 15% off laptop memory codes going through tonight (prices I mention include that), and aside from any thoughts of just upgrading the whole machine, it seems like 6GB total for $60 is a nice middle ground on the memory options.

miscthree · #4 Post by **miscthree** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 5:18 pm

Have you made sure that the motherboard would take advantage of 6 or more gigs of RAM?

If that t61p is mine, I'd order the biggest RAM I could, start reinstalling and reconfiguring the system, then install the RAM when it arrives. Then see how well it works. If it isn't working as you expected, RMA the RAM and be on the hunt for a newer refurbished/reconditioned machine..

Of course the best single upgrade you could make is to get a solid state drive..your machine will SCREAM.. not literally!

I have some other machines that are faster on paper than my 1.2 gHz x300 laptop but because they have traditional HDD's, they can't compete in startup speed, application startups, and general drive seeks.

Startup time to full ready on the x300 is about 45 seconds thanks to the ssd, not the CPU!

ajkula66 · #5 Post by **ajkula66** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 9:52 pm

Given that you have a nice chunk of warranty remaining, and a premium (for T61/p generation) CPU, I'd max out the RAM at 8GB and do a fresh install of whatever 64-bit OS you feel like running.

I'd also invest in a SSD and keep the current HD in the UltraBay for storage purposes, but that's me.

The good thing about this approach is that you'd be able to move the SSD into your next machine, when the time for upgrade comes.

My $0.02 only...

Good luck.

bkrodgers · #6 Post by **bkrodgers** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 10:12 pm

ajkula66 wrote:Given that you have a nice chunk of warranty remaining, and a premium (for T61/p generation) CPU, I'd max out the RAM at 8GB and do a fresh install of whatever 64-bit OS you feel like running.

I'd also invest in a SSD and keep the current HD in the UltraBay for storage purposes, but that's me.

The good thing about this approach is that you'd be able to move the SSD into your next machine, when the time for upgrade comes.

My $0.02 only...

Good luck.

Do you think I really need 8GB? I was thinking I'd pick up one 4GB stick tonight (6GB total), see how it does, and if I see a need to go to 8 total, I can pick up another one next time they do a sale. Since it's $60 to go to 6GB vs $120 to go to 8GB, and there's no point in having the extra 2GB if I never come close to using it. Or, do you think the performance increase of having matching modules and full dual-channel is going to be significant? I'm not sure how much of a difference there is between full dual channel and the "flex mode" or asynchronous dual channel that Santa Rosa supports. Unless that's going to be noticeably faster, I like the math on adding a 4GB chip to my existing 2GB chip the best, until I see a need for 8GB. I don't lose anything that way if I find I need more later, except needing to wait for the next deal.

My hangup on the SSD has always been the cost per GB and the loss of storage space that cost forces. The idea of putting a storage drive in the ultrabay is worth thinking about. Kind of sucks to need to pull it out when I want to rip a CD or otherwise use the drive, but that is pretty rare. I've heard SSD makes a huge difference though.

Thanks to both of you for the advice!

ajkula66 · #7 Post by **ajkula66** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 10:30 pm

I'm one of the people who can never have enough RAM, but your 6GB math sounds fine. As you've said, you can always swap the second DIMM later on if needed.

One thing regarding the SSDs, in my experience only: I don't like them in XP. I do like them in Vista, and even more so W7.

That might just very well be me...but I had to say it.

And yes, you will notice a difference, both in overall responsiveness and battery life. Might feel like a new machine altogether...

Have fun...

madflava54 · #8 Post by **madflava54** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 1:15 am

I was going to sell my t61p. I was given a replacement that had better battery life, but it just wasn't as quick. I threw in a OCZ Vertex 2 SSD drive in and the thing seriously flies. I would love to have better battery life, but performance is more important to me. I had a T9300 w/ 3gigs of ram in my rig as well. I plan on using it until it dies or some amazing price mistake laptop shows up online

miscthree · #9 Post by **miscthree** » Mon Jan 31, 2011 6:32 am

ajkula66 wrote:Given that you have a nice chunk of warranty remaining, and a premium (for T61/p generation) CPU, I'd max out the RAM at 8GB and do a fresh install of whatever 64-bit OS you feel like running.

I'd also invest in a SSD and keep the current HD in the UltraBay for storage purposes, but that's me.

The good thing about this approach is that you'd be able to move the SSD into your next machine, when the time for upgrade comes.

My $0.02 only...

Good luck.

This is good advice! I can't recommend SSD upgrades more. I also was very reluctant to take the storage hit when upgrading..but once you see how quickly things startup and open and unzip etc, you will find ways to get more storage other than within the primary ssd drive.

I did a lot of research on ssd's before buying an upgrade to my desktop workstation and there's a lot of fearmongering about the low # of available diskwrites per sector and such..but thee are almost just as many articles that debunk those myths! So I just said '(/$:@(" it!!' and never looked back.

They're expensive and small...dead silent too, no more whirring!!

bkrodgers · #10 Post by **bkrodgers** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 2:06 am

Thanks to everyone for the advice! I ordered the 4GB chip to move up to 6GB to start with. I'm definitely thinking about the SSD option, though I'm still not thrilled with the cost/GB numbers on that, especially in higher capacities. 512GB for the low low price of $1,359.99! Plus $5.99 shipping, of course. You'd think they could throw in free shipping for that.

A 128GB drive is a bit more reasonable though. Definitely something I'm considering. We'll see how happy I am with the memory upgrade first.