Updating my laptop, pointers?

readyletsgo

I'm gonna update my standard laptop I got 6 or 7 years ago from 2gb ram to 8gb ram. Gonna get this https://www.memoryc.ie/computermemory/ddr3sodimm/8gbgskillddr3pc310666cl9sqseriesdualchannel.html

But while I'm at this, is there anything else I should look into updating?
My battery is pretty weak but I tend to just leave it plugged in all the time now.

My laptop is a standard Compaq Presaria CQ61, with Intel Celeron.

I have all the tools to open it up so that's grand.

Thanks for any advice given!

theteal

A SSD will probably make a bigger difference in there than extra RAM

beauf

That laptop seems to be DD2 and max 4GB of RAM. So that would be the wrong type of RAM completely.

I'm not sure that laptop is worth spending any money on at all. With RAM and a SSD you must be close to 50% the cost of a brand new laptop.

readyletsgo

Thanks guys, see I dint know any of this stuff. SSD? What's that?

beauf

Its a very very fast hard drive.

readyletsgo

beauf wrote: »

Its a very very fast hard drive.

Oh right! D'oh.

So you guys wouldn't recommend I go with that RAM above, and maybe go with 4gb RAM instead?

Digital Solitude

If it's only for regular use then 4gb ram won't make a diffrence

Firblog

readyletsgo wrote: »

Oh right! D'oh.

So you guys wouldn't recommend I go with that RAM above, and maybe go with 4gb RAM instead?

It's not that the RAM isn't recommended, it's that it is the wrong RAM for your system, it wouldn't work at all. Your system most likely cannot use that type or amount of RAM.

If your system has 2GB or RAM installed in one module then you only need a single 2GB module of the same RAM to bring it to its maximum. If it takes DDR2 then it wouldn't be very expensive to upgrade and may be worth it. If it presently has 2 X 1GB modules of RAM installed then you would need to buy 2 X 2GB modules of RAM to have the Maximum, depending on price it may still be worth it, if it's in good shape.

readyletsgo

Firblog wrote: »

It's not that the RAM isn't recommended, it's that it is the wrong RAM for your system, it wouldn't work at all. Your system most likely cannot use that type or amount of RAM.

If your system has 2GB or RAM installed in one module then you only need a single 2GB module of the same RAM to bring it to its maximum. If it takes DDR2 then it wouldn't be very expensive to upgrade and may be worth it. If it presently has 2 X 1GB modules of RAM installed then you would need to buy 2 X 2GB modules of RAM to have the Maximum, depending on price it may still be worth it, if it's in good shape.

Yup it's 2 x 1gb ram cards in it. It seems to be pretty cheap to get 2 2gb ddr2 cards. Only reason I'm looking into it is because my laptop is painfully slow to even run basic stuff. And with Windows 10 update its not gonna get any faster.

theteal

A bit of extra RAM isn't going to help much tbh. You'll be best served by a Windows rebuild, preferably on a decent SSD if you've got a bit of money burning a hole in your pocket. I've not looking into the requirements of Windows 10 (not in a hurry to upgrade) but I suspect you may not enjoy great performance out of 2GB RAM either.

riclad

GO to crucial.com ,
use the online scanner .
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/memory-info?cm_re=top-nav-_-flyout-memory-_-us-memory
system scanner tells you what memory you have ,
write down exactly what its says .
eg ddr3 ram pc 700 etc
if you have 2 slots full, 2 one gig chips,
than you,ll have to buy 2 chips , 2gig each to upgrade the ram.
download system scanner ,run it.
NO point in buying a ssd for that laptop .
You could buy a larger hardrive.300-500gig .
but remember you can buy a new laptop for 300 euros ,
so i would not spend more than 100 euro on it .
sell the old ram chips on adverts.ie .
i have 2gig ram and i find it very fast .
an extra 2gig ram may make very little difference unless you are playing games
like call of duty on it .
ssd =flash drive no moving parts ,
2or 3 times faster than a standard drive ,sata 2.5inch
but more expensive to buy.

http://www.amazon.com/2GB-DDR2-Memory-RAM-CQ61-410US/dp/B008G99MCE


you need this , PC2-6400 DDR2-800 (800 MHz)
write this down.
ram must be same speed as above ddr2 .
most laptops have 2 slots for ram.
if theres 1 slot free you could put in 1 ddr2 2gig chip .
maplins near parnell st dublin sell ram chips for pcs ,laptops .

beauf

SSD makes a big difference to an old machine. But it has to be a decent old machine with an ok spec. For me that means a dual core at minimum. But the machine readyletsgo has (Compaq Presaria CQ61, with Intel Celeron) is too old and slow. Its a single core and when new was a low spec. It doesn't make sense to keep it.

Buy a used machine from adverts a business class dell like a latitude with an i3 or i5 for 250~350. Some of the brand new machines for 300 are low spec machines with low powered pentiums and atoms, poor screens and keyboards. False economy. You need to spend about 450~500 to get a decent new laptop.