A Little Upgrade for the Notebook...

GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
edited March 2006 in Hardware
I've owned an eMachines M6811 for almost two years now. I decided it's time for a little upgrade.

In its stock form, I've been able to run HL2 at 1280x800 with relatively low detail and I get a bit of lag. It still looks good though. I can run UT2K4 fairly well, but it takes forever to load levels due to the HDD, I think. I've also been able to run Guild Wars and AOE3 without issues on this machine, so it's not a slouch when it comes to gaming.

The performance seems a bit crippled by the RAM (512 PC2700) and the hard drive (4200 RPM), so I spent about $250 today. Here's what I got:

Hard Drive - I knew I needed 7200 RPM, but I couldn't afford more disk space than this.
Enclosure - a cheap way to utilize the old 80GB 4200RPM drive...
RAM - The notebook has 2x256MB chips of PC2700 right now. I'm considering pulling them both and going with this one stick of PC3200, but the second stick is relatively inaccessible, under the keyboard and half blocked by the card reader even when the keyboard is off. I'm back and forth between pulling that stick and running the 1GB at PC3200, or leaving it in and running 1.25GB at PC2700 - thoughts?

I hope I made the right choices! :hair:

This is probably the machine I'll be bringing to SM LAN '06, the upgrades had better hold me over for at least a year! :eek3:

Comments

  • QeldromaQeldroma Arid ZoneAh Member
    edited March 2006
    Haha, Ghoos! The HD will make a big difference for sure- I upgraded mine (40GB 4200RPM) to a 100GB 5400 and THAT was quite an amazing jump. I'm not so sure about the mem unless you are using apps that require lots of it (UT2K4?-dunno).

    I used a Norwood USB 2.0 enclosure for my old 40GB and I can carry it in my shirt pocket (but normally in my travel bag). It's great for emergency back-ups, etc. The only downside is the USB power draw of the older drives- it can shut down some laptops easy. Your newer 80GB might work better.

    Nice upgrade :thumbsup:
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    Thanks for the info, Qel! :D
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    The parts are about halfway here already! Sweet.
  • gibbonslgibbonsl Grand Forks AFB
    edited March 2006
    that HD is what I have in my S360

    fast little drive:)

    are you running the stock drivers from the manufactor?

    if you are try Omagas drivers

    you should be able to bump up the quility on HL2 with the newer drivers

    mine can run 1024X800 on medum settings 64 meg 9700/1.7 P-m chip

    here is a good thread over at notebookforums

    http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=76659&highlight=6811
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    gibbons - I was running an older version of the Omegas, but right now I'm running the stock ATI Mobile Cat latest version. Do the newest Omegas perform better than the ATI drivers?
  • gibbonslgibbonsl Grand Forks AFB
    edited March 2006
    which version?

    can not seem to get to ATI drivers site

    also the extra RAM will help with HL2
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    The Cats I'm using are something like 6.2 or 6.3, if I'm remembering right. I don't remember the version number exactly because they downloaded through some tool that I got from the ATI site after specifying I had the Mobility 9600.
  • gibbonslgibbonsl Grand Forks AFB
    edited March 2006
    then you are fine

    the omagas will not help you
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited March 2006
    That should make a hellova' difference GH.. Especially the hard drive. In my experience, that is usually the weakest link in notebooks. The RAM will make a huge difference for just about any modern game as well.

    If you can get a single stick of PC3200, that would be ideal. Your system is running on a divider by default, so there is some untapped performance there as well. 1GB @ PC3200 is more useful than 1.2GB @ PC2700 IMO :)
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    Especially the hard drive. In my experience, that is usually the weakest link in notebooks.
    Yup, exactly.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    The parts are on the truck for delivery - either they'll leave the stuff on my doorstep, or make me pick it up at the depot... either way, I'll have the parts today!

    Thanks for the advice, guys. I'm probably going to go ahead and pop the keyboard off so that I can pull out that internal stick of RAM.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    I've got the parts installed. I did some benchmarks before and after with the same drivers (including Cat 6.3s) installed on both builds. Here's a preview:

    3DMark2006
    Before: 263
    After: 365

    That seems laughably low either way, but at least it shows a marked improvement after the upgrade.

    The rest of my results, along with photos, will be included in an article I'm writing up for Keebs to edit for the front page.
  • gibbonslgibbonsl Grand Forks AFB
    edited March 2006
    one question?

    was it worth it?
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    You bet it was!
  • gibbonslgibbonsl Grand Forks AFB
    edited March 2006
    then all is good:)
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited March 2006
    That's the same drive I got with my PowerPro, GH. It's been a good drive so far and it's about 1 3/4 years old now. Did you get both the old PC2700 sticks out of your machine?
  • QeldromaQeldroma Arid ZoneAh Member
    edited March 2006
    GHoosdum wrote:
    ...

    3DMark2006
    Before: 263
    After: 365
    ...

    I'd say a nearly 40% jump in performance RATES no matter what.

    Perhaps even moreso, I think you'll likely see more when you push your resource limits- like in memory.

    I'm curious- when I upgraded my HD, I got a huge jump in capacity, speed and quiet. Is your new drive quieter too?


    Well GHoos, all I can say is ... :thumbsup: !
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited March 2006
    muddocktor wrote:
    That's the same drive I got with my PowerPro, GH. It's been a good drive so far and it's about 1 3/4 years old now. Did you get both the old PC2700 sticks out of your machine?

    So far I only replaced the stick that was "user serviceable" - I haven't had the time to crack open the case and pull out the stick under the keyboard yet.
    Qeldroma wrote:
    I'd say a nearly 40% jump in performance RATES no matter what.

    Perhaps even moreso, I think you'll likely see more when you push your resource limits- like in memory.

    I'm curious- when I upgraded my HD, I got a huge jump in capacity, speed and quiet. Is your new drive quieter too?

    I'm expecting a double boost when I'm pushing the memory limits - it will have to swap to disk a lot less now, plus when it does it will access the disk faster now.

    The new HDD is about the same level of inaudibility as the previous drive. I just hear a few tiny clicks from time to time, and that's about it. It makes sense, though, since both drives are Hitachi Travelstar drives.
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