Advice on what to do next with upgrading laptop.

[TurtleCrusher]

Hello fellow ATers,

I am looking for recommendations on what to do next with the laptop that I just purchased. I am beginning a trade school on coding (discipline is still up in the air) and purchased this as I only had a chromebook and tablet as mobile devices. I'm away from my desktop and cant code at night (PC in bedroom with wife).

Here are the specs.
HP Pavillion G6 SPEC PAGE
AMD A8-4500m quad-core 1.9/2.8Ghz with Radeon 7640G 512-2048mb
4GB DDR3 2x2GB 1600mhz
15.6" LCD
320GB HDD
Standard Battery

I purchased this for $140 from a local PC recycler who put Linux Mint on it. Windows 10 was able to install and activate from the windows key saved in the BIOS. I'm trying to spec it out to last as long as possible. I just bought a 16GB 2x8GB DDR3 1600mhz kit for $45 that will be here tomorrow.

Is the laptop SATA 3 compatible? Either way, which SSD should I get? I'm thinking around 256GB may do.

Is changing out the APU different from changing out C2D laptop CPUs?

Personal preference of course, is a 9-cell battery worth getting?

Thanks in advance for suggestions.

 

[WackyWRZ]

Here's the service manual for it - http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03593126

According to that manual the max supported ram is 8GB (2x4GB) so there's a chance your 16GB won't work. Only way to find out is install when it comes.

Looks like the max CPU supported is an A10-4600m (should be 15-20% faster) - and from looking at the service manual it seems no different than changing any other CPU out.

Hard telling what SATA revison it has - the chipset SHOULD support SATA 3 but the specs show all the drive options as SATA 2. Either way I would get a Samsung 850 EVO or something from Crucial.

Extended battery - depends on how often you plan on running on battery. I like extended batteries but many don't because they are bulkier, heavier, and stick out the back.

 

[FleshLight]

SSD and new battery

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I panicked on the ram and also bought an 8GB kit, but the 16GB kit installed, shows up in BIOS and in Windows/CPU-Z as 16GB. Since the service manual only shows it capable of 8GB is there an app to test to make sure it can use past 8GB?

SSD and Battery are next, in subsequent paychecks.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I panicked on the ram and also bought an 8GB kit, but the 16GB kit installed, shows up in BIOS and in Windows/CPU-Z as 16GB. Since the service manual only shows it capable of 8GB is there an app to test to make sure it can use past 8GB?

SSD and Battery are next, in subsequent paychecks.

You're probably OK with the RAM. When you go to Control Panel, System, System, does it list any reserved or less usable memory? Does Task Manager list the total amount of RAM correctly?

Newegg had some MLC M550 256GB SSDs, refurb, for like $65. Those have the power back-up capacitors in them.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

You're probably OK with the RAM. When you go to Control Panel, System, System, does it list any reserved or less usable memory? Does Task Manager list the total amount of RAM correctly?

Newegg had some MLC M550 256GB SSDs, refurb, for like $65. Those have the power back-up capacitors in them.

It does show in task manager, and the laptop has been power cycled many times now, so it seems like it works perfectly despite only supposedly supporting 8GB. Windows 10 doesn't cache as much as I had expected. I just didn't want RAM to be a limitation later on, and just buy enough in the first place to last at least a few more years. My main goal of this laptop is to be my portable coding machine to use in my living room and maybe a coffee shop.

I didn't even know SSDs had forms of backup power.

 

[blankslate]

SSD and new battery

^this, even if the drive interface on the motherboard for that laptop is only SATA 2 an SSD (most if not all SATA SSDs are SATA 2 compatable) running on it will be noticeably faster than any HDD
The differences between SATA 2 vs SATA 3 should hardly be noticeably unless you compared benchmarks on an SSD running over SATA 2 vs one running over SATA 3 or had those systems side by side running disk intensive tasks

Get the new battery as well imo.

I didn't even know SSDs had forms of backup power.

Pricier non-budget SSDs are more likely to have it and tout it as a feature. It helps prevent bricking the SSD if power is suddenly lost.
However, if you get a new battery for the laptop it might be a feature you can live without especially if you set the power management options to shutdown the laptop at 15% or more remaining power.

IMO it's a feature more important for desktops without a UPS, but if you find an SSD with the feature in your price range then it can be more peace of mind.


_____________

 

[TurtleCrusher]

After upgrading the ram I had to replace the CPU fan which required complete disassembly of the laptop itself. I also added a second HDD, 250GB, in the disc tray (face-plate switched too!)

Now knowing how to get to the APU I'm heavily interested in upgrading that. In some games it appears I'm GPU bound and sitting around 45-55fps on settings I find acceptable.

Looking at the chart it appears that the A10-4600m is 50% faster in the GPU department and has a 400Mhz all-around boost on the CPU. On YouTube I've seen others upgrade their HP G6 with the A10-5750m, which is a 600Mhz jump from current but same GPU as the A10-4600. The 5750m is $70 used, while the 4600m can be had for $30.

Is the A10-4600m going to make gaming be much smoother with 384 cores opposed to 256? This seems like it would be going from the 4650 to the 6650 in the GPU department alone, while the CPU gets a decent clock speed boost. What do you guys think?

 

[xgsound]

YMMV
SSDs give an apparent 4X to 10X speed boost depending on disk access required with less power. Get one!
Intel 1500 pro, 530, and 535 SSDs have excellent reliability ratings.
I have used 2 intel (currently out of stock) 530s and the Intel 1500 pro SSD for $58 from geeknext with success. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Grade-A-Int...876335?hash=item20fb3a9e6f:g:0mMAAOSwIwhWTNUz

Ebay also has the A10-4460m for from $30 to $40.

Jim

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I thought going SSD was imperative to a fast running PC but after switching to Windows 10 and never really power-cycling often, I'm not in a rush. I had one in my thinkpad T61 and Dell Inspiron 1737, as well as having my boot and all important programs and games on my desktop SSD, but this 320GB Toshiba is surprisingly quick. Adding FPS in 3D applications is only done in the APU upgrade. It's on the list of to-dos but everything loads faster than expected.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

A10-4600m installed and worked great.

Gaming is much, much better with 384 shaders as opposed to 256. The CPU boost clock is seemingly most noticable in Chrome, and the PC seems a bit more snappy in everything. For $30 it's very worth it, especially the boost I got in Starcraft 2 and Day of Defeat Source. Taking apart this computer is very tedious and if you're not careful, tearing a ribbon cable appears to be very easy.

The 4500m hovered from 6.3 to 6.8 on Fritz, so this was a significant jump. SSD is next.

 

[Harry_Wild]

If you want quickness in booting and doing internet surfing - a new SSD is it! Other then that; you be hard press do anything else to increase the performance of your laptop! CPU and RAM will not be as important to that of a SSD drive in terms of overall performance.