5720z upgrade

Hello there. I got this old laptop and decide to spend some money to upgrade it.
First "bad" thing i consider is the T2310 processor that is overheating and reset my system. So what alternatives i can have for this? i was hoping to get a 2GHz Dual Core but i'm not sure if the mainboard will do the trick (and hope a new cooler if possible).
The second thing is the poor video (..up to 358MB Mobile Intel GraphicsMedia X3100). I saw some nice external video graphics from ATI but the price is to high (£400) and seems to be unavailable in UK.
The last one will be the 2 GB DDR2 that i want to upgrade to 4 but not sure which one to buy on a reasonable price. Thank a lot for taking ur time to have a look on this.

 

Some ideas on how to upgrade you 965PM equipped Acer 5720Z:

* T8100/T8300/T9300/T9500 CPU + dual-IDA modded bios. T8100 can be had for little $$.

* PLL pinmod overclock

* Add a DIY ViDock

* Do a SSD + HDD setup using a optical bay caddy

 

First off... the 'overheating' you mentioned and subsequent restarts might be attributed to the accumulation of dust inside the laptop.
I recommend you open the thing and clean up the insides (especially the place between the fan and air-vents).
Or you could use a compressed air in a can to do it (though sometimes this can further push the dust inside the machine, which is why I clean out manually).
One more thing to do in order to try and further reduce temperatures would be to check the cooling paste on the cpu, and possibly replace it with a more efficient one (all of them are more or less within the same range of each other).

If you want to replace the cpu with a better one, run CPU-Z to determing your chipset. That way we will know which CPU's you can upgrade to relatively safely (I think C2D will work).
Check this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...es/424279-cpu-upgrade-acer-aspire-5720-a.html

It's for 5720... but the 'z' is probably the same model with a slightly different (possibly enhanced) feature (similar to the difference between 5930 and 5930G - negligible).

Make sure to upgrade your BIOS to the latest version before upgrading the RAM or CPU.

In regards to the 'poor video', well, unfortunately, that's what you get with an integrated GPU.
Though please define 'poor video'. What exactly are you using your gpu for?
You can game on the thing provided the games in question aren't too intensive for it or too-new.

As for the RAM... just get the cheapest one.
It doesn't matter from which company because in terms of quality, they are all equal.
Also don't really pay too much attention to the speed (because it doesn't matter) except that you get the one that matches the 2GB already inside (so if right now your RAM is working on 600Mhz, then get that one).

One final upgrade you might consider would be the HDD.
Depending on your laptop's HDD interface, I'd get a high capacity 7200rpm one.
If it supports SATA, then I'd go with Hitachi Travelstat 7k500 (or 7k750), or Western digital Scorpio Black 750GB (7200rpm).

EDIT: I see 'nando4' already beat me to the punch... no matter, I recommend you read up on what I mentioned anyway (especially in terms of heat).
And I wouldn't bother with an SSD. Too expensive. Stick to CPU, HDD and RAM upgrade for now (and possibly the ViDock if you want to go that route - though keep in mind that you cannot use the external gpu on your internal monitor then, you'd have to connect an external display for that one).

 

that was quick now i'll see how quick i can find all the things that i need.
I don't mind using a external monitor as long as i have for what. i intend to use it for some games like NFS that require @least 512 MB video.... so i'm quite trapped with this
Ps- i've done the proper cleaning several times for the fan. i just need to try a better cooling paste.
Thx a lot for the replay and i'll let u know what happen

 

Just used the CPU-Z and find out that the chipset is a GL960 but one thing make me confused The DRAM Frequency is 266 MHz and the SPD says that the Max Bandwidth is 333 MHz. I was thinking to get 4 GB DDR @ 800 MHz. Do u recon that is gonna work or doesn't do a big difference (i think will do )

 

It won't make any difference.
What CPU-Z reports is something different.
The chipset in question supports So-DIMM DDR2 type RAM, so it's up to you which speed you choose (I'd simply pick the cheapest with lowest timings).

 

I used the T2310 and I can tell you that because of it's low frequency (only 1.46GHz) it is really cool. I think without undervolting my max temperature where around 61 or 62c at full load. Have you dusted off your CPU heatsink? I bit that there is a thick layer of dust stopping the airflow.

CPU wise you should also consider the T7250 and the T7300 as they are quite cheap in ebay. They are selling for less than £20.

I don't know what kind of budget you have, but I would not spend more than £50 on this laptop. If you're considering blowing off £400 on a graphics card, I would advise you to sell you're laptop and look for a laptop with a Core i and a better graphic solution for £400 to £500. Maybe something like this
Dell Studio 15 1558 *3GB* i3 370M 1GB ATI DELL WARRANTY | eBay UK
or this
Sony Vaio VPCEB4/Core-i3/4GB RAM/500GB/ATI RADEON/15.5" | eBay UK