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    Upgrading a Sony Vaio laptop

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Nicalanius, Jul 17, 2008.

  1. Nicalanius

    Nicalanius Newbie

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    Hello, I was wondering if anybody knows what/how to upgrade a sony vaio model VGN-FS8900p. Is there any compatible graphics card or processor upgrades?
     
    Nicalanius, Jul 17, 2008
    #1
  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    You cannot upgrade the graphics card.
     
    Greg, Jul 17, 2008
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  3. WILLY S

    WILLY S I was saying boo-urns

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    Can you list the current specs of your laptop and what you want improved or what use you will have for the upgrades? (gaming etc.)
     
    WILLY S, Jul 17, 2008
    #3
  4. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    I guess that laptop is a bit old..(with an i915PM chipset)
    Run CPUz and upload screenshots if you can....
     
    Andy, Jul 17, 2008
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  5. Nicalanius

    Nicalanius Newbie

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    I'm not to serious into gaming anymore cause this thing can't handle it. But it seems that it doesn't run ANY game. I'd like to upgrade the graphics card and/or the processor. If it's a waste of time and better to just not try or buy a different laptop than I'll probably do that. It just runs so slow.

    OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
    Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
    OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
    System Manufacturer Sony Corporation
    System Model VGN-FS8900P
    System Type X86-based PC
    Processor x86 Family 6 Model 13 Stepping 8 GenuineIntel ~1995 Mhz
    BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies LTD R0090J1, 10/25/2005
    SMBIOS Version 2.34
    Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
    System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
    Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
    Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"
    Total Physical Memory 1,024.00 MB
    Available Physical Memory 204.75 MB
    Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
    Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
    Page File Space 2.40 GB
    Page File C:\pagefile.sys
     
    Nicalanius, Jul 17, 2008
    #5
  6. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    Was your system idling when you provided those tests. You have 1gb of memory and your using bout 800Mb of memory, which is quite a lot. If your system has nothing opened you need to allocate your memory better.

    Go to start, than go to the run command and type in MSCONFIG,
    go into the startup and serives tabs and shut off all programs, services and software which you are not using. That will free up a lot of your cpu, memory and harddrive cycles, making your laptop run faster and more efficiently.

    Since you have XP, your memory usage at startup should be no more than 300Mb, of it is, than your memory is not allocated properly, and you need to clean up the registry with msconfig.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Jul 17, 2008
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  7. MSMNick

    MSMNick Notebook Consultant

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    I think you have a 760 processor right? i have a similar laptop, a vaio fj270. Not sure what's different, but same board, chipset, etc. Anyway, your gfx are probably different. Easiest things to do I have found were 1) get another stick of memory 2)Pinmod a 7x5 series processor for better speed, and 3) upgrade the HDD. There is no way to swap the Gfx card due to it being integrated. I just finished the Pinmod swap on a 745, and am running clean and cool at 2.4ghz, before 1.8. No preliminary results, I'll get it eventually. Can't tell you much about a 7200rpm HDD swap either, but Ktron's gave me direction so far. He, or someone, also recommended rmclock for undervolting helping with heat/power consumption. Btw, for the RAM, I believe the 915i set is limited to 533, so unless you are going to overclock somehow, the only benefit of faster ram is lower latency. Um, hope I helped and didn't confuse you. If you don't know what the topics I mentioned are search there are guides on them on this site. GL.
     
    MSMNick, Jul 18, 2008
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  8. Nicalanius

    Nicalanius Newbie

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    I tried shutting down all the background processes and I'm still running at about half so I'll work on that. As for the processor, how could I do that and what would I need to do that?
     
    Nicalanius, Jul 18, 2008
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  9. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    K-TRON, Jul 18, 2008
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  10. MSMNick

    MSMNick Notebook Consultant

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    I would stick with a 735 or lower, as people say they are more stable, and they are more easily undervolted. I can only bump my 745 down to 1.324 volts before I get a BSOD, so I use a fan program too. May switch to a 735 anyway.
     
    MSMNick, Jul 19, 2008
    #10