ram and hdd upgrades..

hey guys just bought a a53u looking to upgrade to 8gb ram and 750gb hdd.. couple questions.. what ram is perfect for my laptop and i have a recovery partition on this drive and id like to keep my paid for copy of win 7 that is on it.. how can i get it transferred with no problems.

any help is good help fellas.
Thanks

 

Uhm, no offense, but is this your system?

See:
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Notebooks- ASUS A53U


What could you do with such a platform that 8GB RAM would be necessary?

I would recommend the Scorpio Black 750GB HDD, the Hitachi 7K750 750GB HDD or the (hopefully soon to be released and potentially the best of the mechanical HDD's) Seagate XT Hybrid 750GB HDD.

Any disk cloning program like Acronis can copy the whole disk's contents (including the hidden partition) to the new drive for you.

Good luck.

 

If by keeping your paid for copy of win7 you mean you want to keep the contents of the initial drive then use a drive cloning program such as Acronis. If you mean you want to be able to use the same windows 7 disc/ serial key that you've been using, you can still do so on a clean install on the new hard drive.

 

I'd have to agree that 2-4GB of RAM for that system would generally be enough.

 

Use magic jelly bean aka keyfinder to save your windows 7 key if you can't clone it.

 

thanks for the info. some people think that 2-4gb of ram is enough.. in most situations that is great. but if id like to have more why does it matter? i let my kids use this laptop to game on when one of them is on my desktop. id just like to get the most out of my system. so that is the reason for the ram upgrade. the hard drive i will look into the scorpio. i like wd drives.

 

No, 2GB is definitely NOT enough 4GB should be the minimum RAM for smart phones.

Given that the kids will use it to game - I'll be the first to change my mind and say you want/need 8GB then.

I have been saying that 8GB was the minimum since 2007 (for me) and today's systems need 16GB to be set free. The hardware level of your system is not up to that requirement (16GB RAM).

Not because you physically cannot install it (soon enough, you'll be able to buy 8GB modules for a reasonable price) but because the horsepower on your system is not enough to make more than 8GB RAM a worthwhile upgrade (performance and bang-for-the-buck -wise).

With 8GB RAM (and I'm assuming Win7x64 too, of course) and the usage that the system will be put to, another $50 (or more likely less) will more than make this investment/upgrade worth while for you.

Hope this full/complete answer is more helpful.

 

you mean 4 is enough and 2 should be the minimum.

 

Edited my post: I really mean 2GB is not enough!

Thanks for catching that.

 

Smart phones?

 

Yeah, smart phones.

They feel/operate like WinXP with 128MB of RAM to me.

 

well thank you for the info and for the help.. i will be upping to 8gb and a scorpio black 750. kids will be stoked. more world of warcraft for them.. and BF3.

 

Rock On Kids!



Glad to help.

 

ok so now i have a dilemma.. i know poor me.. i cant decide on ram.. corsair, PNY, crucial, kingston... so many decisions.. i have gskill in my desktop and it is phenomenal. but i dont think id put it in my laptop.

 

Doesn't matter which brand (ime) as long as it's matched SoDIMMS - and they are offered with a lifetime warranty - along with the cheapest price - those are the ones to buy and the ones I'll always recommend.

RAM is a commodity - don't think you'll see any difference (or, even measure any...) with different brands or 'value' vs. 'performance' grade options. You may be able to measure a difference in a benchmark - but it is not anything that the kids will notice (whether it's faster or slower) - also keep in mind that this is Single Channel architecture too - this is as slow as it gets (no need to throw $$$ at it to get 1-2% better).

Buy the cheapest - it will either work or it won't (lifetime warranty) - either way, the performance in everyday use will be indistinguishable from the best/priciest RAM you can get.