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Let me know if this is the right place for this. If it is not, I apologize.

I wanted to refurb/repurpose my old gaming laptop (~7 years old). I don't need it for gaming anymore but it'd be nice to have something lightweight and easy to watch netflix on, play with/learn Linux, etc. Nothing video gaming related and nothing computationally intensive.

The main problems with it is that it is super slow (long boot time), has malfunctioning keyboard keys, and runs very hot.

To fix these problems I've come up with the following:

  1. Replace old HDD with a small cheap ( < $70) SSD
  2. Replace old keyboard (found one for ~$20 on amazon). Looks like I will be losing the backlighting but not a huge deal
  3. Increase amount of RAM. It currently has 4 GB (2x 2GB sticks) of DDR2 SDRAM. Would increasing this speed up the overall performance of the laptop? Should 4 GB be fine for what I am describing? Will any type of DDR2 SDRAM work in it?

As far as heat goes, would it be feasible to turn off/disconnect the video card so that it doesn't generate heat? I know that some CPUs can run integrated/onboard graphics so I thought that iwas a possibility. It'd be alright with me since I won't be doing anything that requires 3D graphics, just videos on netflix/youtube. The sticker on my laptop says "Intel Centrino 2" Does anyone know if this CPU supports onboard graphics?

I appreciate any and all input on this. Please feel free to educate me if I got anything wrong or misused any words/terms!

Thanks

Nukesub
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2 Answers2

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Agreed with the others that more RAM will not help you. An SSD will be a huge improvement, plus if you're running the original windows it came with it's probably full of junk causing it to slow down. Windows, especially prior to 7 has a tendency to slow down over time. A fresh install will help you tremendously. I recommend you use at least Windows 7. As for the heat, if you're not running 3d games it's very unlikely that it's caused by the graphics card, so don't touch that, as you could ruin it. Replacing the hard drive with an ssd and a fresh install will also improve the heat problem. A further thing you can do to reduce heat is to go into Bios and check that the CPU throttles and other heat saving measures are not turned off. CPUs have feature like SpeedStep that automatically throttle their usage to reduce heat and energy. In case this is turned off, that could be a cause of overheating. A fan replacement may also be good if your fan is loud, which happens with old fans.

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I would stay away from disconnecting the video card even if you have Intel Integrated Graphics. You really need to have that and integrated GPUs are the worst, I have one myself.

I would definitely upgrade the HDD, that can make a huge difference. I actually upgraded my MacBook's hard drive to an SSD and changed my boot time from >30 seconds to around 7.

You do not NEED to upgrade the RAM, but it would be good. I don't think the RAM is why your computer is slow, but it will definitely make it better. I would say it's medium priority.

As for updating the keyboard, that is up to you, although you may want to consider cleaning the one you have right now.

I hope everything goes well for you!

user6086585
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