Upgrading a Laptop???

jentzsch · January 16th, 2006, 12:30 PM

Hi, I'm fairly unfamiliar with laptops in general, regular desktops I know how to do a lot with, I've built my own a few times and everything, but my girlfriend has this laptop, it's a Dell Inspiron 5100, and she wants it to be able to perform better for this game she plays (Jedi Academy, it's nothing that needs a lot of PC power to play) but I've looked on Newegg and stuff and they don't have near as many parts for laptops as they do for desktops, and the other thing, I'm not even sure what would be compatible with this laptop and what wouldn't. So I guess all I'm asking is what all can you upgrade on a laptop, and what is compatible with this one (if anyone knows where they can find that information ofcourse)? Thanks ahead of time!

LaptopExtreme · January 16th, 2006, 12:51 PM

You can find the info at Dell.com, you can check what type of memory she's got (I believe its PC2100 or PC2700) and see if both slots are taken or not and then see how much you want to get from Newegg or where ever. You can try to upgrade the HD, too, but the only thing really for better performance (without having to buy another) is just increasing the RAM.

jentzsch · January 16th, 2006, 01:12 PM

so theres probably no way to upgrade the CPU or vid? because she has 512 MB ram, which I think should be more than enough, and her HD space is fine too.

JPMiller · January 16th, 2006, 01:12 PM

most likely all that can readily be upgraded is the memory...
Anything beyond that is expensive and complicated...
Use Everesthome to find out what the exact specs are...
the only option may to be to sell the old laptop and upgrade...

LaptopExtreme · January 16th, 2006, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jentzsch

so theres probably no way to upgrade the CPU or vid? because she has 512 MB ram, which I think should be more than enough, and her HD space is fine too.

Cant upgrade the video card, but you can look at the CPU. The costs for all that, you may just want to buy and more up to date system. I've got a 5150 laying around that I use for display purposes for customers, I think it's max is in the 3.2 Ghz (P4) area and I believe Dell uses up both slots for memory.

jentzsch · January 16th, 2006, 02:34 PM

all i know is this laptop has a p4 in it 2.66 Ghz, I'm not sure what it's max is. But yea I just wasnt sure if maybe they come with removable vid cards like some desktops do.

LaptopExtreme · January 16th, 2006, 02:42 PM

Nope, can't remove them. Even if you can, you can only replace them with the same card. Even the PCI-E and MXM ones. Developers just haven't made a universal type card yet for after market purposes.

SpaceSquad · January 16th, 2006, 02:47 PM

That CPU uis plenty good enough.

I would suggest buting a new system...because video is all you need to upgrade.

jentzsch · January 16th, 2006, 04:00 PM

Well I think it would be kinda dumb to buy a whole new system just for a vid card, hers is only 32 MB but seems to still work okay for what she does, but it does get her frustrated at times, but thanks for all the help guys!

jentzsch · February 15th, 2006, 05:11 PM

I know this a kinda old thread, but say if I wanted to just get a system that had a better vid, but all I wanted was pretty much the "case" (the motherboard, vid, keyboard, and screen) and didn't want anything else and just wanted to swap over the processor, memory etc. where would I find something like that, or is it even possible?