How to determine possible CPU upgrade

[Nekaphite]

Hi everybody!
My question is this: how do I determine what CPUs are compatible with my laptop?

See, I got a Toshiba Satellite 325CDS for $25 the other day, and it works fine. (I think it actually was an ok deal: It currently has Windows 95, 32 MB RAM, and I think it has a P233 MMX processor. A little archaic, but it's my first laptop, so be sympathetic.)

I'd like to upgrade it a bit if possible. So, I'm upgrading to Windows ME, and putting in more RAM (it can have up to 160 MB) but I'd kind-of like to get a faster processor also.

What sort of CPU upgrades are possible for this laptop? Like, how can I figure out? I've spent many hours online and it is not very clear to me. Like, I'd be happy to upgrade even to 400 MHz if I could get that for a reasonable deal (i.e., as compared to just buying a new low-end computer)
Thanks!!

[TechZ]

Welcome to the forums.

First off, thats a pretty low end laptop, maybe it was just better getting something with more power in to begin with, used laptops and bargains arent that hard to find.

And getting ram for old laptops, or old pc's can be quite expensive, and since its old, not as reliable as newer ram. Check around, you might get some good deals, but you have to be very specific on what you need.

A cpu upgrade for a laptop? I'm guessing that would be a) complex b) expensive too

few links i found
http://www.memoryx.net/tosa323bame2.html
http://www.laptopoutlet.com/toshiba.html

The laptop you bought only has one bank for ram, that means you have to get rid of that 32mb stick and replace it with what you want.

And whats the purpose for the laptop? internet, typing, just for fun?


And just in case, if I said anything that might have offended you, I apologize :)

[hudsonsmith]

Sorry, not possible. Intel did not make a Pentium processor faster than 233MHz. The PII used a different socket and is not compatible. AMD made some faster processors for Socket 7, but they had different voltage and front side bus requirements. Plus you would also need bios support. In general, laptop CPU's are not upgradeable.

[Nekaphite]

Hi hudsonsmith and TechZ,

Thank you for your replies! I appreciate your time. TechZ, as far as 'offensive' goes, well, of course like anybody I momentarily felt offended but then of course I realized 'peace, myself, what's the point', so I grinned, and agreed with you. You are right: the laptop is quite low-end, to say the least. Ha.
:)

I just have to make do with the money I have, and I didn't have almost any.... :sad: I'm trying to get something portable that is functional for basic web, blogging, email, and powerpoint presentations. Oh, yeah. And for the crucial function of syncing my pda-phone (http://images.google.com/images?q=kyocera%206035&hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&sa=N&tab=wi). (yep, that is also outdated, but I make do with what I have). If the laptop works well, I might also use it for some imaging. (e.g., using IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com/), and maybe even Picasa (http://www.picasa.com/) / Hello (http://www.hello.com/))

Yeah, from what I've read, a CPU upgrade would be complex and probably expensive. (I was hoping maybe to get a cheap used-but-somewhat-better processor on Ebay.)

hudsonsmith, you are probably right that the CPU basically can't be upgraded. I thought I might be onto something here (http://forums.eyo.com.au/showthread.php?p=50624), but it is over my current level of understanding. Yeah, that talks about adjusting the BIOS somehow.
As far as RAM, bother, that is disappointing if I'll have to remove the 32MB to insert more. I know that of course that is generally true, but in this case I'm not sure if it actually is true. From a lot of reading online, it seems that other people have upgraded to 160MB by putting in the 128MB memory upgrade, which seems to be the largest chunk of RAM that specifically fits the Toshiba Satellite 325CDS. Maybe in some older laptops the base RAM was built-in elsewhere besides the memory slot?
Obviously I should pop open the laptop to to take a look and dispel any crazy ideas. But check out my theory (http://www.serverpartswarehouse.com/sa300se.html)... (example link from a quick Google search)

TechZ, thank you for the links; actually I got my RAM from Kahlon (http://www.kahlon.com/itemdetailpg.asp?itemid=18136). Admittedly, I've heard they don't necessarily produce good RAM. But it was sure cheap ($20 total, with free shipping).

Dude, you gotta post quickly or this WinDrivers site logs you out and you lose your work. You can't like go off and then come back later, apparently. Like, to speak from recent experience a moment ago... :) Well, no big deal, I guess.

Dude, it really is cool how computers have improved so much over the past decade. Just today a younger brother of mine got a video game from the thrift store, and I almost roared with laughter when he installed it and it said it required 4 MB RAM to run... like, amazing to think of the time when people were that horrendously limited by their computers!

So for now, I'll try to make do with this laptop. Thank you both for your comments.

[TechZ]

Even for internet use,a p233, is very low end, if you couldve gotten something a bit better, it wouldve done the job perfectly.

Hoping it works out for you. Stick to win98 though, no sense in moving to winME.

[hudsonsmith]

I believe you are correct on the memory - the 32mb is soldered in and the 128mb is an expansion that gets added through a panel in the bottom of the case.

The link you posted regarding the cpu upgrade involves much more than adjusting the bios. It involves soldering new components to the motherboard - something not to be attempted unless you are VERY knowledgable.

[Nekaphite]

Even for internet use,a p233, is very low end, if you couldve gotten something a bit better, it wouldve done the job perfectly.

Hoping it works out for you. Stick to win98 though, no sense in moving to winME.

Thank you both once again for your input. I appreciate it. I agree, Hudsonsmith -- I'm not at the skill/knowledge stage to start soldering stuff on the motherboard, or whatever... I'll be happy with the laptop working as is rather than wrecking it.

Well, I had already ordered Windows ME so I'm probably going to go ahead and update it. I just hope what I am getting (http://www.shopping.com/xPC-Microsoft_Windows_Millennium_ME_Full_OEM_License_P ack_BUN_C83_00001) isn't pirated... it was mighty cheap -- $42 plus S/H. I did a lot of searching and this was the lowest-priced Windows ME that was not obviously pirated. I mean, there are of course worthless pirated editions floating all around for less.

[MobilePCPhysician]

Hey Nekaphite,

Just to echo Techz, don't bother with the Windows Me. Stick with 98. You'll save yourself hours of headaches.

[hudsonsmith]

Me will run like a slug. Even 98 will be slow. If you don't need the added features you're probably better off keeping 95.

[TechZ]

hehe, I was about to say the same thing hudsonsmith, but 98 would be better, well compared to 95 anyway.

[Nekaphite]

Since I'm starting with Windows 95, which really is a little bit stone age, I wanted to upgrade to Win 98 but I couldn't find anything in my price range. So when I got ME for that cheap price, I went for it. theoretically it should run on my system, and I'll of course download all the patches.

[TechZ]

anything can run on that system, what you need is something that can run "well".

[Nekaphite]

good point. well taken. :)

[houseisland]

If you don't need Windows apps and if you can live with the eccentricities of this quirkly little Linux distro, it might be happy match for your laptop.

http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

I ran it for a while on a Toshiba P133 with 32 Mb of RAM and was quite pleased with the results.

[Nekaphite]

Thanks for the suggestion. That looks pretty cool since it is such a small OS. I guess I can install it whether or not I use other operating systems. Wow, 50 MB only.

(what apps can I run in it though? Like...) :)

[Nekaphite]

Seriously, if you could suggest some very-low-system-requirements programs (that would work on this little Linux OS) for creating and giving presentations, I'd appreciate it!

[houseisland]

The cool thing about this is that you can try it out without committing to an installation, that is you can run it off of a CD or other bootable media to see what it is like. Don't expect it to be like Windows.

You should be able to run any Linux app that you have enough processor horse power and RAM for. Open Office. FireFox, Thunderbird, etc.

[Deanodriver]

Here's a site with a bit of info about installing Linux on low-end computers:

http://linuxgazette.net/106/murray.html

One of my friends is currently running Gentoo with XFCE on an old K6-2 400 (since he's having major issues with his normal computer, A64 3000+ S939), and from what I saw, it seemed to work well enough.