Should I upgrade the RAM, the Processor, and add an ATA/133 card?!

Hello!
I have a few more questions...
I only have 2 internal drives...
(one 300GB which is the main one that runs the applications and one 60Gb used as extra storage mainly for my video projects)
Do I need an ATA/133 PCI controller card for them?
will it really be worth it?
(meaning will it actually make a difference in speed or not?)
or do you only need one of those cards if you have 3 or 4 drives?
also,
would adding more RAM (up to the 2.0 GB limit)
(my comp is currently at 1.25 GB)
make a huge difference?
and the processor...
if i upgrade it to the 1.8 GHz
(it's currently at 867 MHz)
will it be a major improvement?
i guess I'm asking if i would benefit in upgrading
everything:
the RAM,
the processor,
and adding an ATA/133 PCI controller card
or would just upgrading/adding one or two of these be suffice?
I'm seriously looking into upgrading my comp but I want to know
what benefits me and what won't really make a difference
-Cristina-
p.s.
I know I posted this somewhere earlier,
but I'm just so anxious :/
I've been looking at so much information that my head feels like it's going to explode!

Hi-
You don't need a controller card.
If you keep your main drive(s) on the ATA/100 bus (rear carrier), and add (if you like) up to two drives to the ATA/66 (forward carrier) bus, for storage, archives, etc., you will have fine performance from all drives.
If you are going to add a drive, I would add a larger drive to the ATA/100 bus, and move the smaller (60gb) to the ATA/66 position, relegated to storage. Your graphics work (is it?) will then run well on the two drives on the ATA/100 bus.
In a G4, running with maximum RAM (2gb) is always a good performance move, and helps reduce the "spinning beachball", especially with large graphics files. As for "huge difference", not as such, but, RAM is one of the cheapest (especially now) performance buys that can be had, and more RAM is always better than less.
Upgrading to dual 1.8ghz processors would be a "Wow!" type of upgrade, compared to the current dual 867mhz processors. Be advised, that processor upgrades require that you be able to boot to OS 9 prior to installing the processor upgrade. This is to apply necessary "patches" to allow the system to use the new processors. If you don't still have a boot-able OS 9 installed on your machine, you will need to have that ability prior to a processor upgrade.
Another processor upgrade option, would be to change your processors to dual 1.25 or 1.42mhz processors from another MDD. The difference from a 11.25 dual processor, and the dual 1.8, is really between 10-15% increase in performance, with the 1.25mhz providing about 20-25% increase over the dual 867mhz processors. The main problem with this approach, is that there are some modifications that must be made, which aren't the average "do it yourself" type of work.
In the end, though, you may want to take the upgrade money, $600+, sell the MDD, $300+, and put the money on a new Mac. Don't get me wrong, I like upgrades, but it is as much to tinker, as it is to boost performance. And, at the end of the day, I don't need a new Mac. If you don't, either, you will be happy with the upgrades.

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Hi Everyone,
I have a question regarding UPGRADE!
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1. Is is possible to upgrade from Core i3-370M to core i5-470?
2. Is is possible to add 4BG of RAM on one slot and existing 2GB on the other slot?
If yes, then will it be giving any problem like over heating, etc., Have the G62-361TX is been desinged to withstand heavier computing if upgraded?
Thanks in advance!
SSA
SSA
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Maintenance and service guide for G62 laptops:
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02542102.pdf
Q2: I think so. The service guide says that it's possible for model 1.1 only. Product specs for G62-361tx say that the hard drive is a 320GB 5400rpm and this hard drive is available for model 1.1 only. I think that you may use a 4GB module anyway, the laptop might be upgraded up to 8GB of RAM..
Q1: Upgrade definitely possible to:
Intel Arrandale i5–520M Processor (2.4 GHz, 3 MB total L3 cache, 1066 MHz)— Dual Core 35 W pn: 594187-001
Intel Arrandale i5–540M Processor (2.53 GHz, 3 MB total L3 cache, 1066 MHz)— Dual core 35 W pn: 594188-001
Intel Arrandale i5–450 Processor (2.4 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache, 1066 MHz)—Dual Core 35 W pn: 613585-001
Intel Arrandale i5–430 Processor (2.26 GHz, 3 MB total L3 cache, 1066 MHz)—Dual Core 35 W pn: 597624-001
Might be possible:
Intel Arrandale i5–560 Processor (2.66–3.2 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache, 1066 MHz)—Dual
Core 35 W (for model 1.1 only) pn: 625824-001
Intel Arrandale i5–580 Processor (2.66–3.33 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache, 1066 MHz)—
Dual Core 35 W (for model 1.1 only) pn: 625825-001
Intel Core i5–460 Processor (2.53 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache, 1066 MHz)—Dual Core 35
W (for model 1.1 only) pn: 626039-001
I can't tell you which model the G62-361tx is so I would use one of the first 4 processors. They should work at 100%!!
Dv6-7000 /Full HD/Core i5-3360M/GF 650M/Corsair 8GB/Intel 7260AC/Samsung Pro 256GB
Testing - HP 15-p000
HP Touchpad provided by HP
Currently on Debian Wheeze
*Please, help other users with the same issue by marking your solved topics as "Accept as Solution"*

What do the Ram timings mean and does it matter which SATA port?

hi
is it a thread or could you guys add 1. i just bought 2x p55a- gd65 mobos. im sorry i do not build pc's all the time. i buy every few years and try to get up to date tech..
my problem is. each new tech i go up say kn8 to an9 ddr to ddr2 etc. some of the wording in memory set up changes and or more setting options. im not sure what the 4 main settings are. say i have memory that is 8-8-8-24 and want to make it 9-9-9-24. im not sure exactly which settings to change.. i think 1 settings has cl in the wording- i know what cl is- im not sure of the others.. this lil bit of info added to the manual would help us simple folks a lot..
well maybe you guys could start another thread- maybe you can sticky them. or put all of this in a general new p55 build thread.. but.
i noticed in the manual for my 2 new p55a- gd65 and or on the mobo. the satas are stacked 2 in a stack which one is sata 1 and sata 2. its not clear in the manual. i want to guess sata 1 is the 1 closest to the mobo or pcb and 2 is on top.. i have not checked yet. but what about the io plate and say usb. i guess some of them are stacked and maybe a few of them. which is stack 1 or usb 1 and 2 etc. again id guess the 1 closest to the mobo is 1. but what about if it is a few different stacks. where would the count start from top of mobo or the bottom up.. lil things like this can snag us simple folks. but in less than 1/3 of a page in the manual for these issues could be explained with ease or by adding a few numbers to the photos etc. if i remember right my abit mobos always added the lil numbers what ever to the system photos or drawings. it helped to set up the system faster and helped even more us that do not build systems often.. we should not have to guess- a few simple lil numbers on the drawings would be sweet.
thank you if you guys could start a thread and answer these few things- i know it would help me a lot. i will have the rest of my 2 system builds by the end of the week.. i was just reading on the msi flash drive thingy- its seems cool. as long as my drives like it etc- i have 1x 512mb 1x 1g and 1x 2g drives. im not sure how much space it needs exactly. im not sure it said anything about that. it just said- make sure you have extra space- but not how much? i want to guess my 1 gig drive will be enough. i have to make sure i know what letter it will be called etc.. but i think i will be ok.. i more want to use memtest- i hope my bios will be up to date- or good enough to get it running- but i will check and see what is out and download it maybe burn it to disc etc.. i have a few days to get all of this together..
* mods feel free to move this post if need be. i started this post here because its memory related or part of it anyway.. im not sure it is threads for these lil things- maybe sticky s in another area. im not trying to take over the thread or anything. im new here..
thanks in advance.. see ya..

The timing explanations are all over the net. For instance, at techpowerup, there is page explaining all the timings.
http://www.techpowerup.com/printarticle.php?id=131
An excerpt from the webpage.
Quote from: http://www.techpowerup.com/printarticle.php?id=131
Introduction
Have you ever wondered what those numbers “2.5-3-3-8” or “2-2-2-5” and so on mean? Or have you seen words like “CAS” and “tRCD”? These are the timings for the memory, or the speed at which it processes certain commands. This whole settings area can be quite confusing and you have to have a certain knowledge of it, if you plan on overclocking. But some of you may just be plain curious as to what they are.
Rated Memory Timings.
* CAS (tCL) Timing: CAS stands for Column Address Strobe or Column Address Select. It controls the amount of time in cycles between sending a reading command and the time to act on it. From the beginning of the CAS to the end of the CAS is the latency. The lower the time of these in cycles, the higher the memory performance.
e.g.: 2.5-3-3-8 The bold “2.5” is the CAS timing.
* tRCD Timing: RAS to CAS Delay (Row Address Strobe/Select to Column Address Strobe/Select). Is the amount of time in cycles for issuing an active command and the read/write commands.
e.g.: 2.5-3-3-8 The bold “3” is the tRCD timing.
* tRP Timing: Row Precharge Time. This is the minimum time between active commands and the read/writes of the next bank on the memory module.
e.g.: 2.5-3-3-8 The bold “3” is the tRP timing.
* tRAS Timing: Min RAS Active Time. The amount of time between a row being activated by precharge and deactivated. A row cannot be deactivated until tRAS has completed. The lower this is, the faster the performance, but if it is set too low, it can cause data corruption by deactivating the row too soon.
tRAS = tCL + tRCD + tRP (+/- 1) so that it gives everything enought time before closing the bank.
e.g.: 2.5-3-3-8 The bold “8” is the tRAS timing.
(The 2.5-3-3-8 figure is just an example for memory timings.)
These are the four timings that you would see when memory is being rated. It is in the order of CAS-tRCD-tRP-tRAS. The lower these timings, the higher the performance of the memory. Some motherboard manufactors (DFI for example) list the timings in their bios CAS-tRCD-tRAS-tRP.
Certain memories can take tighter (lower) timings at higher speeds. These are the more expensive memory modules out of the bunch. There are also other timings to consider in your BIOS. Not all boards will have options like these.
http://www.techpowerup.com
It doesn't matter which sata port on the same controller you insert a connector. This is not like the PATA controller where master and slave can be determined by the end or middle connector.

I am having consistant problems w/ my mb pro freezing for 20-60 seconds while working in different programs and apps. i've upgraded my RAM to 8gigs and deleted over 60 gig of pics and videos to try to help, but nothing seems to work.

I've now been having this problem for months. It just freezes up and either shows me the dumb color wheel or doesn't show me anything sometimes and i just cant do anything for about 20-60 seconds. i can't exposae or anything. Also while working on a power point presentation it froze 4 different times for good and i had to do a hard restart just to get it working again. i lost my work and had to keep starting over. it was so annoying. it seems most of the time it does it, it is while i'm in Excel, Outlook, or Powerpoint. so perhaps it has something to do with my microsoft office. but i have the newest version and all the updates and everything. and i believe its happened when doing other tasks too. So i just can't figure it out.
A few Mac friends suggested i free up some space on my hard drive and upgrade my RAM. So i did. i put all my videos and photos on an external harddrive and deleted them all on my computer. i also upgraded to 8 gigs of RAM.
And honestly i can't even tell a difference after doing both of these.
HELP! PLEASE HELP! I'M ABOUT TO GO CRAZY. And having all the non Mac believers telling me it cause i have a Mac even drives me more nuts..
Jason

Any of this help?
it froze a few times over the last hour and half while browsing the internet.
and also while working in excel it all of the sudden shut down excel and said. "Excel has encountered and problem and needs to shut down, you may lose the work you were on." or something like that. THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME TOO. Excel, outlook and powerpoint frequently just shut down on me out of now where. I've bolded and underlined when this happened.
1/8/12 11:50:56 AM
Software Update[4573]
PackageKit: *** Missing bundle identifier: /Library/Receipts/PPD_Installer_RI3292E3L.pkg
1/8/12 11:51:22 AM
com.apple.launchd[1]
(com.apple.suhelperd[4575]) Exited with exit code: 2
1/8/12 12:13:51 PM
com.apple.launchd[1]
(com.apple.netauth.sysagent[4608]) Exited with exit code: 255
1/8/12 12:17:37 PM
com.apple.launchd[1]
(com.apple.netauth.sysagent[4616]) Exited with exit code: 255
1/8/12 12:20:47 PM
com.apple.backupd[4644]
QUICKCHECK ONLY; FILESYSTEM CLEAN
1/8/12 12:21:39 PM
com.apple.launchd[1]
(com.apple.netauth.sysagent[4645]) Exited with exit code: 255
1/8/12 12:26:25 PM
[0x0-0x26026].org.mozilla.firefox[263]
colorbits: 24 alpha: 8 depth: 24 stencil: 0
1/8/12 12:26:25 PM
[0x0-0x26026].org.mozilla.firefox[263]
*** depth: 24 (req: 24)
1/8/12 12:27:54 PM
[0x0-0x26026].org.mozilla.firefox[263]
colorbits: 24 alpha: 8 depth: 24 stencil: 0
1/8/12 12:27:54 PM
[0x0-0x26026].org.mozilla.firefox[263]
*** depth: 24 (req: 24)
1/8/12 1:00:43 PM
com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[112]
([0x0-0x1b01b].com.microsoft.Excel[210]) Exited: Killed
1/8/12 1:03:51 PM
[0x0-0x199199].com.microsoft.Excel[4763]
Sun Jan 8 13:03:51 Jason-Streiffs-MacBook-Pro.local Microsoft Excel[4763] <Error>: CGBitmapContextCreate: invalid data bytes/row: should be at least 5760 for 8 integer bits/component, 3 components, kCGImageAlphaNoneSkipFirst.
1/8/12 1:03:52 PM
[0x0-0x199199].com.microsoft.Excel[4763]
Sun Jan 8 13:03:52 Jason-Streiffs-MacBook-Pro.local Microsoft Excel[4763] <Error>: CGBitmapContextCreate: invalid data bytes/row: should be at least 5760 for 8 integer bits/component, 3 components, kCGImageAlphaNoneSkipFirst.

How should i upgrade my ram

i just got a macbook and it only has 1 gig of ram. im not worried about price, so where should i take it to get it upgraded? also, is 2gb my limit?

Those apps are pretty RAM intensive and I think that you will see a jump in performance if you go to 2GB.
One way to see your RAM needs is to open up the activity monitor and look under the "system memory" tab for the number of pageouts. That is the number of times that your RAM has "filled up" and had to write its contents to the HD. Obviously HD access is much slower than accessing the RAM, so that would lead to a slowdown.
The number of pageouts is cumulative since your last reboot, so do not be alarmed if the number is high, but rather if it is large compared to the number of pageins. My Mac has been on for almost 8 days now and I have 104721 pageins and only 1624 pageouts. I have not worked on anything at all for the last week, just browsed the web so those numbers are low, but the clearly show that I have enough RAM for the current usage.

Should I upgrade to a MBP? and what about these crashes?

Right, so I bought a macbook about a week ago, and I'm just not sure if I should upgrade to a MB Pro or not?
I'm not a huge gamer, the only game I can think of playing on XP is Flight Simulator X, which does need a good video card, but I haven't played any games for 6 months or so, so I don't think that justifies getting a MBP.
Other than that, how is XP performance on the Core 2 Duo macbook? Does the integrated graphics cause problems? I suppose it is just like any XP laptop you can buy nowadays, as most of them also come with integrated graphics.
The only thing that does make me feel like getting a MBP, however, is that this thing is a bit too happy to ramp up the fans sometimes. I'm thinking this is because of the integrated graphics? Am I wrong about this? I noticed that the fan came on easily in the following scenarios:
1. Playing Macbreak Weekly H.264 video podcast fullscreen within iTunes 7. If not fullscreen, the fan doesn't come on. BTW, I noticed VLC plays this a lot smoother than iTunes. I don't know if VLC makes the fans come on though.
2. Running iEatBrainz (a rosetta version). the fan came on while it was scanning my music collection, maybe this isn't related to integrated graphics?
3. Playing an HD trailer, the fans come on. If this is due to integrated graphics then isn't this a future problem when there will be more HD around to play? the fan coming on all the time will be very annoying. I'm not really going to be playing heavy HD anytime soon though, but in the future it might be an issue.
Two other separate problems I hope you guys can help me with:
Problem 1:
It has crashed 3 times in the past week.
Crash 1: I think this was due to VirtueDesktops and trying to use an external display at the same time. Basically the WindowServer crashed and I lost the Apple menu and right-side clock and stuff. The dock was there and I could click on icons but nothing would launch. I had to force a shutdown by holding down the power button.
Crash 2: Once again I think this is due to the external display. I was connected to the external display when I put the computer to sleep and it hung, the display was still on the external monitor but I couldn't click on any menus or dock so I had to force shutdown.
Crash 3: Just 2 days ago I disconnected from the external display and was using it on the couch when I closed the lid because I had something to do and as i walked away I heard the startup apple sound! It had restarted just because I closed the lid! That was really odd.
Before I close this problem off, though I must add that I initially used this laptop w/o an external display and keyboard+mouse for 3 days straight without any problems. I also did a hardware test (extended) and everything is fine. So I think 10.4.8 and external display + USB might be broken?
Just in case, I have reinstalled the whole OS a day ago and so far with multiple sleep cycles and doing normal work (not connected to external stuff) it is just fine so I don't think there is a hardware issue.
Problem 2:
The other problem with the Macbook is that the button on the trackpad is just slightly sort of off-balance? I can make it move forward/backward vertically if I trace my finger vertically across it, is this normal? Sometimes if I click on the left hand side, it sort of gets stuck but immediately comes back up, so it's not a huge problem but annoying nonetheless. Does this warrant me getting a replacement unit? Could the button just stop working in the future, and then they have to replace the whole top casing don't they? Note that this happens only sometimes, and is hard to reproduce if I try to do it manually, it just happens *once in a while* but the button does work properly and everything and the right side of the trackpad is just fine.
Other than this the laptop is fine, and I simply don't have the budget to pay for a MBP right now but I've been waiting to get a mac for so long now that I just don't want to return this and wait a few more months ...
White 2.0 Ghz Macbook Core 2 Duo Mac OS X (10.4.8)

you are right, the macbook has endured multiple sleep/wake cycles now, and i finally plugged in a USB mouse yesterday and it still seems fine. The touchpad button is still a little loose however.
As for the extended test, I did that and there are no problems, so what do I do now?
I have decided against upgrading for now, and I don't want to go to the hassle of taking it all the way down to the apple store, but even more stories today of macbook cases slightly warped after time and cracks appearing also scare me, how common is this? Or is it just careless users who might have dropped the macbook?
If this case bending or warping or cracking and ramping up fans is common, I might as well save all my money and return it. I don't want to argue with Apple later on about fixing things, I've read horror stories there as well ...
and yes, I'm in a forum where people only post problems but there seems to be too many, or am I wrong?
White 2.0 Ghz Macbook Core 2 Duo Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Should I upgrade my ram?

I have a Macbook 7,1. It's a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo with 2 GB or ram. I'm developing apps for the iphone using XCode and I was thinking about upgrading to either 4GB or 8GB. I think I need this because I'm getting beach balled too often. Will upgrading my ram make enough of a difference or is it the Core 2 Duo that could be causing the issue? I'm leaning more towards the ram. Thanks for any info.

Upgrade your RAM as much as you can afford to. http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3_Whi te
From Wikipedia: Some memory can be stored in physical RAM chips while other memory is stored on a hard drive. This drastically increases the amount of memory available to programs. The operating system will place actively used memory in physical RAM, which is much faster than hard disks. When the amount of RAM is not sufficient to run all the current programs, it can result in a situation where the computer spends more time moving memory from RAM to disk and back than it does accomplishing tasks; this is known as thrashing.

How do I erase the ipad off itunes and add it again?

I can't get on my ipad. It keeps telling me to connect to itunes, but I can't connect because it is passcode protected. I need to erase the device from itunes to add it again, but I don't know how!! Help!

FORCE IPAD INTO RECOVERY MODE
1. Turn off iPad
2. Turn on computer and launch iTunes (make sure you have the latest version of iTune)
3. Plug USB cable into computer's USB port
4. Hold Home button down and plug the other end of cable into docking port.
DO NOT RELEASE BUTTON until you see picture of iTunes and plug
5. Release Home button.
ON COMPUTER
6. iTunes has detected iPad in recovery mode. You must restore this iPad before it can be used with iTunes.
7. Select "Restore iPad"...
Note:
1. Data will be lost if you do not have backup
2. If you did not do step 4 properly, start all over again.

Should I upgrade the RAM, the Processor, and add an ATA/133 card?!

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