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This is one of the most common scenarios in today's middle-class America; that of the old family PC gift. There are literally scores of machine like this sitting in the closets, attics and garages of suburbia. They can be HP, Dell, Acer..... the brand matters little. They are very much like this one; 2, 3 maybe 4 generations old. They are consumer machines that sell by brand recognition and whichever is shinier/cooler looking than the others on the shelves of Best Buy and Walmart. These aren't bad machine, they're just limited and in today's world of 5th, 6th generation "Core" computers, they are basically "on their last legs". However, this is what one of my students brought in today. So lets take a look at it and see what we can do with it.
At the center of this machine is the LGA-775 and in it sits the Intel Core2Quad Q6600. This motherboard engenders some givens.
Four sockets that take DDR2 memory of 667Mhz spec. As typical of memory from this era, there's a chipset limitation of 8Gb total. It also means a full complement of 6 SATA sockets. Along with the obvious limitations, there are also some opportunities as well.
What about the most important part; the graphics sub-system? This machine came equipped with the nVidia GeForce 8500GT. For that day and age, it wasn't "bad" equipment. Far from it! But for today, it's barely adequate to run YouTube videos, but certainly not games of today. So.... what to do?
I would do this, in the following order:
- I'd start with the drive situation; buying as much SSD as my budget will allow. That'd probably something in the 256Gb range. Not huge, but big enough to hold a reload of the OS and the important software.This will do more than anything to make the machine run like something much newer.
- Then, I'd move on to this; a new graphics card. I'd do something along the lines of the nVidia GTX650, or an AMD equivalent. Something giving modern graphics ability, but not requiring additional power.
That's it. Really...... that's all I'd do. The machine already has 4Gb of RAM in it (occupying all it's memory sockets), so in order to add more, it would require losing at least 2Gb. I'll probably advise my student to not bother with the RAM unless he has extra money or happens to come across a great deal on 8Gb of DDR2 memory. It's really a pretty easy case. The hard part will be to save up his money to do a true full-on build!
You might be thinking to yourself; why is he showing us two images of the same computer? Actually, the upper is the ThinkPad T61, of which we have 3 in our house (more on that later). The lower image is the T500, of which we now have 1 that is partially disassembled here by my desk. Although there seems precious little to give between the two (as anyone can see), there are some key items that make a change worthwhile.
I'm sure that most of you readers know that Intel majorly changed the computing world when they brought forth the "Core" chips back in 2006. For notebook computing, that was the "Yonah" (32-bit), then on to the dual-core (but still 65nm) "Merom" (64-bit), then on to the "Penryn" (45nm) processors before the line move on to the 2nd generation "i" Core, "Sandy-Bridge" series. The ThinkPad T61s have the same CPU socket, but some will only run the late "Merom", and not the "Penryn" processors. I don't know whether that's due to not being able to run the lower voltage (25 watt "P" chips) or it's a "whitelist" issue, but it's a shot in the dark on which machines will upgrade to which CPU. This is where the T500 come into our picture.
If somebody backs me into a corner and forces me to respond to what is the most important factor in terms of a successful Windows computer, I'm going to say..... RAM! Lots and lots of RAM: as much as I can stuff in a machine. Well..... what does one have to do with the other? What I know about ThinkPads is this: the series that were originally equipped with last of the Core 2 Duo processors (Penryn-3M, 45nm/25tdp) will generally come on machines that have a chipset which take DDR3. So, it's not really the processor at all that's the issue; it's the major change in the RAM that it'll take. To put it in dollar terms, what you'll spend in buying a 2Gb module of DDR2 SO-DIMM for your laptop will roughly get you 4Gb of DDR3! To me that's a big deal. A T500 is basically a lighter (slightly), T61 with the fastest/coolest running Core 2 Duo processors which will take DDR3. That's it.... that's all it is..... plus; they can also be bought at almost the same price!!! As an example; I just bought a T500 locally (completely loaded with activated Windows 7, power adapter, 2Gb RAM, 160Gb/7200rpm HDD) for $125. I got home and put a single 4Gb RAM module in it, and it's about to replace my wife's T61 which I'll have no trouble selling for a profit on the turn-around.
As you know; I tend to do things in a series. So, over the course of the next several weeks or months, I'll probably do the exact same thing with my son's T61, and my daughter's X61. I've already done a little research and found that the X200 (above) can often be had around the $100-125 mark as well.
The only real question for me is, whether I should go ahead and switch the daughter to a MacBook now or later. She already exhibits all the indicators of an "artsy" child who also loves computers. That's an Apple product wielding kid if I ever saw one. Now, there's a friend of mine who has/had a dead MacBook Air which he may or may-not be able to find. If that comes to fruition, there's clearly a challenging new project, which might cause me to succumb to the Siren call of the devil himself.......
I know that it's not nice to speak ill of the dead, but.... can't you just see the horns sprouting from his head?
Yesterday, as I was discussing updates it occurred to me that I haven't updated that which this Blog is pretty much all about! ...... What's the best technology deals out there right now for the average "Joe". A few posts back, I had briefly discussed the Dell Latitude E6400 and how it was a really good deal for my clients, but even then I didn't get into the nitty-gritty of the specs and what-all that means.
In my opinion, right at this moment, there's not a better deal than the Intel Core 2 Duo processor'd machines. We're at a point where many (if not most) mainstream software can take advantage of more than one processor core. And the ones that can't, can run on one, while the machine can continue to do other tasks. Now this is anecdotal evidence of course, but on a fairly regular basis, I work on people's machines (as well as our stable of them too). As far as doing things on them, I can break them down into 3 groups. Single core, P4/P4-M, and Pentium M machines. "Core" Duo/Quad machines, and newer i3/i5/i7. Although, I don't deal with the latter much; I do, on occasion end up working on them as well. What I've found to be the case is that there's a huge difference between the 1st and 2nd group, but little between the 2nd and 3rd. Now before you get yourself into a twist, let me note that, we are talking about, a decent amount of RAM (3 to 4Gb), running an operating system that won't bog it down, meaning XPP for P4/P-M, and Windows 7 for Core Duo/2nd Gen Core machines, AND doing typical tasks, like downloads, Internet, etc. NOT, Photoshop and transcoding video!
The big factor is this; an adequate amount of RAM that isn't going to kill your budget. Not only do P4-M/P-M machines run slow, single-core processors, they use the older spec DDR (or DDR1) RAM in them. Sure, you can get 1Gb sticks, and get those machines up to 2Gbs total, but the cost of 1Gb DDR is pretty much the same as 2Gb DDR2! So, the irony is that the cheaper machine to buy is more expensive to upgrade. Besides which, the chipsets typically limit them to 2Gb total anyway, even if you could afford to buy bigger modules. So, here's how it works out in $$. You can go buy a T42 for say, $50, then you want to max out the RAM so it'll run decent with XP/SP3. That'll cost you about $70, making your total $120. Whereas on any given day, you can buy a T60 for about $75, or better yet, the T61 that I just bought for $90. You and put 2Gb of RAM into it for anywhere from $25-30 making your total somewhere around $100, or if you want to spend as much as you would have on that maxed out T42, you'd have a T60/T61 with 4Gb of RAM in it. Plus it'll have a Core Duo, or might even have a Core 2 Duo in it which is WAY faster than your P-M. ....And I haven't even gotten into the cost to size differential between the PATA that the T42 uses versus, the SATA that the T60/T61 uses!
The thing that made it jump out at me was that last week, I had a client who asked for a decent laptop to use for the next 2-3 years. They had a $200-250 budget, so I started looking around in the C2D type of corporate machines which are about 3 years old. Within minutes of each other, I was able to find both a Dell Latitude E6400, and a ThinkPad T61 for less than $100 shipped. Both were fully equipped, with hard drives, at least 3Gb of RAM. The ThinkPad had a bigger 15.4" screen and the dell had the bigger hard drive. I got them the Dell because it was smaller and lighter. If it hadn't been someone who was expecting to travel constantly with their machine, I'd have probably done the more rugged ThinkPad with the magnesium skeleton, instead of the Dell with the Magnesium outer casing. These are both "business class" machines that sold for between $1500 and $2000 originally. They'll certainly be tougher than the typical notebook that they'd been able to buy at Walmart for $400-500!
These are the computers I recommend because they offer the most "bang-for-the-buck" and they are what I have my family using. Both my wife and son use the bigger 15.4" ThinkPad T61. Granted they are the higher end ones with discrete graphics chips, high resolution screens and have upgraded SSD boot drives, but the guts of those machines aren't any different.
I have my daughter on the X61 from the same generation. Similar technology, but in a smaller package that's easier for her to handle. These things are also great deals, in that they are often found in the sub-$100 range as well. Yes, I have her RAM maxed out and an SSD in there as a boot drive as well, but those are pretty cheap upgrades if you know where and how to buy.
In the meantime, I'm already scouting out what we are going to do when it's time to upgrade. There'll come the day when DDR2 won't be worth it to buy compared to DDR3, so it pays to be prepared! But for right now: this is the Sweet Spot!
There is of course no pejorative attach to our native American brothers (I'm married to a "card-carrying" member of the Cherokee tribe), but this is how I've felt for about the last week or so...... surrounded by hostiles! If you aren't aware already, this next week, pretty much all the teachers in Texas go back to work. As if that wasn't bad enough, I'm the person responsible for getting my wife's little computer lab (BunnyNet) ready to go! What started out as a few out-of-date ThinkPads that had been given back to me by family members, has turned into a full-blown computer lab!
How many? At the moment, seven: the goal (my wife's) is to eventually have 12.... one for every 2 students. This kind of takes me back to my IT desktop support days. My first job at University of Illinois @ Chicago's Housing Department had about 70 computers of probably 12 different types from 7 different manufacturers. Then my next position with the Texas Tech University Libraries had about 700 computer of close to the same number of models and manufacturers as well! This was tech support chaos. In both cases, by the end of my tenure, I had gotten it down to 2 manufacturers (Dell for desktops and IBM ThinkPad for Laptops). The number of models of each in operation was about 8 or so, but that couldn't be helped since I didn't have the budget to replace them all at once.
Anyway, the situation with my wife's classroom is similar. Although all the laptops are ThinkPads (with the lone exception of the Mac), they range in vintage from the 10+ year old P4 powered A31 series to the newest Core 2 Duo powered T60/Z61 series. In between, there are some Pentium "M" powered T4x machines as well. This not only gives me two operating systems to look after (XPP/SP3, Windows 7/SP1), but also 2 different voltage A/C adapters, 2 different types of RAM, and 2 different types of hard drives. The worse part of it is that the balance fell on the bad half of the equation: P4-M, Windows XP, 16 volt adapter, PATA hard drive, and DDR RAM!
Things were getting dicey when one of the A31s had a screen fail (along with it's video subsystem), and another steadfastly refused to take a BIOS hack to allow me to use a newer WiFi card (faster than 802.11b). Oh yeah; it also does this high-pitched whining noise when there was a battery in the machine!
Then, while discussing random things with my brother via email, I got the bright idea to ask him if he had some unused old machines laying around. After a few back-and-forth emails, 5 (!!!) ThinkPads..... all of which were newer than all but one of my originals were on there way.
Like a phantom, while I was mowing the back yard, a box arrived via UPS (who oddly put it in the garage instead of the front porch). Although, I unpacked them last night, I didn't look at them till this morning, knowing full-well that once I got started, I'd be doing what I'm doing right now...... adding RAM, finding A/C adapters, and loading the OS! Despite the fact that 3 of them are in need of batteries and 20 volt adapters (which I don't have spares), I sure feel like the proverbial settlers in the wagon train watching the arrival of the cavalry!
Yes, there's work to be done on them, aside from the batteries and power adapters. One came with 1Gb of RAM spread into 2 modules, making them useless 512Mb sticks, but I had 2, 1Gb spares in my RAM box.That same T43p spit up it's hard drive when I tried to install the OS. It turns out that it was a drive that triggered the infamous "2010 error" anyway, meaning that the drive wasn't on the a approved "whitelist" in the BIOS. Even that turned out well since I found (in the hard drive box) a Fujitsu MHV2060AH HDD that had been taken out of a client machine when they upgraded to a large drive. Oh yeah, did I mention that, this particular drive is ON the "whitelist"!?! I'd better run out and buy a lottery ticket while I'm on a roll! So, now that machine has been loaded with Windows 7 and well on it's way to finishing it's updates and misc other software. Then, all I'll need to do is to clone it to the other T43p and they will replace the two bad A31s.
This will get me up to 9 working machines of which one is the Mac running OS X Tiger, but the other 8 are ThinkPads. 4 of them will be Core Duo or better machines running Windows 7, and with any luck, I should be able to get the P-M, T42p to run W7 as well. So, when I find the necessary parts to get the other 3 up and running, I will have met the royal goal of 12 machines, but better yet, only 3 of them will be the old P4-Ms that still run Windows XP. That should give me close to 6 months to find replacements for them by next March when M$ ends XP support. That makes me one happy frog!
