HP Pavilion G7 2233cl - Replace DVD RW with SSD, improve cooling, custom case.

[DylanKCC]

I have a G7 as in the title. I have a few things I was looking for feedback on.

1)I want to replace the DVD RW with an SSD. I know the DVDRW is a SATA connection. I am not sure if the bay for the DVDRW is big enough to fit an SSD, possible workarounds? Maybe a SATA extension cable?

2 &3) These kind of go hand-in-hand. I recently found out I can overclock my GPU but it does create a little bit more heat. What are cooling solutions for laptops? Are there any super-compact liquid coolers? Also, related to heat, instead of getting something different to cool the APU I was thinking about Zip-tying the internal components onto a wood board with some holes in it, or possibly something more elegant. Has anyone been successful in retrofitting laptop components into a small form factor PC case or something like this?

 

[LummusMaximus]

DVDRW drives use a SATA II connection. SATA II maxes out at about 250mb/s, and most decent SSDs easily make 300. The main hard drive uses a SATA III connection, up to 500mb/s. The SSD would be better in your main hard drive slot, and moving your current HDD to the DVD bay would be better. You should be able to find a disc bay caddy easily enough, search for your model number and disc caddy (Pavilion G7 2233cl Disc Caddy) and you should find something helpful.

As for the custom case, that would be possible- just be prepared to make custom fittings, as laptop motherboards don't conform to any size standards. Maybe you could get a basic power supply to go with it, to power the fans and a desktop hard drive- if it's in a case, you'll want a ton of fans to help keep it cool (Or at least one). Just keep in mind that you'll be sacrificing portability.

 

[DylanKCC]

DVDRW drives use a SATA II connection. SATA II maxes out at about 250mb/s, and most decent SSDs easily make 300. The main hard drive uses a SATA III connection, up to 500mb/s. The SSD would be better in your main hard drive slot, and moving your current HDD to the DVD bay would be better. You should be able to find a disc bay caddy easily enough, search for your model number and disc caddy (Pavilion G7 2233cl Disc Caddy) and you should find something helpful.

As for the custom case, that would be possible- just be prepared to make custom fittings, as laptop motherboards don't conform to any size standards. Maybe you could get a basic power supply to go with it, to power the fans and a desktop hard drive- if it's in a case, you'll want a ton of fans to help keep it cool (Or at least one). Just keep in mind that you'll be sacrificing portability.

Thanks, good advice. I didn't realize one was sata2 and the other sata3 just assumed they're both sata2. So that's what I'll do, then, and ya I was thinking if I could find a small enough case to lug around. I really just want to stick it in something bigger then jimmy-rig a better heat sink assembly on it. Also considering getting a cooling pad. Or a desktop.

 

[LummusMaximus]

In a desktop case, a ten dollar cooler has a high chance of cooling better. Just remember, due to not proprietary connectors and such, you may have to custom build a way to attach the cooler. I've seen some good ones featuring zip ties.