Old Laptop Upgrade

oxitran

Estimable
Nov 23, 2014
5
0
4,510
I have an old hp 625 that I'am trying to get working again.

The laptop runs like a turd, and constantly freezes after 10 minutes of usage due to heating issues. I have tried to identify a bottleneck. Task manager shows the ram tops out while the CPU does not, However the cpu does get insanely hot, and performance degrades in line with the heat increase to the CPU, so I'am not sure which is causing the issue.

It has 3gb PC3 10600 ddr3 ram. I would like to upgrade it to 8gb and a faster speed. However, I'am not sure as to what amount of ram the motherboard can handle due to conflicting online reports and the laptop running so slow I cant check it on the laptop. As for the speed I have no clue if the motherboard supports a faster speed or even what PC3 is.

The battery is also shot but that can be easily replaced.

The HDD seems fine, I think its a WD 7200rpm drive. But I could upgrade to an SSD easily.

Has anyone had experience with this laptop or one like it. Can you help to identify what is most likely the issue for it being so slow now when it was actually okay in the past.

If all else fails I would just rip the motherboard out and use it as a media PC with a jumbo heat sink on it, if the ram is not an issue and the the CPU's fault.
 
Sometimes a re-install of Windows will restore performance to it's previous level, but you need to get that overheating issue sorted out first.

The laptop interior & air-vents will benefit from a good blowout with a can of compressed air if it's never been done before, that will improve airflow and cooling, there will be years of accumulated dust inside which chokes everything up and stops the laptop breathing properly

Whilst in there, check that the fan(s) are actually working - - a dead or clogged-up fan will definitely lead to overheating.
 

oxitran

Estimable
Nov 23, 2014
5
0
4,510
I'am still on the reducing the heat stage of things:



This is a picture of my motherboard removed from the laptop shell. The two processors in the middle of the board where covered by a heat sink, however the third processor on the top did not have any sort of cooling solution. What is said processor? Its a hp625 so it runs AMD components, the processor covered in the white backing is the GPU i'm pretty sure, and the other to the left of it is the CPU. Was it common in older laptops to split both CPU cored onto separate chips? if so why is one slightly smaller? why did it have no cooling solution? should it have a cooling solution?

Also I can confirm that the HDD is a WD3200BEVT. From what I can gather it is a sata2 5400rpm drive, so I think it needs an upgrade. But I'am not sure if the motherboard would accept a SSD or any HDD over the connector on the board.
 

oxitran

Estimable
Nov 23, 2014
5
0
4,510
I started the laptop outside the case to see what the heat levels where like and boom they were fine. Turns out the fans main intake was stuck facing a flat piece of metal inside the case so no airflow could reach it.

I'am looking into getting these for it:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) Laptop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-8GRSL.
Cheapest SSD 240gb I can find.

I'am also going to put windows 10 onto it and see how that goes. I will put it back together inside the case and drill intake holes for the fan and test again. If it still overheats then I will just use it as a media pc.