Refreshing an older laptop (options?)

shiftycent · December 8, 2019

Hello all, new member, watched a few of the shows, found them interesting and decided ill try to post about my mini project that i want to do.

Have an HP laptop at the place where ill use it maybe a few times a month. Sort of backup, idk, maybe im computer addicted slightly and can't be without one for longer than a few hours.....but let's not open that can of worms

Anyhow.....a game that i play runs at 23-ish fps. While that was okay when i didn't know any better, now i have a better Asus laptop at home and it has spoiled me. So, i'm wondering what (if any) my options are? I'm not some super savvy computer person tho......i did manage to take the laptop in question apart to the point where the motherboard is accessible and i'd probably be able to install upgrades too, but imo that's about it as far as my mechanic skills go, for example, i'd already be apprehensive with swapping hard drive for the modern ssd version.

Specs:

i5 5200U 2.20 GHz

8 GB RAM (noticed there is one free slot when i opened it)

integrated graphics

no SSD hd

My ideas:

-one more stick of ram, to make it 16 gb (but idk, afaik they have to be identical, might have issues with that) or idk, 2 new identical ones

-SSD (tho like i said, am worried about doing the work myself) -it has a card reader, is it possible to buy a big-ish SD card and use it as HD?

As for the graphics......short of external gpu, there really isn't much i can do is it? Although i had more ideas....one of the steps when i was opening the laptop is taking out the whole CD thingy......which when removed leaves a rather sizeable hole in the case (i have pics if someone needs to visualize better). Is it possible to install something there? Fanless gpu, extra slim gpu, something like that, does it even exist????

One of the criteria is that it can't be super expensive, because the cost really doesn't justify the usage.

Many thanks for any answers.

SupaKomputa · December 8, 2019

All you can do basically is adding more ram and SSD.

Some laptops which have a PGA cpu can be upgraded like the Lenovo T440.

GPU can be upgraded if it has a modular design (MXM) found in some workstation class laptops, this is very rare and the tech is abandoned in new laptops.

For the HDD you can use / replace the CDROM slot and put in a HDD caddy for extra hdd bay.

LeapFrogMasterRace · December 8, 2019

I don't think more ram will do any good because you are probably not using more than 8GB. A SSD will make everything load faster but there really isn't much you can do for the gaming performance besides overclocking with something like intel extreme tuning utility. The only exception is if you want to go crazy, take out your network card or if you have an NVME or a express card slot and buy a laptop GPU dock but you need a PSU for that as well it's not a pretty setup... I found a video of Linus covering this