What can I upgrade on my HP G42 laptop?

[milesuy]

Laptop Model: HP G42-362TX

CPU: Intel Core i5 460M

RAM: 4GB

• Samsung 2GB 2Rx8 PC3-10600S-09-10F2
• Kreton 2GB DDR3-1066 CL7

Storage: Apple 320GB 2.5" HDD (Salvaged from a MacBook)

Wireless: Ralink RT3090BC4

VGA: ATI Mobility Radeon Premium Graphics

Optical Drive: (Not working/tested)

 

Use case: I want to learn and explore Linux on the laptop, so I'll be installing Ubuntu/PopOS on it. I'll try to use this laptop as my daily driver. I frequently use Google Workspace (Drive, Meet, Docs, Sheets, and Slides), Zoom, and remote desktop programs (AnyDesk and Parsec) for gaming, running non-Linux programs (ex: MS Office), and running heavy programs (video editing and compiling source codes). I'll also try LibreOfficce, since MS Office is not available in Linux. I'll also use it for watching anime/movies via VLC Media Player (Not sure if this is useful, but I'll put it anyway: Most of them are encoded in H.265 and AV1)

 

So far, I've watched some anime on the laptop, and it plays fine. Google Workspace and Zoom also runs good. Although multitasking is bad, I can't open 2 or more programs at a time or it would become unresponsive or lag. Opening 4 or more tabs on Firefox also makes it lag. As for remoting, it performs fairly good when on wired LAN, and performs poorly on WiFi. It also has difficulties connecting to WiFi with WPA3 security.

 

What can I upgrade on the laptop?

• CPU: I don't know which CPU is compatible with the laptop. I saw some forums that says the CPU is socketed, so it can be upgraded.
  • Source 1
  • Source 2: Upgradable up to 3rd Gen CPUs
  • Is a quad core with a lower clock speed better than dual core with higher clock speed? (Core i7-720QM vs Core i7-640M )
• RAM:
  • I had experience upgrading a MacBook Pro (Early 2013 Model) to 16GB, when it officially supported 8GB RAM only. I was wondering if this is the same case on this laptop.
  • I'm planning to buy a 1866MHz RAM, because its the same price with the lower speeds. Would the laptop automatically set the RAM to operate at a lower speed if it does not support 1866MHz?
  • Is there any performance benefit in using 'faster' RAMs?
• Wireless: Your recommendations? I have no idea what I should be looking for.
• Storage: I can't decide whether I should get a DRAM or DRAM-less SSD.
  • DRAM: Crucial MX500 or MSI Spatium S270
  • DRAM-less: Crucial BX500 or RAMSTA S800
• Optical Drive: I might install a Hard Drive Caddy to increase its storage, if needed. (Thinking about setting it up as a torrenting machine too when at home)
• VGA: Is it possible to use the Intel integrated GPU?

[Eigenvektor]

Even if the CPU is socketed, you're typically limited to the models that were officially sold with the laptop. HP tends to black-/whitelist CPUs in their BIOS. So best check which CPU was the fastest one they sold. The cooling of the laptop also has to be designed with the CPUs heat output in mind.

 

The Wi-Fi may be a module you can replace, but I doubt it's worth it and like the CPU it likely has to be whitelisted in the laptop's BIOS.

 

For graphics, laptops with a discrete GPU tend to have switchable graphics, meaning they use the iGPU for desktop and light load, then switch to the discrete GPU for games and such. But since you're limited to CPUs of the same generation, those tend to have the same iGPU, so a CPU upgrade is unlikely to come with a faster iGPU.

 

1 hour ago, milesuy said:

• • Is a quad core with a lower clock speed better than dual core with higher clock speed? (Core i7-720QM vs Core i7-640M )

Depends. For things like gaming, faster single core speed tends to be better. For productivity more cores may be better. For desktop use with multiple programs, it may be better to have more cores, but each program on its own would likely benefit from faster cores.

 

1 hour ago, milesuy said:

• Storage: I can't decide whether I should get a DRAM or DRAM-less SSD.
  • DRAM: Crucial MX500 or MSI Spatium S270
  • DRAM-less: Crucial BX500 or RAMSTA S800

It likely won't make a difference. I upgraded my father's old laptop to an SSD some time ago, and it wouldn't go past 150 MB/s or so. It was simply  limited by bus/CPU speed. Just use the cheaper one.

[manikyath]

1 hour ago, Eigenvektor said:

The Wi-Fi may be a module you can replace, but I doubt it's worth it and like the CPU it likely has to be whitelisted in the laptop's BIOS.

that's generally not the case anymore, back in the core2 days it was because of how rf validation was done, but anything core i should not have bios locked wifi...

with that said, good luck finding a card that fits with modern spec.

[milesuy]

3 hours ago, Eigenvektor said:

HP tends to black-/whitelist CPUs in their BIOS. So best check which CPU was the fastest one they sold.

HP had already taken down the laptop's support page, aside from their site, how to find which CPUs are black-/whitelisted? Or does anyone had experience servicing this laptop model?

 

I did find a service manual here, and it did mention "Intel Arrandale Core 620M 2.26-GHz".

 

Edit: I'm now confused, I found my motherboard's part number and CPU listed on the HP G62 laptop service manual.

 

1 hour ago, manikyath said:

anything core i should not have bios locked wifi

Are you referring about the WiFi being BIOS locked? I did try searching for wifi chips, and most sellers wrote that whitelisting is required on HP laptops.

 

3 hours ago, Eigenvektor said:

The Wi-Fi may be a module you can replace

What keywords do I look for when shopping for the Wi-Fi module?

 

1 hour ago, manikyath said:

good luck finding a card that fits with modern spec

I know, but I want to try anyway. My last resort would be buying a USB WiFi Dongle.

[Eigenvektor]

You can try searching for old reviews of the HP G42 series. They should hopefully list which models there are.

 

Example: https://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-G42-Series.41136.0.html

 

Looks like there are two Intel models, the i5 460M, which you have and an i5 520M. I doubt that's a worthwhile upgrade.

 

I would maybe try adding some more RAM and an SSD, before spending any money on a CPU.

 

Quote

• I'm planning to buy a 1866MHz RAM, because its the same price with the lower speeds. Would the laptop automatically set the RAM to operate at a lower speed if it does not support 1866MHz?
• Is there any performance benefit in using 'faster' RAMs?

As long as the RAM has an appropriate JEDEC profile, it should automatically fall back to it.

 

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/50179/intel-core-i5460m-processor-3m-cache-2-53-ghz/specifications.html

The CPU officially only supports DDR3 800 and 1066.

 

 

The advantage to faster RAM would be that it is, well, faster, i.e. more memory bandwidth. That can help in tasks that are limited by memory performance (as opposed to say CPU or storage performance)

[jaslion]

Spend like 100$ on a used dell eith a 4th gen i5 8gb ram and a ssd

 

Infinitly faster