Power Hungry Upgrade?

[Thorax_the_Impaler]

Hello everyone!

So this coming week or so I plan to purchase a couple upgrades for my laptop. An AMD N660 processor, as well as an 8GB upgrade of RAM. However, before I purchase these upgrades I have a question.

Currently, my laptop has a V140 processor, 2GB of RAM and a six-cell battery. This configuration (running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit), grants me just about two hours of battery life under normal usage (battery is beginning to age, so much less time than before). After adding my upgrades, my worry is that the battery will deplete faster. Or rather, noticeably faster. So will these upgrades cause that problem? Thanks in advance for any answers!

 

[PP Mguire]

Triple check to make sure the laptop is compatible with the Phenom upgrade. To answer your question, yes it will suck more juice, but another concern lies in the cooling. The laptop is made for a single core and 25w tdp whereas the Phenom 2 is dual core and 35w tdp.

Half of the reason I push people away from laptop CPU upgrades or GPU upgrades (when available) is just that right there. The cooling solutions are made for the CPU going in there and barely work with those.

 

[Thorax_the_Impaler]

I have scoured the Internet and found that this upgrade is compatible with the machine and a few people posted reviews or just notes on the machine's behavior upon upgrading. According to what I read, the stock cooling is adequate for the phenom processor. Temps were reported as stable (though i do not remember exactly what numbers they were) during idling, and while they did increase as a load was placed on the machine, they did not reach damaging heights. I will admit I am concerned about temps, but I have seen enough positive feedback to assure me the thing won't melt into a puddle of viscous fluid.

 

[PP Mguire]

Yea, take what you read on the internet with a grain of salt on such things unless it's from a reputable source. Idle temps mean jack.

 

[Thorax_the_Impaler]

Fair enough. In that case ill look a little further into it if possible before I do anything.

 

[PP Mguire]

Fair enough. In that case ill look a little further into it if possible before I do anything.

See if you can find anybody that stress tests it and gives actual load temps.

 

[Thorax_the_Impaler]

Coping with the Compaq CQ56-115DX - Life After the NVIDIA Settlement

This is by far the most detailed link I can find for what I am looking to do with this laptop.

 

[PP Mguire]

That's showing a load temp nearing the 80s.

 

[Thorax_the_Impaler]

Hmm......I'm guessing that's not favorable.

 

[PP Mguire]

For laptops that is slightly high but doable.