What can be upgraded in Compaq nx9420?

[PsxMeUP]

I read the official manuals and searched here, got nowhere. I know you can upgrade the RAM to 4 GB but what else is upgradable in a Compaq nx9420? I'm willing to beef up just about everything: CPU, Motherboard, Vid Card. I read the motherboard has an MXM slot and that some managed to install a Mobility Radeon 3870 video card (with a BIOS master upgrade). I also know the model supports CPUs to at least 2.3 GHz (mine is 2.0 GHz).

Here are my specs...

Model: HP Compaq nx9420
Motherboard: Hewlett-Packard (ES439EA#ABB)

Motherboard Chipset: Mobile Intel Calistoga-PM i945PM

CPU: Mobile Intel Core Duo Centrino 2.0 GHz

RAM: Samsung M4 70T2953CZ3-CE6 1 GB DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM

Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 (256 MB)

BIOS Version: 68YAF Ver. F.1D

Also, would a local HP service center help me out with any upgrades?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

As far as processors, you can go to the T7600.

HP will not help with any non-standard parts (installing a different motherboard or video card that didn't come with that notebook) and I imagine your notebook is out of warranty. It is if it is more than 3 years old.

Your current MB will only support up to 4 GB pf PC2-5300 memory. If you were to install PC2-6400 memory, it will only run at the PC2-5300 speed (667MHz).

The costs of replacing a motherboard and video card leads me to believe it would be cheaper for you to buy a newer model notebook.

Paul

[PsxMeUP]

Hmm, I'm a bit confused. Some people have that same nx9420 model with NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GTX, NVIDIA Quadro FX 770M and NVIDIA Quadro NVS 510M video cards. Could it be as easy as simply putting those cards in the MXM slot and changing the heat sinks?

[Eaglezeye]

I too have an nx9420 that I have just upgraded.

1) The 9420 has a known video card overheating problem. This was solved by a change in the video card for the 9440 model. The problem is also solved for about Cn$60 by replacing the video card heat sink when the card starts overheating.

2) Mine would not accept an upgrade to Windows 7 64 bit. It will only run 32 bit. That restricts the max memory it can address to 3GB. I run 2x2GB sticks in mine, just to keep the two sides balanced. 3) In its defaulty state, the hard drive is formatted with FAT32, and as such is limited to 120GB. So even if you install a larger drive, you will only be able to see 120GB. However if you use the Windows 7 utility you can reformat the drive to NTFS on the fly and get the full advantage of the capacity. I upgraded mine to 250GB.

4) The limitation on the drive seems to be in the hardware. Mine is SATA1. So one can put a SATA3 drive in, but it will never be faster than a SATA 1, so I saved myself $$ and went with a 5400rpm unit which also uses less power.

Having said that, my 9420 is blazingly fast with these mods, even with the slower Centrino processor.

Hope this helps. If it does, I love Kudos!

Cheers

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi,

You must not have a T5600 or higher in your notebook. If you had one of those processors, you would be able to run W7 x64.

I have an nc6400 with the T7200 with W7 x64 on it.

Paul

[PsxMeUP]

Eaglezeye, what video card did you replace it with? I'm also thinking of changing the heat sinks because I get overheating problems when running various Live CDs. I can't install Windows 7 anymore without doing it first thing in the morning while the laptop is cold, otherwise it shuts down midway through the installation. And I get overheating problems with Ubuntu. I'd like to install a more recent nVIDIA vid card because ATI has really bad Linux proprietary driver support (and it wouldn't hurt to play newer games in Win 7).

It might sound dorky but I've grown attached to my nx9420. It has been my workhorse for the last 4 years. I have pushed it harder than any desktop PC I've owned so far, and it has never failed me. I'm surprised it has lasted this long without a tune up. I'd feel like an ass if I were to dump the laptop for a newer one after all it has done for me :smileytongue:. The least I could do is give it a much deserved upgrade.

[abadansan]

only several options: fx1500m (ok it has 512m vesion not v expensive on ebay), nvs510m. nx9420 cannot take fx1600m or higher.