hp upgrade

i own a hp pavilion dv6428ca. its about 4-5 years old now and slow. i want to upgrade the ram, hd and network card. i have windows 7 home premium x64 bit

i have 2x1gb sodimm ddr ram cards and ive been doing some reading and apparantly with my OS i can have a max of 16gb ram. so naturally i want that or close to it. Can i use any form of DDR or do i have to stick to what was originally installed? can i swap out my ram slot holder thing and put a different one in so i can use DDR3 (im good with my hands and can solder just fine)?
i guess this is a good starting point. computers are so expensive id rather upgrade if i can.

thanks for the help

 

You have to stick with the type of memory that's currently on the board (in your case, DDR). Since it's an older PC, it's likely the CPU and memory speed are the culprits on slow performance (DDR 3200 is 400MHz speed, DDR2 is usually 800MHz, DDR3 is usually 1066MHz or higher).

Your best bet is to start from scratch. Since you already have Windows, you should be able to put together a decent system (4GB DDR3, new HDD, DVD+RW, AMD dual-core 265/270 CPU, AM3 motherboard, basic case and PSU) for around $300.

Hope this helps.

 

MAXIMUM RAM ON YOURS APPEARS TO BE 2 X 1GB-I will check further if I can for 64 bit, if your motherboard supports it.
http://www.crucial.com/uk/upgrade/compatible-memory-for/HP/Pavilion+dv6428ca/list.html

However, you can get a usb stick, and run that as extra memory- not as fast as ram, but fster than hard drive,
Check out HP spec
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...0000&cc=ca&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_CAEN

 

@gman863
do you mean rebuild my computer case competely? or start from scratch and build it myself?

@baklogic
is my motherboard the only thing holding me back? can i just upgrade it to something current

 

Yeah, build a new PC is what he meant. You can actually put together a decent system for around $300.

Yes and No.

It makes sense no upgrading a 5 yr old laptop's motherboard. So if you are to upgrade the memory on the laptop, 2GB is the limit.

 

Well, look for deals if you want a laptop, the season is coming up. As to building a desktop, that's fine too, just add another $60+ for a recertified monitor.

Something jumped out at me, you said in your original post you wanted to change your network card, there's no reason to do that as they're all the same, it's probably your ISP being slow.

 

can i build my own laptop? buy a case and throw in what i want or is this only a desktop thing
my current memory is 2gb already so i guess im maxed out there.

 

Although a few companies offer "barebones" laptops (you add the CPU, hard drive and memory), they aren't cost effective versus an off the shelf model.

If you decide to get a laptop and don't want to deal with a lot of preinstalled crapware, check out the Dell Vostro series on Dell's website. The Vostros also come with a next business day on-site warranty in the US - if something fails, you won't have to drop it off somewhere for service and wait weeks to get it back.

 

I see that HP do give all the drivers for w7, so you should be o.k, I would try a usb stick first- you could be pleasantly surprised if you use it for readyboost, without risking damage. As HP do give drivers for w7 64 bit, I would think it could run fast enough with the readyboost.
Otherwise, I have used this site for relations, and managed to get good deals.

http://www.mcscom.co.uk/

 

This link appears to say that your laptop will only take 1 to 2 gb ram for XP but in the table, if you scroll down, you will see that it seems to say that it will take more woth windows 7 32 bit, and even more with windows 7 b4 bit - I would cosider telephoning HP to be sure - but if so, you can keep this Laptop, and speed it up
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...c=en&product=3457740&tmp_track_link=ot_search

 

ok i think ill just buy a new one on boxing day. id like to buy one that can handle lots of stuff but is the very basic package, that way i can buy and upgrade it cheaper then it would be to buy it already upgraded.
can anyone help me out with this? im looking now for laptops for when boxing day comes. i dont really care about the brand (although if it wasnt id HP id be happy)