Should I upgrade or buy? Help needed!

[Guest]

Hello all

I'm currently in need of a bit more laptop-power, and wanted your advice on the dilemna I face....

I current own a Sony Vaio VGN-FZ21E.

Specs here: http/www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Sony_VAIO_FZ21E_VGN-FZ21E/version.asp

I upgraded it to 4gb RAM, but I only have 32 bit Windows Vista, so only 3gb is useable.

It has other problems. It is 5 years old, only has 160gb (almost full) hard drive, heats up quite a bit and has a dead battery.

I want to be able to use a lot more storeage space for my music, play the new FM 2013/Sim City and use for streaming media. It's capable but it's not capable enough at the moment.

I am tempted by a new laptop, but money is a bit tight and I still have some upgrade options.

I can buy Windows 8 for £25, which will mean I effectively move up to 4gb RAM. I can buy a new battery for £40-50 and also a new SATA hard drive to increase capacity. If I do this, do you think it will improve the system sufficiently for what I need it for. Is the processor strong enough for it to be worth it?

Any general advice greatly appreciated as I can't make my mind up at present...

Cheers!

 

[goodguy713]

your just throwing money away on that thing .. just saying it might be a good media server at this point but i would not put it to much more use then that .. i would consider picking up something like with an amd A10 or something with intel hd4000 graphics ie newer processor .. A10 is better graphic wise but lacks on the processor end intel is strong on the processor end but lacks on the graphics end.. with all games the vast majority of them are graphic card bound if your seriously interested and looking for the cheapest way go with AMD how ever if you want something with a bit of graphics power in a laptop you want to get something with descrete graphics

 

[manofchalk]

If your looking for more gaming performance, a new OS and bigger Hard Drive wont achieve that.

Wouldn't bother trying to upgrade/fix it, not worth it IMO.

 

[Guest]

Thanks goodguy

The Sony I have has GeForce 8400M GT graphics.

Would inegrated hd4000 graphics outperform these (admittedly quite old) dedicated graphics?

I doubt I'll be playing any FPS games etc, just fm2013 and perhaps some other RTS type games, but that's just an option that'd be nice to have rather than a necessity.

Man of chalk: I'd also be moving up to 4gb RAM. Still not worth the cost-saving?

 

[photonboy]

Thanks goodguy

The Sony I have has GeForce 8400M GT graphics.

Would inegrated hd4000 graphics outperform these (admittedly quite old) dedicated graphics?

I doubt I'll be playing any FPS games etc, just fm2013 and perhaps some other RTS type games, but that's just an option that'd be nice to have rather than a necessity.

Man of chalk: I'd also be moving up to 4gb RAM. Still not worth the cost-saving?

- you can GOOGLE BENCHMARKS but going to HD4000 graphics from 8400M GT might not be much of an upgrade.

- the best value in a new laptop for gaming is likely one with an AMD APU with an HD7000 series GPU. That requires a little research.

- Do you mean the UPGRADE version of Windows 8 Pro? If so, beware of two things:
1) You can NOT upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit, however Windows 8 does use less RAM than Vista so although you won't see all of the 4GB you will have more available for a game.

2) You can NOT keep any programs when upgrading from Vista to Windows 8.

 

[manofchalk]

1GB of RAM isnt going to be that big a difference. Also a 32bit OS can use up to 3.25GB of RAM, so not even a GB will be gained.

 

[Guest]

Cheers for your comments

Sorry should have added it would essentially be a clean install of Windows 8 pro. I have my stuff backed up and would need to download drivers etc. This doesn't bother me as it would get rid of a load of crap I don't need anyway.

So essentially what I'd end up with is:

4GB Ram
Windows 8
Intel T7520 Core 2 Duo 2ghz processor
GeForce 8400M GT graphics
160GB hard drive (which I would upgrade)

I don't want to get too sidetracked by gaming as it would only really be on FM 2013, not the graphic-hogging stuff.

However, if you think the above would still perform quite poorly, I'll look to buy a new one on a budget.

 

[manofchalk]

It all really depends on what you are going to do on the machine. If its just going to be internet browsing and basic office work, then what you already have is enough.
If you include gaming, you will have to upgrade.

 

[photonboy]

There's very little point in upgrading:

*I'm not sure if you noticed my reply, but the inexpensive UPGRADE option for Windows 8 Pro can only go from 32bit->32-bit or 64-bit-> 64-bit.

There is NO upgrade path from 32-bit Vista to 64-bit Windows 8 Pro. You'd have to purchase an OEM copy of Windows 8.

Windows 8 will make a BIG difference in boot times and shutdown speeds but no gaming difference. You may also encounter some issues especially if you aren't comfortable finding and installing missing drivers.