Help me maximize my notebook!

[jimmyjam]

Hello,

I recently had to replace the LCD on my notebook PC and cracking it open got me in the mood for some upgrades. I've got a start, but have a few questions. First off, here is what I've got:

Acer Extensa 4620Z
Mainboard : Acer Biwa
Chipset : Intel GM965
Processor : Intel Pentium T2310 @ 1466 MHz
Physical Memory : 3072 MB
Video Card : Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
DVD-Rom Drive : HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T20N ATA Device
CD-Rom Drive : ELBY CLONEDRIVE SCSI CdRom Device
Drive C: (Hard Disk) : 25 GB available on 149 GB
Monitor Type : X160G - 14 inches
Network Card : Broadcom Corp NetLink BCM5787M Gigabit Ethernet
Network Card : Broadcom Corp Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-PCI Card
Operating System : Windows Vista (TM) Home Premium Home Edition 6.00.6000
DirectX : Version 10.00
Windows Performance Index : 3.1

I use it for every day internet and office use, as well as some photo editing with photoshop and music storage.

So I started with 2GB ram, and just bought 4GB of corsair PC5200 (2 x 2GB) from Frys. I installed it and kept getting blue screens. Something about a pfn_list_corrupt. So I updated to the latest BIOS and still got BSOD. The only way to boot is if I have 1GB in bay 1 and 2GB in bay 2. So it won't boot with all 4GB in. I understand I need to install 64-bit Vista, but shouldn't it boot without it and only read 3GB?

So I guess my question is: is there anyway I can make all 4 GB work? Should I just be content with 3? Is Vista 64 worth the upgrade?

Also, I only have 160GB hdd. I am thinking about the 500GB WD Scorpio Blue, any opinions on that or others?

Thanks for any input, I appreciate it.

 

[TheStu]

Vista64 has nothing to do with why your laptop won't boot with 4GB RAM, that is probably a chipset limitation of some kind.

 

[Hacp]

Its an acer but it has a dell wireless card .

 

[jimmyjam]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Its an acer but it has a dell wireless card .

Haha, I didn't even notice.

 

[jimmyjam]

Originally posted by: TheStu
Vista64 has nothing to do with why your laptop won't boot with 4GB RAM, that is probably a chipset limitation of some kind.

I was afraid of that. Oh well, 3GB will have to suffice then.

 

[reallyscrued]

If you store music on it and whatever, go for the hard drive upgrade. It'd probably be the most satisfying upgrade for what you do, not to mention read/write speeds for a half terabyte notebook drive should be quite a bit faster than your 160, I could be wrong though.

If after that you are still itching for an upgrade, I'd toss that CPU and throw in a Core2Duo if your motherboard can handle it. Something around T5750, one that doesn't have the 800 mhz fsb unless you have the RAM and Northbridge to match up. That should hold you until you wanna upgrade your laptop entirely.