L650 CPU Upgrade? & Esata with USB 3.0?

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33coupe

667 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 127098 29-Jul-2013 22:30

Hello,

Sorry for the following (dumb) questions:

Firstly I have a TOSHIBA SATELLITE PRO L650

http://www.mytoshiba.co.nz/products/computers/satellite/pro/c650/psk1ka-04102t/specifications

Does anyone know if it is possible to change / upgrade the CPU on this? I only ask because I use Handbrake to convert files and it constantly uses 100% CPU for hours on end.

Will upgrading the RAM from 4 to 8GB help at all?

And my other question.

I have an esata/usb port on my laptop. If I get a 3.0 usb portable hard drive, will transfer speed be any quicker than a 2.0 portable hdd?

Thanks

Andy

Regs

Cloud Guru
4060 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Snowflake

Subscriber

# 868211 29-Jul-2013 23:02

One person supports this post

cant normally upgrade CPUs in laptops. if you could get a better CPU to fit, it probably wouldn't give you that much better handbrake performance as you would be limited to models that the BIOS can handle, and not the newest ones. if your CPU is maxed at 100%, upgrading the RAM isnt likely to help for that scenario.

a USB3 portable HDD will not make any difference at all because you only have USB2 ports. an hdd in an enclosure with eSata would make a difference, something like this: http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=ENCVAN0112&name=Vantec-NST-200SU-NexStar-CX-2.5-SATA-to-USB-2.0-an Normally you need to plug the external disk into a powersource with esata - it doesnt get powered over the esata cable like USB

USB2 will give you around 30MB/s max
USB3 and eSata will probably both give you between 70MB/s and 100MB/s (depending on disk etc)

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33coupe

667 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 868419 30-Jul-2013 12:17

Thanks for the reply and info.

Yeah I did think that. After searching on the net I found some that could be changed, only if they cpu wasn't soldered to the motherboard. Thought it was worth a check.

It's using just under 3GB of the 4 RAM, so I wondered if I should get an additional 4GB just in case. Should I not bother, is it ok to use that much?

I think I understand (sorry Im not very computer literate) about the hard drive. My laptop has a esata/usb combined port, does that make any difference?

So I would need to buy this case (as per your link) and a external hard drive to put in it?

And this way I will be able to get the esata speeds rather than usb 2.0 speeds.

I mainly use my portable hdd for displaying pics & videos on my TV. Would the above work ok on my tv?
Although I'd rather not have another device plugged into the wall :o(

Thanks again

Andy

Inphinity

2540 posts

Uber Geek

# 868421 30-Jul-2013 12:22

One person supports this post

33coupe:

I think I understand (sorry Im not very computer literate) about the hard drive. My laptop has a esata/usb combined port, does that make any difference?

So I would need to buy this case (as per your link) and a external hard drive to put in it?

And this way I will be able to get the esata speeds rather than usb 2.0 speeds.

I mainly use my portable hdd for displaying pics & videos on my TV. Would the above work ok on my tv?

The combined port just gives you the option to use USB or eSATA, it's still a USB 2.0 port as far as any USB device is concerned.

Get a case with an eSATA connector and put a drive in it. Most such cases/caddys will just take a standard SATA drive.

I doubt it will work on your TV, as very TVs have an eSATA port. If yours does, yes it will work. However, if you get a caddy that has both eSATA and USB, then yes you could use the eSATA connection when plugged in to your laptop, and USB when plugged in to your TV.

33coupe

667 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 869310 31-Jul-2013 14:16

Ah thanks Inphinity, it has all (slowly) sunk in.

Thanks for both replies and the info, really appreciated