Dell Latitude D630 performance upgrade

[jcorr]

I want to upgrade the performance of an old Dell lattitude D630 as cheap as possible, its only got 3G of RAM. What is the best i can expect to achieve?

As far as i can see online I can only upgrade to 4 Gig Ram (2x 2GB) DDR2 PC2-5300F 667MHz, is it possible to go to 8 Gig?

The processor is Intel Core 2 Duo CPU 2.2GHz, can i do better?

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Ok the processor that you have the unit is the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo t7300 2.2GHz and is using the GME965 chipset . The fastest processor that can be used on this chipset is the Intel Core 2 Duo t9500 at 2.6GHz is about the fastest processor to which there is a good chance of having this Dell laptop support it.

 

[Ronshere]

If you upgrade your bios to the latest one, A19, you can use 8gb of ram in the D630
and you can use a T9900, 3.06ghz cpu as well. (the CPUs over 2.4ghz seem to be pricey
and do you really need that speed?)
On my D630 I have also removed the CCFL from the screen and installed a cheap LED
backlight kit off fleabay and it's really nice.
I was using Win7 but have switched over to PCLinuxOS Mate and the performance is
amazing. Beats the heck out of Win7. I upgraded to kernel 3.12.17 in their repositories.
You can also use Linux Mint, any flavor, but you will need to install it using LAN wire at
first then add the necessary wireless drivers from their repositories before your wifi will work.

 

[JrGoonior]

Ronshere, if what you say is true, then wouldn't you be able to use the faster speed RAM (1066MHz vs 800MHz)also? I can't imagine how fast this machine would be with all that RAM, relatively speaking, the faster FSB speed AND faster CPU to boot. Currently running D630 myself, 2 GHz Duo T7300, 2 GB RAM, A19 BIOS, WIN7 Ultimate 32bit.......Thanks, Jim......

 

[Ronshere]

Hi
I have a T7700 in my D630 and 4gb of 800mhz and it is fine. Why spend the money on 1066 ram. The improvement will not be noticeable most of the time.
look at the D630's BIOS. You have virtually no provisions for any sort of tweaking let alone overclocking it. The only thing i did to it was take out the original
LCD (1280x800) and bought a $35 1440x900 off fleabay, changed it to LED and its much nicer. Look on fleabay to see the prices for faster CPUs and ask
yourself if the cost for them is worth it? a T9900 is going for $70 right now and the ram will set you back another $100. Wouldn't it be better to just buy a
new laptop with new, faster hardware already in it?
The only real speed gain I know of is going with PCLinuxOS. It beats windows amazingly. Just try it and see for yourself. They even have kernel 3.15 in their
repositories and it is very fast, makes the D630 run like a new desktop.

 

[Ronshere]

I forgot to mention 2 cheap upgrades to the D630 I did that I did that i think were well worth it.
I bought a used DVD-RW/+RW from fleabay for $9 bucks which I use frequently and I found a 300mb wifi card
on fleabay for $5.39. The wifi card made a huge difference over the stock OEM card. I was getting very
slow connections and download sppeds that were a joke. Now I hit downloads around 5-7MBs all the time.
It was a Dell Wireless (WIFI) Card MX846 Broadcom BCM94321MC wireless a/b/g/n (make sure its a/b/g/n)
And one other thing I did was I had that overheating problem and I did some research and discovered Dell
had made two different power adapters for the D630, a 90 watt unit and a 65 watt unit. I had a 90 watt one so
I bought a Genuine Dell PA-12 PA12 65W AC Adapter Charger off fleabay for $17.98 (seller named charger-expert)
and the heat problem has disappeared!!!! Charges much better also. Brought new life to the battery.
Make sure you get a real dell. I bought another one on fleabay and it was a cheap chinese knockoff and it overheated
badly. I actually threw it in the garbage as I figured it was a genuine fire haazrd.
I am now fairly certain that the Dell heat problem has to do with the higher wattage charger being too much for the D630.
If you want to do as little as possible then just get the 65 watt adapter and the wifi card and you will be very happy.

 

[markthebaker]

If you upgrade your bios to the latest one, A19, you can use 8gb of ram in the D630
and you can use a T9900, 3.06ghz cpu as well. (the CPUs over 2.4ghz seem to be pricey
and do you really need that speed?)
On my D630 I have also removed the CCFL from the screen and installed a cheap LED
backlight kit off fleabay and it's really nice.
I was using Win7 but have switched over to PCLinuxOS Mate and the performance is
amazing. Beats the heck out of Win7. I upgraded to kernel 3.12.17 in their repositories.
You can also use Linux Mint, any flavor, but you will need to install it using LAN wire at
first then add the necessary wireless drivers from their repositories before your wifi will work.

I forgot to mention 2 cheap upgrades to the D630 I did that I did that i think were well worth it.
I bought a used DVD-RW/+RW from fleabay for $9 bucks which I use frequently and I found a 300mb wifi card
on fleabay for $5.39. The wifi card made a huge difference over the stock OEM card. I was getting very
slow connections and download sppeds that were a joke. Now I hit downloads around 5-7MBs all the time.
It was a Dell Wireless (WIFI) Card MX846 Broadcom BCM94321MC wireless a/b/g/n (make sure its a/b/g/n)
And one other thing I did was I had that overheating problem and I did some research and discovered Dell
had made two different power adapters for the D630, a 90 watt unit and a 65 watt unit. I had a 90 watt one so
I bought a Genuine Dell PA-12 PA12 65W AC Adapter Charger off fleabay for $17.98 (seller named charger-expert)
and the heat problem has disappeared!!!! Charges much better also. Brought new life to the battery.
Make sure you get a real dell. I bought another one on fleabay and it was a cheap chinese knockoff and it overheated
badly. I actually threw it in the garbage as I figured it was a genuine fire haazrd.
I am now fairly certain that the Dell heat problem has to do with the higher wattage charger being too much for the D630.
If you want to do as little as possible then just get the 65 watt adapter and the wifi card and you will be very happy.

 

[markthebaker]

RONSHERE CAN YOU USE A Q9100 IN THE D630 IF IT CAN NOW HANDELL A FSB OFF 1066? ALL SO HOW DID YOU UPGRADE THE SCREEN?

 

[cesar carvalho]

On my D630 I have also removed the CCFL from the screen and installed a cheap LED
backlight kit off fleabay and it's really nice.

Hi Ronshere.

Can you explain better, how can we change the CCFL and install a LED kit? I have seen your answer, I have bought the LED kit, but I don't work in my Dell? Do you have photos or any DIY?

Best regards.