Question Looking to upgrade an old Toshiba Satelite L850 162. Possible options for RAM, SSD etc.?

[glocken73]

Hello,

I have quite an old Toshiba Satelite L850 162 laptop around 10 years old. From my research which is limited I must admit as I am still learning what is capable and not. I have seen many sites suggest that for example the RAM can only have a max capacity of 8GB which is what it currently has integrated. The RAM is 2 4GB DDR3 2Rx8 PC3 1333mhz 204pin modules. As I understand the RAM potential also depends on the laptops chipset. If indeed it is not possible to increase the RAM capacity to lets say 16GB are there any other improvements that can be done on this side of the machine?

The main issue is the slow speed and battery life, I have seen that I can upgrade to a slightly larger battery and potentially upgrade the HDD to an SSD. These are potential SSD options https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/dynabook-toshiba/satellite-l850-162.

Anyway this is obviously never going to be an amazing laptop, in fact it is more of a side project to see what I can do with it but any advice on potential upgrades etc would be greatly appreciated as my knowledge so far is limited.

Thanks

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome tot he forums, newcomer!

Using this for your laptop's specs;

Satellite L850-162 - Dynabook

You can't go beyond what you've already got on your laptop in terms of ram/memory. You can't go beyond 8GB due to the chipset/platform. Your processor is from the Sandy Bridge era which means you're going to most definitely have an HM65 chipset onboard, so the max it will go is DDR3-1333MHz, 8GB across 2 ram slots.

As for your SSD, you can replace the HDD that's in the laptop with a 2.5" SSD, you can then have a 12.7mm secondary HDD caddy(that replaces the ODD in the laptop) with a 2.5"HDD of your choice.

Where are you located, what is your budget for an SSD purchase and what is your preferred site for purchase?

are there any other improvements that can be done on this side of the machine?
You could look into replacing the processor with an i5 or an i7 Sandy Bridge processor, with the same TDP number.

 

[logainofhades]

I would advise against sticking any money into such an old system. If you are going to, then a 2.5 SSD is the only thing you really can, or should, do. At least the drive could be reused somewhere else.

 

[glocken73]

Thanks for your responses I dont plan on putting a lot of money towards it to be honest as I said its just like a little hobby/side project since it is an old laptop i have lying around and i recently bought a new set of tools specifically for working on electronics phones/PC's etc.

I am located in Cyprus so there aren't a massive amount of shops locally for me i was thinking to source my parts from online abroad.

As for your SSD, you can replace the HDD that's in the laptop with a 2.5" SSD, you can then have a 12.7mm secondary HDD caddy(that replaces the ODD in the laptop) with a 2.5"HDD of your choice.

So in this instance I would need to source a new SSD and have a secondary HDD? My system would not work with just running an SSD?

How would i go about finding the TDP number of the processor? Sorry for my lack of knowledge, as i said i am just starting out with this and still have a lot to learn. Thanks for your help anyway!

 

[logainofhades]

You can run the system with just an SSD.