Maxdata Eco 4000a Upgrade Project
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This page covers upgrading components of the Maxdata Eco 4000a laptop and details of the technical process involved in installing the components.
To begin I will detail the technical specification of the laptop as factory built.
- Purchased: May 2006
- CPU: AMD Sempron 2600+ (1.6ghz)
- Graphics Card: SiS M760 (32MB, 64MB or 128MB shared RAM)
- Sound Card: AC'97
- RAM: 256MB DDR 333 (PC2700) in one stick
- Chipset: SiS 963L
- Optical Drive: Phillips CDRW/DVD SCB5265
- Hard Drive: 40GB 5400RPM with 2MB cache
- Screen: 15.0inch XGA TFT
- Ethernet: SiS 900 10Base-T / 100Base-TX
- Expansion: mini PCI, pcmcia type 2 and 1 internal USB port
- Supplied OS: Windows XP Home
In December 2007 I decided to upgrade this laptop as it was becoming slow and was unable to perform some of the high end graphical interfaces offered by the latest release of Ubuntu. This inspired me to begin this project so that others may also upgrade or repair their Maxdata Eco 4000 laptops too.
Upgrades Completed
- RAM: 1GB DDR 400 (PC3200) in 2x512
- CPU: AMD Sempron 3100+ (1.8ghz)
- Internal Wireless
- Internal Bluetooth
- Hard Drive: 60GB 7200RPM with 8MB cache
- Optical Drive: QSI DVD+-RW SDW-082S
- Heatsinks and Cooling (Read Before Upgrading)
RAM Upgrade
Shortly after purchasing the unit I had upgraded the ram from 256MB of DDR 333 to 1GB(1024MB) of DDR 333.
However when I later came to research the CPU upgrade I found in the user manual that the motherboard supports DDR 400 RAM. This was an important discovery as the performance increase when replaced should be conserble.
After some shopping around the highest preforming DDR 400 modules I could find were:
OCZ (OCZ400512VSO) 512MB DDR-400 PC-3200 CL 2.5-4-4 with Lifetime Warranty.
Purchased from Ebuyer.com on 03/12/2007 for £17.86GBP + VAT each.
These modules were selected due to their Latency Timings of only 2.5 which is faster compared to cheaper units with 3.
CPU Upgrade
As with the RAM I discovered that the CPU was upgradable inside the user manual.
Finding Mobile AMD Sempron's is quite a difficult task as laptop CPU's are not readily available. I eventually found a second hand AMD Sempron 3100+ on ebay from a company called Kaymart Supplies I paid £27.95GBP with delivery.
Internal Wireless
Finding the unit has a internal and unused mini pci slot, I installed the following:
- Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller
This was taken from a broken Acer laptop from where I worked at the time. However this card and others like it can be purchased via eBay.
IMPORTANT: Check Linux support before purchase, if you plan to use Linux.
This cards performance was also improved via the fitting of replacement internal aerials. These provide a lot better signal then the aerial already supplied with the laptop.
These were purchased from eBay for £3.80GBP including shipping, These aerials are made by Toshiba and I fitted them behind the screen at the very top.
The original sale is viewable here
Internal Bluetooth
The laptop has an internal usb port. This is accessible via a plate on the underside of the unit. The plate is removed by unscrewing one screw and leaving the plate upwards. See image below:
This slot only allows for a very small usb device. After reviewing the size of the space and products available I decided to install a Bluetooth dongle. The device I purchased cost only £1.94GBP +VAT from Ebuyer.com however this unit is no longer available. Once I received the product however I discovered it was to big to fit inside the laptop. To work around this, I removed the adaptor from its plastic case and fitted the PCB only into the laptop.
Hard Drive: 60GB 7200RPM with 8MB cache
Optical Drive: QSI DVD+-RW SDW-082S
I replaced the DVD/CD-RW with a DVD-RW drive. In order to get a unit with the correct "face" I purchased a broken Maxdata Eco 4500a from eBay.co.uk and swapped the optical drive out. This broken Eco 4500 also provided me with a replacement battery and replacement clips to hold the lid shut.
Heatsinks and Cooling
As a result of these upgrades my laptop now suffers issues with heating, the unit gets extremely warm during use. To counteract this I conducted the following:
- Fitted small self adhesive Heatsinks to RAM and components that get hot
The heatsink placements where selected so they did not cause any obstructions, such as preventing the bottom being screwed back on.
- Replaced thermal compound on CPU with Arctic Silver 5
Notes To Follow.
