Upgrades
CPU and RAM The CPU can be upgraded in this desktop replacement system, but with great difficulty. A maximum of 2.4 GHz should be inserted, as the formula determines this:
where
- P is power in watts
- C is capacitance measured in farads
- V is voltage measured in volts
- f is frequency measured in hertz
The capacitance in the CPU is generally around 8.6 nF:
Maximum voltage (VCore) would be reduced to make up for the increase in power and the voltage is minimal as it is. Hence, the frequency increase to 3 GHz for instance, cannot be compensated by this notebook without further study. The maximum power usage of the CPU in this notebook is 56.5 W. This also requires a 90 W AC adapter. The CPU uses a Socket 478 connector.
The RAM can be upgraded to a maximum of 1024 MB or one gigabyte of DDR PC2100 RAM. The RAM used in this device is 266 MHz.
Wireless LAN Wireless LAN can be inserted via the expandable MultiPort or via the mini-PCI inside. This method requires the removal of the modem and the insertion of the card with two anntena (or three if using 802.11n). This can be a difficult process but when accomplished, it can work rather smoothly.
Hard disk drive
The backing storage of the initial 40 GB drive is usually insufficient. The drive may be upgraded to a 320 GB IDE drive (but this needs to be split into two partitions of 127 GB and the rest). These can cost very little amounts.
Optical storage
One expandable upgrade to the drive is a CD-RW/DVD-ROM. This was as far as Compaq produced, but, others have dismantled other drives and formed DVD-RW drives for the notebook, some of which have Lightscribe.
Operating system
The notebook can operate Windows Vista, but it can do this only with great difficulty. As HP did not assign drivers to it for Windows Vista, the graphics card will not function and allow you to run Windows Aero.
Read more about this topic: Compaq Evo N1020v