DD's Project Laptop Thread

Doctor Destiny · October 9, 2009

A while ago, a friend of mine sent me an HP DV2000 series laptop. He got it from his father but when he booted it up, the LEDs would light up but the display would not. Diagnosis: motherboard was shot because of a heat sink problem with HP motherboards.

That said, I intend to fix the motherboard issue and upgrade it as much as I can. It's a tall order but it can be done.

This is what the laptop shell looks like:

Not the fanciest, but still not bad at all. It's prettier than my Dell Latitude D530.

As stated, I need a new motherboard before I can even consider booting it up.

As it stands, I already have the necessary parts, but all I require is the CPU, which is an AMD Turion X2 @ 1.8 gHz. The processor isn't too shabby since it's on par with my desktop's CPU; however, the maximum memory is only 2GB. That's a low point but it'll be more than enough to power it well. And it'll be up a full GB from the default, which is only 1GB.

However, since he had to remove the hard drive, I have no quick basis for testing but that's not a big deal. I would have upgraded the hard drive anyway since the default was a 160GB 5400RPM SATA drive.

I intend to pair it with a 60GB solid state drive. The drop in capacity is not a big deal since I'm not using this laptop for storage or gaming. It's merely a piss around, and on-the-go, laptop for little more than chatting. Solid state drives are insanely fast so Windows boot times will be extremely low.

However, as stated before, the memory that ships is only 1GB. The maximum is 2GB so I may as well throw down a new pair of memory modules.

So in goes a pair of G.SKILL modules. I have 4GB of G.SKILL in my desktop and it screams like nobody's business and the raw power G.SKILL provides is enough compensation for the lower maximum supported memory.

However, as said, these laptops have a heat sink problem. I intend to minimize this problem as best I can. Part of it is likely subpar thermal paste.

I intend to clean the processor chip and apply my own, aftermarket thermal paste. I have Arctic Silver Ceramique from years ago when I purchased it for my C2D in my desktop. It works well and holds up well over time since I kept it in the freezer.

In additional to new thermal paste, I am getting a cooling pad.

It's a Zalman and they make fantastic cooling products. This particular pad is large and able to easily accommodate even 17" laptops. The DV2000 series is only 14" so the size is perfect. And it runs purely through USB so I have no need for an additional plug.

Additionally, I am also able to purchase the Restore Set for this particular laptop. The provided operating system is Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit, which is perfect for what I want this laptop to do. I don't mind Vista anyway so it's not a big deal at all.

That's what I have in store for this HP. I will provide pictures when I am able to buy all of the parts. And I will definitely provide pictures of it booted into Windows.

I suspect my buddy would want it back if it works. XD

Spec Sheets:

- HP DV2415NR Laptop

- OCZ Vertex 60GB SSD

- G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 533 Memory

- Zalman ZM-NC2000 Notebook Cooler

- HP DV2000 Series Motherboard (subject to change on part ID)