enthusiasts please weigh-in (plus quick win8.1 pro review)

[sibeans]

Hi 8.1 Pro x86 Users!

Just recently updated my dino-ThinkPad from windows 7 to windows 8.1 pro x86 (via store and windows update) and want some advice from you about optimizing the SL410 for decent battery life & processing power with the current hardware setup/limitations. (I've online searched but there's a dizzying amount of info to sift through).

Current hardware setup:
- Core 2 Duo @ 2.0ghz
- Integrated 4xxx HD Graphics
- 4gb RAM (2.85 usable, seems the BIOS won't adjust higher)
- 16gb sdhc card dedicated for ReadyBoost

Besides the typical upgrades (ram & SSD) which I may/may not consider when Windows 9 comes out (and will switch from 32bit to 64bit), did I cover all the available software tweaks that I can try out?

Virtual Memory, should I use Windows recommended amount? Or should I double the physical ram amount I have installed?

I'm aware of the PAE tweak to access the rest of the installed RAM. Anyone have personal experience w/ this? The good? The bad?

Advanced Boot Options for CPU & Max Memory. Anyone have personal experience w/ this? The good? The bad?

Should I set CPU upper limit to max or underclock it? (Considering battery life & processing power, and also how some tablets running win8.1 CPUs are as low as 1.0ghz)

These are what I've found so far, please let me know if I missed any optimization tweaks and then please share your experiences using said tweaks. Thanks!

BTW, I'm loving the switch to windows 8 from windows 7! Quick observations:

- Cold boot is less than 1 minute vs win7 cold boot that was a little more than 1 minute.
- Wake from sleep and going to sleep is instant.
- UI navigation is butter smooth.
- App switching and switching between desktop and metro is buttery smooth as well.
- The combination of keyboard, mouse, and trackpad shortcuts are the icing on the cake.
- Tried Halo, the videos cutscenes are choppy but gameplay is smooth.
- The SL410 is more than capable at running typical programs & apps all at once (task mgr, open PDFs, 2 browsers (ie11& chrome) streaming videos, mail app, nook app, metro internet explorer).

Overall, I'm delighted how snappy and how well 2014 software runs on 2009/2010 hardware. Definitely getting a lot of value out of upgrading OSes.

Posted via the WPC App for Android!

 

[BaritoneGuy]

Hi 8.1 Pro x86 Users!

Just recently updated my dino-ThinkPad from windows 7 to windows 8.1 pro x86 (via store and windows update) and want some advice from you about optimizing the SL410 for decent battery life & processing power with the current hardware setup/limitations. (I've online searched but there's a dizzying amount of info to sift through).

Current hardware setup:
- Core 2 Duo @ 2.0ghz
- Integrated 4xxx HD Graphics
- 4gb RAM (2.85 usable, seems the BIOS won't adjust higher)
- 16gb sdhc card dedicated for ReadyBoost

Besides the typical upgrades (ram & SSD) which I may/may not consider when Windows 9 comes out (and will switch from 32bit to 64bit), did I cover all the available software tweaks that I can try out?

Virtual Memory, should I use Windows recommended amount? Or should I double the physical ram amount I have installed?

I'm aware of the PAE tweak to access the rest of the installed RAM. Anyone have personal experience w/ this? The good? The bad?

Advanced Boot Options for CPU & Max Memory. Anyone have personal experience w/ this? The good? The bad?

Should I set CPU upper limit to max or underclock it? (Considering battery life & processing power, and also how some tablets running win8.1 CPUs are as low as 1.0ghz)

These are what I've found so far, please let me know if I missed any optimization tweaks and then please share your experiences using said tweaks. Thanks!

BTW, I'm loving the switch to windows 8 from windows 7! Quick observations:

- Cold boot is less than 1 minute vs win7 cold boot that was a little more than 1 minute.
- Wake from sleep and going to sleep is instant.
- UI navigation is butter smooth.
- App switching and switching between desktop and metro is buttery smooth as well.
- The combination of keyboard, mouse, and trackpad shortcuts are the icing on the cake.
- Tried Halo, the videos cutscenes are choppy but gameplay is smooth.
- The SL410 is more than capable at running typical programs & apps all at once (task mgr, open PDFs, 2 browsers (ie11& chrome) streaming videos, mail app, nook app, metro internet explorer).

Overall, I'm delighted how snappy and how well 2014 software runs on 2009/2010 hardware. Definitely getting a lot of value out of upgrading OSes.

Posted via the WPC App for Android!

If you go 64 bit, then you will get at all your RAM now. It is a function of x86 although 2.85 seems a bit low. Usually it is 3.2 - 3.5 gig available. It is a function of where the memory allocations are set for things like your graphics adapter.

 

[sibeans]

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, can't get around the Lenovo BIOS setting the RAM low.

Posted via the WPC App for Android!

 

[sibeans]

If you go 64 bit, then you will get at all your RAM now. It is a function of x86 although 2.85 seems a bit low. Usually it is 3.2 - 3.5 gig available. It is a function of where the memory allocations are set for things like your graphics adapter.

after some digging, I found out that the integrated graphics is 'sharing' 1454MBs which explains the 0.70GB loss of RAM available

 

[BaritoneGuy]

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, can't get around the Lenovo BIOS setting the RAM low.

Posted via the WPC App for Android!

The 1454 is actually dynamic. It is the starting location of the allocation that is causing the problem. It's not user adjustable. Just go x64 and all the RAM is available.