• Tag Archives Sandy Bridge

  • Digital Archaeology: Dell Vostro 3550

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    The Dell Vostro 3550 is one of the newer laptops I’ve looked at. A Sandy Bridge era processor and 6 GB of RAM make it quite usable today even if it is getting kind of old. It’s basic stats include:

    • CPU: Core i7-2640M @ 2.8 GHz
    • RAM: 6 GB DDR3-10600
    • Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 6650M
    • Screen: 1366×768

    For more details, check out the output of HardInfo, HWiNFO, and/or CPU-Z.

    This laptop originally shipped with Windows 7 so to me it certainly isn’t “vintage” and it’s a stretch to call it “retro”. However, Windows 7 was introduced more than 15 years ago and mainstream support ended around 10 years ago. It was only around a few years before the unpopular Windows 8 was released. It’s a shame that Windows 7 had such a short life (well, compared to Windows XP anyway). It was probably Microsoft’s best OS next to XP. The Vostro 3550 itself was released well over a decade ago in 2011 so it fits into that sort of arbitrary age of at least 10 years that I chose as being the minimum for calling something “retro”.

    The Vostro line always seemed a bit superfluous to me. I guess Dell ultimately decided the same as they discontinued it in 2013. Dell had (and still has) the XPS and Alienware lines for gaming/multimedia/entertainment, Latitude for business, Precision for workstations and Inspiron for their mainstream consumer line. The Vostro line was supposed to be a low cost business line, sort of an Inspiron dressed up as a business machine.

    Like most laptop models, the Vostro 3550 came in several configurations with different CPU, RAM, and GPU options (among others). This particular one was the top of the line configuration. However, it still wouldn’t be classified as high end. The CPU, though an i7, was a dual core, quad thread model. The ATI Radeon HD 6650M would probably be classified as a mid-range card for a laptop. It was a dedicated GPU with its own RAM and performance was good enough for most games of the time though often not at the highest detail.

    For modern usage, the worst feature is probably the low res screen. I’ve been spoiled by 1080p and above screens and it is hard to go back. 1366×768 just isn’t enough.

    To me, the Vostro line fit better as an alternate to the Inspiron line for those that wanted a bit of a more understated design. I’m pretty sure that the internal hardware was probably the same or mostly the same as Inspiron models from the same time period. I guess it made sense for businesses trying to by hardware as cheap as possible but if you were really buying for a business it just seems like you were better off spending a little more and buying something from the Latitude line. I think they came with better support and warranty options anyway.

    My particular laptop recently developed an issue where it would go to sleep or shutdown almost immediately after starting up. I was able to circumvent the problem by switching to Linux. However, I believe the issue is with the battery. It does not charge at all but it behaves a little oddly even in Linux. I frequently get a pop-up that says “Your Battery is charging”. Simply removing the battery would likely solve the problem I was having in Windows (and get rid of the pop-up I’m seeing in Linux).

    Like all the hardware I power up, this laptop is running various BOINC projects. Having a 64-bit CPU and sufficient RAM means it can do work for all of the projects I normally participate in including Einstein@home, Rosetta@home, Asteroids@home, MilkyWay@home, Universe@home and World Community Grid. You can check out how it is doing overall at FreeDC.


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  • Digital Archaeology: Compaq Presario CQ57-339WM

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    After HP bought Compaq in 2002, it continued to use the Compaq name for lower end systems until 2013. A sad end for one of the first and most important PC clone makers. This computer, the Compaq Presario CQ57, is a low-end laptop from around 2012. The CQ57 came in a variety of flavors, including both models with Intel CPUs and models with AMD CPUs. This one is the CQ57-339WM which included a Celeron B800 which is a low-end Sandy Bridge processor. Other variants included a Sandy Bridge i3, Pentium or AMD E-300 among possibly others. Other specs of this specific model include:

    • CPU: Celeron B800 @ 1.5 GHz
    • Motherboard: Hewlett-Packard 3672
    • Chipset: Mobile Intel HM65 Express (6 Series/C200)
    • Memory: 8 GB DDR3 1600 (PC3-12800)
    • Graphics: Intel HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel Processors
    • Display: 1366×768
    • Hard Drive: Seagate ST980813AS Momentus 7200.2
    • Optical Drive: HP DVD-RAM UJ8B1
    • Ethernet: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Ethernet controller
    • Wi-Fi: Realtek RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter

    For more details, see the output of HardInfo here.

    This was definitely a low end laptop, even for the time. The 8 GB of RAM indicates that this laptop has been upgraded by a previous owner as it would have originally included only 2 GB. It also has perhaps the absolute lowest end Sandy Bridge processor what was ever produced. It is dual core with no hyperthreading and running at only 1.5 GHz.

    The CQ57 is pretty utilitarian. Externally, it looks like a black slab. The lighting is pretty understated with small white lights for power, wi-fi and hard drive activity on the side. This is in contrast to a couple of HP laptops I’ve looked at recently that had lots of bright blue lighting. The keyboard is actually reasonably nice. It doesn’t feel at all “mushy” and has no noticeable bounce.

    The Celeron B800 is only dual core and has no hyperthreading so in that respect it is similar to something like the i3-2310M. However, the i3 is clocked quite a bit faster at 2.1 GHz. Also, the i3 has 3 MB of Smart Cache while this Celeron only has 2 MB of L3 cache. Combined, these differences make the B800 significantly slower than the i3.

    The graphics and display aren’t terribly exciting. This laptop just used the built-in Intel graphics of the CPU and the display is an unimpressive but fairly typical for the time 1366×768. Definitely not a setup for gaming or for much else other than basic office and internet tasks.

    I have Ubuntu installed on this laptop and despite the rather low-end specs, it’s actually reasonably fast. No doubt the 8 GB of RAM helps. It also has a pretty fast (though mechanical) hard drive. There is also some upgrade potential. The RAM is already at its official maximum but I’ve seen at least one person claim that they upgraded to 16 GB without a problem. Also, the CPU can be upgraded to at least the i5-2430M which adds nearly a full GHz to the base clock speed and doubles the clock speed when you account for the turbo speed of the i5-2430m. I’ve also seen at least one person claim that an i7-2720qm works but that one has a higher TDP and would require extra cooling to prevent overheating. Even the 1.5GHz processor in mine now seems to run a little warm under load but I probably just need to clean the dust out.

    Like all PCs I own, this one runs BOINC whenever it is powered on. Since this is a 64-bit x86 CPU, the vast majority of projects work including all of the ones I participate in. You can check out how it is doing in einstein@home, milkyway@home, rosetta@home, and universe@home. You can also check out its overall stats at BOINC Stats or Free-DC.


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