I have had the machine since about 2023 and am mostly happy with it but would like to consider upgrading certain parts. My primary needs are new hinges as they move quite a lot now and new bezel.I
Now performance wise, is the AI 300 AMD upgrade worth it? Does the 61 wh battery greatly increase battery life on the 7040? I really just need suggestions for what to upgrade beyond the repairs.
If you are considering spending AI 300 money, and mostly have hardware complaint. May I have the pleasure too introduce you to the Framework PRO chassi upgrade kit?
Generally no. The AI 5 340 has 10% better CPU but 40% worse iGPU than the 7640U, the AI 7 350 has 20% better CPU but 10% worse iGPU than the 7640U and also more expensive than 7840U let alone 7640U. The AI 9 HX370 is better but also much more expensive.
Alternatively you can buy the Ultra 7 155H(re-use the RAM) or wait for the Ultra X7 358H(if you can source the RAM in a cost-effective way).
It can, but the battery swelling is more prominent with the 61Wh than the 55Wh so you’ll probably want to cap the charge percentage slightly lower most of the time.
Performance wise, the best upgrade is probably another 8GB RAM stick to make it dual-channel
The chassis upgrade would allow you to have many of the Framework Pro features including the larger battery, but a lot of the battery life gains come from the new mainboard being more power-efficient. If you upgrade an existing machine with the Pro chassis, you will see moderately improved battery life but not 20 hours worth.
Does their exist any reliable way to know your battery life ahead of time?, my estimate very between ~7hours and >15 at idle, at full after correcting for battery charge. right now I have 4:40 remaining on 58% charge so towards the bottom end.
I recently upgraded to the 4kg hinge from the 3.5kg and it is so much better. Still can open with one hand and way less wooble and when you pick up the laptop while the lid is open it stays firm. I think it originally should come with that hinge.
I also plan to upgrade from 7640u but I don’t think AI 5 340 worh it. You bearly see any gain if any.
I want to see the first tests with the new Core Ultra 5 325 and decide to either only upgrade the mainboard (with the memory) or sell the current laptop and buy the whole 13 Pro. If Core Ultra is that much more efficent than I would probably go with the mainboard upgrade only, having the 61Wh battery it still should have a decent battery life. If you start upgrading parts using the upgrade kit then it becomes quite expensive and I don’t have high hopes that you can sell the old keyboards, covers, etc easily. Selling only the mainboard or the complete laptop is much easier.
My biggest problem with the current one is battery life, getting 5-8 hours on regular light use including youtube, and that the 2.8K screen is too bright with the lowest setting and at night it is not ideal for me.