help with up grades

R

rockhead

New Member
ok i am not sure where to put this but i will try hear. i have this computer http://www.onhop.ca/product/1015942/EX318AA and it is running really slow, file transfer is slow, movies are choppie when i watch them, and just all processes are really slow. i know it is a old pc but where would the biggest gains be made, i have put in 2gb of ram so it now has 2.5 gb. it is just a every day pc but i want to speed it up till i can get some money and build my own.
Thanks
Travis
 
Do you have an add on graphics card or are you
using the onboard video?

Adding a video card will help offload the graphics work
from your cpu, which will speed things up and get rid
of that lag you're having while watching videos.

A fresh install of XP will help revive your system also.
 
every thing is factory except the ram, i dont watch much movies but i am constly transfuring files from my i pod. the whole system is really slow i just dont want to through money at the thing and have it do nothing. i am getting ready to build a new pc but that will take a while and i still want to use thing pc. just get it faster first.
 
Adding a GPU to your system would take the video load off of your CPU, but your CPU would severely bottleneck your video card, unless you get a very low-end card. If I'm not mistaken, that is a single core processor right? I think your processor is your bottleneck by far. Without doing hardware upgrades, you could try to run CCleaner to clean up all of the unnecessary files off of your computer. How often do you defrag?
 
Yes, it's a Single Core Socket 939 CPU.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...=c00677533&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

I used a similar system for 4 years and I played BF2142,
BF2 and used Photoshop, burned and edited DVD's, etc.

All I added was a graphics card and more RAM.

Bottleneck or not, a graphics card, albeit an inexpensive
one, will help with his laggy video problem, and get some
of the work off the cpu, enabling the CPU to work on more
important things, like transferring files.

Like I said, a fresh install will help, but if you don't want to
do that, you can greatly increase your computers boot speed
and responsiveness by eliminating non essential startup processes.

Check this out:
http://www.wikihow.com/Alter-Startup-Programs-in-Windows-XP

Hope this helps.
 
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would a new cpu and graphics card make a difference and if so which ones do you recomend? i dont want to spend more than $200 total.
 
The only worthy hardware upgrade that I would consider is the processor. However, this would most likely mean you would need a new motherboard and then new RAM. A video card would help with the video playback, but slow file transfers with 2.5GB of RAM make me think that it's the processor that's slowing you down. The processor would help both issues, the video card would only help the first.
 
How about a link to a cpu he could actually buy?
Click to expand...

Oh lol, I was just using the link as a source for the socket size, not for purchasing. I think you would be better off saving the money for a new computer. You're looking to upgrade the processor, and possibly the motherboard. A new motherboard might require new RAM, and then you need the video card to run all of your movies smoothly. That's a few parts shy of a new build.
 
rockhead said:
ok so i got in contact with hp. is their any sites that have this cpu at around $100
Click to expand...
Would you seriously spend that much for an obsolete cpu?
It's not going to get much faster, no matter what you put
into it.

You can get a more modern AM2 socket board AND an X2 CPU for about
the same price.

Here's an updated version of the board you currently have:

GIGABYTE GA-M61PME-S2P ($49.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128383

Athlon 64 X2 5200 2.7GHz ($54.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103210

$104.98

Add another $43.99 for 4Gigs of DDR2 RAM and you have a new pc...
OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227362

Grand total: $148.97

If you get only 2Gigs of RAM:
OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 ($26.99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227178

It would only be $131.97
Click to expand...

Is this the best stuff? No. But it will blow away the hardware you have right
now, no matter how much you try to upgrade it.

Just something to consider.
 
so and i know i have asked a lot of questions i just am new to building or upgrading so i just want to know this is going to be faster and more capable than my old stuff. and by how much?
 
rockhead said:
so and i know i have asked a lot of questions i just am new to building or upgrading so i just want to know this is going to be faster and more capable than my old stuff. and by how much?
Click to expand...
Lol yes.

This system would be twice faster than your current pc.
 
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