A few weeks ago my eMachines computer got hit by lighting and I was forced to take it to the local shop for repairs. About the only thing that was salvaged was the hard drive and the 1.6 Ghz processor because most of the components the local shop used wouldn’t work with the eMachines components. I got the computer back, and it works, but it is MUCH slower that the origional eMachines computer was. Now I’m not in the mood to pay the local shop $55 just so they can tell me that I need an upgrade and then pay them by the hour to do the upgrade, I live near a Fry’s electronics store and figure I can do the work myself. So, for all you computer wizards out there, what can you share with me about upgrading my computer? Aside from more RAM (I have currently have only 128 MB) and a faster processor, what else should I get to make my computer faster? I am an avid gamer and just received my copy of “Rise Of Nations” which I was forced to quit playing after a few minutes because the computer was taking FAR too long to load and the graphics were too chopy. This made Penumba very unhappy.
Sounds like you need to look into adding video memory along with the RAM.
I think you need to tell us what exactly you’ve ended up with right now, then we can tell you what you can buy to make it better.
-lv
Well, aside from the 1.6 GHz processor and 128 MB RAM I have a 32 MB video card, a 40 or 50 GB hard drive, running on Windows XP Home, and other than that I don’t know what else to tell you. They put in their own brand of mother board but I’m not sure what it is or what the specs are on it. If I bought a faster processor and more memory but the mother board was slow would it still make the computer faster or would I need to upgrade my mother board as well?
The problem that I’m having is that it takes FOREVER to boot up and open up any programs. I’ve tweaked the windows settings to try to make the system run faster such as increasing the virtual memory and making windows display the icons and stuff in a lower setting (all while I really don’t know what I’m doing.) Is there anything that I can do now to make my computer work faster?
I’d upgrade your video card if you’re a gamer, followed by an infusion of RAM. You’d have to check into your motherboard and see if it’ll even support a faster processor, but I have a 1.7GHz and it’s plenty fast. Memory sounds like your problem, not CPU. If it’s XP, I’d go into MSCONFIG (go to Run and type in MSCONFIG), click the Startup tab, and turn off everything that wasn’t important. And keep an eye on it, programs like RealPlayer will always try to weasel their way back into it. I have XP Pro, so it may be different for me. Also, you may want to download Ad-Aware or a similar spyware zapper and see if anything is on your system.
All else being equal, motherboards are never the major factor in the speed of a PC; different mobos vary relatively little in their speed.
There are BIOS settings you can tweak to improve performance. You can play with memory timing settings, memory system bus speeds, etc. Also, there’s often a ‘top performance’ setting you can select in the BIOS. Having said all that, playing with BIOS settings might seem a bit scary if you aren’t au fait with such things.
Could be worth opening the case, and seeing what mobo you have.
Could try defragmenting the hard disc.
If your GFX card is old, you could get a new one. This won’t affect the Win boot-up time though.
More memory is probably worth a shot - and it’s cheap.
More details about your system would help - exactly what GFX card, hard disc, processor, etc etc blah blah.
What do you mean by a GFX card? Is that short for a graphics card? The processor is an intel 1.6 GHz.
RAM before anything else. More RAM is your friend, especially when you only have 128 megs and running XP.
RAM RAM RAM.
Yes.
A Pentium IV, I guess? Fast. Won’t be the cause of your computer feeling ‘slow’.
Oh, and now that I read more carefully, I see you said “aside from more ram”.
First RAM, then a new video card.
Penumbra, if you are an avid gamer i might suggest a total system rebuild…with Fry’s near you this could be fairly cheap.
However, you were asking about improving your computer. Personally, i think 512 mb ram is the sweet spot for xp, 128mb is just way to low. You don’t need a new processor as your 1.6 is fast enough for now. Also, i would suggest a geforce4 4x00 (not ANY version of geforce with mx in the name) or radeon 9500 pro as good vid cards for gaming. The g4’s are good cards at good prices while the 9500 pro is great bang for the buck and most future proof with direct x 9 support (though, to be fair, any game that actually uses that support isn’t out yet). Ram and the vid card would probably run you about $150-$250 depending if you waited for deals and what components you bought.
Ok, as others have said maybe you can change settings on your motherboards bios to make things faster. We need to know your exact model of mb to help you in specific settings.
Pen, here’s a link to a bargain forum that lists fry’s adds for socal, Anandtech Fry’s add , not sure if this is your area but check out the prices on the ram!! It’s generic so that could be a problem (bad ram leads to so many problem) but the price is right.
do’h, i have been assuming you have ddr ram in your machine when that may not be the case. If you could post your exact motherboard we can check and see what type of ram it is.
On the subject of BIOS, maybe it’s set for the wrong multiplier? That’s something which could really slow down a PC.
Well if money isn’t too much of a problem, I would build a new machine from the ground up, (we’ll make it faster, stronger, better :D) I only suggest this because prices are very reasonable at the moment, and you can build quite a nice machine without breaking the bank.
For example you can get a motherboard and a Pentium 4 2.4 Ghz bundled for about $250 at http://www.tigerdirect.com
You get a decent motherboard too, up to 3 gigs of DDR ram (which is cheap as hell these days), usb 2.0, ethernet connection on board, etc.
So now we have a core. We want to spend that cash on parts that will increase performance, so we’ll cannablize your old machine for the cd-rom drive, the power supply, and the hard drive. Depending on what form factor* the case is (should be ATX or micro ATX) we may be able to use it, otherwise we’ll need a new one. You can find a nice inexpensive one starting at $30 or so bucks.
Last thing you need is that video card, which a Radeon 9500 pro shoud do the job and then some.
Let’s recap the cost here to turn your box into a nice gaming machine.
Mobo & Pentium4 2.4 Ghz - $250
Radeon 9500 pro - $179
512MB of DDR memory - $79 (repeat as neccessary)
Destroying “Rise of Nations” - Priceless
Not bad for $500
You could most likely shave a $100 off by going with a P4 2.0 Ghz, 256MB of ram and a slightly lower video card.
Good luck.
*As you well know computers come in all sizes, so in order to match things (cause they don’t all fit together), you want to buy a ATX motherboard for an ATX case, atx micro mobo for atx micro case, etc. ATX is the size or ‘form factor’ for almost all home computers
“Mobo & Pentium4 2.4 Ghz - $250
Radeon 9500 pro - $179
512MB of DDR memory - $79 (repeat as neccessary)”
Plus the operating system…XP Home
When you think about it, it comes out to what a Dell 4550 would cost.
As someone who always subscribes first to the 0$ fix, check out how fast your CPU is actuallyrunning at. Make sure all jumpers are set properly on the board for your type of chip. Having games slow down is mostly a graphics card issue. Having every app be slow, I’d check the jumpers and BIOS first.
Well I went to Fry’s today with the advice that some of you dopers gave me. I origionally tried going the cheap route by changing the BIOS settings and tweaking the MSCONFIG settings for the startup but was not able to make much of a difference. So off to Fry’s electronics I went to price some RAM and a new video card. I picked up a 256 MB RAM card for $34.99 and a VisionTek 9100 128 MB AGP video card for $94.99. The other video cards were a little more pricy so I picked what I hoped was the best bang for the buck. With the new RAM card it brought my total RAM to 384 MB and that seemed to make all the difference. I know later I can swap out my 128 MB RAM card for another 256 MB card and bring the total memory up to 512 MB but the 384 MB is working just fine for right now. I was timing my origional boot time from the time I pushed the power button to the time the system booted up fully and I was able to open Internet Exploer at about 3.5 minutes. With the new RAM I timed it at a little under one minute. After all that I cranked up “Rise of Nations” and was able to fully enjoy the game inculding the stunning opening introduction. I must say, ** World Eater **, it was indeed… priceless.