Worth upgrading PC further?

ste_coxy

Hi guys, I am after some advice regarding upgrading my approx 5 year old PC.

It is a Dell Dimension 5150 with an Intel Pentium® D Processor 805 (2M Cache, 2.66 GHz, 533 MHz FSB).

It previously had 1GB of RAM however, after looking on the Crucial website I have upgraded it to it's maximum of 4GB of RAM.

The graphics card is an: Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (GMA950).

The HD is 250GB but only about 30GB is being used currently.

Is it worth looking into updating the Processor and graphics card at all?

getmore4less

What are you using it for?

Does anything feel slow?


Might be worth opening the case and giving it a good clean.

ste_coxy

getmore4less wrote: »

What are you using it for?

Does anything feel slow?


Might be worth opening the case and giving it a good clean.

Mostly browsing the net, working on college work, playing games.

Was previously running quite slow but that was because my mum would leave it running for days with loads of webpages open never switching it off, my sister would download all sorts of junk and never did any virus/spyware checks.

I've since downloaded stuff like CCleaner, Avast, Spyware Blaster, Spybot and I defrag at least once a month now and things seem to be much improved although, I was kind of thinking I'd of seen a greater improvement when I loaded the additional 3GB of RAM... Infact, I have noticed it is showing that only 3.2GB is showing up when I check out the performance. Any ideas why this is?

I will give the inside a good dusting thanks!

stilltheone

I would have spent the money on a graphics card rather than the RAM. £25 would have got you at least 512MB Video RAM plus a Full HD/HDMI/DVI output. Such as this or this.

If you want to play games, you can spend more, though take note of the power supply rating.

32 bit systems won't recognise the full 4GB.

ste_coxy

stilltheone wrote: »

I would have spent the money on a graphics card rather than the RAM. £25 would have got you at least 512MB Video RAM plus a Full HD/HDMI/DVI output. Such as this or this.

I don't mind paying the extra for the RAM to be honest as I defo noticed the 1GB played havoc when a few things were running at once.

Thanks for the tips there on the graphics card. Are they good ones (high spec) as I wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for a good quality one?

What about the actual processor itself? Do you think the one I've got is sufficient and not worth forking out more for what I actually use the computer for?

RussJK

You could get an SSD if you've got money to throw around, it would improve responsiveness significantly. You'd need a mounting bracket to stick it in the tower. If it comes to it, you could bring the SSD with you onto the next computer or laptop. You'll have to do some reading on them first though.

fwor

I'd second the SSD suggestion - that will probably get you far more gain than 4Gb of RAM, which is OTT unless you're doing something really memory-intensive. 2Gb is more than enough for most people.

You can also get a significantly faster processor - I ~think~ the Pentium D's went up to 3.4GHz, though even secondhand they are pretty expensive. You'd need to look at whether the 5150 can support the faster 800Mhz FSB before choosing the exact model.

gonzo127

silly question, how much money do you have to spend, if you are to upgrade?

stilltheone

Please don't bother with an SSD. They are completely mad. If you had that kind of money to throw around, you could just buy a new PC.

My £25 Graphics card allows me to watch Full HD films on a rather outdated Celeron D Processor. Running Windows 7 Ultimate on 1.5GB RAM.

Upgrade the Processor only if you are having specific problems after fitting the new card. Your system has it's limitations, so I wouldn't bother spending too much on the graphics card.

ste_coxy

gonzo127 wrote: »

silly question, how much money do you have to spend, if you are to upgrade?

Well to be honest, it is the family computer so I wasn't really wanting to go above and beyond a couple of tweeks here and there. I've paid about £40 for the RAM upgrade already and would probably consider paying upto about £60 for a graphics card.

I think a new processor/SSD would have to be something I'd have to ask for Xmas.:rotfl:

stilltheone

Really no need to spend that much on a GC. Inno3D 8600GS 1GB SDDR3 VGA DVI HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card £27.68 with Super Saver delivery. Can't find the card on their website, so don't know from where eBuyer has sourced it.