What could i do for my computer to increase its performance?

TonyR

Hardware upgrade wise.

Christmas is coming up and i want to upgrade my pc in any shape or form

specs:

Mainboard :Gigabyte P35-DS3L

Chipset : Intel P31/P35

Processor :Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 @ 2500 MHz

Ram: 2048 MB (2 x 1024 DDR2-SDRAM ) OCZ

Video Card :ATI Radeon HD 4770

Hard Disk : Western digital (160 GB)

DVD-Rom Drive : ATAPI DVD A DH20A4P

Monitor Type : LG Electronics W1943 - 19 inches

Just looking for some hardware for a noticable speed increases , boot times , playing games , opening and closing programs , burning disc's.

All that kind of stuff.

List decent upgrades for me if you can.

Thanks!

No real budget , but be realistic , im just your normal working class guy.

scipio · 11-07-2009, 21:34 | posts: 3,447 | Location: NorCal | User is Offline

Pop a core2 in

SolidBladez

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyR

Just looking for some hardware for a noticable speed increases , boot times , playing games , opening and closing programs , burning disc's.

Upgrade:
2GB → 4GB
Slow HDD → "something faster"; SSD (if you can afford it)

FULMTL · 11-07-2009, 22:18 | posts: 1,167 | Location: Dallas, TX, USA | User is Offline

I would not recommend an SSD to anyone on a budget. You can literally build an entire gaming rig with the price of an SSD.

Anyhow speaking of hard drives, that will actually be one thing that will make your computer a little faster. Something like a Western Digital Caviar Black which has a beefy 32MB cache, compared to your current one, which has 8MB.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136320

Although I would really spend a little extra on a new CPU. If you can compile up around $120-180, an E7xxx or E8xxx series CPU is pretty good for gaming. It will also unleash more power for gaming because your current CPU is holding back the 4770's power.

scipio · 11-07-2009, 22:19 | posts: 3,447 | Location: NorCal | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by SolidBladez

Upgrade:
2GB → 4GB
Slow HDD → "something faster"; SSD (if you can afford it)

He's on win xp 32, his ram is fine,, core2 would speed him a lot more

lysaer · 11-07-2009, 22:28 | posts: 210 | Location: London | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by scipio

He's on win xp 32, his ram is fine,, core2 would speed him a lot more

he has a core2.

it would be easier if you could give us a budget, say £700 ?

also what sort of programs and games are you planning on running ?

TonyR

Ok , fine.

200 pounds , 250 pounds.

Im using a dual core not duo.

TonyR

I think i found the HD

http://www.dabs.com/products/western...0Black#reviews

Think i found a cpu

http://www.dabs.com/products/intel-c...efs=4294951884

Aioras · 11-08-2009, 03:47 | posts: 191 | Location: Spain | User is Offline

With that money you could find one C2D E8400, add 2gb of extra ram and a HDD let´s say 500gb should be fine with 32mb caché.

That wouldn´t be much that 250 pounds I guess.... and your system would work much much better.

dune2 · 11-08-2009, 04:38 | posts: 2,993 | Location: Old Europe | User is Offline

A CPU upgrade would definitely be useful. But I would go for quad-core, not dual-core. Quad gives you more reserves when it comes to multi-tasking and really speeds up you experience (especially under W7). Don't get me wrong, a very fast dual-core CPU would show a massive gain, but you have a fairly decent board and if you get an entry level quad-core and OC it towards 3Ghz, your rig will be flying.

If you have anything left after, I'm with Aioras. Stick 2GB more ram in there and upgrade your HDD. The HDD is probably the upgrade that you will "feel" the least, but 500GB of fast HDD space can be had for £50, so there is no reason to limit yourself.

My tip:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 Yorkfield Socket 775 Cache 6MB (£136 @ Yoyotech)

OCZ 2GB (1 x 1GB) Kit 800MHZ PC6400 4-4-4-12 (£36 @ Yoyotech)

Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB Hard drive (£39 @ Yoyotech)

Total: £211

heliman41 · 11-08-2009, 06:00 | posts: 519 | Location: IN | User is Offline

The fastest CPU your M/B will use would be a consideration + a 1 GB GPU solution = happiness. A 64 bit CPU is a bit of a waste on a 32bit OS IMHO tho. Sure you cant squeeze in say Vista 64 or Win7? Could then add more ram etc also..............

DES_MX · 11-08-2009, 06:08 | posts: 685 | User is Offline

E5xxx --> Core2Quad 8xxx, overclock the hell out of it
2gb ram --> 4gb ram, doesnt matter that he's under xp. get win7 x64 as alternative
ati 4770 --> 58xx if money allows.

FNK · 11-08-2009, 06:21 | posts: 2,717 | Location: Quebec, Canada | User is Offline

Add a 23in monitor, and use your 19in as a dual screen.

Ati 5850

4~6 gb of ram

A much better CPU cooler,
*Freebie, overclock your cpu to 3,4 ghz.

mrmonsoon · 11-08-2009, 07:10 | posts: 205 | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyR

Hardware upgrade wise.

Christmas is coming up and i want to upgrade my pc in any shape or form

specs:

Mainboard :Gigabyte P35-DS3L

Chipset : Intel P31/P35

Processor :Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 @ 2500 MHz

Ram: 2048 MB (2 x 1024 DDR2-SDRAM ) OCZ

Video Card :ATI Radeon HD 4770

Hard Disk : Western digital (160 GB)

DVD-Rom Drive : ATAPI DVD A DH20A4P

Monitor Type : LG Electronics W1943 - 19 inches

Just looking for some hardware for a noticable speed increases , boot times , playing games , opening and closing programs , burning disc's.

All that kind of stuff.

List decent upgrades for me if you can.

Thanks!

No real budget , but be realistic , im just your normal working class guy.

1) Upgrade to 4 gigs of ram for 32 bit os, 8 gigs for 64 bit os
2) Upgrade hard drive to SSD. It will boast boot time, shutdown time, game load time and game level load time.
3)Upgrade processor to something like a intel 9650.

MLS · 11-08-2009, 08:11 | posts: 35 | User is Offline

DDR2 is pretty expensive at the moment and will give you small benefit in single apps.

I'd go for either a quad core or a SSD.

lysaer · 11-08-2009, 09:23 | posts: 210 | Location: London | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by dune2

A CPU upgrade would definitely be useful. But I would go for quad-core, not dual-core. Quad gives you more reserves when it comes to multi-tasking and really speeds up you experience (especially under W7). Don't get me wrong, a very fast dual-core CPU would show a massive gain, but you have a fairly decent board and if you get an entry level quad-core and OC it towards 3Ghz, your rig will be flying.

If you have anything left after, I'm with Aioras. Stick 2GB more ram in there and upgrade your HDD. The HDD is probably the upgrade that you will "feel" the least, but 500GB of fast HDD space can be had for £50, so there is no reason to limit yourself.

My tip:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 Yorkfield Socket 775 Cache 6MB (£136 @ Yoyotech)

OCZ 2GB (1 x 1GB) Kit 800MHZ PC6400 4-4-4-12 (£36 @ Yoyotech)

Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB Hard drive (£39 @ Yoyotech)

Total: £211

this ^

Tat3 · **Memory**: 3*2Gb 8-8-8-20 @ 1640MHz

If you are looking for increase in load times + programs, then new cpu and more ram.

Games would benefit most from new gpu...

q8200
2*2gb
Windows7 Home Premium
Total (including shipping) : £267.33

Yes it's a bit over your budget, but... Perhaps buy 2*1gb and use 4*1gb (would bring you under £250).

Lie495s14 · 11-08-2009, 09:38 | posts: 457 | User is Offline

my fallowing suggestion is based on own experience and it is intended for PC use in purpose of gaming.

i believe that the GPU should always match up but not above CPU performance level when building or upgrading a PC. a overclocked E5200@3.5ghz should do just fine for OP's ati4770. base on above statement, i would seggest SSD for an upgrade as it would increase PC performance and over all enjoyment noticebly. if there are funds left, a decent speaker would be a good consideration too.

the reason i do not recommand upgrade of GPU nor RAM is because 1st, OP play games on 19 inch monitor so anything beyond ati4850 or gts250 would be wast of $$, and 2ndly OP's use of windows XP.

bottom line is that, other than SSD, all other upgrades will provide you no future benefit if you plan to do another upgrade.

TonyR

cheers for the responses.

Alec** · 11-08-2009, 16:12 | posts: 618 | Location: UK | User is Offline

Quote:

Originally Posted by dune2

A CPU upgrade would definitely be useful. But I would go for quad-core, not dual-core. Quad gives you more reserves when it comes to multi-tasking and really speeds up you experience (especially under W7). Don't get me wrong, a very fast dual-core CPU would show a massive gain, but you have a fairly decent board and if you get an entry level quad-core and OC it towards 3Ghz, your rig will be flying.

If you have anything left after, I'm with Aioras. Stick 2GB more ram in there and upgrade your HDD. The HDD is probably the upgrade that you will "feel" the least, but 500GB of fast HDD space can be had for £50, so there is no reason to limit yourself.

My tip:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 Yorkfield Socket 775 Cache 6MB (£136 @ Yoyotech)

OCZ 2GB (1 x 1GB) Kit 800MHZ PC6400 4-4-4-12 (£36 @ Yoyotech)

Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB Hard drive (£39 @ Yoyotech)

Total: £211

Yeah that got my vote, what you can get for £211 is astonishing.

scoter man1 · 11-08-2009, 16:21 | posts: 1,433 | Location: USA | User is Offline

I like that too ^^^ if that doesnt suit you well, you can do that upgrade and then wait till you have some more cash and get a cpu cooler (plus good thermal compound) and maybe a gpu.

superweapons · 11-08-2009, 16:29 | posts: 120 | User is Offline

Don't buy an SSD. Even MLC drives (which are closer to 7200RPM, 32MB cache HDDs, performance-wise) offer pretty crappy price per GB. Also, the Pentium Dual Core is architecturally, a Core 2 Duo, but with some of it's L2 cache sliced off. Go quad-core if you intend to upgrade your CPU. DDR2 has just experienced a large price jump; now it costs more than similar DDR3 RAM. Just an FYI, before you start pouring money into the RAM department.

Besides gaming and boot times, what other hardware-intensive tasks are you going to use the computer for?