My PC has become slower over the past year, especially when I access the Internet. A few months ago, I wiped the hard drive and re-installed Win XP and my apps, and that helped somewhat, but lately it's been slowing down again.
I'm thinking of buying and installing an Intel Core 2 Duo processing chip. My current chip , an Intel pentium, provides only 1.6Ghz, but the Core 2 would provide about 6Ghz,(if I'm reading the description correctly). Does that sound correct?
Also, do I have to upgrade the OS or any apps in order for them to recognize and function correctly with the Core 2 chip? I'm currently running apps like Quicken, Paint Shop Pro, Dreamweaver, Firefox, etc. No high-end graphics, video or audio.
The PC is home-made using a bare-bones Compaq case and motherboard, ca. 2005.
Any advice will be appreciated!
Thanks, as always,
Roy
Greg K posted this at 19:17 — 1st July 2009.
He has: 1,911 posts
Joined: Nov 2003
First thing to check: Can you motherboard take that chip, most likely you will need to (and want to) upgrade that as well.
-Greg
teammatt3 posted this at 22:36 — 1st July 2009.
He has: 2,076 posts
Joined: Sep 2003
6Ghz? Doesn't sound right at all. I don't think consumer chips have ever gone over 4Ghz. Just having two cores in a chip does not mean the processor performs at double the clock speed.
I would venture to say that many of the applications you run won't take the full advantage of dual cores. However, you will definitely see a performance difference. The increase in clock speed, cache and front and side bus will run circles around your old CPU.
Yes and no. You may want to switch over to a 64 bit operating system, but your applications don't have 64bit/multiple core versions (well, I haven't heard of a 64 bit version of Firefox!) A 64bit operating system will recognize more RAM than a 32 bit OS.
While you're upgrading (or thinking about it), I would suggest a 10,000 RPM hard drive. A hard disk is one of the slowest components on a computer, and going from 7200 PRMs to 10,000 RPMs made a huge difference for me. The fast hard drives are noisy, and less reliable than a 7200 RPM one, though. Your motherboard needs to support SATA drives.
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Abhishek Reddy posted this at 23:43 — 1st July 2009.
He has: 3,348 posts
Joined: Jul 2001
You could build it yourself.
There are unofficial builds sometimes provided by folks on the mozillaZine forums.
abhishek.geek.nz
rtroxel posted this at 07:51 — 2nd July 2009.
He has: 272 posts
Joined: Mar 2003
"You may want to switch over to a 64 bit operating system..."
There is a 64-bit version of Windows XP. Has anyone here used it?
There is also a 64-bit Windows Vista, but it hasn't received very good reviews.
Most of my apps can't run on Linux.
Shaggy posted this at 13:59 — 15th July 2009.
They have: 114 posts
Joined: Dec 2008
I've been running 64bit Vista for some time, and have tried out Win7 64bit and haven't had issues with either of them. I can't speak for the applications you need to run though...
Cheers,
Shaggy.
rtroxel posted this at 07:31 — 2nd July 2009.
He has: 272 posts
Joined: Mar 2003
"Just having two cores in a chip does not mean the processor performs at double the clock speed."
My mistake. I thought it did double the speed.
rtroxel posted this at 13:48 — 16th July 2009.
He has: 272 posts
Joined: Mar 2003
6Ghz? Doesn't sound right at all. I don't think consumer chips have ever gone over 4Ghz.Look at what AMD has now:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/836/1/
rtroxel posted this at 07:20 — 2nd July 2009.
He has: 272 posts
Joined: Mar 2003
Thanks for the quick replies!
It's been a few years since I've assembled a PC. If I need a new motherboard, OS and hard drive to go along with a new processor, maybe I should just get a new PC?
- Roy
benjy posted this at 12:24 — 7th July 2009.
They have: 32 posts
Joined: Jun 2009
Hi - very often the cheapest and simplest way to resolve a "slowing" computer is to purchase more memory (RAM).
You will always need to check which type is compatible though.
I build new PC's for people all the time, and no matter how powerful a PC may be, once it is loaded with software, it will always become slower at loading up.
Also, as for the 64-bit Operating system - I currently use Windows x64, and do not find hardly any improvement over the 32-bit version. A lot of programs are still not fully 64-bit compatible, and use an emulator to revert back to 32-bit!
My advise on that is to wait until things move along a bit further.
Hope this helps you
Kiss Computing
rtroxel posted this at 20:48 — 15th July 2009.
He has: 272 posts
Joined: Mar 2003
Thanks, again.
My PC supports only 1.5GB RAM, which it has now. I assembled the PC about 5 years ago from parts bought separately.
Now that I think about it, I'm going to build a new PC, start with a clean slate. I've done that before, and it was fun.
Whenever I open three or four windows in Firefox, or go to a really busy site like MSNBC.com, the processor fan really cranks up. The same thing happens when I use certain graphics products like Paint Shop Pro, or even Adobe Reader.
Also, I would like to get an LCD monitor, with about a 24-inch screen.
I'm guessing this means a processor, motherboard and video card upgrade? Memory, too.
I can still use the Compaq shell I have, although the fan on the power supply doesn't work.
Gog posted this at 22:17 — 15th July 2009.
They have: 41 posts
Joined: Dec 2008
Toms hardware has some good information on compatibility chips and boards, may be worth having a look.