Increase Memory or Graphics Card

[svsuthar]

I just re did my PC, and did all basic things after re-installing application like defrag, scan disk, antispy scan, antivirus scan but still my computer is slow...and seem slower then re doing it. I want to know few things I could due to upgrade and make my computer a little bit more faster.

1. I have 4MB Intergrated AGP Grpahics card.

2. I have 256 of Ram and the highest I could put according to the manual. ( will increasing to 512 fry the computer or what?)

3. Anything else I could upgrade to make it fast


Thanks,

Samir

[Hengis]

Welcome to PCHF

Can you tell us what your processor/cpu is and what speed it is? Also, do you know what make and model number, either your PC or motherboard is?

[spellbyte]

1. I have 4MB Intergrated AGP Grpahics card.
adding a better graphics card would only increase the gaming capablities on your system.

2. I have 256 of Ram and the highest I could put according to the manual. ( will increasing to 512 fry the computer or what?)
It is STRONGLY recommended to follow your mobo's manual on this one

3. Anything else I could upgrade to make it fast

as hengis asked if you post a sys spec then we could help out a bit better, if you are unsure whats inside then check out this topic here

[svsuthar]

Thank you so much for answering back. I don't have the manul with me but I will reply back with the spec on it soon as I get home.

THank you

[double_a_ron]

Hi Svsuthar,

Are you running Windows 98/ME or Windows 2000/XP?

I have to disagree with spellbyte on the video card issue a good 32 MB Video Card will increase basic performance, esp. on XP. If you want to speed up performance in XP otherwise (a 4 MB card should be fine for 98 or 2000) turn down the graphics settings in XP to be geared towards performance. Please re-post if you don't know how to do this.

If your motherboard only supports up to 256 MB of Ram I'm going to guess that you have an older CPU (250MHZ P2 to a lower end P3). It looks like there won't really be any quick fix for you. If money is an issue (I know that's my case), you will probably want to carefully plan out what you intend to do with your computer and figure out how much you would like to spend. Since you already have a computer you no doubt have a:

1. Mouse and Keyboard
2. Monitor
3. Case (hopefully ATX and if you have an old power supply you probably want to get a new one anyway)
4. A hard drive
5. Your CD/DVD Rom/Writer

And all those other little nickle and dime accessories.

When i upgraded from my 733MHz P3 to my 3000+ Athlon system I didn't have very much cash to play with at any given time so first i bought a motherboard (cost me 125$ CDN) then i bought my CPU (230$ CDN) then i bought the most cost effective RAM i could just to get it running (70$ CDN but if you have the money i recommend going with the fastest Ram your motherboard can support.

This will (probably) leave you with a lot of room for future expansion also so it might be a while before you will have to buy a whole new computer.

If you do this i recommend upgrading to a dual core or a 64 bit processor ( I bought my new PC at the worst possible time i think).

On the other hand... you may not want to take this step. If not, find the name and serial number of your motherboard and look it up on the internet. Find out what the fastest processor your board supports is.

Find out what your processor speed is (right-click My Computer and select Properties) if it's lower than the fastest processor that your board supports then you may want to search for the CPU that maxes out your MOBO (motherboard).

Also you may have as much Ram as your MOBO supports but is it the FASTEST supported Ram? If you are running PC100 RAM can you upgrade to PC133 it makes a difference (it's not a good idea to mix and match speeds so you may need to replace your old stick completely).

Look at your CD/DVD Rom/Writer, if it's a CD ROM/Writer is it 52X (32X for RWs) if it's lower you will notice an improvement in software installation speeds with an upgrade in that department.

Also check your Hard Disk, I'm not too savvy on what a good speed is for HDDs but if you have a faster hard disk, your programs can be loaded to ram and saved back faster and your Swap Files (Virtual Memory) will run a bit faster.

Lemme know if i missed anything guys!:afro::cheesy:


PS.

There are 10 types of people in this world. Those that undestand Binary and those that don't.

Genius pure genius i love it Spellbyte!!! :-D

[ladygreenwitch]

:afro: Excellent post their M8!

TTFN

Tj