Upgrading PC Hardware...

Right, I'm good with coding and design but not so fantastic when it comes to the insides of a computer.

I was bought a Dell Dimension 3000 a couple of years bacvk and have upograded bits here and there...

As far as I know at the moment I am running:

• 3.0Ghz Celeron processor
• 2Gb RAM
• 256Mb Nvidia Geforce 6200 gfx card
• SoundBlaster XFI Xtreme Audio sound card
• 80Gb Hard Drive
• All on IDE cables

I want to make my PC run a bit faster...

I figure the best option for me would be to buy a new processor/motherboard combo? And then plug in the existing components into the new motherboard.

Is this correct? Does anyone know a good place that sells these bundles at reasonable prices?

From what I read, I should look at getting a Core2Duo processor?

Now I've loked at prices, and I'm not on a huge budget, would I notice the difference between my current 3.0Ghz Celeron, and a Core2Duo 1.8Ghz (I assume that means 1.8 x 2 = 3.6Ghz) therefore it only being 0.6Ghz more...will this be a big difference to me?

Obviosuly I like to run Photoshop, DW, a couple of broswers and maybe Illustrator and at times my PC doesn't handle this. Especially Illustrator takes forever...

I'm sure theres some techie people on these forums! Help me!!

Thanks,

Mike

p.s. My budget is probably around the £200-£240 range...but the cheaper the better!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you'll notice the difference if you get a CoreDuo. I think the thing that's slowing your machine down is the IDE hard drives. If you get a new motherboard make sure it has the right processor socket for a CoreDuo, make sure that your RAM is up-to-date and that it will work in the new motherboard, and i would also recommend that you get a board with SATA (you'll most likely have to get new hard drives too).

Good luck staying under your budget, I don't think you'll manage cuz your current machine isn't that bad judging by the facts you posted.

The most important part is making sure ALL your old components are compatible with the new board.

Something else that ALWAYS helps is to reinstall your OS - the machine always seems faster afterwards. Just remember to backup.

Well if I buy I plan on getting a Motherboard combo with it all pre-installed (processor, heatsink etc.) cos I can't do that.

Oh right...Well the PC is about 2 years old...is it likely that the hard drives might have both IDE and sata connection ports?

it just does seem very slow sometimes and it annoys me! i'm probably just being greedy tbh!

Mike

Take a look at http://www.misco.co.uk some interesting info there.

Pat

Yeah, some drives have both and most boards have both, but some of the newer boards only have one IDE port so you can only have 2 IDE devices and one of them usually is your CD / DVD drive.

Yeah I'd get a new processor first. That'll speed things up no end. Remember that you can't just directly compare the clock speeds as the way that the core duo chips work is entirely different. They are incredibly efficient too. Also good value when you consider their performance. When they came out I think they were Intel's cheapest chips ever (<-- that's not meant to be a joke and it isn't funny). Don't know here you'll get a good bundle though. I used to (and still do to some extent) do all my own upgrades. They are too bad but its probably one of the trickier bits.

Do you play games at all? Or just run the adobe apps and browse? I'd upgrade the graphics card too you see but its probably fine for most things. I don't game much (I just have a minor obsession to WOW) so I wouldn't know what to just suggest. The only think that ever sticks out at me in the memory on G cards.

My reply is probably the most useless post ever but I don't care.

Pete.

hahaha nah the info on the CoreDuo processors was really useful.

nah i dont really play games on my PC, the odd game of counterstrike but not enough to warrant upgrading the card again.

Ok so I'll look at getting myself a new processor/motherboard bundle with a CoreDuo. Would love a speed boost!


Mike

Well here's a little story for you (though I use the term story very loosely).

I decided to break my pc (last week), I then decided to break my mac (the weekend). It was hard drive problems on both. The problem was that they stopped working which is nice of them. So since the weekend I have been working on a slow pc. Its ok but it not nearly as fast as any of the other machines. It was a 3ghz Pentium 4. It went quite well and is about 2 years old. I reinstalled new stuff onto the new HD last night and the speed boost is massive I had been running on the same ram for both the only real difference was the processor. You will notice the difference even if your just browsing. It all depends on which Processor you get but I think you'll see good increases. The only other thing you may want to do is increase you RAM but you can do this any time, i guess.

There you go that is my story. Another thing you mat want to get yourself is a massive external HD as I am currently sitting here sobbing because of the cash I have parted with to retrieve my data. Its quite upsetting really.

Pete.

LOL. Yea I've got myself one of them.

I have 2gb of ram at the moment and that seems sufficient. i think it probably is the processor and will definitley look into getting a new one!

Cheers Pete

Yeah I would also look at getting a better video card. Maybe a 512MB video card. Other then that looks good!

Welcome to Newegg.

Absolutely, I would be lost without mine..... In fact this is my second one...first one was tiny little thing..filled up fast...this one is like the Hummer version. Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whats the AMD equivalent of A C2D?

And what is the price/performance/compatibility differences?

They do have one, I don't know the name. Apparently doesn't produce the same performance thingies as the intel and that's why it fell behind. But you should bear in mind that I am not a hardware engineer and know nothing about anything. This is merely what I have been told.

Pete.

Well, I love AMD and will not use anything else, period. As for falling behind Intel, they aren't worth as much, but (my opinion) there chips can run circles around intel..who has been playing catch up to AMD for years....I think the new AMD in the AMD Athlon 64 family of processors

Well some people have said that the new chips from both aren't comparable. Intel's are supposed to be quicker but I wouldn't know. I've not seen or used the new AMD ones and they're probably just as good.

Pete.

AMD Athlon 64 dual core, I think. And they are suppose to be coming out with a quad core...

Ok i haven't posted in a while but I saw this and I can see here that none of you seem to have a clue about PC hardware.

You cannot just stick a new CPU in your current Motherboard. You have to upgrade your motherboard, which mean you will need new Ram sticks. Unless your using DDR memory in which case it may work, however it would still be worth it to upgrade your RAM to DDR2. Your Video Card is crap, sorry, it takes away system memory, If you aren't gaming or using Auto Cad or the like you will not need anymore than a card with 256MB, there are of course many, many other factors other than memory to look at when buying a vid card. You will want to get new HDDs with SATA rather than IDE. A 1.8ghz C2D (core2duo) does not equal 3.6 ghz, you will only be using one core at a time, unless the app you are using is multithreaded (i.e. photoshop, 3ds Max, and so on). But their are many many other things to consider than a CPUs ghz, a 1.8 C2D will walk all over a 3.0 ghz P4 for example. I can't explain all the details but i suggest you look into it.

As for AMDs CPUs running circles around intel, you have got to be kidding? That is total hogwash and fanboyism. Intel has the performance crown ATM. AMD may be coming out with its quad core chips in Q4 and perhaps they will take it back, but for now intel is the way to go. AMD right now is just a total waste of money.

Another thing to think about is if you upgrade, your new motherboard will most likely not fit in your Dell case. About the only things I'd keep from you current system is the sound card and the CD/DVD drives. But off the top of my head I'd say you could get a Huge Improvement for 1500 USD maybe 1000.

lol...well that kind of doesn't work when I've got a budget of £250,

anyway...

this is the poackage I've managed to engineer myself with a little bartering...

• basic black case with psu to suit
• asrock 945g-dvi motherboard
• pentium d 2 x 2.8ghz cpu with intel heatsink and fan
• nvidia 8500gt 512mb ddr2 graphics card.
• 160gb sata hard drive

fitted and delivered for £285

I have 2 stick of DDR2 memory (1Gb each) so they can plug in, and I will plug my sound card in and CD Drives as well.

Sorted.

Also...can I mix sata and IDE? Ie can I use both my new 160gb sata drive and my 80gb ide drive together?

Mike