Page 1 of Advice needed on upgrading RAM and processor

Well, I have had this PC for several months now, and it behaves well, but it is slow, so I have now decided to upgrade the innards.

I know there is a website which checks your PC for compatibility so you know what to get - can anyone point me towards it? I tried Google but seem to be lost.

I`ve got 512MB DDR RAM - which I would like to either double or replace with 2 x 1GB if not too expensive.

I`ve got an Intel Celeron D 336 2.8GHz processor - not really sure what to upgarde to, but it isn`t very fast.

Then there`s the graphics - I`ve got an SiS 661 FX/GX 64MB internal Mirage Graphics adaptor - whatever that means. This is the least of my concerns, but might get upgraded while I`m fiddling about with everything else.

So, if anyone can point me in the direction of somewhere that checks what you can buy that`s compatible, and also any advice - I`d much appreciate it.

I`m running XP Home with absolutely no intention of upgrading to Vista on this machine, by the way. :)

http://www.crucial.com/uk/

will help you out, tell you what you have, what you need. Don`t necessarily buy from them as they can be expensive, but it should help.

Al

Don`t upgrade the processor yet (I don`t think its that slow), buy more RAM first.




www.soundalikes.com ~*~ glitterkat.stumbleupon.com

You may find the RAM will help loads. My parents had an old celeron pc with 256 mb ram, the graphics card was onboard, so shared that ram, had problems draggign windows :(

put in more ram and it was fine.

so maybe add some ram and just a cheap graphics card will help loads

Thanks for the advice!

Well, I was pleasantly surprised at the cost of upgrading to 2GB (2 x 1GB) of RAM - it was only £59.99 + VAT, so I think I`ll go for that and see how I get on.

I really don`t understand about graphics - my existing graphics adaptor is using memory from my 512MB of RAM to run? How do I check for compatibility before buying a graphics card, or is that a lot easier?

I`m going to order that 2GB of RAM from Crucial - it seems a good price so not worth trying to find another site with the same type - I`ll tie myself up in knots! :o

The graphics card isn`t necessarily using the main memory but either way by upgrading the main memory you should see a performance benefit. You may be able to get the memory cheaper from someone else. Also the "recommended" brand from Crucial may not be the cheapest available from them but for simplicity`s sake you won`t go wrong in buying it (hopefully! :-)).

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You got us into this parking lot pal, you can get us out!

Thank you Mister Smee. I`ll get this memory sorted out first, then see how it performs after that.

So when my extra memory comes, do I slot it into the USB or SD slots or do I open the DVD Drive and poke it in there? (Only joking! ;) ...or am I :o )

The main thing holding your computer back apart even more than the ram or cpu would be using internal graphics instead of a discrete graphics board with it`s own ram.

It`s hard to say what to upgrade to, you haven`t mentioned what you`d consider spending on the upgrade or the motherboard model, but here`s a general note or two.

If you switch to a proper graphics card it should make a big difference. I suggest the least you should go for is a 7300GT or preferably something a bit more up to date in the 8xxx nvidia series. I can`t really advise on equivalent ATI cards as I haven`t had one in quite a while, though whatever you use make sure it fits whichever graphic slot your board has (I hope it`s PCIE), and switch off the internal graphics, you don`t want them both on. It should tell you how to do that in the manual.

DDR2 ram tends to be half the price of your DDR but you`d need a new motherboard for it. If you decide to upgrade the processor to one which wouldn`t fit your current board that might make it a more attractive option.

Personally I often use Ebuyer to get parts for upgrading as they`re generally cheap but whether you want to use them depends a lot on how patient you are for delivery and whether Citylink is reliable in your part of the country.

I think you`ve made the right choice about not upgrading from XP.

Btw if you go to a dual core cpu in the future you might want to download a program called Runfirst from Activeplus, it will help with the occasional older program that won`t work perfectly with dual cores. I found this useful too, it`s relevant for more than just setting up laptops for dual core: forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=60416

Just to update those that gave me advice on this, I have now successfully installed the 2GB of RAM that I purchased (did it today) so hopefully there will be an improvement in performance. Too early to comment yet, as I only did it an hour ago and am not really running much.

I am interested in upgrading the graphics but have no idea what info I need to check for compatibility. I would very much like to get an independant graphics card with its own RAM but just don`t know where to start.

The details of my existing graphics are in my first post, and this is what Belarc says about my main board:

Board: Acer E661GXM
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD R01-C3 03/28/2006

Again, anyone patient enough to tell me what to look for?

Thank you. :)

This item was edited on Saturday, 10th November 2007, 15:15

Did a quick google on the motherboard and it looks like it is AGP compatiable. I assume you arent doing any gaming so one of the £20 nvidia AGP graphics cards will be more than enough.

something like this would be enough http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119722

This item was edited on Saturday, 10th November 2007, 16:31