I am trying to upgrade my Dad’s computer, for greater speed generally esp video apps, ideally for up to £80, and would be grateful for your suggestions.
The system currently runs slowly & quite often ‘stalls’ (?) with fairly moderate-demand applications, & more so with eg: graphics/video applications.
I thought of:
1) Increasing RAM to 2gb (max advised) with http://www.amazon.co.uk/ByteStor-1GB.../dp/B000V6UL48
(mobo manual says pc2100 max, but would it take higher? My earlier upgrade to pc3200 may be the causing some instability?).
2) Adding a graphics card – but which one? http://www.4allmemory.com/index.cfm?...model_id=30419 I believe it must be 1.5V & AGP4 compliant. Which ones would be better than the existing onboard, still be compatible, yet not be ‘wasted’ by having what I believe is not the fastest CPU speed. (I don’t know much about overclocking, but is it the way to go or should I replace the processor? – prefer not to due to high cost & low expertise).
Appreciate your views. Specis as below…

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

OS Service Pack Service Pack 3
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

Computer Name MAXDATA-RZP774J (COMPUTER)
Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 1783 MHz (18 x 99)

Motherboard Name Asus P4B533-V (6 PCI, 1 AGP, 3 DIMM, Video)

Motherboard Chipset Intel Brookdale-G i845G

System Memory I wrongly upgraded from 256mb pc??? to 503 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM. I have since read that I mustn’t exceed pc2100!

BIOS Type Award Modular (09/17/02)

Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM2)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)
Display:
Video Adapter Intel(R) 82845G/GL Graphics Controller (48 MB)

3D Accelerator Intel Extreme Graphics

Monitor BenQ V772 [17" CRT] (01506)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter C-Media CMI8738 Audio Chip

Storage:
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801DB Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 24CB

Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive Maxtor 2F040J0 (40 GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)

Optical Drive TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-R1202 (DVD:12x, CD:16x/10x/40x DVD-ROM/CD-RW)

SMART Hard Disks Status OK
Partitions:
C: (FAT32) 39195 MB (18616 MB free)
Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse PS/2 Compatible Mouse
Network:
Network Adapter Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection (192.168.1.64)

Modem HSP56 MicroModem

Thanks,
timtechless

Memory
The (Asus P4B533-V) motherboard comes with three Double Data Rate (DDR) Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) sockets. These sockets support: up to 2GB system memory using 184-pin unbuffered non-ECC PC2100/1600 DIMMs.

(mobo manual says pc2100 max, but would it take higher?

And operate properly? No.

The system currently runs slowly & quite often ‘stalls’ (?) with fairly moderate-demand applications, & more so with eg: graphics/video applications.

If you have PC3200 RAM in this machine, remove the improper/non-supported RAM.


Graphics

it must be 1.5V & AGP4 compliant...

Correct. Stick with these specs. Running an AGP8X in an AGP4X slot will actually detract from performance. Here's a choice of compliant cards; http://www.4allmemory.com/index.cfm?...model_id=30419

(I don’t know much about overclocking, but is it the way to go or should I replace the processor? – prefer not to due to high cost & low expertise).

Get the hardware right, then consider over-clocking. Personally, I wouldn't. You'd just be ending old hardware lifespans sooner than need be.

Thanks for the advice Dan.

Could you recommend one of those cards - or indeed another? (under £50 preferred). The usage includes video editing, little gaming - not high calibre 3-D state-of-the-art games. I've read about problems with some Nvidia 6xxx cards, & does my CPU limit some cards, I understand the PSU will. Does the type of DDR matter? (the mobo RAM is DDR).

Thanks again,

I would simply pick a video card that matches the specs, and your budget. Do not pick a card that requires additional power connections unless the current power supply in the machine is equiped with these required connectors.

CPU speed does of course have a bearing on performance, working in conjunction with the video cards RAM/speed etc. However, based upon your description of use, I don't think changing the CPU is warranted.

Once you get the hardware in line (correct RAM etc), to help speed up the machine, a good (free) "cleaner" for removing junk from your system is CCleaner. It also performs a "clean-up" pass on the registry.

http://www.ccleaner.com/download/
(Click on Download from FileHippo......, in the PayPal box)

Alternate Download;
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4191.html


Once you download and install it, open the program then click on (left hand side) OPTIONS, then COOKIES. Any cookies you want to save (trusted sites, places you have usernames/passwords), highlight them in the left column, then (using the directional arrows between the panes), move them to the right hand column under "Cookies to keep".

Still under Options, click on Advanced. Remove the check mark from the box for "Only delete files in Windows Temp folders older than 48 hours".

Leave all other settings at the default.

Then click on Cleaner (on the top left). When that window opens, click on Run Cleaner (bottom right of the window.)

When it finishes, close CCleaner, and restart your machine. (Some files will not be deleted until a restart is performed.)

I do not advocate running CCleaner on each boot. I run it once or twice a week.

Thanks for all advice Dan,

timtechless

You're welcome.