Crap tower?? - Saxperience

Spanky · 25th March 2009, 00:03

Hey guys.

Basically my comp is really slow (no this is not another thread about defragging etc!)

I have bee doing all the right things, virus scans, defragging, removing programs i never use etc etc etc.

Still slow as fook.

I have even switched to the windows 98 theme as with the XP theme its just unbearable!

Spoke to a mate a while back who asked the spec of my comp.

He said my problem was that the comp has a crap memory, great proceser, but usless memory.... Is this correct??

Here is the spec of my comp (its a little old)

Packard Bell Computer
Intel[R]
Pentium[R] 4 CPU 2.93 GHz
2.93 GHz, 248MB Ram

Now im not expert with comps etc, but i checked my mams laptop a few days ago and hes has a 1.93 GHz procesor but 3GB of RAM and hers is fast as fook!!

As i missing somthing here??

any help would be great,

bpm · 25th March 2009, 09:05

Theres a hundred factors but a definite YES on the RAM. Windows XP was designed to be able to run on 256mb of RAM but they do mean it just runs, not runs well.

Without knowing the full specs of your computer but guesssing from the fact youve been using it with 256MB of RAM you dont do gaming or any HD video, its just internet, email, word usage, etc, right?

In which case I would save most of your cash and just upgrade to 1GB of RAM. A single 1GB stick can be bought for less than £30. (or possibly two * 512k).

Make sure that the RAM is compatible with your computer though, look in the motherboard manual or find it online. Things to check are the speed it runs at (ie, 1333MHz or 1600Mhz, etc) wether its ECC or non-ECC, buffered and also how many chips it uses on it. Most suppliers (even on ebay) will give you this info. The last bit about how many chips is because some computers are fussy and cant handle so many. Youre motherboard manual will give recommendations to RAM Manufacturers that have been pre tested as compatible.

Matty_VTR · 25th March 2009, 12:45

Agreed with that.. go into your Device manager and see what type of Ram.. my guess would be that is DDR2 but best to double check. You should upgrade to at least 1GB it will make such a difference.

Stickyjam · 25th March 2009, 16:25

id be guessing its either slow ddr2 or ddr memory... a quick memory upgrade will do wonders..

the difference between your mums laptop and yours is hers is probably a newer core2duo chip where as yours in the older p4... technology gets better and this doesnt just mean raw mhz...

ddr2...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GeIL-2GB-PC2-6...1%7C240%3A1318

ddr

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Corsair-Memory...1%7C240%3A1318

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Corsair-1GB-2x...1%7C240%3A1318

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Corsair-Platin...1%7C240%3A1318

a few links to watch... nice cheap upgrades if you can bid to win on ebay...

if you get the model of the PC your using its easy as to check what ram you need...

Spanky · 29th March 2009, 03:09

hey guys, forgot about this thread lol

Can you tell me where i can find the model number of my comp??

dont have a bloody clue where manuals etc etc are....

Its just doing my nut tbh, takes ages to load certain things.

For example, if i send my webcam to my mam it takes around 5 misn to let me do anything else while it loads up the webcam

Also i was thinking, would it not be better int he long run to just upgrade to a better tower??

-E-N-Z-O- · 29th March 2009, 17:23

You can get a stick of 1gb ram for about £15 delivered. Take a look here. You can scan your system to discover the ram you use and to find out what is not compatible. Assuming its the poor ram thats slowing your system down, going to 1gb will make a rather large difference.

Stickyjam · 29th March 2009, 17:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saxo_89

hey guys, forgot about this thread lol

Can you tell me where i can find the model number of my comp??

dont have a bloody clue where manuals etc etc are....

Its just doing my nut tbh, takes ages to load certain things.

For example, if i send my webcam to my mam it takes around 5 misn to let me do anything else while it loads up the webcam

Also i was thinking, would it not be better int he long run to just upgrade to a better tower??

depends on your budget tbh... at the lower budget may aswell just upgrade ram for the money you could spend... if you had a budget of 400-700 a new system wud be sweet as

bpm · 30th March 2009, 15:23

To find out the compatible RAM, open your case, look onto the motherboard for the model. ASUS, Gigabyte, ASRock, etc and which model number it is. For example ASUS P6T6.
Once you have this info go onto google and type in that plus manual. There will be one somewhere in pdf format. Normally in your first few pages you will find all the details about your RAM and compatible ones.