Posted: 10/15/2010 7:07:02 AM EDT
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I want to see if this computer is upgradeable. Without taking the thing apart, how do I tell what the motherboard, CUP, and current RAM space is...
I would like to upgrade RAM to atleast a gig, but I have no idea how to do this... Any help is appreciated! AR154ALL |
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I have a feeling that upgrading your ram won't breath new life into your pc. I am assuming that your system is quite old given that it does not already have a gig or more of ram in it. Instead of throwing 30 or so bucks at this system, you may want to start watching some of the deal of the day sites for a bargain. Woot.com will post up a decent priced compuer from time to time. |
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I have a feeling that upgrading your ram won't breath new life into your pc. I am assuming that your system is quite old given that it does not already have a gig or more of ram in it. Instead of throwing 30 or so bucks at this system, you may want to start watching some of the deal of the day sites for a bargain. Woot.com will post up a decent priced compuer from time to time. 6 years old; but was 'cuttu=ng edge' when I got it built custom... |
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Not to sound like too much of an ass but, your question is akin to saying "I have a car in my garage, does anyone know what parts it takes?"
To answer your question, yes, your computer is upgradeable in many, many ways. To get more specific with suggestions, you're going to have to be more specific about the computer. What kind of processor does it currently have? How much RAM does it currently have? What kinds of connectors are on the motherboard? Is the RAM DDR, DDR2? Everest has a downloadable software that will tell us a whole bunch of useful info here: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/Everest-Home-Edition.shtml If you post the results you'll get a whole bunch of good answers. |
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Belarc advisor will work, posted above.
motherboard monitor will also show you must of the information you need. motherboard monitor |
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6 years old means you're stuck with a single core processor and 3.2 gigs of DDR memory. Also, may very well have no PCI Express slots and will only be able to use ATA type drives. If it's got a small amount of memory now, 1 gig or less and a Celeron processor, you could speed it up a little by going to 2 gigs and a P4 (first checking with the mobo manufacturer to determine exactly what it will handle), but with refurbed quad core desktops with 8 gigs of DDR2 or DDR3 memory and a 1TB SATA2 drive selling for $500, do you really want to put $100 into that old computer for a 20% upgrade in speed? |
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Quoted: I want to see if this computer is upgradeable. Without taking the thing apart, how do I tell what the motherboard, CUP, and current RAM space is... I would like to upgrade RAM to atleast a gig, but I have no idea how to do this... Any help is appreciated! AR154ALL run cpu-z on it and see what the specs are: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html |
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If you post the results you'll get a whole bunch of good answers. [standby] MSI AMD SOCKET 462 WINDOWS HOME 512MB (PHYSICAL MEMORY) MOTHERBOARD:MSI; MS7061 That motherboard uses DDR PC3200 400Mhz memory. Just order two 1GB modules (2GB total) and remove the old memory modules and replace them in the same slots with the new modules. |
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If you post the results you'll get a whole bunch of good answers. [standby] MSI AMD SOCKET 462 WINDOWS HOME 512MB (PHYSICAL MEMORY) MOTHERBOARD:MSI; MS7061 That motherboard uses DDR PC3200 400Mhz memory. Just order two 1GB modules (2GB total) and remove the old memory modules and replace them in the same slots with the new modules. (As others have suggested...) should I spend the $30-60 on this or cough up the $4-500 for a new system? |
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If you post the results you'll get a whole bunch of good answers. [standby] MSI AMD SOCKET 462 WINDOWS HOME 512MB (PHYSICAL MEMORY) MOTHERBOARD:MSI; MS7061 That motherboard uses DDR PC3200 400Mhz memory. Just order two 1GB modules (2GB total) and remove the old memory modules and replace them in the same slots with the new modules. (As others have suggested...) should I spend the $30-60 on this or cough up the $4-500 for a new system? What do you plan to do with the computer? If you just want to keep it usable for another year then add the ram and enjoy, don't expect miracles, but while you are at it do a good software tune up, maybe even fresh OS install. If you are looking for any kind of serious horsepower out of it, then check the sunday paper for ads and start with a new computer. |
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If you post the results you'll get a whole bunch of good answers. [standby] MSI AMD SOCKET 462 WINDOWS HOME 512MB (PHYSICAL MEMORY) MOTHERBOARD:MSI; MS7061 That motherboard uses DDR PC3200 400Mhz memory. Just order two 1GB modules (2GB total) and remove the old memory modules and replace them in the same slots with the new modules. (As others have suggested...) should I spend the $30-60 on this or cough up the $4-500 for a new system? I guess that depends on whether your current system is meeting your needs and how much extra cash you have. If all you do is email and get on the internet and money is tight, then I would just upgrade the memory. The system will certainly be faster with 1GB than it is with 512MB. But given the price of memory I would go ahead and get 2GB.But if you have some spare cash and would like a faster and more reliable system, then go ahead and buy a new box. For $500 you can certainly buy a new box that is much better than your old one and you'll get Win7 on top of it. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Time to start over. Upgrading will be a waste of $$$. +1. You can throw together a stellar PC for next to nothing, anymore. start over. even the most basic system today will be 9000x faster for only about $400-500. you might be able to reuse the PS and case depending on what you currently have, that will save some $$$. |
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What do you plan to do with the computer? If you just want to keep it usable for another year then add the ram and enjoy, don't expect miracles, but while you are at it do a good software tune up, maybe even fresh OS install. If you are looking for any kind of serious horsepower out of it, then check the sunday paper for ads and start with a new computer. A little more stability will ne nice; I am not looking to dump any large amounts of cash this close to Christmas (I got 5 rugrats to look after). Memory is good; speed is tollerable, data/vid processing is a little slow. (edit) I might just deal with this untill @Feb '11 |
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If you are having stability issues it could be a lot of things, and upgrading would only fix it if you got really lucky and upgraded the bad part, if there is a bad part.
If you haven't done a clean OS install in a few years that could be the problem. Of course it could be a power supply going, a memory module, a video card, your IDE controller, the CPU, or leaking caps on the motherboard. |
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Don't spend any money on the hardware.
Wipe XP off and re install it, then add MSE. You'll be amazed at how fast a 2ghz processor with a half gig of ram can run with no crapware installed. I do about two of those a month, I charge $50 to do it. If I can do it so can you. |
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For what you're wanting to do with it...I'd go ahead and throw the 2 gig at it because it's just freaking cheap. 2GB of RAM and a good thorough "cleaning" program will let things plod along just fine for as long as you'd like it to. Laptop I use on trips right now runs XP, a 1.7GHZ processor and 1GB or RAM...meets all the needs I have for it on the road. I can surf, watch video, skype, and play "rudimentary" games. |
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What do you plan to do with the computer? If you just want to keep it usable for another year then add the ram and enjoy, don't expect miracles, but while you are at it do a good software tune up, maybe even fresh OS install. If you are looking for any kind of serious horsepower out of it, then check the sunday paper for ads and start with a new computer. A little more stability will ne nice; I am not looking to dump any large amounts of cash this close to Christmas (I got 5 rugrats to look after). Memory is good; speed is tollerable, data/vid processing is a little slow. (edit) I might just deal with this untill @Feb '11 Half-Gb of RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820159202&cm_re=ddr_333-_-20-159-202-_-Product ~20bucks shipped Fastest Proc (3000+) the board will take: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=AXDA3000DKV4D&cat=CPU ~25 bucks + S&H (if you're already here, don't bother) The board has SATA connectors ... A 7K RPM SATA drive will make a visible difference. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136113 ~43 bucks shipped Less than 85 bucks will show you a significant improvement. You'll see a better one if you upgraqde your OS to Win7 (32 bit). There is some wisdom in all of the folks yelling to spend the 5 hunny to buy a new one. There is also some wisdom in spending a sixth of that and getting a machine that feels dramatically faster. The trade off is up to you. If you're just e-mailing and doing the standard office and adobe apps your machine should outlive you, particularly with less than a c-not in upgrades. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: What do you plan to do with the computer? If you just want to keep it usable for another year then add the ram and enjoy, don't expect miracles, but while you are at it do a good software tune up, maybe even fresh OS install. If you are looking for any kind of serious horsepower out of it, then check the sunday paper for ads and start with a new computer. A little more stability will ne nice; I am not looking to dump any large amounts of cash this close to Christmas (I got 5 rugrats to look after). Memory is good; speed is tollerable, data/vid processing is a little slow. (edit) I might just deal with this untill @Feb '11 Half-Gb of RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820159202&cm_re=ddr_333-_-20-159-202-_-Product ~20bucks shipped Fastest Proc (3000+) the board will take: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=AXDA3000DKV4D&cat=CPU ~25 bucks + S&H (if you're already here, don't bother) The board has SATA connectors ... A 7K RPM SATA drive will make a visible difference. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136113 ~43 bucks shipped Less than 85 bucks will show you a significant improvement. You'll see a better one if you upgraqde your OS to Win7 (32 bit). There is some wisdom in all of the folks yelling to spend the 5 hunny to buy a new one. There is also some wisdom in spending a sixth of that and getting a machine that feels dramatically faster. The trade off is up to you. If you're just e-mailing and doing the standard office and adobe apps your machine should outlive you, particularly with less than a c-not in upgrades. A small SSD that's SATA1 compatible wouldn't be a bad investment either. Say a 40gb X25-V for OS. |
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What do you plan to do with the computer? If you just want to keep it usable for another year then add the ram and enjoy, don't expect miracles, but while you are at it do a good software tune up, maybe even fresh OS install. If you are looking for any kind of serious horsepower out of it, then check the sunday paper for ads and start with a new computer. A little more stability will ne nice; I am not looking to dump any large amounts of cash this close to Christmas (I got 5 rugrats to look after). Memory is good; speed is tollerable, data/vid processing is a little slow. (edit) I might just deal with this untill @Feb '11 Half-Gb of RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820159202&cm_re=ddr_333-_-20-159-202-_-Product ~20bucks shipped Fastest Proc (3000+) the board will take: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=AXDA3000DKV4D&cat=CPU ~25 bucks + S&H (if you're already here, don't bother) The board has SATA connectors ... A 7K RPM SATA drive will make a visible difference. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136113 ~43 bucks shipped Less than 85 bucks will show you a significant improvement. You'll see a better one if you upgraqde your OS to Win7 (32 bit). There is some wisdom in all of the folks yelling to spend the 5 hunny to buy a new one. There is also some wisdom in spending a sixth of that and getting a machine that feels dramatically faster. The trade off is up to you. If you're just e-mailing and doing the standard office and adobe apps your machine should outlive you, particularly with less than a c-not in upgrades. I'd strongly recommend against installing windows 7 on a 6 year old computer. Windows 7 is no faster than XP, and the only way it is of any benefit is on a new 64-bit system with more than 4 gigs of ram and multiple cores. Going from 512 to 2gb of ram would be a nice improvement for only $43 shipped, and is the only money I would bother sinking into that old of a system. You probably have an old 20 pin power supply, AGP video card, and nothing short of the case would fit a new system. Alternatively you could get a 3.2ghz dual-core Athlon2 X2 with a motherboard and 4gb of ram for under $200 to throw in your old box. It has on-board video so you would not need to buy a card (but you won't be doing any extreme gaming either). You might need a new power supply if you have an old 20-pin unless they make an adapter that goes that direction. On this low power system you could get a dirt cheap one. http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.513219 |
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What do you plan to do with the computer? If you just want to keep it usable for another year then add the ram and enjoy, don't expect miracles, but while you are at it do a good software tune up, maybe even fresh OS install. If you are looking for any kind of serious horsepower out of it, then check the sunday paper for ads and start with a new computer. A little more stability will ne nice; I am not looking to dump any large amounts of cash this close to Christmas (I got 5 rugrats to look after). Memory is good; speed is tollerable, data/vid processing is a little slow. (edit) I might just deal with this untill @Feb '11 Half-Gb of RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820159202&cm_re=ddr_333-_-20-159-202-_-Product ~20bucks shipped Fastest Proc (3000+) the board will take: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=AXDA3000DKV4D&cat=CPU ~25 bucks + S&H (if you're already here, don't bother) The board has SATA connectors ... A 7K RPM SATA drive will make a visible difference. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136113 ~43 bucks shipped Less than 85 bucks will show you a significant improvement. You'll see a better one if you upgraqde your OS to Win7 (32 bit). There is some wisdom in all of the folks yelling to spend the 5 hunny to buy a new one. There is also some wisdom in spending a sixth of that and getting a machine that feels dramatically faster. The trade off is up to you. If you're just e-mailing and doing the standard office and adobe apps your machine should outlive you, particularly with less than a c-not in upgrades. A small SSD that's SATA1 compatible wouldn't be a bad investment either. Say a 40gb X25-V for OS. Agreed but, if he's been living on PATA this long a SSD is gonna scare him. |
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What do you plan to do with the computer? If you just want to keep it usable for another year then add the ram and enjoy, don't expect miracles, but while you are at it do a good software tune up, maybe even fresh OS install. If you are looking for any kind of serious horsepower out of it, then check the sunday paper for ads and start with a new computer. A little more stability will ne nice; I am not looking to dump any large amounts of cash this close to Christmas (I got 5 rugrats to look after). Memory is good; speed is tollerable, data/vid processing is a little slow. (edit) I might just deal with this untill @Feb '11 Half-Gb of RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820159202&cm_re=ddr_333-_-20-159-202-_-Product ~20bucks shipped Fastest Proc (3000+) the board will take: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=AXDA3000DKV4D&cat=CPU ~25 bucks + S&H (if you're already here, don't bother) The board has SATA connectors ... A 7K RPM SATA drive will make a visible difference. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136113 ~43 bucks shipped Less than 85 bucks will show you a significant improvement. You'll see a better one if you upgraqde your OS to Win7 (32 bit). There is some wisdom in all of the folks yelling to spend the 5 hunny to buy a new one. There is also some wisdom in spending a sixth of that and getting a machine that feels dramatically faster. The trade off is up to you. If you're just e-mailing and doing the standard office and adobe apps your machine should outlive you, particularly with less than a c-not in upgrades. I'd strongly recommend against installing windows 7 on a 6 year old computer. Windows 7 is no faster than XP, and the only way it is of any benefit is on a new 64-bit system with more than 4 gigs of ram and multiple cores. Going from 512 to 2gb of ram would be a nice improvement for only $43 shipped, and is the only money I would bother sinking into that old of a system. You probably have an old 20 pin power supply, AGP video card, and nothing short of the case would fit a new system. Alternatively you could get a 3.2ghz dual-core Athlon2 X2 with a motherboard and 4gb of ram for under $200 to throw in your old box. It has on-board video so you would not need to buy a card (but you won't be doing any extreme gaming either). You might need a new power supply if you have an old 20-pin unless they make an adapter that goes that direction. On this low power system you could get a dirt cheap one. http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.513219 I agree with everything in this post except for the "I wouldnt run W7 instead of XP because itll be the same." That just isn't true. W7 will beat XP on the same hardware six ways from Sunday, and I'm a Linux geek (hate M$) |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: What do you plan to do with the computer? If you just want to keep it usable for another year then add the ram and enjoy, don't expect miracles, but while you are at it do a good software tune up, maybe even fresh OS install. If you are looking for any kind of serious horsepower out of it, then check the sunday paper for ads and start with a new computer. A little more stability will ne nice; I am not looking to dump any large amounts of cash this close to Christmas (I got 5 rugrats to look after). Memory is good; speed is tollerable, data/vid processing is a little slow. (edit) I might just deal with this untill @Feb '11 Half-Gb of RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820159202&cm_re=ddr_333-_-20-159-202-_-Product ~20bucks shipped Fastest Proc (3000+) the board will take: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=AXDA3000DKV4D&cat=CPU ~25 bucks + S&H (if you're already here, don't bother) The board has SATA connectors ... A 7K RPM SATA drive will make a visible difference. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136113 ~43 bucks shipped Less than 85 bucks will show you a significant improvement. You'll see a better one if you upgraqde your OS to Win7 (32 bit). There is some wisdom in all of the folks yelling to spend the 5 hunny to buy a new one. There is also some wisdom in spending a sixth of that and getting a machine that feels dramatically faster. The trade off is up to you. If you're just e-mailing and doing the standard office and adobe apps your machine should outlive you, particularly with less than a c-not in upgrades. I'd strongly recommend against installing windows 7 on a 6 year old computer. Windows 7 is no faster than XP, and the only way it is of any benefit is on a new 64-bit system with more than 4 gigs of ram and multiple cores. Going from 512 to 2gb of ram would be a nice improvement for only $43 shipped, and is the only money I would bother sinking into that old of a system. You probably have an old 20 pin power supply, AGP video card, and nothing short of the case would fit a new system. Alternatively you could get a 3.2ghz dual-core Athlon2 X2 with a motherboard and 4gb of ram for under $200 to throw in your old box. It has on-board video so you would not need to buy a card (but you won't be doing any extreme gaming either). You might need a new power supply if you have an old 20-pin unless they make an adapter that goes that direction. On this low power system you could get a dirt cheap one. http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/AddToCart.aspx?Submit=ADD&ItemList=Combo.513219 I agree with everything in this post except for the "I wouldnt run W7 instead of XP because itll be the same." That just isn't true. W7 will beat XP on the same hardware six ways from Sunday, and I'm a Linux geek (hate M$)  Running Win 7 on a P4 is excruciatingly slow at times. Do not do it. Had you ever tried, you would know how crappy it runs overall. OP spend $4-500 on a new comp. Don't waste your money. Like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883147363 THAT is a bad muthafudgin' deal. 6GB RAM, Win7, Quad Core CPU, decent vid card that is easy to upgrade. Under $500. |
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: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883147363 THAT is a bad muthafudgin' deal. 6GB RAM, Win7, Quad Core CPU, decent vid card that is easy to upgrade. Under $500. I think this might be the plan!!! |
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Quoted: Quoted: : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883147363 THAT is a bad muthafudgin' deal. 6GB RAM, Win7, Quad Core CPU, decent vid card that is easy to upgrade. Under $500. I think this might be the plan!!!  |