Hi

I have a PC about three years old with a 2.40 gigahertz Intel Core2 Quad Q6600
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
4096 kilobyte secondary memory cache and 4 gb ram and a Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5N-D 1.XX
Bus Clock: 266 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD ASUS P5N-D ACPI BIOS Revision 0302 01/11/2008

. Its now painfully slow. Im thinking of upgrading the cpu to an intel i7

Intel Core i7 2600K BOX, 3.4GHz, LGA 1155, 4C/8T, unlocked

CHF 299.-

BX80623I72600K, 3.4 GHz (Max Turbo 3.8GHz), 4x256kB L2 Cache, 8MB L3 Cache, LGA1155, ATX, 32 nm, TDP 95 Watt, Grafikkern onboard (HD 3000



Will I need to update the board too? How easy is it to do this?

Will this solve my speed problems`? the PC has a lot of software installed and has 25gb of a 500gb hard disk free, Ive tried defragging and disk cleaners etc and nothing helps

Any advice is welcome!

Thanks

Do you need to have all the software running at once?

Stop most of your applications from auto startup and it will run faster.

Otherwise sell the box on Ricardo and buy a new one.

what OS are you running and what do you generally use it most for? It might be cheaper to get a new PC. Otherwise, is there any RAM slot left? check MB documentation and may be upgrade RAM to 8GB. More ram will help with speed etc.

http://www.asus.de/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5ND/
"Intel® Core™2 Quad / Core™2 Extreme / Core™2 Duo / Pentium® Extreme / Pentium® D / Pentium® 4 Processors "

i7? Not so.

Reformat, install Linux, re-install Windows or, as advised, sell it completely.
And buy a new one.
Looks like the 2nd cheapest i7 in Digitec's online shop is actually the latest MacMini...

Yes, the CPU pin out and Memory bus are different.
You will also have to replace your memory from DDR2 to DDR3

What is slow ? Startup, browsing, apps or games ?

Everything is slow :-( I use it mainly for gaming. I'm not running so many startup programs. Takes ages to start up, to start Internet, to start programs. Games crash. Looked at a high end gaming pc in digitec average price was 2kchf. Bit steep.

Get the cheapest I7 /I5 motherboard that supports the I5-2500K , get an I5-2500K CPU and the cheapest 8GB of RAM you can afford. Get a GTX460 or better GPU. Plug all this into your existing case , PSU , etc. Get a decent CPU cooler. BIOS overlclock it to 3.4-3.8GHZ

700-1000CHF in total.

Re-install your OS.

You now have a fast games machine.

Now were talkin! :-)

you will need a new board.

but the computer is probably slow due to all the crap and possibly malware loaded onto it. the quad core is still a reasonable processor and over-clockable. my recommendation would be to spend the money on a SSD and re-install windows onto that. the computer will fly afterwards.

...if you want more than 4GB of RAM, you will also need to move to a 64-bit OS.

...if you are really a hard core gamer, the on chip graphics of the i7 may not be enough and you will need a gamer graphics card

Before I'd do a new system, I'd do a thorough clean up, clean out of the machine you've got, then do a thorough system analysis to see if the way your machine is set up is choking its speed.

Any recommendations on good cleanup software and analysis software? Im not that good with computers

you could try reinstalling the OS first, might save you a bit of cash.

Will I have to delete everything from the system then?

They are all rubbish and cause their own problems. (Reg cleaners etc) , disk defrag tools are overrated.

Save your pics,videos,docs etc to an external drive.
Re-install the OS, do not repair, delete the old partition and start afresh.
Put your Docs etc back in all the right places.

Install only what you need, use a free lightweight AV such as AVG Free , Use free anti-malware such as Spybot , reguarly remove crappy unused software.

Your biggest gain will be from going > 4GB RAM, using a 64bit OS, maybe switching to an SSD for apps that thrash your disk. If you play games, get a decent GPU, at least GT4nn or ATI57nn and above.

CPU's switch to lower frequencies when hot, slowing down the system, ensure your case fans are clean, the CPU fan is clean (If you can, redo the thermal grease on the CPU), and that you have good airflow through the case. Install a temp monitoring utility and check our temps against known good temps for your CPU etc.


PM me your budget, I will spec the system for you if you want to start from fresh.

not if you buy an SSD and install onto that as per my suggestion above.

I have exactly the same processor as you "Intel Core2 Quad Q6600". Mine was also a bit sluggish so I changed to use faster RAM and move from 4GB to 6GB - which made a small amount of noticeable difference.

I then upgraded to a OCZ SSD and reinstalled Windows 7 x64, and flipping heck, the PC now boots up in less than 30seconds (to main screen), and everything is instant. I would definitely recommend an SSD Hard Drive for the quickest and cheapest upgrade. Just make sure you buy a good make and a backup constantly as quite a few people seem to have ones that break (and they don't seem to warn you like normal spinning HD where you get bad sectors etc).

Swisscathal, if you really don't know much about computers, either get a new machine or get yourself a computer mentor such as Mr. Hatter. Otherwise you will go mad and maybe get in deeper than you are now.

True True, thanks for all the advice guys, looks like I have some research to do.

OK, to be upfront, I have received a PM with a budget figure.

That was CHF1000, given my experience with the brands below , and trying to maximise bang for buck whilst factoring in known reliability, I am suggesting the following component upgrades. My list comes to +-1100CHF

This assumes that the OP has an ATX case, with a non-suitable PSU, and already has a keyboard/mouse and screen

• PSU be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER, E8 CM 680W 80plus Silver
• 8GB MEMORY Corsair CMX8GX3M4A1600C9, 4x2GB, DDR3-1600, CL9@1.65V
• CPU Intel Core i5 2500K BOX, 3.3GHz, LGA 1155, 4C/4T, unlocked
• MBOARD Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD4-B3, Intel Z68 B3, LGA1155, CFX/SLI
• GPU Gigabyte GTX-560 Ti OC 1GB GDDR5, PCI-E 2.0 x16, HDMI
• RAM Corsair Vengeance, 2x4GB, DDR3-1600, CL9@1.5V
• OS/BOOT drive OCZ SSD Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120GB, SATA-3, 2.5 Zoll
• DATA DRIVE] Samsung HD103SJ, F3, 7200rpm, 32MB, 1TB, SATA-II

Now, it's all debatable, and some components are as good or as bad as the rest out there, but for 1100CHF , I can not get any more performance for a gaming machine.... These are all quality hand picked components. Some I use in my own servers / games rigs.

What I am sure of though, is that this rig will fly , and fly for some time to come.



What do you guys think ? For the same money , Digitec will supply the same spec , less the GPU (200CHF) and SSD (250CHF) and running off a paltry 380w PSU and using lower spec RAM

Sorry to butt in on this thread, but do you recon the above rig would be able to run BF3 at a satisfying level?

(just to get an idea if I can afford to get a new machine for some serious gaming time ... )