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.

Thinking of throwing in a mobo/CPU/ram/gpu upgrade myself. Is it always recommended to reinstall the OS? I have done in the past, but it is such a pita.

if you run windows, it's too much of a pain not to re-install.

No, if your system is fine now , the OS will simply want to check the license again, load new Graphics drivers and System drivers for the new MB SATA/NIC/USB3 devices etc. Have them all ready, be prepared to reboot a few times and you should be good to go.