Upgrade Questions for a Novice

[joejoe666]

I built a system about 6 years ago. This desktop unit is now used primarily by my dad.

Processor - AMD Sempron 2800+
MotherBoard - MSI K8T http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=&cat3_no=&prod_no=565
Ram - 1GB DDR 333
Hard Drive - 80GB (WD800JB)
OS - Win XP Home

Use - Internet, some word/excel, some youtube streaming, and other non-intense general purpose apps (solitaire, calculator, etc)

I would like to either speed up the computer or reduce the boot time with MINIMAL spending. I guess I want to know if its worth upgrading. It works fine right now, but if i can get a huge speed boost for $100-$200 or so then I might do it.

Can I...
1) Install a SSD without anyother changes? (64gb would be plenty for him)
2) Install a new MB and CPU only?

What would be the best option? or is it not even worth upgrading? i am a newbie but i did do some reading, i went to the cpubenchmark website. however, i do not know how those #s correlate to real world (my sempron scored 424).

 

[mnewsham]

Another gb of ram, an ssd would be nice, but I don't think windows xp supports TRIM (correct me if I am wrong) and would degrade the SSD faster then normal.

 

[Avogadro]

Adding more memory to get up to 2GB would help (or even 4GB, Windows XP will let you "see" about 3.2GB of it), but if boot time is your major problem you might try some general maintenance on the machine: - Clean out spyware - Run CCleaner (CCleaner gets rid of crap but can also check registry integrity) - Defrag the hard drive - Reinstall Windows XP fresh (if the other three suggestions don't help) Personally, on a 6 year old system, I wouldn't bother with an SSD.

 

[mnewsham]

Also a literal cleaning, take it outside and use some compressed air on it.

 

[joejoe666]

I did a fresh install of windows XP. Don't get me wrong, the system works fine. the boot up time is about 2-3 mins. I just wanted to know if i could speed it up a bit with minimal investment.

also, what is TRIM?

 

[mnewsham]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM?wasRedirected=true

think of it as a trash collector.

 

[fffblackmage]

also, what is TRIM?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM?wasRedirected=true

think of it as a trash collector.

TRIM must be supported by the OS.

I believe most SSDs have a separate garbage collector (GC) that runs independently of the OS, in addition to TRIM. The Kingston SSDNow V+ 100, in particular, has an aggressive GC that would make it well-suited for non-TRIM supporting OSes, like XP, but they're so pricey with the $40-50 price premium over a 60GB Sandforce SSD.

 

[mfenn]

An SSD would likely speed up boot time, though not as much as it would in a newer system (you'll be CPU-limited!). You'll want at least another GB of memory preferably another 2GB.

 

[tynopik]

I did a fresh install of windows XP. Don't get me wrong, the system works fine. the boot up time is about 2-3 mins.

a clean install of XP on that machine should NOT take 2-3 mins to boot, something is wrong

 

[joejoe666]

i timed it after reading your comment. It boots in 1:30min...lol. which isn't bad. however i thought if i installed a SSD the boot time would be like 10 seconds. is that true? because then i will def install it.

 

[Numenorean]

SSD will not help you. Your CPU wouldn't boot XP in 10 seconds.

An SSD is not the ideal thing to speed up a computer - it can make faster computers even faster for certain operations. But a slower older system I don't think is the best use of one.

You need a new motherboard, CPU and RAM. Also that hard drive is pretty slow compared to the ones out these days, but it would work. Honestly it isn't worth upgrading you should just build a new one.

 

[TexasEd]

Make sure the Motherboard supports more RAM (looks like it does up to 3GB of DDR333)

I cleaned up my XP install last week (Pentium 4 2.56 with 1 GB Ram) and my boot times seem to be cut in half by uninstalling software I don't use on that machine like iTunes, out of date anti-virus, old MP3 player drivers, etc.

The other thing i would consider is to have him put the system in hibernate most of the time and do a fresh reboot 2-3 times a week.

 

[mfenn]

i timed it after reading your comment. It boots in 1:30min...lol. which isn't bad. however i thought if i installed a SSD the boot time would be like 10 seconds. is that true? because then i will def install it.

Are you timing the whole boot, or just the XP phase? If it's the whole boot 1:30 sounds OK if you have a slow BIOS or some add-in cards with long timeouts in their own BIOSes.

The XP "spinning bar" phase should take about 25-30 seconds.

Log in to usable desktop could also take a while if there are lots of systems tray apps that are being loaded.

 

[mfenn]

SSD will not help you. Your CPU wouldn't boot XP in 10 seconds.

An SSD is not the ideal thing to speed up a computer - it can make faster computers even faster for certain operations. But a slower older system I don't think is the best use of one.

You need a new motherboard, CPU and RAM. Also that hard drive is pretty slow compared to the ones out these days, but it would work. Honestly it isn't worth upgrading you should just build a new one.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[mlc]

personally, i wouldn't do this, but I feel obligated to mention it as an option....

throw a faster used cpu in there.. something like a 3700 or 4000 , may be supported, which would give you some decent clock speed improvement , but also some l2 cache as well....check for a used one..on ebay or someplace. you may be able to pick one up for $40 bucks or so...

I would definitely consider adding more memory... to 2gb. If you go with the cpu upgrade .. you may be able to throw in some ddr400 memory...

... personally i'd think twice, but since you asked....

p.s. Just doublecheck what that board can handle.. and it may require a bios upgrade depending what you do...

 

[JackMDS]

Make sure the Motherboard supports more RAM (looks like it does up to 3GB of DDR333)

I cleaned up my XP install last week (Pentium 4 2.56 with 1 GB Ram) and my boot times seem to be cut in half by uninstalling software I don't use on that machine like iTunes, out of date anti-virus, old MP3 player drivers, etc.

The other thing i would consider is to have him put the system in hibernate most of the time and do a fresh reboot 2-3 times a week.

+1

Actually leave the memory as is. Win XP home used like you describe would Not really improve its performance with larger memory.

Do not waste money on the current system as suggested above. Any manipulation within $50 will not really do any thing significant.

If decided to spend more more than $50, use your current parts, just change to an mATX AM3 mobo for $40 + AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor + 1GB DDR2/3

and will work x3 better than your current system.

 

[joejoe666]

Thanks for the advise guys. From what you suggested, i will stick with whats there for now and just upgrade in the future as needed. on a positive note, my dad really hasn't complained so that shouldn't be an issue.