what should i buy to speed up my computer?

Question

its an ibm personal computer 300 GL. has pentium 2 400mhz, 128mb of ram and 6.4 gb hard disc, with 80 gb external hard disk.
should i buy:
ram (what type?)
or processor (will every type work with this motherboard or not?)
thanx

windows 2000

Answer 1

RAM RAM & more RAM
That is always the easiest and cheapest way to speed it up.

Don't mess with the processor. You might as well build a new computer because you'll have to update other parts. Computers are only a few hundred bucks at Dell ya know? The one you have doesn't support most of today's software. But if its not in the budget.....

IT DOES MATTER what RAM you buy. Check here to find out what you need.
http://www.memoryx.net/ibmpc30serme.html


And do what the guy 2 posts below me says. Practical things to clean your computer.

Answer 2

OUCH! Just Ouch... your computer is really low end, you should basicaly scrap it out, and start over fresh! AS much as I hate Dell, they would be a good means to look from. your at a P2 Processor, they at P4 now... P2@400mhZ... well.... 1250mhz is one gigabyte.. or 1gb. Personaly speeking my computer is a P4 3.4gb processor. Ram. MOst computer come stock with 512 now and support Many gigs of ram. (1gb+ worth of ram). as for your 80 external disk... it probably wont work, because your mother board has a size cap, judgeing on your age.... now, heres what I would do.... use theres specks... these are your fail safe specks.... First you Opperating system at the least should be windows 2000 SP 4 (Service Pack 4, you can down this on line from Microsoft, for free). Next, Processor... AMD or Intel (Pentium) does not mater, they are both good processors. AS for speed, in the upper 2.2. 2.3ghz.. soforth. ram, at 512 AT THE LEAST!!! DVD BURNER...CD burner.... whatever floats your boat, its pretty much a given your gonna get it, weather you need it or not, just the way it is.... and hard drive size should be no less then 60gb. And video card is a big one if you wanna play any newer games.... 128mb is pretty much the standard, but, some games run better on a 256mb video card, even though they say it will run on a 128mb. (thats if you take out all of the graphical features of the game....then whats the point of playing it actually??). Anway... you can get a good NEW system in the area of 600 and in some cases they include a LCD monitor... AVOID DELL LIKE THE PLAUGE... and just go to any smaller computer store in your area, or just get a custom one made, thats were you will get your best deal.... Or if your crasy, BYO... Bulid your own..... YOU CAN GET KILLER DEALS on things on line, and they are brand name, and new... you cant go wrong!!! Keep in touch of you want some more help with this. Its not hard to bulid a computer, if you can read the directions, and beware static, and bulid it on a "rubber sheet', for a crib, thats what I do. Good luck, and keep in touch if you need more insights

Answer 3

Genuine Intel Pentium IV-processor Speed>1.8GHz
RAM >500
Genuine Intel-Motherboard
Seagate 80 GB hard drive.
[The most important and may be cheapest way is to increase RAM,for any PC to run faster]
Before you buy you need to know what conditions slow your computer.simply buying new pc does
not solve problems for long(if you need i will tell that too)
have a good time.

Answer 4

Honestly, your computer is so old that your money would be better spent purchasing the cheapest computer on sale today.

That is to say, the very cheapest computer you could possibly buy today (a few hundred dollars) will be way better than your current computer.

The cost will be very competitive (but way less work) than trying to upgrade components.

I suggest that you check the following page about once a day for a few months:

bensbargains.net

I assure you that eventually you will see a deal at Dell (particularly around back-to-school time) for a computer that will be about $450 dollars. It will be about 50x better than your current computer.

Answer 5

ram- make sure to get the right kind for your laptop, and see how much you can upgrade it. you can't just add 2gigs of ram to any computer. froogle or ebay will probably have some 128mbs for around $20.

not every type of processor will work for a computer. you also have to make sure your fan will provide enough air to get through to cool the new processor. for your computer, i wouldn't upgrade more than 1GHz for a computer like yours.

Clear up space- you obviously have a very small hard drive. clearing up space on your hard drive will increase preformance. here are some things you can do.

go to my computer, right click on C, and go to properties. click on tools, and then do defragment. the defrag app will come up, and select to defrag. this will arrange all of your files in a way that makes them faster to run.

also, go to control panel, add or remove programs, and remove all the programs you dont use any more.

also go through you hard drive manually and delete used things. if they are programs, make sure to uninstall them, not delete them.

close unused programs- go to start, run, and type msconfig, and go to start up programs. unselect all the programs you dont use.

hope this helps!

Answer 6

hey. Please please do no longer pay attention to different those that, purely pass on on line and purchase an improve area. i'm going to describe it later. before everything. you may desire to understand here words in pc. puzzling-tension area ROM: it quite is quite your 40-60 GB reminiscence RAM: that's the !GB ram you stated. Secondly, constantly do the straightforward way first. if that's nonetheless slow as h*ll. then pass directly to enhance as a manner to renowned why it quite is slow, you are able to constantly attempt this. precise click on activity bar. a menu pops up. then choose "activity supervisor" you will see all your cutting-edge methods/purposes. which your pc is dealing with. widespread new pc possibly working approximately 20 to 40 methods reckoning on application and configuration. Now, take a notice of those technique whilst your pc starts off up. and mark down if there is any working abnormally. there are lots of application which sparkling unneccessary initiate technique. i think Norton 360 is one. excellent me if i'm incorrect. in case you are trying this, a minimum of you will develop you domicile windows's initiate. or in case you recognize what you're doing attempt this command. "msconfig" in "run" or domicile windows key + R constantly learn it at google till now you're taking any action. thirdly, get some anti-virus software and test the excellent laptop. no virus will do good in computers. For improve factors, i do no longer propose you to attain this, till you recognize precisely your factors are. it is via the fact, the two i do no longer know whether you have a private pc or pc.. in case you do have a private pc, there are a lot of distinctive factors, which a number of them are actually not properly suited to a pair extra recent technologies. as an occasion, you have a 1Gig ram, yet there a hundred and eighty-pin and 240-pin reminiscence, and others. working distinctive clock velocity. till you recognize your RAM velocity. in any different case, do no longer purely pass on line and purchase one on sale. it is going to the two not extra healthful your board. or has conflict with previous factors.. have somebody experienced examined your laptop. or get some application does the pastime..

Answer 7

I don't think upgrading your computer would help that much. I would recommend to take a look at the deals that Dell has.

If you wait a little bit, maybe they will have the back to school deals, which were pretty good last year.

Answer 8

RAM, always RAM you'll see the diference doesnt matter the type just RAM make sure you dont put to much ram that the pc can hanlde 'cause can toast your system you can see how much can handle in the manual of the pc

Answer 9

It's not worth it upgrading that just buy a new pc for just 300/400 bucks you'll be fine

Answer 10

Wheels, and a jet engine.
Failing that, a Linux-based OS and a a bit more RAM.