Am I better off buying a new pc or upgrading my RAM?

Question

I just learned the the bigger your RAM is the more programs you can have open at once. On my dell i have 256mb i bought it 2 years ago and I have noticed it has been slowing down reasonably lately. I don't do much on my pc, I like to have limewire, aim, ie and maybe another program. I like to play pc games as well, what should I upgrade my RAM to or are there any other sugestions? Thanks in advance

Answer 1

You did not give a model number, so can only speculate on the specs of the model. But ig only two years old, the $40-60 to update the ram would be less then the cost of a new PC and would absolutely make a difference.

Since this is a 2 year old PC, here a couple things you can try that might speed things up...

1) Check for spyware. Run both Ad-aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/) and Skybot (http://www.safer-networking.org/) to remove any spyware. Run both as one may caught something the other missing. Then go to microsoft.com and download Defender to protect against future infections.

2) Check that you have a least 10% of your hard drive free. Go to My Computer and right click on the Local Drive (C:). Look at the properties. If it has less that 10% free space, you will need to delete some files, or move them off the hard drive and on to a CD or DVD. Start by running the disk cleanup, which will remove temporary and other unneeded files. Go to Start, then All Programs, then System Tools and click the Disk Cleanup icon.

3) Run the msconfig utility. Go to Start, then Run and type in: msconfig
Go to the startup tab
You will see a list of all the programs that are loaded when your computer starts up. Uncheck any that you do not have to have. (Usually you can uncheck them all). If you decide you to need one, you can go back and recheck it.

4) Defrag the hard drive. Go into My Computer and right click on the Local Drive (C:). Select Properties and go into the Tools tab. Click the Defragment Now button to start the defrag program. If you have not defrag recently (or never) it may take several hours for the program to complete.

Answer 2

Being that it is a dell, you will be severely limited on the number and types of upgrades you can do. Your best bet, especially with the number of programs running that you are talking about, would be to add another 512 mb of ram. Here is the fun part, make sure you buy the same type of ram that is already in the system, and the correct clock speed (i.e. DDR-400, DDR-266, PC 2100, PC 2700), if you get the wrong ram it will not work. You may also be able to get a new hard drive to store everything but your programs on, this will eliminate some of the strain on your system, as it will not have to access the old drive as often. Upgrading the RAM is a good fix, however do not do it haphazardly, make sure you know what is already in there or take it to a computer store and have them test your memory to figure out what it is. Good luck, and if you have any more questions you can reach me at [e-mail].

Answer 3

I think that 2 years old computer (and being a PC) is too old to being upgraded. Upgrading RAM may boost your computers performances just a little or not at all. Performances of a PC are not only measured of how much RAM memory do you have installed. There are also other factors involved like what kind of hard drive your computer has (ATA/ SATA), speed of your HD is also important. Then goes proper maintenance of the operating system etc. It is true that adding some more RAM memory will speed up any computer, the question is how much it will take affect to overall performances of your PC if other components are obsolete and it's more likely to being a case when we talk about a 2 yrs. old PC.

Answer 4

Most PC's come from the store, a little light on RAM. Most are also capable of upgrading to more RAM. From your question I would suggest that you consider upgrading your RAM before buying a whole new PC. It should only cost you anywhere from $50.00 to about $300.00 depending on the size & type of RAM cards you want/need. There are many types of RAM & I wouldn't go buying any until you know 1) the maximum size of RAM your PC will accept. 2) the number of card slots available on your motherboard 3) the number of pins in the card slots 4) the type of RAM that your PC uses .

Answer 5

AIm and others don't consume too much memory. But since you play PC games, that may be the cause. It all depends how much memory it require to run the game and the graphic memory. You may need to upgrade your graphic card as well. 2yrs old dell is pretty old. Yes, if I am you. I will spend a bit more to install myself a new pc. Go to neweggs.com and check out the deal there. I get most of my parts there real cheap when they have promotions.

Answer 6

better off buy a new one. new games are now designed to require huge amount of RAM but it doesnt always stop on that. much more it would require a faster CPU speed, a bigger video memory and others. which i suppose, your two year old MB could no longer support in reasonable time. upgrading a two year old PC for a fast paced games is a waste of money. take my advice, you will see its worth it.

Answer 7

Since your computer always had 256MB of RAM, and only recently has slowed down, then by logic, your problem is else where !
PC's usually slow down, when they are infected ! so investigate that first ! infection by viruses and spyware .

it would certainly be worthwhile to upgrade to 512 MB.

If you have a processor running at 2GHZ ( for Intel ) or 1.8GHZ ( for AMD ) , then do not replace your PC yet, it is good enough for most people.
To play games , upgrade your grahic card, as well as your RAM ( possibly to 1GB )

Answer 8

If that's all you do, then you shouldn't buy a new one. Just upgrade your RAM. Windows XP really should have a minimum of 512MB of RAM. Find out who makes your computer, what model it is and then find out the maximum amount of RAM you can install. Buy the RAM from www.pricewatch.com.

Answer 9

It depends on how much you are willing to spend and the type of games you are playing as well as the minimal specs.. If your cash flow is low, a quick solution would be to buy more ram but it may not suit the games you want to play.

Answer 10

You'll probably be better off just to upgrade your RAM. Your computer is still kind of new. Long as all else in working order still, just upgrade for now.