Does Computer speed effect internet speed/bandwidth?

Question

Well I have a 1 Ghz computer with 768 ram and a 128 Ram GFX card. Im just wondering if a slower computer processor like mine might effect total internet bandwidth and downloading rates, EVEN if the computer is squeaky clean of viruses and spyware. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Oh by the way. I use Earthlink DSL. when i check to see my bandwith on CNET it says anywhere from 60K to 200k

Answer 1

It is probably obvious. The faster your computer, the faster you can get responses and the faster that you can send another request for more. The faster the computer, the faster it can initiate and maintain downloads by responding to next packet requests.

So the faster the computer, the more bandwidth is used.

Your computer might seem OK in that configuration. If you have a 3Ghz computer, it might not seem very much faster, since the hard drive and internet speed is where the BOTTLENECK is. Keeping your computer squeaky clean is the key to have good speed.

Let's look at the speed part. When you open a huge JPG file (or a whole album), the limitation is on your hard drive speed. Going to 3Ghz wouldn't help. Does this seem obvious? Let's say that you are going to get a 5MB download from the internet, and you are using a 2MHz high speed connection. Your network adapter is 100MHz, but the real bottleneck is the High Speed modem. The faster computer probably won't make a difference.

But faster CPU speed is helpful in so many other ways. Additional technologies, and more open windows and active services will be possible. Of course, a little spyware will go unnoticed.

One warning... for gosh sakes, don't upgrade your wonderful computer to Windows Vista. With 1GHz and 768 MB RAM, it will be the slow dog of the show. Stick with the current operating system for better performance. I'd wait at least 6 months if you are planning to get a much faster computer and WinDUD Vista.

Good luck

Answer 2

Your computer is plenty fast to handle most any download rate. If you're seeing problems, it could be that the site you're downloading from is busy. If you're using Cable, you need to remember that there is limited bandwidth on each leg, and in busy neighborhoods, during busy times, the peak performance sometimes drops a bit.
If you're running lots of simultaneous apps, that can slow things down too. More RAM and a faster processor will give you improvement in viewing what you download, but won't necessarily help speed the download much unless you're starving for more RAM.
You might also want to check your virutal memory. If that's set too low, you can lose performance. With this, you want to make sure that your hard drive has enough free space and is unfragmented.

Answer 3

The more likely possiblity is that the connection speed is being slowed by an outside force I am using a 1.04 Ghz processor 1024 DDR RAM, on a 100 megabytes per second linkup speed with no problems. out of the specs you listed the only hardware you have that out performs my own is the video card. and of course if you are on dialup you have more than enough "horsepower" under the hood to do the job.

Answer 4

The short answer is yes. Depends on the bandwidth and download speeds of your Internet connection. In your case, the 1 Ghz clockspeed is probably good enough, but if you have a blazing internet connection, then your older motherboard is 'choking' your ability to download faster.

Answer 5

Your computer should be plenty efficient to handle fast internet speeds. A 1 Ghz comp should be fine

Answer 6

proccessor speed is one if the factors that will effect to internet but not in direct way
because while you are browsing you are running some of the applications and scripts in the background that will consume proccessing efforts...and it depends about what type of internet application like games videoes,runing java & flahs scripts...etc

with yor specefications, you can statrt by upgrading the ram to 1 G

Answer 7

Your processor clock speed is plenty fast and your ram is more than adequate but keep in mind, if you are overburdening your system with too many apps running, it will slow your internet down!

Answer 8

WELL I HAVE A 1.8 MHZ 2 GIGS OF RAM AND AN ATI VIDEO CARD WITH 512 OF ITS OWN MEMORY AND IM RUNNING THE OVERCLOCKER TOOL ON IT AND MY CABLE CONNECTION IS 10 MEGABITS PER SECOND JUST FIGURED I WOULD BRAG TO BUT MINES FAST YOURS COULD BE TO FOR A SMALL FEE SPEED COSTS MONEY
HOW FAST DO YOU WANT TO GO

Answer 9

you computer sounds good. It's you ISP thet is the difference.on speed Cable Internet is the fast es.then DSL then good old phone line.

Answer 10

Well....it Does Effect the Speed.....Bcause the RAM is Used a Lot when you Load the Pages.....BEST Thing i can Tell you is .....UPGRADE your PC.......Will help you a LOT.