PC Upgrade. anyone know how much it will cost?

Question

Hello,
I am looking to upgrade my Current PC.
But not looking to purchase a new one, instead just upgrade the components in my pc!

My Current Specs are
E-Machines E3028
Intel Celeron D @ 3.20 Ghz
768MB RAM
DVD +/- RW Drive
6 USB
Memory Card Reader
Windows XP
ATI Graphics Card
Basically it seems my PC Can't run many demanding programs at once.
It wont RUN Ulead Video Studio 11 because whenever i seem to do edit a video on it it always runs out of memory.
Do you think i need a PC Upgrade or maybe do i just need to add more memory??

If i do upgrade. will i still have all my files and settings in place?

Answer 1

As long as you don't change the Hard Drive in your PC, you will still have all your files and settings in place. This doesn't mean you can't upgrade your HDD though, you can simply back-up your data and restore it on the new drive.

As for upgrading your PC - Its going to be difficult to upgrade such a dating system, as the latest hardware won't fit in your machine. For example, your motherboard is a Celeron D socket, so you wont be able to upgrade to a Pentium D or Core 2 Duo. The best thing for your system is a new GPU and possibly adding more RAM.

You can scan your system over at http://www.crucial.com and it will tell you your RAM upgrade options.

As for graphics, i'm guessing your system has AGP, so you need a GPU to fit. Although its aging technology, you can still pick up decent AGP cards, including ATi Radeon X850 AGP, and Nvidia GeForce 6800 AGP.

Answer 2

The problem with Ulead that you describe may be more related to your video card. Celeron is intel's lower class brand processor but should work for what you are doing.

If you have an Integrated ATI radeon 200 video card, then the simplest upgrade would be a new video card. you would need to check to see if you have AGP or PCI-xpress slot for a video card.

Video cards help reduce the burden on the processor when it comes to graphic programs such as video editing, photoshop, and games.

Your CPU can perform most of the graphics processing but its just another thing for it to do.

If you do have an integrated video card and upgrade to a real video card can run from $75-400 depending on what you want/can afford.

If you buy a new video card and do not see much of an improvement then you can always return it to the store and only an hour of your time was used.

All other upgrades are much more cost/labor intensive and you may not even see much of a return.

Answer 3

In this order, I would upgrade RAM, CPU, and then graphics card.

Check your manual or visit http://www.crucial.com/uk and run their System Scanner software. This will tell you how many memory slots are present on your motherboard, and what the maximum it can handle is.

CPU: Get rid of the Celeron and get an Intel. Again, you may need to check your manual to see what capacity CPU your motherboard can handle.

Video card: Check, first of all, what type of video slot your motherboard has, and then do a bit of research to see what would be the best video card for your applications.

Someone mentioned hard drive upgrade, but you don't mention how big your hard drive is. For all I know you might have a 2TB hard drive ... unlikely, I know, but if you're editing videos, the more storage space you have the better.

As you point out yourself, when you run Ulead Video Studio 11, you're getting a report that you're out of memory. That must indicate what you need more than anything.

I mentioned changing the CPU for the reason that it has a smaller amount of level 2 cache RAM when compared to the full Intel Pentium processors.

Answer 4

your system is pretty new still so i would suggest buying new
components like processor, more ram, and video card and you will notice an increase in speed. if you replace these parts your files will stay intact because we wont be replacing the hard drive.

I looked up the motherboard in e3028 and it is a Intel D101GGC which supports Pentium D processor, pci express x16 and 2gb of ddr.
you could switch out processors because the Celeron is a very weak processor and there is a huge difference between the power of a celeron and a pentium. that motherboard is a bit limited on the choices but...

Upgrade the processor to - Intel Pentium D 925 Presler 3.0GHz 2 x 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor for about $115.

Upgrade the ram because most computers the base to start at is 1gb with 2gb being the sweet spot.

get something like this - 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit - about $95

and definitely want to upgrade your video card if you do editing and play games so aim for

cheap - GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card = $100

best - GeForce 8800GTS Superclocked 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card = $300

for about $350 you can see performance increase quite a bit and not have to buy a whole new computer for $1000. if you feel it may be too advanced, its really not, find a friend or just buy a dell xps system. a good place to buy the parts is newegg.com it is the cheapest and best.

Answer 5

Your CPU is a single core celeron which is a budget end CPU & will not run demanding programs. I would look into upgrading that(CPU) to start followed by increasing the RAM. Do some research on the motherboard to see if upgrading is even an option. The problem with buying a brand named PC is that they use OEM parts that are not interchangable. You cant buy an aftermarket motherboard because the plugs on your PC only work for that board.

Answer 6

Depends was Office and Windows 7 a legit copy or just a pirated one? Not trying to accuse you of anything but it happens. I buy/fix sell computers all the time and I don't really know about British currency but I'd charge 200 U.S which I'm guessing is £135 or something like that. A bit more if these were your license keys. I usually charge every hour I work. Sometimes o/s installs I don't do hourly rates and just a fee for installing.

Answer 7

That's the same processor I'm running and I have no problems with videos or live feeds. I have 1 GB of RAM and a 128 ATI 4X AGP video card.
Add RAM

Answer 8

Right now i'd say your biggest downfall would be the celeron D processor. Best bet would be to just buy a new pc. Otherwise I would just load up on the ram.

Answer 9

If you choose to upgrade your memory, which is the best solution, then you do not need to worry about files or setting as they will be unaffected by the RAM upgrade.

Answer 10

Start by increasing the ram.
This is the simplest, most effective and cheapest way to improve.
Then review to see if you need any further changes.