Improving Performance of a 7 yo PC

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

I had my IT guy at work spec out a computer for me back in 2010 that would be compatible with our agency’s system and allow me to work from home. I no longer work and it’s approaching 7 years in age. I’m wondering if there are some things I can do to improve performance like adding some RAM and/or replacing the chip. I’d like to hang on to my 2010 Microsoft Office programs which I can’t do if I buy a new computer as these were licensed through my work.

Here' my current chip & RAM
OptiPlex 780, Core 2 Duo E8400 with VT/3.0GHz,6M,1333FSB
8GB,Non-ECC,1066MHz DDR3,4x2GB,Dell OptiPlex 780

Thoughts?
TIA

Featured Answer

kudzu9

9 years ago

8GB of RAM isn't bad. I've got a 9-year old computer with 3GB and it's still pretty functional. Are you having performance problems, or do you do a lot of resources-intensive work like video editing, or what?

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Comments (12)

azinoh
9 years ago
Those specs don't sound terrible...but other than MS Office, you don't say what programs you'll be trying to run on it. Is it not performing satisfactory as it is now?
jrb451 thanked azinoh
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Renee Texas
9 years ago
What are you wanting to see improvements on? That can determine which parts are best to swap out.
jrb451 thanked Renee Texas
jrb451
Original Author
9 years ago
I do mostly web browsing, e-mailing, financial software, tax preparation, some spreadsheets, a little word processing, photo storage, CD burning, stuff like this. The on-line stuff seems to have slowed since Windows 10 came along - I'm not sure if it's specific to Edge. Maybe switching browsers would be worth a try?
azinoh
9 years ago
I refuse to even use Edge on my Win10 Dell. Right now I'm using Firefox on my 2008 Dell w/Vista-3GB memory. It still gets me where I need to go. YMMV.
kudzu9
9 years ago
What speed Internet connection are you paying for and are you getting that speed? It might not hurt to check, if you haven't done that lately: Speedtest
jrb451
Original Author
9 years ago
I'm paying for 25 and getting it most times I've checked. (It was 23.9mbps just now.)

Maybe I'm just fine. When shopping to upgrade my wife's 5 year old IPad2 we asked about the improvements to the processor. "It's exponential." we were told and it was. My wife didn't realize just how much until she started using the new IPad.
azinoh
9 years ago
[URL=http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/6047768902][IMG]http://www.speedtest.net/result/6047768902.png[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/6047771112][IMG]http://www.speedtest.net/result/6047771112.png[/IMG][/URL]

My 12 MB DSL does what I need.
Elmer J Fudd
9 years ago
Try clearing the browser settings - cache, cookies, etc. That's the most frequent cause of a PC's slowdown when using a browser.

Using a different browser sidesteps the problem but has the same outcome.

Checking what software loads at bootup also can slow things down.

Spending cash for new components in an old PC is usually a waste of money.
mikie_gw
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
This page has some spec's on your CPU and a couple upgrade possibilities but doesn't really look worthy at best a 9% performance boost from 3ghz to the E8600 3.333ghz. http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/CPUs/Intel/Core_2_Duo/E8400.html

You can change your hard drive to a SSD and that alone will wow you in start up times and open and close program times much more than a processor upgrade would. I use and like the Samsung 850 series SSD's, The Pro is especially nice which I have probably a half a dozen or more of, but the EVO which I have one of is fine too. WD Blue SSD lately is getting OK press lately for its newer lower prices that come with a 5 yr warrantee . Nice thing about a SSD is you can move it to a new computer someday if not lots of hours.

You can buy yourself a more current performance minded Graphic card, paint web pages quicker.
jrb451 thanked mikie_gw
User
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
jrb451,

Usually the processors on motherboards can only be upgraded to a couple other processors. Most of the time it's a very small performance gain and not worth the money. The 8gb RAM as stated by others should be plenty for you unless you're doing labor intense Video Editing or running another program that needs the RAM. From the programs you've posted you use and mainly only using it for internet you should be just fine on the RAM. You could always upgrade to an SSD Drive, but your main performance would be during the Boot Up of the computer

I use Microsoft Edge on my 8 year old Desktop w/Windows 10 installed. My Desktop is a self build with an AMD Phenom II 940 Processor Black Edition (Quad-Core) @ 3.0GHz. I too have 8gb of DDR2 RAM. I currently have 2x 1 tb Seagate 7200rpm Hard Drives for storage and 1x 500gb Seagate 7200rpm for the Operating System, Office Package and Programs/Apps.

I am thinking about upgrading this computer to an SSD Drive, maybe a 256gb for the OS, Office and Programs/Apps. This would allow me 2.5tb for Storage. It would also gain me the Boot Up Speed I'm missing! It would give me a small percentage of speed during other tasks on this computer, but the most speed would be noticed on the Boot.

If I were you I'd run more Speed Tests. It sounds as if Internet is where you're really missing the speed. Run the tests different times of the day and write the results down. Maybe there is a pattern: 1. Like after school lets out for instance sometimes slows down the internet for many (lots of kids getting on) 2. Maybe someone in your family streaming Netflix, HULU, VUDU, etc... can bog things down now, right now! We had DSL and FIOS for many years and had pretty good speeds at 25mbps with FIOS. We've had Cable for the past 8-10 years and with (50mbps/50mbps ) Cable I do notice slow periods, never had these with FIOS. I just checked my Speed the other day, 47.8mbps, two hours later it was 30.3mbps. Just ran Speed Test, 39.56mbps Down and 46.12mbps UP.

BTW, Microsoft Edge is a good Browser and should be faster than Firefox, Google Chrome and many other Browsers out there.
jrb451 thanked User
Elmer J Fudd
9 years ago
If the performance used to be okay and now it isn't, the problem isn't hardware. And replacing or enhancing what you have inside may make no difference at all.

Improving Performance of a 7 yo PC

kudzu9

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azinoh

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Improving Performance of a 7 yo PC

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