Increasing RAM for an old computer

coolkul

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Jun 29, 2014
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I have a Dell Optiplex 320 with an intel pentium 4 3.20 GHz CPU and 992 mb of ram. This computer is really slow. I can barely run a browser with multiple tabs open since it uses up most of the available memory on a computer with a single core CPU. I was wondering if a RAM upgrade would bring a significant boost in performance. Would I be see increased performance when I run multiple basic programs at once (ie browser with a few tabs open and a word doc)?

Also I'm running the computer at 1080p. Is that hurting the performance? I normally wouldn't think so but considering the age I'm not sure if this thing can handle much. According to dxdiag, it has ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 graphics.

Before anyone starts telling me to get a new computer, I have another computer that I use. This dell is just to use as a second computer whenever the need arises and for other members in my household who don't really use intensive programs.
 

coolkul

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Jun 29, 2014
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Teaurchin, I'm running windows XP on it.
 

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
More RAM would help with the swapfile thrashing that is probably killing any hope of getting remotely decent performance but CPU-wise, even the P4-D is crap compared to modern low-end chips like AMD's A6 or Intel's current Pentiums so I would strongly recommend upgrading the whole CPU+MoBo+RAM instead of wasting money on obsolete RAM.

If you do upgrade the platform though, you will also need a new Windows license key.
 

coolkul

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Jun 29, 2014
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10,515


Where can I find ram that cheap? I'm searching online and the cheapest I can find 2 gigs ddr2 is $20. Not a lot of money, but just wondering where you're finding it for £2.

I also have an HP desktop with an AMD sempron dual core 2100 1.8ghz processor with integrated nvideo geforce 6150SE nforce 430 graphics and 1 gig of ram. It's running windows vista and is even slower than the dell. If I were to increase the ram for the computer to say 4 gigs, would I be able to get better multitasking performance with basic programs with that computer compared to the dell with 4 gigs of ram? How does the amd sempron 2100 rate vs the pentium 4? I'd imagine it's slightly better than the pentium 4, but not by much.