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Joseph1988

Commendable
Sep 27, 2016
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1,510
Hi,

I'm new to this forum, I'm thinking breathing some new life into my old desktop PC which runs fine but rather slow.

I'm thinking of the following specifications:

- Gigabyte GA31M-ES2L Micro ATX motherboard.
- Core2 Duo E8600 @ 3.33GHz CPU
- 4GB DDR2 1066MHz RAM
- PNY Nvidia GTS450 1GB graphics card.
- Corsair 500w PSU

As this is my first 'build' I feel confident enough to install the hardware in the PC but my question is what to expect when I first boot the machine up? I will have a WD 500GB HDD 2.5" from my old laptop with all of my data and Windows 7 64bit fitted into the case using an adaptor bracket with a SATA connection.

What should expect when I switch the machine on for the forst time and what problems might I encounter?

Many thanks.
Joseph
 
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I
Yes, I would say upgrading the RAM and the HD to SSD would probably seem faster on a whole than upgrading the Ram and CPU (thought I would still upgrade the CPU). So you would want to install the OS on the SSD and even some of the games you plan on playing the most as you still should have at least 60GB of free space on the SSD after the os install. Heck if you upgraded the video card as well with all the other improvement you probably could play some triple A games from 2011/12in med/high setting with out much issue.
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Joseph1988

Commendable
Sep 27, 2016
6
0
1,510
The computer at the moment runs a bit sluggish, takes a long time to load up programs etc, it currently has a Core2 Duo @ 1.8GHz with only 1GB RAM, would I see considerably better performance upgrading the CPU to a Core2 Duo @ 3.33GHz and 4GB RAM?
 
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ikaz

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Dec 27, 2005
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Not sure what your planning to use to that PC for but the first thing to do is upgrade the memory to 4GB, then the cpu as you have suggested. If you have all your data backed up and still can find your windows Key I look at buying a SSD even a small one (120GBish) which you should be able to find for under $50 (in the us) install a fresh version of windows then use the old drive as a data drive/program drive.
 
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J

Joseph1988

Commendable
Sep 27, 2016
6
0
1,510
Hi Ikaz,

Thanks for your answer.

I'm not really planning on running anything intensive on it, it just seems slow and sluggish when opening up a program, switch between tasks and even right clicking on something for example sometimes takes a while to load the menu/options. I do have a few old games on there which take ages to load but once loaded they run fine (maybe the graphics card is able to handle the games).

I've heard you get better performance with an SSD, would you recommend installing the OS onto there?
 
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ikaz

Distinguished
Dec 27, 2005
2,192
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20,460
Yes, I would say upgrading the RAM and the HD to SSD would probably seem faster on a whole than upgrading the Ram and CPU (thought I would still upgrade the CPU). So you would want to install the OS on the SSD and even some of the games you plan on playing the most as you still should have at least 60GB of free space on the SSD after the os install. Heck if you upgraded the video card as well with all the other improvement you probably could play some triple A games from 2011/12in med/high setting with out much issue.
 
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Solution
J

Joseph1988

Commendable
Sep 27, 2016
6
0
1,510
Hi Ikaz,

Thanks for your help witg my new build.

Installed the new E8400 CPU and overclocked it to 3.6GHz, new CPU cooler to keep it nice and chilled, getting an average temp of 60C. Also added the 4gb of RAM and added a 120GB SSD A clean install of Windows 7 64bit and now runs super quick (faster than my laptop actually)!

Many thanks.
Joe
 
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