Intel (R) Pentium (R) 4 cpu 3.66 ghz, 512 mb ram

[colleeh]

Why is this unit so slow? Is it really old? What would be the new, state of the art system to get? Thanks.

 

[mavroxur]

It's a relatively old system, and only has a half gig of RAM, that's why it's slow. I'm guessing it's a 3.06 CPU, since there is no 3.66 (only a 3.6). It'd run a fresh install of XP really well, and with 2gb of RAM it'd actually be usable with Win 7. But it's a really old system. And "state of the art" could be several things, depending what it's geared for.

 

[phensen]

Hi colleeh,

Yes, your computer is fairly old, but it may be serviceable for what you need it to do.

What Operating System are you using (Windows 98, XP, Vista, 7)?

What programs do you use the computer for(web surfing, word processing, etc.)?

If you're not comfortable upgrading your system we could help you find something if you provide a little bit of information about your budget and what you typically use your computer for.

 

[de5_Roy]

Why is this unit so slow? Is it really old? What would be the new, state of the art system to get? Thanks.

what do you use your pc for? 'state of the art' is kind of broad term if you cover all computers.
this is a (only as an example) comparison to show how fast is the latest intel line up.
Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 955 - 3.46GHz - 4MB L2
vs
Intel Pentium G620T - 2.2GHz - 256KB L2 - 3MB L3 (sandy bridge)
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/93?vs=407

 

[mavroxur]

How is that comparison at all relevant to what the OP is asking?

what do you use your pc for? 'state of the art' is kind of broad term if you cover all computers.
this is a (only as an example) comparison to show how fast is the latest intel line up.
Intel Pentium Extreme Edition 955 - 3.46GHz - 4MB L2
vs
Intel Pentium G620T - 2.2GHz - 256KB L2 - 3MB L3 (sandy bridge)
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/93?vs=407

 

[de5_Roy]

How is that comparison at all relevant to what the OP is asking?

since OP wanted to know about something much better... i thought that a newer, basic, general purpose cpu would be suitable. i didn't know OP's cpu model number, so i compared a sandy bridge pentium to one closest (seemed to me) to what the OP had.

 

[mavroxur]

OP's is nowhere near a Pentium 4 EE 955, that would blow away OP's P4 3.06