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Keep, Upgrade, or Rebuild?

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My brother's computer has been running slow lately. I've done defrags, virus scans, and more, but i realiesed it was the system itself aging. It's main purpose is multi-tasking, office applications, youtube, etc.

Some of the specs include:

2 X 1 GB Ultra DDR2 RAM
Ultra LX 500 Power Supply
AMD Athlon II X2 250 @ 3.0 GHz
500Gb SATA 7200 RPM HD
Asus M4a785-M (AM3)


It's only three years old, what should i do?

And is the Ultra Ls500 better than the Cm EP+ 00?

More about : upgrade rebuild

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Homebuilt system Master

I recommend this ssd (it's a bargain and pretty reliable): http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=crm4128ssd&N=0.... Newegg had the 60 gb version for around $50 after rebate. It's the cheapest and best upgrade you can do for your system. Even if your board is only sata II, it will still be alot faster than any old sata or ide hardrive. Do a fresh install of windows and load the security upgrades. Remember that you don't want to defrag any ssd; this can harm the drive.

o1die said:
I recommend this ssd (it's a bargain and pretty reliable): http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=crm4128ssd&N=0.... Newegg had the 60 gb version for around $50 after rebate. It's the cheapest and best upgrade you can do for your system. Even if your board is only sata II, it will still be alot faster than any old sata or ide hardrive. Do a fresh install of windows and load the security upgrades. Remember that you don't want to defrag any ssd; this can harm the drive.


Hmm....
If I were to get an SSD it would be for my i5 rig. Although a SSD speeds up a system, i think that I would look into a new CPU and RAM.

I find that my computer is often unresponsive, and multitasking is not fluent.
Homebuilt system Master

You can still try one now and use it in your next build. It's a cheap bang for the buck booster; I only use my old sata drives as emergency spares now. I wouldn't want to use them everyday. You notice the difference.
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Homebuilt system Master

If DDR2 wasn't so darn expensive now, I'd say upgrade the RAM to 4 or 8GB, throw a Phenom II 965 in it and a better video card. But thats probably a very low quality power supply right out of the box and now its 3 years old, so that presents another issue. I guess you could throw 2 more 1GiG sticks in it, prolly run you about 30 bucks. Phenom II 965 BE's are $120 from newegg. What kind of budget do you have?

Quote:

And is the Ultra Ls500 better than the Cm EP+ 00?


The what a whowhatsa? If you mean coolermaster and Ultra.. neither are well known for making quality power supplies.

nekulturny said:
If DDR2 wasn't so darn expensive now, I'd say upgrade the RAM to 4 or 8GB, throw a Phenom II 965 in it and a better video card. But thats probably a very low quality power supply right out of the box and now its 3 years old, so that presents another issue. I guess you could throw 2 more 1GiG sticks in it, prolly run you about 30 bucks. Phenom II 965 BE's are $120 from newegg. What kind of budget do you have?

Quote:

And is the Ultra Ls500 better than the Cm EP+ 00?


The what a whowhatsa? If you mean coolermaster and Ultra.. neither are well known for making quality power supplies.



Budget isn't really established, it how much i would need to spend vs cost of a new build.

And CM does have some good PSU's (SilentPro)

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Homebuilt system Master

Well.. lets see what I can do for you since its not a gaming grunt, yes I think its worth saving..

Phenom II 965-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

RAM (may vary) I would suggest matching it with what you already have in there be it 533mhz, 666mhz (they call it 667 to not offend religious folks so one of my professors says), or 800mhz)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Video card-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Those upgrades should make it a whole new computer in terms of performance. You could use a cheaper/weaker card, but I figured the 550 TI is a pretty mild card, it can handle games at fairly respectable settings, and should be enough to keep you going for a few years.

mastrom101 said:
Budget isn't really established, it how much i would need to spend vs cost of a new build.

The cost of DDR2 being what it is today, the cost difference between upgrading to 8GB DDR2 would cover most of the cost of a new motherboard + RAM, all that is missing is the CPU which you are likely looking into upgrading anyhow so you might as well go for a CPU+MoBo+RAM upgrade to gain all the new platform benefits with much better future expandability prospects at nearly no extra cost.
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