Upgrade for yet ANOTHER brother

[Agent WD40]

Guys,

Brothers current spec is;

Windows XP
02 x WD, 250Gb Sata-II HDDs
GeIL 2GB DDR2
4850 gfx card thingy, 512 version
Intel C2D E6600 2.40GHz, Dual Core
Abit Fatal1ty 650 Mobo
Lian Li PC-A05B Black
OCZ GameXStream 600w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply

Has this for about 19 months and he is complaining about Windows running too slow, so its to OcUK & some forum whoring to get some answers.

Was thinking about dropping in a HDD just for windows & Essentials, upgrading to i7 & DDR3. Shopping list looks like this;

Let me know if this is going to work / is compatable.

Thanks in advance.

Agent.

 

[satriani1412]

You looking at coolers? Cause i think the OEM CPUs dont come with HSFs i may be mistaken but yknow, best to check

 

[icey_haj]

No need to upgrade. Just clock that E6600 a bit, add 2GB more RAM and that's it.

Using the specs in my sig, Vista runs just fine.

 

[RJC]

Oem cpu is just the cpu and 1 year warranty.

 

[Richdog]

Complaing that "Windows XP is too slow" with an E6600 and 2GB RAM? Err... ok then.

 

[Agent WD40]

hmm, Was going to tell him to put his hand one it to keep it cool. Blood acts as "water cooling" and your body as one of the best passive heatsinks going?

Fair point about the OEM CPU.

Icey - good suggestion about clocking it a touch & slapping in a bit more ram but I don't think thats going to be an option. I went into his BIOS to see if I could "tweak something" and he flipped. The raging neandathol.

Agent

 

[Hamster]

WD40,

The system in your OP is still pretty good. If it's for general OS use have you tried reformatting the HD and reinstalling windows before getting him to splash out on a new system? Just a suggestion

 

[Agent WD40]

I think you're right Joe. Seeing as the new "proposed" system would involve reinstalling windows in the first place it probably isn't going to be much of a loss.

Do you reckon buying a HDD just for windows is avisable?

Thanks all for your help chaps, as always its massively appreciated.

 

[cmndr_andi]

Windows 7 RC is out now. Would he concider going for that? A fresh windows install usually speeds things up, couple that with a nice new OS, i'm sure his speed woes will disappear.

My sister is kinda the same with her pc getting touched. I just upgrade the hardware when she isn't there, less complaining in the long run.

 

[Hamster]

Is one of the WDs used for the OS and the other for storage at the moment?

If so, what you could do is use the current 2 HDs in Raid0 for the OS and programs and perhaps get a cheap 1TB drive for storage.

 

[Darkninja462]

Windows 7 RC is out now. Would he concider going for that? A fresh windows install usually speeds things up, couple that with a nice new OS, i'm sure his speed woes will disappear.

My sister is kinda the same with her pc getting touched. I just upgrade the hardware when she isn't there, less complaining in the long run.

haha I normally borrow stuff out my sisters comp when she isn't there

Ninja

 

[Azurael]

How can an E6600 with 2GB of RAM feel slow? My laptop which is only a T7200 (2GHz) with 2GB of RAM, a shoddy GeForce Go 7600 512 and held back by the infuriatingly awful speed of a 2.5" HDD doesn't feel slow, and I'm used to overclocked quad core rigs and the Mac Pros I use day-to-day...

A clean install is definitely the first thing to try...

 

[Agent WD40]

oohhh - Forgot to mention he plays a lot of TF2 etc etc.

I will get him to reinstall windows & go from there.

Thanks again guys and if we run into any more problems I'll be in touch!

Regards,

Agent.

 

[Richdog]

TF2 is a piece of pee for a 4850... he really doesn't need an upgrade barring perhaps a faster HD and an extra 2GB of RAM.

 

[GinG]

i am running vista on a 6300 @ 2.8ghz, put my ram to 4ghz & a 4850 512mb and still seems to run most things well, especially tf2.

Think he may just need an upgrade in ram and a fresh install?

 

[xb8browney]

I would sell that 2Gb set and get the 4Gb set on this week special.

Format and stick vista 64bit on.