Upgrading my moms NEC celeron

[Yowen]

This computer has:
2.93 ghz Celeron D
512mb ram

I see there isnt many options for socket 478...

and I was planning on adding maybe a gigabyte of DDR memory.

I imagine the memory would be a significant upgrade, would a cpu matter much? Is there anything worth upgrading to? like maybe 3-ish ghz p4?

I would just like this thing to run a little smoother, as it takes patience to even load something like firefox...

The thing also gets noisy when the cpu gets loaded, but I recommended my mom to just sit this thing on the floor rather than on the desk (its a mini tower that sits sideways or upright).

Thankyou for your advice.

edit: the reason I ask is that I am more familiar with current CPU's and gaming oriented builds, so I usually build something that isnt exactly lacking in its ability to run a browser smoothly.

 

[Blain]

Tell us the model number of the system.
1GB would snap things up a bit.

Has the system had a good software scrubbing lately?
Is the HD in good condition (many bad sectors slow down performance)?
How many programs load at startup?
Are the heatsinks clean and free of dust?

 

[Yowen]

the first thing I was going to do is clean this thing of dust, as my mom did say it didn't used to increase its fan speed as often in the past.

This thing barely has any software on it. Although I do notice that AVG tends to hog resources at times, is there a less resource intensive alternative? I tend not to have this kinda thing running in the background personally, but it being my mom I'd feel better, as would she, lol.

This is a Powermate CL6, chipset Intel 915GV Express, and after reading about it again I found it may be socket 775. That would allow for dual core wouldn't it?

As for the harddrive, its 40gb piece of junk, but it hasnt been used intensively so I imagine its in decent condition.

 

[0roo0roo]

socket 487 is dead in the water, forget about it.
old ass hd is slow as dirt.
drive thats starting to fail= even worse
course the os might be old and crudded up ...she keep that thing up to date patched against all the badness out there? or does mother ignore the yellow shield thinking that stuff is just too complicated for her to mess with? could be a combination of factors. os and apps have changed/bloated with patches and features compared to when that thing came out. and it could be also riddled with malware.

 

[RebateMonger]

A 2.93 GHz Celeron D is a pretty decent CPU. My business' SBS 2003 Server runs on the 2.53 GHz version. Add some memory and clean up the OS and it should work fine doing what most people use computers for. You might want to pull AVG and try Avira or Avast. In the last year, I've seen AVG cause some pretty severe slowdowns on some PCs.

Yours is likely Socket 775, although some Celeron Ds were 478. Unfortunately, being Socket 775 doesn't guarantee Core2 support. Wikipedia doesn't mention Core2 support for that chipset. You could find a used Pentium D in the 3+ GHz range, but I'm not sure it's worth the bother.

 

[Blain]

Clean that sucker up...
* Avira
* CCleaner
* MalwareBytes
* SuperAntiSpyware
* CrystalDisk Info

 

[lxskllr]

The only thing I'd upgrade is the memory, and possibly the HD as long as it was SATA. The memory will be cheap enough, and the HD can go to a newer system when necessary. The CPUs fine for what it is.

 

[Yowen]

grrr. I hate when the socket doesnt garauntee support for a processor, haha.

I think I'll just start with memory, a good dusting (for the noise) and maybe an antivirus switch. The only things on this thing are office and firefox... But I imagine some anti spyware/malware should help.

I guess the dual core thing would be mostly useful to me.

 

[brandonwh64]

If it still runs DDR ram i bet it will only support P4s and below

 

[Yowen]

ah, yeah. That makes sense. last I heard something supported multiple types of memory was the Phenom, Athlon II series.

Avira and Avast perform well as anti virus programs?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I think upgrading the RAM is a must. You might also look into installing an 80GB or 160GB HD too. A modern 7200RPM HD will give it a nice speed boost, over an archaic 40GB, whether it be 7200RPM or slower.

Is 2GB of RAM out of the question? Otherwise, add a 1GB DDR stick and have 1.5GB total, that's a good amount for XP.

 

[lxskllr]

Avira and Avast perform well as anti virus programs?

Avira's what I use.

A few programs that can help performance...

Use Foxit reader instead of Adobe

Firefox with adblock+ (my preference)

Chrome or Opera(other speedy choices with the nod going to Chrome)

VLC media player- Starts quicker and is smaller for watching/listening to single clips.