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My ageing PC is driving me crazy (Dell Inspiron 660).
I'm thinking of trying to pop another 4GB RAM (doubling the RAM) into it to see if it improves performance sufficiently and if not then a new PC is on the cards.
Crucial appear the obvious choice but shipping takes an eternity. Anyone used an online retailer with good shipping times and whose "in stock" inventory isn't a work of fiction?
I'm sure there are loads such as Novatech, Scan, Ebuyer etc. As it happens I ordered some myself from Scan (Sunday) and it has just arrived. Fitting will commence a bit later
What type of RAM does it take? I have 16gb of very decent Corsair DDR3 sat here which I could let you have for a nominal sum...
Just to add to the list, try CCL and overclockers to see what they have in stock.
Also dont discount CEX (the second hand electonics shop) - I guess the ram you have is DDR3, so it might be better value to get it second hand.
Also - are you running an SSD drive?
A cheap SSD and another 4gb ram should make a huge difference.
I use Scan for that sort of stuff in work, they've never let me down.
Yes, seems to be DDR3
Yes, seems to be DDR3
Go second hand then, DDR3 isnt really expensive unless buying new - maybe hit danny up on his offer
Just updated the Missus's laptop with an extra 8 GB of RAM and an SSD with a clean Windows install.
Boot up has gone from "press the button and go put the kettle on" to 26 seconds flat, well worth the faff and expense.
Used Scan for the memory, their delivery charge is a bit salty but they're pretty fast and their prices are reasonable, Plus for anything computer-based I appreciate having access to relatively painless returns.
I also use Overclockers for more 'gaming' orientated stuff for my desktop big rig. They've always been good to deal with.
I'd just get it from Amazon for a small requirement like that, once you've confirm the specs you need
I’d just get it from Amazon for a small requirement like that, once you’ve confirm the specs you need
I wouldn't.. DDR3 is EOL but retailers still overcharge for it.
Lots of people have a few sticks of DDR3 kicking around as it's not compatible with boards that that the newer DDR4. Second hand is absolutley the way to go, if buying DDR3.
I would question if your RAM is actually the bottle neck.
Look at your resources and see if RAM is actually causing an issue.
How full up the hard drive your operating system is on?
is it an SSD or a HDD?
What exactly is being slow? start up, opening apps, apps running etc
I would question if your RAM is actually the bottle neck.
Look at your resources and see if RAM is actually causing an issue.
How full up the hard drive your operating system is on?
is it an SSD or a HDD?
What exactly is being slow? start up, opening apps, apps running etc
The bottleneck will be 4gb DDR3 and a 5200prm spin drive.
Upping the RAM to 8gb (or maybe 16 if you feel silly) and swaping the drive out for an SSD will transform it as if the ram gets full it will page to the hard drive, or the much faster SSD. so it's a cumalitve benefit.
Look at your resources and see if RAM is actually causing an issue.
How full up the hard drive your operating system is on?
is it an SSD or a HDD?
Going to 8gb is a no brainer of using Windows and will certainly improve things. An SSD would help as well but 4gb just doesn’t cut it these days.
Thanks to all and in particular @dannybgoode who is sorting me.
Yes, I had looked a new hard disk but wanted to avoid spending a lot then perhaps having to upgrade anyway.
Is there an economical way of doing it? I was put off by the prices for SSD's on Crucial with the first one popping up at over £200. I really just want to prolong the lifespan of the PC for another year or 18 months and then upgrade.
A decent SATA SSD, say 256gb shouldn't cost anything like £200.
https://www.ebuyer.com/store/Storage/cat/Hard-Drive---SSD
Edit: Ignore the M2 drives.
Is there an economical way of doing it? I was put off by the prices for SSD’s on Crucial with the first one popping up at over £200
512/480gb SSD should only be about £50 from the likes of sandisk -
Cheers.
I would question if your RAM is actually the bottle neck.
... is the correct answer. If you're on a budget then you need to do some diagnosis rather than just randomly throwing hardware at the problem. Look at Task Manager (ctrl-shift-escape) when it's being slow as a starting point.
More RAM is a good idea and may make it faster.
An SSD is a good idea and will almost certainly make it faster.
But.
That box came with a choice of processors, does it have an i5 or a Celeron or something else?
It's a, what, six year old box? Is it still running the original Windows build plus whatever you've done to it since?
It's an I3 running Windows 8. Looked at an I5 but since a new PC for all I need can be had for around £450 I decided it was uneconomical.
Fair.
Without looking at it, I'd be throwing an SSD and a clean install of W10 at that.
Does Task Manager give you any clues?
Upping the RAM to 8gb (or maybe 16 if you feel silly) and swaping the drive out for an SSD will transform it as if the ram gets full it will page to the hard drive, or the much faster SSD. so it’s a cumalitve benefit.
I've just done the same. and followed the same through process as suggeste by Cougar. Doubling Ram from 4 to 8gb for about £20 made a massive difference. £50 on a 500gb SSD made almost as much difference again. I'll be upgrading to a new machine over summer if (as is very likely) we're still working from home by then
Thanks nbt. Good to hear my plan may just work out.
Cougar, Task Manager regularly tells me the disk is running at 100%.
I looked at it as follows:
RAM £40 - £50
Hard Drive £50-60
Windows seems to cost ~ £100
Full throttle upgrade to I5 processor ££230 ish
Total = £430ish
Basic new machine £440 from Dell
Higher Spec machine £800 ish with good graphics etc.
Just couldn't justify going beyond a bit of RAM and possibly and SSD.
if your disk is running at 100% look to see why. you might not even have to add anything. running at 100% will be causing issue.
in my case it was running at 100% as there wasn't enough ram so it was acting as a swapfile, when I added ram the usage dropped WAY down.
That was my thinking nbt. Add additional ram capacity to alleviate pressure on the disk.
Windows seems to cost ~ £100
Windows costs £0. If you're running W8.1 it's already licenced.
I'm just making tea, I'll field the other comments in a bit.
@ Cougar -£0 - Huh?
If your copy of Windows 8 is licensed, the upgrade to Windows 10 is free
Thanks. I worked out how to download Windows 10 FOC but there was an error. Going to look at the disk usage issue, perhaps wait for the additional RAM and then try again.
Sorry, I forgot about this.
If the disk is at 100% there are a few explanations:
1) You're RAM-starved so it's paging excessively to disk, either due to insufficient RAM or excessive processes.
2) There's some errant process running amok. Potentially malware. Or Foisterware anti-malware.
3) Your disk is arse.
An SSD and a clean install of Windows will likely fix all of these conditions aside from an actual lack of physical memory. If you're on a tight budget I'd prioritise that over RAM in the first instance. You can always add that later (what's the current configuration?).
I worked out how to download Windows 10 FOC but there was an error.
For future readers' googling purposes you're looking for the "media creation tool."