Should i buy a new pc?

[anarchy0x]

So, heres my situation, I have a P4 with 2 GB DDR RAM, 865GBF & 2.8HT CPU.

The main reason I am thinking of buying a new pc is well, surfing while reading ebooks. It may sound like a light task but I have been having problems in internet surfing as i tend to open about 30 or more tabs at a time.

But the problem may also have a lot to do with this error -'flash has become unresponsive'. I have tried fixing it before briefly but wasn't sucessfull.

Now, lets say I somehow manage to fix it, will my pc still be slow? In other words, is a 5 year old pc sutiable for heavy internet surfing as well as webdesign & reading ebooks?

 

[kapilove77]

I had the same motherboard and proccesor and i just bought my sig rig. 5 years is enough for p4 now u must buy new pc too. Atleast get cheap amd one i must say u wont regret as softwares and other stuff getting heavy.

 

[Cilus]

So, heres my situation, I have a P4 with 2 GB DDR RAM, 865GBF & 2.8HT CPU.

The main reason I am thinking of buying a new pc is well, surfing while reading ebooks. It may sound like a light task but I have been having problems in internet surfing as i tend to open about 30 or more tabs at a time.

But the problem may also have a lot to do with this error -'flash has become unresponsive'. I have tried fixing it before briefly but wasn't sucessfull.

Now, lets say I somehow manage to fix it, will my pc still be slow? In other words, is a 5 year old pc sutiable for heavy internet surfing as well as webdesign & reading ebooks?

Right now you've some antique items with you; its time to move on buddy; Get a new one.

 

[dashing.sujay]

@OP- I have pretty same PC at my home. P4 3.0 HT 630 with just 1GB RAM. And I must say it runs fine like hell. No matter wahtever I throw, it catches perfectly (obviously no rendering things)

But one I can suggest one thing for you as I encountered a bit similar problem in my friend's PC. His PC was exactly same config as i had, but with 512RAM, but it hanged like hell. I tinkered with it, and I felt something fishy in procy (CPU usage was sky rocketing like hell), just got the thermal paste changed, and increased RAM to 1.5GB, and the system runs even better than mine. May be this helps you.

 

[mithun_mrg]

@op try re-installing the os preferably xp sp2 & browse through chrome but i think u should upgrade the MB/Pro/Ram

 

[Cool Buddy]

After 5 years, the clock speeds don't matter much. I have seen PCs with 800 Mhz Celeron handling web browsing well (of course that was around 4 years back). But I have also seen PCs with 1.4 Ghz processors running at snail's pace. In simple words, the performance is often lost when a PC is used for a long period of time.

As a short term solution, you may try reinstalling the operating system or try Linux (there are few versions specifically meant for low-spec PCs). But you won't be able to use this machine for very long.

And in any case, these days even web browsing has become very demanding, they are as good as desktop applications

 

[d6bmg]

Spoiler

So, heres my situation, I have a P4 with 2 GB DDR RAM, 865GBF & 2.8HT CPU.

The main reason I am thinking of buying a new pc is well, surfing while reading ebooks. It may sound like a light task but I have been having problems in internet surfing as i tend to open about 30 or more tabs at a time.

But the problem may also have a lot to do with this error -'flash has become unresponsive'. I have tried fixing it before briefly but wasn't sucessfull.

Now, lets say I somehow manage to fix it, will my pc still be slow? In other words, is a 5 year old pc sutiable for heavy internet surfing as well as webdesign & reading ebooks?

For your needs you won't need a new PPC just now. But considering the fact that your PC have already become outdated, you should consider about upgrading it altogether (may be next year). For now, re-install your OS, defrag your HDD & you will see noticeable increase in the performance of your PC.

 

[anarchy0x]

Thank everyone, yes,it does seem that pc ages with age too.
I have defragmented as well but my hard disk is 90 % full, could be at least part of a problem.

mithun_mrg I already use chrome but that flash error is annoying, i think it happens in firefox as well. No use shiting to IE as its slow anyway.

 

[guru_urug]

^^Could be if you are low on RAM and the Windows swap space is less. No point in buying DDR RAM now and 2GB is good enough. See if you can delete some files and defrag your HDD, it will surely help u get a performance boost.

Also Ive read on tomshardware that if only one component is to be changed, the best way to revive a old PC is to fit a SSD. IDK how true it is though. But I guess if u can buy a SSD u can instead upgrade CPU+mobo+RAM

 

[d6bmg]

^^ I think using SSD will bottleneck Processor along with other components. So, its of no use.

 

[ranjitsd]

Use game booster

 

[s18000rpm]

like someone said, remove old Thermal paste & apply new better one (Cooler master ther. paste...), Since its been 5year or so, that thermal paste might have dried.

clean your PC components of dust, clean the RAM pins with a eraser.
finally re-install OS (if required)