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I have a pretty decent comp ( whose specs i guess i will share in a moment )and enjoy playing a wide range of PC games.
Normally before I purchase ) , I run my spec by a little program "can you run it." http://cyri.systemrequirementslab.com/srtest/

This time however , I received the following

CPU
Minimum: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.4 GHz or greater (Vista/7 requires 1.6 GHz or greater), AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater You Have: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz Fail in their words
Do - have XP on a HP media center 2005 by the way



CPU Speed
Minimum: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.4 GHz or greater (Vista/7 requires 1.6 GHz or greater), AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater You Have: 3.06 GHz (pass)

Plus everything else was pass too be it RAM , VID card , OS etc


My question is , is this a problem and if it is what can i do about it?

dellstart wrote:I have a pretty decent comp ( whose specs i guess i will share in a moment )and enjoy playing a wide range of PC games.
Normally before I purchase ) , I run my spec by a little program "can you run it." http://cyri.systemrequirementslab.com/srtest/

This time however , I received the following

CPU
Minimum: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.4 GHz or greater (Vista/7 requires 1.6 GHz or greater), AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater You Have: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz Fail in their words
Do - have XP on a HP media center 2005 by the way



CPU Speed
Minimum: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.4 GHz or greater (Vista/7 requires 1.6 GHz or greater), AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater You Have: 3.06 GHz (pass)

Plus everything else was pass too be it RAM , VID card , OS etc


My question is , is this a problem and if it is what can i do about it?

Yes, looks like you need a newer computer, the single core just can't keep up with even a dual core 2ghz.

Hearly wrote:

dellstart wrote:I have a pretty decent comp ( whose specs i guess i will share in a moment )and enjoy playing a wide range of PC games.
Normally before I purchase ) , I run my spec by a little program "can you run it." http://cyri.systemrequirementslab.com/srtest/

This time however , I received the following

CPU
Minimum: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.4 GHz or greater (Vista/7 requires 1.6 GHz or greater), AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater You Have: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06GHz Fail in their words
Do - have XP on a HP media center 2005 by the way



CPU Speed
Minimum: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.4 GHz or greater (Vista/7 requires 1.6 GHz or greater), AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8 GHz or greater You Have: 3.06 GHz (pass)

Plus everything else was pass too be it RAM , VID card , OS etc


My question is , is this a problem and if it is what can i do about it?

Yes, looks like you need a newer computer, the single core just can't keep up with even a dual core 2ghz.

I am kinda afraid of that, cause cash is a bit tight at the moment, to plonk down on new comp. My question do i really have any other options( ie a cheaper solution ) ?

The Pentium 4 CPU line is quite old.
The Intel Core line is the sucessor to the Pentium line, and uses a much more efficient and faster architecture.

The Intel Core2 Duo lineup is a series of Dual-Core (two processors in one chip) CPUs which although may "only" be running at about 2Ghz, is able to do a lot more.

Unfortunately your CPU, motherboard, and RAM is of a significantly older architecture, and isn't compatible with the Core architecture. That said, an entry level Core2 CPU, Motherboard, and new RAM shouldn't set you back too much.

Core2 Duo E7500 + Motherboard + 4GB RAM shouldn't come to more than USD$350 or so. Less if you look around carefully.

In the Intel Core line, the i5/i7 models are the newest, although the Core2 models are still decent (all my machines are based on these).

I'd like to also add, Walmart has some very cheaply priced Dell's (you do get what you pay for though) but something to tied you over for awhile they will work.

Thanks guys , this really helps.

I am not a total noobie when it comes to computers , its just that when ever i have needed to add RAM or improve a vid card , I kinda know what to do . A CPU problem ( though for almost everything else its a pretty good) is something new.

Found this on my search a round the web http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=3446

Though if you throw in the 4 GB is another hundred.
Still have to check some cheapish comps prices on walmart and other things. This is an education for sure

dellstart wrote:Thanks guys , this really helps.

I am not a total noobie when it comes to computers , its just that when ever i have needed to add RAM or improve a vid card , I kinda know what to do . A CPU problem ( though for almost everything else its a pretty good) is something new.

Found this on my search a round the web http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=3446

Though if you throw in the 4 GB is another hundred.
Still have to check some cheapish comps prices on walmart and other things. This is an education for sure

only problem i can see with that system ....and one you should watch for these days ..

if your playing lots of games .....the Power supply in that system is only what a 350 watt model
personaly i'd go with at least a 450 watt ps.....or 600+ watt if possiable

If you move into Pci express Video cards or use a lot of USB stuff you will quickly find you need lots and lots of power

Phantom

dellstart wrote:Found this on my search a round the web http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=3446

Yep, that'd be a decent start. You should more than likely be able to keep your existing video card if you want.
Like Phantom says, if you have, or are going to be using very high powered video cards, then you'll likely need a bigger power supply - but that can be swapped out later if needed.

If you don't need the case, and you've already got a power supply that's 350W or higher, then you should be able to save a few $ by getting the mobo/cpu/ram alone.



(Also, it already includes 4GB RAM in that kit, add another 4GB if you want 8GB total, but you'd need to use a 64bit OS - like windows 7 x64 or vista x64)

Ok I will take that into account and a look around some more and see what pops up.

Thanks heaps guys

details to follow.

If you are going to upgrade your motherboard, cpu, memory and/or psu the best place I have found for hardware reviews is http://www.hardocp.com
The site is mostly for gamers and overclockers but it does also review some entry level hardware.
The review for entry level psu is here http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/02/ ... y_roundup/
They go into detail about the performance and are not afraid to give bad reviews.