need to know what to get for to upgrade my PC?

i currently have: Celeron CPU 1.70 GHz
                            1.69 GHz, 480 MB of RAM
                            windows XP
is this considered good? should it run smooth? because it doesn't... videos, games, loading stuff... it's all extrememly slow.

so what i would like to know is what i need to get and how much it will cost. my price range is preferably 100 dollars but 200 will do. please help. if i need any formating to do please tell me. the closest i have come to computer tech is writing programs on my graphing calculator. thanks, Andrew

Comments

[tragicallyhip]

The Intel cpu in your machine is affectionately called the DE-celeron because it has had all the good stuff stripped out of it .Unfortunately all the ram in the word will not overcome the celerons inability to crunch game data.To properly run today's games a minimum  of a pentium 4@2.4gz, 1gb ram,and a video card with at least 128mb of memory are needed.Perhaps selling your current machine and picking up a used machine with the right P4 cpu is the way to go,just remember you WILL need to install a video card for your gaming and an upgrade of your power supply is a must(450 w) the video card will have a min. wattage need on the box.
Good Luck and happy gaming

[redsuit09]

i dont really need a pc for gaming, thats why i have a ps3. just so youtube videos and what not run smoother.
beside, im only 15.

would this computer be okay for what i use it for? http://www.penguinsexpress.com/product.asp?pf_id=KA439UT&gkw=KA439UT&gad=CN2hrs4DEgiMdfdjKqr9-BiX_r3-AyDJvtFM

[corporatezero35]

I would agree with upgrading the RAM.  It probably wouldn't cost you more than $60.  You could also do some maintenance if the general operation is slow.  Try doing a chkdsk /r in the command prompt and then doing a disk defrag.  also use defrag /b to defrag the boot files.

[TWMCNANEY]

 If you are planning on playing games, even with more ram it would still be slow. Your best bet like Lemonie said is to sell it while it is worth a little. Then go out and buy another one or even investing in a mac will do you well, because now Mac can run all windows programs. Plus if you spend a little more on a mac just know that it will take that mac longer to be outdated then a Windows machine.

[lemonie]

Past a point there's little value for money to be had in upgrading PCs. Your best long term strategy may be to sell while the machine has reasonable value and replace the whole thing. There are ways of improving performance, but I'm not convinced you'd be satisfied by spending money. More RAM like Burf suggests may be a cheap & effective option though.

L

[Burf]

Your biggest bang for the buck will come with additional RAM. Install as much your motherboard will take, probably 2Gb to 4GB.
The rest of your components are low to middling at best, but good enough for most applications other than graphic intensive games, etc.