Help me speed up my old *** computer PLEASE!

Who wants to help me?

I want to try to get the most out of my eight year old computer.

It has a Pentium III 333 MHz processor in it and 512 MB Ram.

It is the definition of old and slow.

I am currently running a Counter Strike server. six years back, I was running a 32 slot server with virtually no lag. Now I am running a ten slot server with a lot of lag.

Note that this computer hasn't been turned off in the past seven years other than replacing the processor once, adding more ram, and replacing the hard drive twice.. Oh wait.. I forgot the power supply.

I know this computer is old, slow, and pitiful, but I don't have the money to get a new computer for it.

If somebody could please help me out on what to do to give it a bit more speed, that would be great!

Thanks, Matt.

 

There really is nothing more you can do to speed it up, due to you helped any memory bottleneck, by taking it up to 512mb. Only way to fix it is by upgrading to a more decent machine like a 1.4ghz, or even a 2.4ghz for the fact that prices have dropped dramatically in the past year.

 

If you don't have 7200rpm hard drives, get 'em! Or you could go with a SATA or SCSI controller and some 10000rpm Raptor hard drives. But if you're going to spend that kind of money, you might as well build a new PC....

 

If you do a basic cleanup, by emptying the cache, and explorer cache, it might help, as over a period of time it slows a computer down.
Go to my computer, properties, ,Advanced, Settings, click adjust for best performance, then, go to advanced, performance options,set the first two for best performance for programs.Set virtual memory to one and a half times the ram installed (768)
In Explorer go to tools, delete cookies, delete files, clear history. Change days to keep pages to 2.
Settings, reduce disc space to use to say, 250 mb.
Run disc defragment.
Shut down, and restart.
When you go online the first time, it will be slow, but after that it should show improvement.

 

Whats the info on your system, whats the mobo etc? Given the age you can probably just freecylcle for extra RAM and a new processor which would help most.

 

If you just wanted to be able to boost the machine's ability to play more demanding single player games I'd suggest searching the web for something like GameOS by SmartAlec software. MG may still have it available for download here. It effectively boosts a system's power by not loading up some Window's features at bootup -- e.g. no desktop icons, no task bar/start menu.

It's nicely implemented and allows you to create and use short cuts to start programs (not only game programs by the way) without the usual taskbar/start button and also provides it's own less fancy access to desktop shortcuts and Start button shortcuts.

But if you want to keep running the system as a server I'm guessing that some of the Windows services the GameOS doesn't load are vital when running a server operation. What OS are you running on the system? GameOS may not work if you're not running Win98 or XP.

If you can find a version of GameOS (or some similar program -- I think there are several others around. Do a search on "game os" or "game accelerators") that will work with your OS maybe you can manually start up any additional services you need to use the system as a server. But if you have to start a lot of stuff manually then you're just loading the system down again instead of freeing up computing power.

There used to be free trial versions of GameOS around, but missing a few features of the paid versions and with a "nag screen" that displays for a few seconds on launch.

Started using it with an old Win98 system that could just barely run Morrowind and found that booting up to GameOS made that game run much more smoothly and I could even increase some of the graphics options to make it look better and still remain playable.

And I'm using it currently to do the same sort of thing with several games that currently tax my system if I do a regular boot to WinXP. Oblivion and Quake 4 and GTR2 all run more smoothly and I can turn on more detail if I first boot up to GameOS before starting them.

But again, not sure this will help with a machine running as a server.

I have no monetary interest in GameOS by the way, just something I've found quite useful in extending the life of lower end hardware for gaming.

And I first heard about and exchanged some emails with the creator of GameOS on this site, so thanks to the guys here for that and so many other helpful bits of info and useful downloads!

Long live MG!

 

The CPU jumps out at me, but that would probably involve a new MB and RAM, around $100 to $200 worth of parts.

What is really needed is the operating system you are using, and the appoximate price range you are willing to spend.

Anything other than the CPU would be a minimal speedup, and probably wouldn't be worth the money. You would notice an improvement with a faster HD (assuming the MB supports it), or a new video card, but right now the 333Mhz processor is the bottleneck.

I've build a lot of K6/2 computers, 333 Mhz can not do DVD videos, while 400Hmz can. That is the crossover point for that particular fuction. While I was into K6/2 (I use Athlon/Duron/Sempron nowdays) I maxed out their speeds somewhere around 550Mhz.

My opinion, buy a used MB w/ CPU in the 1-2 Gig range off eBay, and don't forget memory. Depending on your OS, 512 Meg of RAM is plenty, but Windows can always use more RAM. It's a universal rule, like gravity. If you are still into Win98se or somesuch, more than 512Megs can bring out some bugs in the OS, which in turn can be solved with such programs as cachman.

Just my $0.02

 

Forgive me for pouring cold water folks but the P3 was introduced at 450 Mhz.
I would suggest that Matt get Everest and posts the report. (Everest will have some recommendations of its own).
Secondly let us know what you want this pc to do.
Then we can get motoring.

Studio T

 

Never will happen with a machine that is over ten years old. SATA was not even around then. Also, it will not take larger drives, and doubtful if the Powersupply could handle the load (Usually underpowered on older machines).

 

So it is, a quick check with Wikipedia confirmed that is the starting speed for Pentium III. Pentium II, on the other hand, ran somewhere around 266-450Mhz, and used a 66Mhz FSB.

I think the suggestion about running Everest or whatever is a good idea just to get a baseline. Even with a weak power supply a slightly newer used motherboard could do a lot.

 

Lots of advice on replacement parts, but the post :-

' quote:'
know this computer is old, slow, and pitiful, but I don't have the money to get a new computer for it.

If somebody could please help me out on what to do to give it a bit more speed, that would be great! 'quote.'

As Studiot suggested, a report from Everest, would be a good place to start.

 

By the way I did check the first post wan't April 1st.

Oh and everest is at

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181

Studio T