need advice on an old computer

I'm new here and don't have a lot of computer experience so I am hoping someone can give me a bit of advice...

I have a 3.5 year old Gateway with a Pentium 4 3.00GHz processor and 1.0GB of RAM. I just installed Vista on it (had a virus and needed to start clean - couldn't find my old XP disk) and it is running very slow. I don't do a lot of intensive work on it - mostly using Microsoft Office, Quicken, iTunes and using the Internet quite a bit. Is it worth me upgrading the memory (and how much can/should I add) over buying a new system? Would a base model of a new PC outperform what I have now (even with a memory upgrade)?

Thank you in advance for any assistance!

 

Welcome to Major Geeks.
I myself am currently running 3 machines. All are P4.
1 is an older Gateway with a P4 2.8 HT
The other 2 (twins) are IBMs with P4 3.0 HT.
They all have 1GB RAM and all serve me very well.
Should be good enough for what you stated.
As for how much memory, what model is your Gateway?

 

Thanks for the advice.
The model number is 7310S.
I am running a version of Vista 32.

 

Your CPU is a SL7PU and is a Hyper Thread capable LGA775.
You could always upgrade to a faster CPU if desired and you feel confident enough to tackle it.
Can find some good ones on eBay where I got my machines.

 

So to boost my performance, a new CPU is the way to go; rather than increasing my RAM? What would be a decent processor to buy? I've also noticed the system seems to run hot - so I was going to get a new fan.

Sorry for the ignorance - it has probably been about 8 years since I last put together a computer on my own and a lot has changed.

 

I disagree with a CPU upgrade. RAM is very inexpensive right now, and Vista is much happier with 2gb of memory vs. 1gb. I'd add the extra RAM first and see how it runs. If you're happy with the performance, then you're OK. If not, then go with the CPU. I think getting the CPU first would be a mistake and possibly unnecessary. And since the current CPU is 3.0ghz, and the PC is over 3 years old, I don't think you'd find a CPU much faster than what you have that will run on a 3 year old motherboard. I seriously doubt it will be compatible with a Core2Duo, but it might work with some of the older dual-core CPUs. You'd really have to do your research before buying a new CPU, but RAM is RAM, and it's cheap. Chances are, the PC uses DDR333 or DDR400. 1gb of DDR400 at Newegg is about $40 (link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145505 ) for the high-end Corsair, but you can probably find 'generic' RAM that is cheaper and just as good. If you could post the exact model of your PC, we could try to advise on the memory....

 

I missed the part about a new fan... which part is running hot? Have you cleaned the fans and heat sinks with canned air or an aircompressor to blow out the dust and debris? You should blow out the power supply too.... Sometimes simply cleaning all the fans and heat sinks, then removing the CPU heatsink/fan, cleaning the old thermal goop and applying a fresh layer can lower CPU temps dramatically. Run a system temp program like HWmonitor in the background for an hour or so while computing, then attach a screen shot to a future post and we'll try to advise on the temps listed.
:-D

 

Still with 3 days to bid, on eBay is an SL8J7 processor.
(P4 3.8GHz HT LGA775 800FSB 1MB memory)
Current high bid is $40.00.