Trying to Upgrade one of My School Computers.

[Alienware 15 R2]

Hello Everyone!

 

my school computers are as slow as molasses what can I do about them?

 

Here’s a PIC:

[minibois]

11 minutes ago, Alienware 15 R2 said:

Hello Everyone!

my school computers are as slow as molasses what can I do about them?

Here’s a PIC:

A picture of the outside of the computer is as useful as asking "what can I do to make this car faster" and then saying "I don't know what car it is, but it's a red car!".

 

What are the specs of this PC and what are you missing out on?

Depending on your definition of slow and your use case, an SSD might just be the simplest fix to make this computer faster.

But perhaps you're wanting better gaming performance? In which case a video card might be needed.

 

Or depending on the specifications, it could be a lost cause too.

[Alex Atkin UK]

12 minutes ago, minibois said:

A picture of the outside of the computer is as useful as asking "what can I do to make this car faster" and then saying "I don't know what car it is, but it's a red car!".

 

What are the specs of this PC and what are you missing out on?

Depending on your definition of slow and your use case, an SSD might just be the simplest fix to make this computer faster.

But perhaps you're wanting better gaming performance? In which case a video card might be needed.

 

Or depending on the specifications, it could be a lost cause too.

In my experience even insanely slow PCs are improved dramatically with an SSD, so I doubt its a lost cause.

[minibois]

Just now, Alex Atkin UK said:

In my experience even insanely slow PCs are improved dramatically with an SSD, so I doubt its a lost cause.

What I meant was, depending on OP's use-case and the specifications, it could be a lost cause.

If it's an Core 2 Duo system and OP wants to game on it, I would say it's not going to work for that use.

 

But any general browsing machine would be faster with an ssd.

[emosun]

30 minutes ago, Alienware 15 R2 said:

my school computers are as slow as molasses what can I do about them?

are you allowed to make hardware changes to them? does it belong to you?

[Alex Atkin UK]

6 minutes ago, minibois said:

What I meant was, depending on OP's use-case and the specifications, it could be a lost cause.

If it's an Core 2 Duo system and OP wants to game on it, I would say it's not going to work for that use.

 

But any general browsing machine would be faster with an ssd.

I kinda assumed gaming was off the table, being school computers.

[manikyath]

that chassis has been used all the way from core2 era, into ivy bridge era.

 

we've got a pile of sandy/ivy bridge modes at work that we're struggling to get rid of for 90 bucks...

[minibois]

29 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

I kinda assumed gaming was off the table, being school computers.

Again, it depends entirely on the context here, which I am not going to make assumptions on.

What if 'school computers' meant "computers which I got from school for a low price, for personal use"?

 

Plus if it's like a Sandy/Ivy bridge i5, you could throw in a low profile GTX 1050 (Ti) and it can game pretty decently.

(Although in my experience, sometimes an additional videocard just doesn't work in these machines , meaning you have to try a few until you get a working combo).

[Alienware 15 R2]

Sorry for the late reply,

 

it has 2x2gb RAM sticks at 1300mhz DDR3

500GB HDD

AMD Phenom X4 II @ 2GHz

AMD Radeon HD 5540
And it’s Very, Very, Dusty.

 

[Alienware 15 R2]

The reason why I wanted to upgrade the school computers and fix them up is because they only have a Software Guy and no Hardware guy.

 

Thats where I come in, Today I’m going to go to my School and Dust/Repaste the CPU and GPU in the Computers and check if that makes any difference.

 

also would a GT 750 be better than a AMD Radeon HD5540?

 

Pretty happy I got the position at 11 years old.

 

My School is Gainesville Middle any of you guys go there?

[Alienware 15 R2]

It doesn’t belong to me But I am authorized to remove and upgrade if needed the computers themselves.

 

Theres a weird issue with the DVD R/W drive in most of them so any suggestions on how to fix that?

[Dedayog]

1 hour ago, Alienware 15 R2 said:

It doesn’t belong to me But I am authorized to remove and upgrade if needed the computers themselves.

 

Theres a weird issue with the DVD R/W drive in most of them so any suggestions on how to fix that?

You have authorization to do this?

 

Are they  old PC's and they have new ones already?

 

Mostly they probably just need is a fresh install of Windows and an SSD.  Not much more you can do machines that old.

[cobalt77]

Have a look at the case and see if you can find what model it is, HP made a huge number of different models using this small form factor case. 

When it is lying horizontal the model info label will be on the left side panel towards the back, just in front of the OS licence label. Don't need the serial number, but the model would help greatly in working out what you can improve.

How many machines are there or is it just 1? Any put aside due to not working?

What are they used for now? What will they be used for after upgrade?

 

 

 

[Dr0y]

I have that same pc with the same cpu which i upgraded from an athlon2 x2 b24.  The phenom2 x4 performs quite well.  I put in a gt 430, 60gb ssd and it does really well as a media pc.  Never tried to play game on it tho but for any kind of school related work it should be fine.  Maybe try to get it to 8gb of ram with the ssd upgrade and I'm pretty sure it would be a satisfying homework experience. 

[Alienware 15 R2]

It's used for basic school things like going on the PWCS Website and Cpicking links but dear God its slow.

 

Windows 10 takes 15 minutes to load.

[Alienware 15 R2]

They will be used for the same things but they want them to be more reliable after the upgrade.

[cobalt77]

2 minutes ago, Alienware 15 R2 said:

Windows 10 takes 15 minutes to load.

Wow, that is slow. But not surprised.

Doubling the memory by adding two more sticks and replacing the HDD with a SSD, then a fresh install of Win10 should bring that time down.

 

[Dedayog]

9 hours ago, Alienware 15 R2 said:

The reason why I wanted to upgrade the school computers and fix them up is because they only have a Software Guy and no Hardware guy.

 

Thats where I come in, Today I’m going to go to my School and Dust/Repaste the CPU and GPU in the Computers and check if that makes any difference.

 

also would a GT 750 be better than a AMD Radeon HD5540?

 

Pretty happy I got the position at 11 years old.

 

My School is Gainesville Middle any of you guys go there?

You realize this is a worldwide forum and most are much older than you?

 

Hence my query about such a young person given authority to make hardware changes to school PC's.  

[Alienware 15 R2]

@jstudrawa

What do you mean there are people older than me?

 

I thought everyone here was 14 - 21 here?

 

 

[Alienware 15 R2]

Plus anyone got a Hack for bypassing the admin passcode in windows 10?

 

Some weird ass kid was using my computer and was going on some sketchy ass websites.

 

Shit ton of malware and they dont have a new Antivirus either.

[Dedayog]

32 minutes ago, Alienware 15 R2 said:

Plus anyone got a Hack for bypassing the admin passcode in windows 10?

 

Some weird ass kid was using my computer and was going on some sketchy ass websites.

 

Shit ton of malware and they dont have a new Antivirus either.

Yeah, not buying you're 11.  

 

34 minutes ago, Alienware 15 R2 said:

@jstudrawa

What do you mean there are people older than me?

 

I thought everyone here was 14 - 21 here?

 

 

If everyone is 14-21 and you're 11.... wouldn't they all be older than you?

[Alienware 15 R2]

Oh come on I'm actually 11 years old

[Alienware 15 R2]

If I wasn't then go search up studentvue pwcs

 

Then click the link and put Walimy26@pwcs-edu.org

Mystery24/7

[Alienware 15 R2]

That's me in the profile pic

[Alex Atkin UK]

31 minutes ago, Alienware 15 R2 said:

Oh come on I'm actually 11 years old

I hope you got parental permission to sign up to the forum then?