Slow video/audio play on Dell 3000

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ak52032013

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Jan 16, 2013
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I know my machine is not the latest, or most powerful: 2005 Dell 3000, Intel Celeron CPU 2.40GHz, 1.25GB RAM, 2002 WindowsXP.
And I know I can only go to 2GB
of RAM. Is there any other way to get better performance for video, Skype, YouTube, etc. ? A friend had me check my CPU usage and it goes immediately to 100% as soon as I start a video....Is it possible to "upgrade" a CPU ? Thanks for any thoughts.
 
Solution
twstd1
The main reason that your having problems with video playback is that your hardware is old and doesn't support the decoding of the newer video codecs at the hardware level. You PC is decoding these videos using software and in your case your hardware just can't handle it. You will get a noticeable increase in performance in video if you installed a newer video card that can handle HD video at the hardware level because it would off load the decoding to the GPU and free up your CPU a little. I'm not going to say that you would get a huge increase but you will be able to play HD video a lot better. Now in your case you might also need to upgrade your power supply. Here is a card that would work for you...
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thr problem is with the cpu you need to upgrade it.....if you want to get better videos or fps on your games then i will suggest you to get a graphics card........ however for the computer that you have right now it will be very difficult to find the compatible one
 
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THANKS...i have researched and can find a PCI (not PCIe) graphics card for my old Dell...is there any characteristic of the card that I should focus on for best performance, DDR, PC#, etc.?
 
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It's a 7 year old computer and it was one of the slowest available processors for its era. I'm sorry, but there are no meaningful upgrade options available.

Just to give an idea of relative performance, Passmark gives that CPU a score of 236. A newer $400-500 system would come with an Intel i3 or i5 processor with a score in the 4000 to 7000 range.

 
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Thanks for your note, although I hate to hear it....... Do you agree that a new graphics card would improve performance?
 
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Not if your CPU is spiking to 100% with youtube.

If you are on a limited budget, there are refurb systems in the $100-150 range that would have 5-10x the performance of your current one. Or if you aren't broke, I'd just say after 7 years you've had a good run with the one you have and it's time to invest in a nice one to last another 5-7 years.

 
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So I shouldn't expect any performance improvement with a new graphics card, or adding the additional 750 RAM to get to 2GB ?
 
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try to get a ddr 3 but ....i hate to say this without an adequate cpu you will find it difficult to get good perfomance.........if you have a budget in mind then you can tell me i would suggest you to the best of my knowledge....
 
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How do you get ddr3 for a system not designed for ddr3?




I don't know if I would say you won't get ANY improvement, but it's not going to be enough to make your computer do video like you want it to. CPU is what's maxed out.





 
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you are right my bad ..
 
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you would actually have to upgrade the whole system because the board that is on you computer is pretty old..and it does not support any latest graphics card so would suggest you to move on from this pc to another one
 
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The main reason that your having problems with video playback is that your hardware is old and doesn't support the decoding of the newer video codecs at the hardware level. You PC is decoding these videos using software and in your case your hardware just can't handle it. You will get a noticeable increase in performance in video if you installed a newer video card that can handle HD video at the hardware level because it would off load the decoding to the GPU and free up your CPU a little. I'm not going to say that you would get a huge increase but you will be able to play HD video a lot better. Now in your case you might also need to upgrade your power supply. Here is a card that would work for you.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500262

Also getting a 2GB memory kit would help a little with performance but your biggest issue is the GPU and power supply. You need to have a minimum 300W power supply with that card and with your machine being so old I wouldn't suggest running that card on the stock one. Power supplies have a tendency to go out when their old and you put a new load on them.This is the Cheapest power supply that I would trust.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371003

Now if you plan to go that route I would take a look at your cost so far. You have 60 bucks for the card and 30 bucks for the power supply. Your up to 90 so far if you decide to throw in a 2GB kit of RAM like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231039
You looking at another 40 bucks to improve your old machine.
So now we're up to 130 bucks. If you go to tigerdirect.com and look through their barebones systems you can find an decent PC kit for around that price. Here is an 185 dollar kit that all you would need to do is add a hard drive to and you'd be all set.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7620237&csid=_61
That PC would handle everything you need for some time to come. (at least a few good years anyway). If you had a lot more money to burn then:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7539623&CatId=333
That's an intel core i3 kit for 220 and you would need to add a DVD and a Hard Drive to it to be go to go. The i3 would definitely last you for quite some time.
 
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Solution




wow, thanks for the fantastic info! it is clear that I am not an expert, and unfortunately because of unforeseen circumstances, budget is an issue, which is why i went to a public forum in the first place....thanks for taking the time to give me real solution options. This is a great help. Thank you again for your help.
 
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I'm still not convinced you are going to be happy after adding a video card, and as was shown above, it's not that cheap after you get everything you'd need.

If you are on a really tight budget, something like this $150 E8400 complete refurb system would be great for what you are talking about: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=DC7900S-C2D30-MAR-2R&cat=SYS

It's about 800% faster than what you have now. It's nearly as fast as the barebones system linked above, except for it is complete, ready to power on, and includes Windows 7 license as well.
 
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Thanks for this great response to my issue! It looks like a great solution and fits in my budget....my only question is the transfer of info from my existing computer to the new one...are there any concerns about going from my existing Dell with XP to the HP with Windows 7 ? And could I just "dump" everything to my 1TB external, then transfer it on to the new machine ?
Thanks again for your help, I really appreciate it!
 
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