Upgrade a old computer???

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kimbrly

Honorable
May 3, 2012
24
0
10,510
I've been concerned about the fans in my computer going "wild". I play internet games and when I do the fans run extremely "hard", almost like it is about to "blow up" I've replaced the cooling fans, upgraded the memory to 4 GB, the hard drive is not even a 1/4 full. Nothing has helped so I am going for the processor next, I hope!! Hopefully that will solve the fan issue. I understand my computer is 8 years old and way out of date but I am trying to fix what I can, slowly. What would be a processor that would be a decent upgrade?


Specifications
Part Number: 1015002RGateway GT5656 Desktop Computer
Model: GT5656
The following table provides the specifications for the Gateway® GT5656 desktop computer.





Feature

Specification



Processor

AMD Athlon™64 X2 6000+, 64-bit dual core processor ■Operates at 3.0 GHz
■2 x 1 MB L2 cache
■2000 MHz system bus



Chipset

NVIDIA® GeForce® 6150SE



Memory

•Installed: 3072 MB DDR2, 667 MHz, (PC2-5300) dual channel memory (two 1024 MB and two 512 MB modules)
•Expandable to: 4 GB (4 DDR2 DIMM slots)



Hard Drive

500 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA II hard drive
Support for up to two hard drives



Optical Drive

DVD ±RW, 18X super multi-format dual layer drive with Lableflash™ support, (up to 8.5GB) ■Write max: 18X DVD±R, 8X DVD+R DL, 8X DVD-R DL, 8X DVD+R DL, 8X DVD+RW, 6X DVD-RW, 12X DVD-RAM, 48X CD-R, 32X CD-RW
■Read max: 16X DVD-ROM, 48X CD-ROM
■Supports Labelflash™ on disc printing (req. Labelflash media)



Media Card Reader

15-in-1 high speed digital media manager supporting the following: ■Compact Flash (CF) I, II
■IBM Microdrive™ (MD)
■SmartMedia Card (SMC)
■Memory Stick™ (MS)
■Memory Stick Duo (MS Duo)
■Memory Stick PRO (MS PRO)
■Memory Stick PRO Duo (MS PRO Duo)
■Secure Digital™ (SD)
■Mini Secure Digital (MiniSD)
■Multi Media Card (MMC)
■RS Multi Media Card (RS-MMC) (need adapter)
■Multi Media Plus Card (MMC Plus)
■Multi Media Mobile Card (MMC Mobile)
■xD-Picture Card (xD)



Video

Integrated NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE graphics
•128MB of shared video memory



Audio

Integrated 8-Channel (7.1) High Definition Audio



Network Support

Integrated MARVELL 88E8056 10/100 Ethernet LAN



Modem

56K ITU V.92 ready Fax/Modem with RJ-11 ports



Power Supply

300 watt



Add-in Card Slots

•One PCI Express ×16 (graphics interface)
•One PCI Express ×1
•Two PCI conventional



External Connectors

•One PS/2 keyboard port
•One PS/2 mouse port
•One VGA monitor port
•One Parallel port
•One Serial port
•Six USB ports (four rear, two front)
•Two IEEE 1394a port (one rear, one front)
•One RJ-45 Ethernet LAN port
•Eight audio jacks (six rear, two front)



Drive Bays

Five total: ■Two external 5.25-inch
■One external 3.5-inch (with a docking bay for optional Gateway 2.5-inch removable USB hard drive)
■Two internal 3.5-inch (hard drive)



Physical Dimensions
(H × W × D)

15.6 × 7.2 × 16.1 inches



Weight (Unpackaged)

Minimum 23.4 lbs. (varies with configuration)
 
Solution
mildgamer001
look for maybe a pentium cpu, 4gb ram, internet games dotn need much gpu power, i would suggest asus, acer, and lenovo over hp dell or toshiba any day.

with a custom, even a celeron g530 is fairly good (new celerons are pretty close to modern pentiums, the old ones sucked not the new ones) or spend 65$ and get a pentium g620, 4gb ddr3 1333, you could reuse case, fans (they arent what is causeing the heat so they should still be fine), hdd, dvd, any accesories, all you would need is cpu, mobo, ram, and power supply. (i hate oem power supplies, total trash) but your husband would probably be able to find the parts you need for a custom

, and i suggest simply staying away from hp, dell, gateway, emachines (acer makes but i think they...
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K

kimbrly

Honorable
May 3, 2012
24
0
10,510
rds1220: I did that before I looked into any kind of upgrades. As for the BIOS, could you tell me how to do that? I'm good with computer programming, not the hardware portion.

geekapproved: There is NOTHING I can upgrade to? I'm not looking for top quality, just something a little better then what I have.
 
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rds1220

rds1220

Splendid
Sep 10, 2011
3,711
8
23,815


At this point you would probably be better off getting a new computer. When you turn the computer on the Gateway logo will come on and it will say press f2, f11, Del or something like that to enter BIOS. If the screen goes to fast you can press the pause/break button and that will freeze the screen. O and you have to keep pressing whatever key it is until it enters the BIOS.
 
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geekapproved

geekapproved

Splendid
Dec 10, 2010
8,766
0
31,460


U could upgrade the cpu, motherboard and ram for about $200. But if your not good with hardware, how are you going to do that?
 
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rds1220

rds1220

Splendid
Sep 10, 2011
3,711
8
23,815
Have somebody do it for them I guess but forget all that. By the time you upgrade the RAM, CPU and motherboard thats half a new computer right there. They could spend that money on upgrading an old computer and theyll have a slightly better computer but not much better. To me it seems better taking that money and putting it towards a cheap desktop.
 
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K

kimbrly

Honorable
May 3, 2012
24
0
10,510
OK. The System Fan speed is 119 rpm, cpu fan speed is 2566 rpm and the system temp is 40.
My husband is who will be doing the installs, he does the hardware, I do the software.
 
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K

kimbrly

Honorable
May 3, 2012
24
0
10,510
I will keep trying the link. It told me they were having technical issues.
The fans only go crazy when I play internet games.Like right now, i have the games closed and it is running fine, but as soon as I play the games on Facebook, they go crazy!!
So the memory upgrade I just did will change with the hardware you just recommended?
 
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K

kimbrly

Honorable
May 3, 2012
24
0
10,510
We bought the processor fan and the main fan. Have not done the power supply yet. Yes, they only go crazy when I play the games, not retail games just internet games
 
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K

kimbrly

Honorable
May 3, 2012
24
0
10,510
Thats why I figured it had to be upgraded. I knew it was out dated so I just thought that was the problem. When I play the games, it "drags" or has a like a hesitation, pause, what ever you want to call it, and the fans go really hard until I close the games.
 
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mildgamer001

mildgamer001

Distinguished
Jul 5, 2011
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0
19,010
maybe something simpler? is any of the fans plugged directly into the power supply? and geek from what you have said so far it seem syou hav elittl efaith in people, kimb, hardware is easy, you dotn need a super large understanding of all things hardware to swap out or build computers, setting them up is more complicated than the actual building, also you should try replacing the thermal paste on the cpu heatsink, and if you do get a new computer, even build one, but you can probably re use dvd drive, hdd, case, fans, and that actually takes a bunch of cash off of your budget if you were to build a completely new system, if that is what you plan to do.
 
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K

kimbrly

Honorable
May 3, 2012
24
0
10,510
I cleaned everything!!! The fans were really dirty and I just figured it was time for new ones. The 2 fans we bought are plugged into the motherboard and the other fan is the power supply fan which we have not upgraded. My husband does all that installing hardware but when it comes to the technical terms I dont know what to look for. I dont want to completely rebuild the unit. Just something that will stop it from, what seems to me, from over heating. I was told that I wouldnt have to upgrade my graphics card for internet games, only retail games. These games are not on my computer, only the internet. What do you recommend I do? Run it over with my truck, my husbands tow truck, throw it in my pool?? HAHA!! Just kidding!! Getting frustrated with it at this point!!
 
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vrumor

vrumor

Judicious
Jan 17, 2012
7,749
1
35,015
Your frustration will end when you upgrade. Sometimes it just doesnt make sense, financially, or mentally to try and upgrade an old POS like that. Spend $250 on an APU and mobo and add in some RAM and itll play and run so much smoother than that albatross :)
 
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B

bennaye

Distinguished
Jun 6, 2011
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18,710
So is the temp WHILE you're playing games 40? Because you didn't really say what state your comp was in when it was hitting 40 (which isn't hot at all).

And do you know what graphics card it is? If it's old then it could be coming from the fan on the card. In which case you'll need to check the temp of the graphics card whilst playing internet games. If it's high then you'll probs need a new one :/


EDIT: Didn't read the opening post closely enough. Integrated graphics...your games might be taking a toll on it. Can't say for sure :p
 
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