Hello! How you doing? I'm fine. Well, kind of. First things first:

• How do I like, read processors?
• I've just spent £50 on 4gb of ram. Is it worth upgrading to Win 7 64bit?

Processors. I don't literally mean read them, but how do I judge them? I used to think we read them by their GHZ. Am I wrong? The truth is, I want to upgrade it, but only know of the Core I7 which I am no way buying.


There's also another problem. I've just bought £50 of ram to find out my system can only use 2gb of it. Should I jump to 64bit, so I can use the rest?

Thanks for your time. (I'm coming up with better ones everytime!)

What is your current motherboard model? Are you using the same board or changing that as well?

The processor and RAM need to be matched according to the motherboard socket aka chipset family (ie a 1136 socket vs a 1156, both are for core-i7s). A motherboard made to take AMD processor won't be able to accept an Intel processor, unless it is made for to accept both by the manufacturer. The clock speed is according to your budget and needs, the higher numbers costing more as they are more powerful, and needing more power (PSU).

Same goes for RAM: you need to make sure it is for the correct type DDR3 versus DDR2, and also meets the speed the motherboard accepts (1066 vs 1333, etc).

All that info is in your motherboard booklet.

How do I know all that? I read. The saying Google is your friend is the best takeaway in this instance.
If you read a few threads still left on here, not yet archived even, I keep repeating a few of these links. Whichever guide you read, do remember to check for the dates when it was first written. As the data may be outdated, which you then need to adapt to current market models and prices as appropriate. Compare reviews (from both tech reviewers and customers) and benchmarks to decide what you can settle for - it is always a fight to balance performance against budget and needs.

- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...cking,3052.html
- http://www.cpubenchmark.net/common_cpus.html
- http://www.techarp.com/showarticle....tno=337&pgno=10
- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...hmark,2974.html
- http://www.computer-hardware-explai...oose-a-cpu.html
- http://www.ehow.com/how_2660_choose...ssor-speed.html
- http://www.intel.com/consumer/produ.../comparison.htm
- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...grade,2778.html
- http://www.build-your-own-computers...oose-a-cpu.html

But reading all that and a few tech websites for reviews (a few of my favorites below) is considered homework when you're doing research for a new PC purchase, I'm afraid there's no shortcuts. I can't tell you what processor or RAM model to get. But this skill is transferable for your next PC upgrade, and the next, and the next one after that; it does get easier to understand, don't worry...
- http://www.tomshardware.com
- http://www.anandtech.com/
- http://www.pcper.com/

I'm not saying that you need to read and digest all that overnight right off the bat. The knowledge I gleaned is from over period of a decade, OK close to 15 years now. So, if you have any questions after reading all that, just pop back in here with them. But I'll know if you hadn't read, though! (from the questions you asked)

Not understanding is fine, but not willing to learn?

I hope the person you're seeing is a friend, not just a salesperson with a sales quota to fulfill. One who knows the questions to ask and not fall for any sales pitch.
Good luck with the purchase!

It's my neighbour who I usually annoy, he helped me install Windows 7 before. But, anything for the best of my computer!

Right, I tried to research and gather some information about my computer:

1) I found out my motherboard is a Acer E946GZ. I aren't planning on replacing it, would I have to? Belarc Advisor says under my processor column that my computer is 64bit ready. Could this mean something?

2) I struggled with finding the motherboard socket, hence I don't know what the code is. Anyone know whereabouts the socket is on a Acer Power FH? awnsering that would make everything easier.

3) This will sound stupid. My RAM type is DDR... Is that right?

4) I don't have a motherboard book, I bought my pc second-hand.

5) I'm shocked! My intel Pentium D is at the bottom of nearly all of those lists! Agh.

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it, but I still have a lot to learn!

EDIT:

Wait! I've looked at my motherboard some more, and I've found something! Towards the middle of the board, there's a Acer logo, and 946GZT-AM under it. Is that the socket?

The easiest way of figuring out socket types and so on is by reading the manual/specs. If you don't have the book, you should be able to find it online by Googling the make and model - manufacturers usually upload them on their websites.

Nope, DDR is wrong. You'll probably have DDR2, I doubt you'll have DDR3 given that you have a Pentium D (which is old compared to DDR3), you might even have DDR SD-RAM. If you're struggling to find such info, try using CPU-Z.

Okay, I've looked through Google, and I found this page. At the processor section, it says "Intel Pentium D 925." could that be the socket number? I've no idea. That's all I could really find, I'm thinking about posting my dxdiag info if I really have to.

Just post specs - Game Help:System Specs^wiki - the complete one. I'll take care of adding the spoiler tags if you don't know how.

"946GZT-AM" is the motherboard model. I found the Mobo specs - http://www.ascendtech.us/itemdesc.a...6GZTAM1&eq=&Tp=
This motherboard supports LGA 775 sockets - 23 choices from newegg
You want to make sure the CPU model is listed as supported in the mobo specs link I posted.
And, it supports Dual-Channel DDR2 RAM with maximum of 4GB, meaning it can only take 2 pieces of RAM sticks.

"Intel Pentium D 925" is the CPU. Is that what you have currently?
I'll just await the Full specs.

Yes, Pentium D is my current. Is that fast?... :P
And that link with twenty three choices from Newegg is broken. It just directs me to a blank page.
EDIT: Woo! I can use spoiler tags now?!

Link corrected.
Only 4 of the E6xxx/E4xxx series are listed in the supported list page for that motherboard, and out of those 4, none are listed at Newegg. Note that Newegg does have 23 choices, but the ones in stock: E6500, E6600 and E6700 are not listed in the supported CPU page. We need to find another updated specs page for the motherboard.
If there's no other, you would have to compare the individual features to see if they would fit...things like "Manufacturing Tech: " and "L2 Cache", etc. I have to read up on this too; to see if a BIOS update would ensure things work or not.

Uh-oh! What happened to the formatting? Recopy and paste, please.

Intel Pentium D 3.00GHz benchmark. And, no; that's not a fast processor (this day and age, anyway, compare benchmarks with current quad-core CPUs). It was fast maybe 4 or 5 years ago? What you have is a dual-core processor benchmarked even lower than some Core2Duos (the T5xxx series @ 1.60GHz). Minimum MTS recommendation is a Core2Duo at 2.0GHz (a different class of dual-cores). How you're able to run Sims 3 for this long is beyond me. Perhaps you only play once in a blue moon? Or you have the patience of a saint!
I stopped playing on my single-core Pentium way back in Sept of 2009 (it took half an hour or more just to get past the initial loading screen).

And this is a concern: Drive: C: Free Space: 2.9 GB Total Space: 35.4 GB
Once I can read the report properly without wanting to poke my eyes out, I'll probably see more things about the specs.

ps: on the spoiler tags, but I have to dock you points for the messed up formatting, though.

Okay, now I'm pretty lost. And erm, here it is again, but please could you do the spoilering this time please? I don't want to mess it up.

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 11/24/2011, 10:23:00
Machine name: JACKS-PC
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.110622-1506)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Acer
System Model: AcerPower FH
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 2814MB RAM
Page File: 1302MB used, 4325MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: The file nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll,nvwgf2um.dll is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.
Sound Tab 1: The file HdAudio.sys is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.
Sound Tab 2: The file HdAudio.sys is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.
Sound Tab 3: The file HdAudio.sys is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.
Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 210
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 210
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0A65&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A2
Display Memory: 1617 MB
Dedicated Memory: 466 MB
Shared Memory: 1151 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Generic Non-PnP Monitor
Monitor Model: unknown
Monitor Id:
Native Mode: unknown
Output Type: HD15
Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll,nvwgf2um.dll
Driver File Version: 8.17.0012.7533 (English)
Driver Version: 8.17.12.7533
DDI Version: 10.1
Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 5/21/2011 06:01:00, 11992680 bytes

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_1019E619&REV_1000
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 65535
Type: WDM
Driver Name: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.01.7601.17514 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: No
Date and Size: 11/20/2010 10:00:21, 304128 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Microsoft
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0xF1F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

Description: Digital Audio (S/PDIF) (High Definition Audio Device)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_1019E619&REV_1000
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 65535
Type: WDM
Driver Name: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.01.7601.17514 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: No
Date and Size: 11/20/2010 10:00:21, 304128 bytes

------------------------
Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives
------------------------
Drive: C:
Free Space: 2.9 GB
Total Space: 35.4 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WDC WD800JD-22MSA1 ATA Device

Drive: D:
Free Space: 33.0 GB
Total Space: 35.9 GB
File System: FAT32
Model: WDC WD800JD-22MSA1 ATA Device

Drive: H:
Free Space: 1395.2 GB
Total Space: 1430.1 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WD My Book 1111 USB Device

Drive: F:
Model: WD Virtual CD 1111 USB Device
Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 6.01.7601.17514 (English), 11/20/2010 08:38:10, 108544 bytes

Drive: E:
Model: LITE-ON DVD SOHD-16P9S ATA Device
Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 6.01.7601.17514 (English), 11/20/2010 08:38:10, 108544 bytes

Drive: G:
Model: MagicISO Virtual DVD-ROM0000
Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 6.01.7601.17514 (English), 11/20/2010 08:38:10, 108544 bytes




Awh! To be honest, I find overall performance fine. It takes just over five minutes to load. And I have no patience. Oh, and for the small amount of space, I can explain that. I try not to use that hard drive anymore, I have a 1.5TB Western Digital Mybook Elite... Plenty of space for me. It's just that everything I download goes on there my C drive. Is there anyway I can set the main hard drive? (I know my C drive is where Windows is installed, but I can dream.)

1. Is the 4GB the new ones you just purchased or older ones?

2. Is this your Desktop PC? http://support.acer.com/us/en/produ...b=1&modelId=916
OK, now I'm confused.
These 2 links show different specs than the one I posted in post#8 http://support.acer.com/acerpanam/d...owerFHsp2.shtml & http://www.superwarehouse.com/Acer_...8200P/p/1492858
...and they show that the motherboard can accept up to 2GB RAM maximum, which does explain this line "Available OS Memory: 2814MB RAM" which is still lesser than the 3.something GB RAM a 32-bit OS usually can recognize.

3. And you really need to do housekeeping on that harddrive. Windows still need to do its work and need space to read and write data to and from RAM, Applications, and other stuff it does in the background. Installing your games and programs in the WD Book is irrelevant to the amount of space Windows need just to function.
Drive: C:
Free Space: 2.9 GB

4. That part on the "DxDiag Notes"? You need to either reinstall DirectX or reinstall Nvidia graphics drivers. http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us

5. It is looking more and more towards a hopeless upgrade, if the components cannot be confirm to fit or not even in stock.

1. The 4GB Is the new.

2. Yes. That is my Computer.
I'm also confused, I think my head's going to explode! And now even more confused... Did I just waste £50 on ram my motherboard can't accept, but my Windows can? Call me stupid. Please.

3. I'll get onto it. There's got to be some things to delete.

4. I'll reinstall both, just to be sure.

5. Really? This might be the most stupid question a expert like you has ever heard, but if it's looking pointless, could I upgrade my motherboard? Get one that fits into my computer? You know, to get the right processor, make my RAM work properly...

Anyway, I reinstalled my Nvidia driver(s), and they seem to be running a lot more smoothly, thanks!
I don't want to reinstall DirectX though, I've heard it's dangerous. I don't know how to anyway.
... So, any suggestions about the motherboard? Or can you only get one motherboard each model? I don't know about this. Typical

Updating DirectX is just like updating any software.
Sometimes, it is better to uninstall the current version manually first, but Microsoft's installers are getting better of late (on Windows 7 versus a few years ago on XP) and remove it first cleanly for you (if necessary). Otherwise the in-place update works fine.

On motherboard selection, I don't know how that casing looks like from the back and internally, so you'd have to read Acer's support page and have the measurements ready and then search for motherboards that can fit in there; with the ports in the proper places and facing the right way. From one of the links I provided above, I get this
Casings on the retail market are universal, they mostly fit all motherboards (unless a technology change flipped the ports over to different sides or something). The are some casings that do flip things around, but the motherboard always fit in the same way relative to other components. See http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/arti...se-Review/901/5 (ports are at the top instead of the back of the case)
The same cannot be said for an OEM's casing however, as they want to limit upgrading. There are some of OEM's casings that fit only a certain socket type and in order to upgrade that pre-built PC to current tech, you'd need to gut the whole thing.

Of course, all depend on budget and ultimately what you want (make do for now or go the whole hog).
If you want to be safe, there might still be LGA 775 socket types motherboards (I saw 39 choices @ newegg) out there that would be able to fit your current casing (you still need to read about measurements to be safe). But it may cost more than newer ones that have way more stuff on it (like more USB 2.0 ports, some USB 3.0 ports). And that it needs to be a marked improvement specs-wise over the current motherboard, otherwise why bother and spend money and waste the effort, right?
You also need to make sure this new motherboard can accept that RAM you bought. Do you have a link to the model and specs of the RAM?

You have an Acer Power FH with an ECS 946GZT-AM made specifically for Acer. It is mini itx, the tower is small, and upgrades are limited.

Your slow boot times are can likely be attributed to the number of processes your computer is trying to load upon startup and is probably most being restricted by the HDD to be honest.. I suggest first doing general maintenance and if that fails do a scan to see how your hdd is functioning and beyond that a hdd replacement *may* be the best way to increase boot times, if that is your only concern at this point.

You need to be okay with cleaning up cookies and temp files.

1) Install this: http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner Go to the 'options'' tab -> Advanced -> UNcheck the "only delete files in Windows Temp folders older than 24 hours" -> Back to the Cleaner tab -> Run cleaner.

2) Start menu -> type 'msconfig' into the search bar at the bottom. -> Everything on the startup tab can be disabled, by unchecking the boxes. None of these have anything to do with your computer running properly. It's still important though that you know what you're disabling. This list contains programs which are automatically set to start with your computer. Some you may want to start, like your anti-virus, but again there's no actual harm in disabling any above that. If you find unchecking something stops something you didn't want to, then you can always go back in and recheck the box. If you’re unsure what the processes are, run a google search on them.
Next go to the services tab. Check the box at the bottom left which says “Hide all Microsoft services”. Everything left can be unchecked just like the startup tab, with the same heads up. Make sure you don’t disable something you want. When you're done unchecking boxes click apply and then ok. It will prompt you for restart.

3) If you can pull yourself away from the pc for a couple hours, I also suggest defragging using this program: http://www.mydefrag.com/ Run this AFTER all the other cleanup and you cannot use your computer while it's running. It should only take a couple hours to run, but that's no guarantee since your hdd seems to be running especially slow.

After doing all that, restart and tell us if the boot times have been effected all all and we can take it from there.

@ellacharm3d:
Okay, so I'll look into reinstalling it.
And nope, I don't have a link, I only thought there was one type of RAM: RAM.

@callistra:
Thanks, but I have Advanced System Care which does everything for me, hence my booting times are fine. I've also used msconfig, everything is how I want it. Thanks anyway

Sorry I haven't replied in a while :D

Okay, no replies in a long time, so I'm going to carry on. Right. I read processors by their benchmarks? I'm going to get into measuring my tower, I could even visit my local PC retailer and he could give me an exact list of motherboards I could buy. I've been asking around lately about 64bit and I've heard it's a bit... Unstable? I tried asking my dad to reinstall my Windows 7 in 64bit, but because one person he knows said it's unstable, he's not budging. I have to wait until it's "fixed." I can't cope with the Sims 3 lag right now. And can I also ask, is my graphics card good? I've been testing games on "Can You Run It?" And my card seems fine for most games I've looked at. It's just my processor. Skyrim, Black Ops, that stuff.

Unstable? Bluh? What? 64 bit is not unstable - I've been running W7 64 bit for well over a year now (probably more like two?) and it's rock solid. I can't remember the last time I had a bluescreen, and I often don't reboot for a month or more, just have it sleep when I'm away. And you're not going to be able to use large amounts of RAM without 64 bit, which is a pretty major thing nowadays.

It's also worth noting the sticky at the top of this forum marked "Can I Run It? sites not reliable!".

I've been using Win7 64bit too and I love it. If he's had one person tell him its unstable, you now have two people telling you it is stable!

Thanks for the reassurance! I showed these posts to him and he told me to shut up... But I'll keep trying. And I only use Can You Run It because it makes me feel proud of my computer... When it's probably a real piece of crap. I don't actually think it tells the truth. I'm away on holiday right now and can't really access my computer in any way. The only computer I have here is a netbook that can't even run Minecraft.

By the way, Merry Christmas!

If he's being stubborn despite our reassurances it may be smart to just use windows 7 32bit and leave him be. There may be many reasons why he doesn't want you to use 64bit other than "his friend told him so", that he doesn't want to admit to. You could be spending a lot of time arguing and never really find out so perhaps you should just use windows 7 32bit. You won't be able to use more than three point something GB of RAM but if the rest of your hardware is decent you won't see a huge difference between 32bit and 64bit.

I hope things work out for you, Merry Christmas

Ahah! I've finally convinced him by telling him thirty people suggested 64bit was the best... But he's still like "Well if it stops working, I'm not reinstalling 32bit!" And I'm just like... Whatevs, sucka. I'm finally back home now, typing on my comfy keyboard. It seems like a amazing keyboard because I was used to typing on my netbook. Typing on this baby is like having a massage! I hope nothing does go wrong, deep down, but I'm quite confident nothing will. GOD, my computer seems really fast compared to my netbook
Might do a little bit of simming tonight, if my computer feels like it. We'll see what happens to performance when I install 64bit. I'll report to you with results

Anyway, I'm just going to carry on the question I asked before. So, I read processors by their benchmarks... Is that right? I'm just guessing here, I need to know. I may not be able to get one, but that's completely different. I feel really stupid not knowing-probably because it's really easy to judge them. Rank them. Look at the processors name and go "Ooh, not bad!" Or "OMG I can't even look at that!" Do you understand? Is there more than one way of telling how good they are? Are there different versions of processors? I need to know as much about them as I can, but not as much as a Wiki page. My god. Don't even. Agh. Do any of you lot find it really complicated reading a Wiki page? It goes into such detail!

EDIT:

Another question. *Sigh* I've been looking at this processor , and it has some good reviews, a good rating. When you suggested some of the items from Newegg, did they fit exactly in my motherboard? sizes, etc? It is so cheap! Is it because you have to buy more than one?