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Inspiron 660 upgrade from Intel Core i5-3330 CPU @ 3.00GHz
Hi
My Inspiron 660 is less than a year old, but has always been frustratingly slow.
The key elements of the spec are:
- Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3330 CPU @ 3.00GHz,mClock Speed 3Ghz,mL2 Cache Size 1024
- Virtual Memory 16,258.0MB
Wondering what my options are to upgrade, please? Can I just swap in a faster chip? Should I be adding more memory? Any other thoughts??
Thanks in advance!
Balaji M Kundal
235 Posts
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September 29th, 2014 08:00
Regarding the performance, I would suggest you to follow some of the steps recommended here:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/performance-maintenance-help#performance-maintenance-help=windows-7&v1h=win8tab1&v2h=win7tab1&v3h=winvistatab1
You can choose the Windows version from the right side of the page, accordingly.
alandwalker
3 Posts
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September 29th, 2014 08:00
Thanks Balaji. But for the time being can we please assume I have done all appropriate software "housekeeping" and that the limiting constraint is hardware? Thanks.
Balaji M Kundal
235 Posts
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September 29th, 2014 09:00
If you've completed on the software part, then yes, the limiting constraint is hardware.
But before I can comment on the issue, it'll be helpful if you can provide details of how you're using the computer (like software development or graphic design or gaming or internet browsing), along with the complete specifications, like the graphics card, RAM (physical memory, and not virtual memory), Windows version and edition, etc.
Please do not add any personally identifiable informations like the service tag or email ID or even product key in your post.
speedstep
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47K Posts
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September 29th, 2014 09:00
You wont be able to update the processor. This is not supported.
if you have a 660S this limits further.
The CPU is not typically a performance issue with 3.0Ghz core I5 series.
The GPU requires room for the high end models aka they dont fit the 660 case or power supply.
alandwalker
3 Posts
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September 29th, 2014 10:00
Details requested by Balaji:
INSPIRON DESKTOP 660 MT : BTX BASE
3RD GENERATION INTEL CORE I5-3330 PROCES
MEMORY : 8192MB (2X4096) 1600MHZ DDR3
MEDIA CARD READER: INTEGRATED 8-IN-1
HARD DRIVE : 2TB SERIAL ATA (7.200 RPM)
OPTICAL DRIVE : 16X DVD+/-RW DRIVE
GRAPHICS : 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 620
SOUND : INTEGRATED 5.1 HIGH DEFINITION A
OPERATING SYSTEM : WINDOWS 8 64 BIT ENG,
MCAFEE LIVESAFE 12 MONTH SUBSCRIPTION
OS is now Windows 8.1, fully updated.
There are two users, my wife and me. My wife uses it for a small business so will typically have Outlook, Excel, Sage Accounts and several browser windows (across IE and Chrome) open at once.
In parallel I am likely to have a similar load of software open.
If we now try to anything even reasonably intensive, such as opening another software package, or printing, it does so very slowly - meaning 10 seconds or more to open something like PowerPoint.
Cheers.
Balaji M Kundal
235 Posts
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September 29th, 2014 21:00
Did you try performing clean boot and scan the HDD for errors?
1. For clean boot, refer the link:
http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/929135
Kindly enable any service that any of the key applications you use depends on and disable the rest as per the link above.
2. To scan the HDD for errors, you can try Seagate Seatools:
For Windows:
http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/seatools-win-master/
For DOS (in case Windows version fails to work):
http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/item/seatools-dos-master/
3. Additionally, you can try running SFC scan. Refer the link for more information:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833
4. If you haven't defragmented the HDD, you can try defragmenting the HDD. The following link will be helpful:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IN/windows-8/improve-performance-optimizing-hard-drive