eMachine model 370 requires more RAM (1.8GHz 60Gb 256MB)

[crmpicco]

Hi All,

i am writing to ask for help. I have been asked by someone to upgrade their machine.
What they have is:

eMachines Model 370
1.8GHz Intel Celeron CPU
60Gb UDMA HDD
256MB DDR RAM

What i have suggested is getting a 512MB stick of RAM and putting it in and then i'd AdAware/SpyBot/AV it - you know, the usual. However, after doing some Google searches I think I have found out that it used PC2100 DDR RAM. Can anyone confirm this? As i wouldn't like to buy RAM for someone and then it doesnt work.

Also, is there anything else I can do to speed it up a bit. They are not looking to purchase a new PC, hence the upgrade. All they do with it is surf, chat and listen to music, but I was using it today and it is CRAAAAAAAAWLING!

Any help appreciated.
Picco

[oracleguy]

If it uses DDR, then its most likely PC2100 but if you were to put some thing faster in like PC2700, it would just run at PC2100 speeds.

If the system has never been re-installed since it was new and there is a lot of adware/spyware on the system, you may want to consider just reloading the OS after you upgrade the memory. It might make a big difference.

[crmpicco]

Hi oracleguy, thanks for your reply.

I have found this link now:
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.asp?Mfr%2BProductline=eMachines%2B+Desktops&mfr=eMachines&tabid=AM&model=370&submit=Go
and it seems to say that it takes PC2700. What is the situation for me installing a PC2100 stick if this is the case?? The reason I am asking is because I am bidding (and winning) one on eBay at the moment:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=015&item=250034468848&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBI%3AIT&rd=1

What do you think?

Picco

[ubik]

also what operating system are you using? if windows xp then yes perhaps a bit more ram would speed it up.

if all they really use it for is the internet, it is probably likely that your problem lies within the hard-drive.. not meaning to buy a hard-drive with more space but perhaps the harddrive itself is probably really fragmented, windows errors, registry errors, hard-disk errors, spyware, the works..

Like oracle guy said a clean install would most likely lead to a faster system. what I like to do with all my systems is do a clean install, run a defragment on the harddrive and then make a backup via norton ghost. so when i put the back-up in again its already defragmented, free of errors and runs like a champ.

also its a good idea to make a "storage" or "archive" partition to store all of your personal files in.. so when you need to format and put the back-up in, you wont lose any of your personal files.

[oracleguy]

Hi oracleguy, thanks for your reply.

I have found this link now:
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.asp?Mfr%2BProductline=eMachines%2B+Desktops&mfr=eMachines&tabid=AM&model=370&submit=Go
and it seems to say that it takes PC2700. What is the situation for me installing a PC2100 stick if this is the case??

Then the RAM that is in there now will probably slow down to the slowest stuff but that might depend on the board. I know it usually always works the other way around though.

You could always pull the stick of memory that is in there now out and physically look at it to see what speed it is.

[crmpicco]

any other ideas?

i am going to be doing some tweaking tonight, what should I change/remove/add to make it run as fast as possible?

[Cheeseboy]

What is your memory bus speed? If it is faster than pc 2100 then i would put pc3200 512mb ram in it and remove the 256mb.

[oracleguy]

What is your memory bus speed? If it is faster than pc 2100 then i would put pc3200 512mb ram in it and remove the 256mb.

I seriously doubt an old 1.8Ghz celeron has a 400mhz FSB.