Speed up my PC.............

[loul]

I have a 166mhz Dell Dimension p166c.Although it's ancient now the capabilities are quite high as i have upgraded it to a level where it only needs one thing to bring it up to date......SPEED.
So far one downpoint is that it is not MMX so as far as gaming goes i just about get away with Links 2000.Another is that although my internet speed is just about acceptable i know i'm being left behind.What i need to know is whether my processor would accept a memory upgrade,if so how,OR any other tips,tricks,programs and info on how to get this fairly up 2 date but SLOW pc up to scratch............Thanx

[Ucronia]

Personally, you should just spend some money and buy a good processor and mobo. You will probably have to buy new RAM as well. There isn't a hell of a lot you can do to speed it up, other than upgrading. You might be able to overclock to about 200Mhz, and add some memory, or even buy an ATA 66 IDE controller to get your Harddrives running quicker <if they support ATA 66> but mostly, you should buy a better Mobo and CPU. Good luck.

[OlManRivah]

You didn't mention why you want higher speed.
If you're a Gamer, you can't get enough.
In your case, you will only go as fast as your slowest hardware allows you. A slow CD-Rom, Bus, Memory, etc. As for the memory upgrade, simply go to your Dell manual or contact Dell.

UCRONIA ofters some good choices. But, the real answer lies in, Why is the speed needed?
For instance, if you want to play a certain game on-line faster, a new 1-gig cpu a'int gonna help, if you're connecting at 14.4. But if you upgrade to a DSL line, that 166hz should scream..........

[daveleau]

You can buy an Evergreen overdrive ship to take you higher. The only problem is that it is as exensive as buying a mediocre new CPU and mobo. You would not have t upgrade your RAM though. As for tricks, there is a great utility called Cacheman that might help a bit. also go to www.speedguide.com (http://www.speedguide.com) for modem tweaks.
Later
Dave

[loul]

Would i really have to upgrade my RAM aswell?
It Is 64mb..........surely enough

[Bak]

Ata66 warning - it is not supported by dos, if you lose windows, you will need to clone your HDD, so keep an IDE CD in your case OK?

[GroundZero3]

it all depends on what you have running and how much. say if you have norton antivirus running at all times like i do. i need more RAM cause i have win2k and norton and it can be sluggish at time. if your an internet surfer then 64 will be fine. if your a gamer i would do what the other guys say. you could go to windows update site and that could help. but not by much.
JaYsin

[Beemers]

I have a web page that I just posted on my web site about setting up your dialup modem and port settings. There is also a Cable Modem Tweak that covers DSL as well.
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Circuit/9147/tippages/beemerswindowstips/beemerswindowstips.htm

Maybe there is something here for you.

[BC]

loul-

I know what you are going through with this computer. I have a couple of answers for you and you probibly won't like what I have to say. What Ucronia said is true. A new Mobo and proccessor is the best buy for the money, However, with this dell unit it is not an option unless you want to get a new case. And then on the old mb you probibly have a sound card which you will need to get as well. And the you might have a video card on the mb too so then you will have to get that too. I have tried to put a good ata66 controller on one of these units and it did not like it and didn't see the controller nor and HDD attached to it. something to do with the bios from what i have heard. However it did like a scsi controller. And if it has dimm slots then all you can get is 2 memory chips for it and they can not be any higher then 32mb each for a total of 64mb. Mine is a dimension p166v btw.
What you would want to try is getting a winchip that Daveleau mentioned. And I think with a 166 you would get somewhere around 233-266 with mmx. This would speed up your CPU as far as internet just get a faster connection. DSL/Cable/or 56k which ever you can get and or afford. Now something else you may want to consider is a new video card. Do to this system has only a 2mb onboard video card. This system does not like nor can it handle any agp video card so a good PCI voodoo 1/2 or nVidia TNT or if you can find one a pci TNT2 I personally like the TNT card. with this you can also enable the win98 feature of 2 monitors!
What you are doing though is reaching the limit on this machine. But it is a rock solid machine that will do a lot for ya. Just not everything anymore http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/frown.gif

EDIT*
Did this help you out any loul? Just wondering or if I need to help some more.

[This message has been edited by BC (edited 07-05-2000).]