Is there any point in adding more RAM or...?

We have two desktop machines here. Mine is an Asus Essentio and has 8GB RAM and a Q8300 quad 2.5 GHZ CPU, and a Radeon 5670.

My sister has a Pentium 2 core E5200 2.5 GHz with 3GB RAM and onboard G33 Express video.

We have a wireless setup with Comcast download speeds of 20-25 megs and watch things like Netflix with no problems, on Roku, so speed isn't an issue with the network. Both PC's have dual band USB wireless adapters, running at 5Ghz, which has no interference or competition, here in the neighborhood. ( I did that myself ) :)

I also replaced the Comcast-provided TG862 with a TM722G and an ASUS RT‑N66U wireless router.

We don't do gaming, but we do watch videos online. On my PC, it's not too bad, but I cant help wondering if Windows 7 is capable of using the quad cores to their capability, of if they're not being used at all, and if my 8 GB RAM is being used to the best of its abilities.

With her PC, the videos are frequently stopping to reload, and it's not good, so I need to figure out what to do with that. The wireless USB adapters on both PC's indicate excellent signals, so that's not the problem.

So what might be needed here? Any adjustments that might help this, like with RAM management, or does she need more than 3GB RAM to get decent videos, or perhaps a discreet video card?

Suggestions?

Thanks. My Asus Essentio is a refurbed PC, so I agree on that!

I took a look at this, and the on board graphics appears to be bringing everything down. The Windows Experience is about 5.9 and the on board graphics is 3.9, which sinks the whole thing. I happen to have a GE Force 9500 GT that's a spare and I might try, BUT it's got an HDMI output, not the DB9 that her monitor takes. Is there a cheap conversion or adapter that will work well for that, or should I just look for an inexpensive PCI card with Db9, to see if I can fix this up, without spending hundreds. ( we're short on money )

She has a 24" LCD monitor now - not the least expensive way to go, to fix this?

If there's an inexpensive HDMI to Db9 adapter ( if that will even work ) or inexpensive PCI video card, that seems like the lowest cost fix.

Excuse me, it wasn't HDMI, it was a DVI output. I see a highly rated ATI 2400 for only $15 on ebay, but that has a DVI output too.

bigmck said:

Here is one for $5.99. That is worth a shot.
Amazon.com: Dell KH276 Silicon Image Orion PCI-Express Video Graphics Card: Electronics

Edit == Maybe not on that. The reviews were bad. There are some cheap ones out there. I would stay away from Ebay. Newegg and Amazon are always good.

That has a DVI output too. Her monitor is analog - DB9 connector.

The GEForce 6200 gets nice ratings.