Upgrading an Old Windows 7 Desktop?

[paulyjames]

Hey all got a question. I have an old dell xps 8100 desktop that i bought around 2010 or so. I haven't used it in a while. I got it from dell.com.


When i check the settings



i5 750 processor at 2.67ghz
4gb ram
500gb hard drive



Im pretty certain the hard drive is 5400rpm and not 7200rpm. But does that even matter much?



I haven't used this desktop in a while. But for comparison sake, this desktop is much slower than my laptop


Dell xps 15 9550 windows 10 pro with these specs?


6300HQ processor
8gb ram
256gb ssd



I have reinstalled windows 7 a while back but did not do it correctly because old files are still there. The thing is i wanted to know. If i upgrade the ram to 8gb and put in a 256gb ssd, would this desktop run as fast or even better than my dell xps 15 9550 laptop? I know that i5 750 desktop is already a quad core processor. Thus desktops are much faster than laptops. I have a spare ram and also a spare ssd. So if i put those 2 things in, would it basically be faster than my laptop? I ask this because if i want to use a desktop most of the time, i thinking this would be better than laptop?


So i already have a spare ssd and ram. But would you suggest i upgrade windows 7 to windows 10 if i do upgrade this desktop? Also that would mean this 2010 dell xps 8100 desktop is much faster than any laptops that came out the last few years right... assuming you put an ssd and make it 8gb ram just like the laptops? But if you don't put a ssd, then it won't? And most agree ssd is much more important than 8gb ram right?


Because this windows 7 desktop is pretty darn slow. And if i ever want a desktop, well i don't even need to buy a new desktop for like 800 dollars since this dell xps 8100 is still pretty good now? Because if a dell xps 8100 with i5 750 processor and 256gb ssd and 8gb ram is already faster than my current dell xps 15 9550 laptop with 6300hq processor, 256gb ssd and 8gb ram, well i know i certainly don't need to buy another desktop if i choose to use desktop in the future. So my only cost would be buying windows 10? Or would using windows 7 be still fine if i choose to do this a while later on?

 

[oscer1]

hi what do you have to lose by trying it and see if it good enough for you. you said you have the ssd and the ram already and just use win 7 so will not cost you anything and if it is not up to your standards then you could go back to way it was and save the drive for another time. if it performs good for you then use the 500gb hard drive for storage.

 

[townsbg]

Adding ram in itself will not increase your speed however if what you do on the computer vastly exceeds your 4 gb then adding some will help. If you continually use only 1-2 gb of ram then going to 8 won't help. The only exception is if you only have 1 stick in your system now. If that is the case then adding another will probably enabling dual channeling which should help to a certain extent. Before you do so check the clock speed on the new ram compared to the existing ram because if you put in ram that has a slower clock speed that will slow down what you already have. Now the speed decrease probably won't be very noticeable but you should be aware of it.

Your CPU is fine so your problem is either with your hard drive or a cluttered system. You might try defragging it a few times and you can put in a SSD. Personally I have no experience with SSD.

 

[mrjimphelps]

If you are installing Windows 7 64-bit, then I suggest you add the additional RAM and the SSD. Both the RAM and the SSD will give you better speed.

If you are installing Windows 7 32-bit, then the additional RAM won't help, but the SSD will.

After you finish installing Windows, make sure that TRIM is working on your SSD.

 

[paulyjames]

Hey all. The thing was many years ago when i used this laptop when it was new, it was pretty fast. Right now when you open chrome or do anything, it lags a lot to the point where its not bearable. Like i think even my old windows xp computer was faster than this when it loads etc. It also keeps freezing.


So this has to be because of clustered files right? Again, i did a clean reinstall of this a long time ago but i know i did it incorrect because old files are still in the system. So because of that, thats why its still slow right?



So if i could reinstall correctly, then it just take a button or so to make sure i wipe everything right? However this was a while back though so i have to read all the instructions step by step etc.

 

[mrjimphelps]

A clean Windows install can work wonders with a computer. If you have no files that you are worried about losing, and if you can reinstall everything you will need, then give it a try.

Before doing this, make sure that you have a good install key for Windows and for each program you will be reinstalling. And make sure you have the install disks, or the install files.

You don't really need to do a backup first if you are going to install to a new SSD, because you won't actually be erasing anything.