Is my PC really that old?


Recommended Posts

I've been happily getting along with the latest system I built, which I admit has been quite a while ago. However I still considered it a very fast system and was surprised when a friend of mine started making a big deal about how ancient it was and wondering why on earth I hadn't upgraded. So anyway, as I type this I'm running the following:

Intel Celeron 335 (Celeron D)

Prescott core, Socket 478

1GB DDR SDRAM

Geforce X1600

Windows XP SP3

My system is quite snappy and responsive, and everything I run works fine so I'm in no hurry to upgrade. Really though, would a Core 2 Duo really be that much faster, or is it just a pointless upgrade people do so they have the best? Personally I don't think I need it but I was wondering what everyone else thought.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/847830-is-my-pc-really-that-old/
Share on other sites

The hard drive is a Seagate 320GB SATA. Anyway as I said it feels fast enough to me, everything opens instantly and even HD videos play smoothly. When someone says ancient PC I always think of a Pentium Pro or 486. :laugh:

The only difference between the Celeron D 478 and Pentium 4 is the reduced cache, and at the time it was the best price/performance purchase available for me.

A modern Core 2 system is faster, but it's pretty meaningless unless you actually use the extra performance. I take it that you probably do not run many heavy applications or games, which means upgrading would just be a waste of money.

That was my thinking, I'm not so much into games anymore. Plus if I upgrade now it means basically a whole new PC since AGP, DDR1, etc have all been replaced. Too much money for far too little benefit I think. I'll probably add more RAM in the future and maybe even pick up a cheap P4 for a few bucks but for now I'm satisfied with it. :)

That was my thinking, I'm not so much into games anymore. Plus if I upgrade now it means basically a whole new PC since AGP, DDR1, etc have all been replaced. Too much money for far too little benefit I think. I'll probably add more RAM in the future and maybe even pick up a cheap P4 for a few bucks but for now I'm satisfied with it. :)

I think upgrading it would be a bigger waste of money unless you are getting the parts really cheap somewhere because old parts are usually overpriced.

yes, it's old.

Does it matter? Nope

When I was in the computer business I always told the customer that the age didn't matter. It's what you did with the machine that mattered.

It's like having a porche and never taking it out of first gear.

Who cares how fast it is if you don't use it to it's full potential. (which most people wouldn't)

Rule of thumb. If it does what you want it to and you're happy with the way it runs then why worry about it.

People that tell you that you need to upgrade are usually geeks and young kids who haven't lost their virginity yet.

yes, it's old.

Does it matter? Nope

When I was in the computer business I always told the customer that the age didn't matter. It's what you did with the machine that mattered.

It's like having a porche and never taking it out of first gear.

Who cares how fast it is if you don't use it to it's full potential. (which most people wouldn't)

Rule of thumb. If it does what you want it to and you're happy with the way it runs then why worry about it.

People that tell you that you need to upgrade are usually geeks and young kids who haven't lost their virginity yet.

that made me laugh XD

i am young and virgin

if that machine works for you, keep it as-is. no point in upgrading if you don't see any need for it.

i remember my old i845 box. 2.8GHz P4 800FSB running at 2.1GHz 400FSB, a 250GB hard drive, dual 60GB hard drives, (all 3 IDE) a DVD burner, 768MB memory, 128MB PCI video card, and dual 15 inch LCDs. ran XP like a dream at the time (about 11 months ago) but just got to the point where it was becoming sluggish and lacking under my ever-increasing demands. the time was right and i spent $250 on a dual-core TigerDirect kit computer, which became part of my current machine. which is still "low-end", but i like it the way it is :)

and don't let anyone put you down for having such low specs. seriously, if it's performance keeps you happy then thats all that matters!

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • HOLY THREAD REVIVAL   But yes, look for browser.nova.enabled and set it to true
    • 5-year subscription to AdGuard VPN price-dropped now 90% off by Steven Parker Today's highlighted deal comes via our Apps + Software section of the Neowin Deals store, where you can save 88% off a 5-year subscription to AdGuard VPN. In the digital age where internet privacy is paramount, AdGuard VPN emerges as an essential tool. This virtual private network (VPN) is your encrypted gateway to the internet, helping your data stay secure and your online activities remain private, regardless of your location. More than just a privacy tool, AdGuard VPN is a robust solution packed with features that cater to a variety of internet needs. Why AdGuard VPN subscription deal over other VPNs: Exhaustive List of Locations: With 60+ locations available worldwide, you have the freedom to connect from anywhere you want, effectively bypassing geographically restricted content. Check complete list of servers here. Advanced Security Protocol: AdGuard VPN uses its own security protocol, guaranteeing a faster and safer VPN connection. This means you can browse, stream, and download with peace of mind knowing your data is secure. Zero-Logging Policy: Rest assured, your personal data is not collected and your internet traffic stays private at all times, thanks to AdGuard's strict zero-logging policy. Simultaneous Connections: Connect up to 10 devices simultaneously, providing protection for all your devices under just one account. Trusted Developer: AdGuard is a renowned name in the world of computer security, bringing their expertise and commitment to privacy and security to their VPN service. What You Get: Up to 10 devices connected simultaneously All locations Light-speed servers Unlimited data No logs policy Trusted developer Available on all platforms Privacy Created by a team from Russia, AdGuard software Limited is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus. While the country does follow European privacy laws, it's not part of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance. Adguard may not properly work in China. Good to know Length of access: 5 years This plan is only available to new users Redemption deadline: redeem your code within 30 days of purchase Device per license: 10 Access options: desktop & mobile Updates included 5- years of AdGuard VPN normally costs $359.40 without discounts, but it can be yours just $39.97, that's a saving of $324.43 (90%) off. For full terms, specifications, and license info please click the link below. Get this 5-year AdGuard VPN deal for just $34.97 (was $359.40) Although priced in U.S. dollars, this deal is available for digital purchase worldwide. Support queries If you have queries or need support for any of the Neowin Deals, please use the contact form here. Neowin Deals are managed and sold by StackCommerce who represent Neowin on an affiliate basis. Why we post these deals We post these because we earn commission on each sale so as not to rely solely on advertising, which many of our readers block. It all helps toward paying staff reporters, servers and hosting costs. So for those that keep moaning and complaining, be thankful we're still online for you to even do that. Other ways to support Neowin Whitelist Neowin by not blocking our ads Create a free member account to see fewer ads Make a donation to support our day to day running costs Subscribe to Neowin - for $14 a year, or $28 a year for an ad-free experience Disclosure: Neowin benefits from revenue of each sale made through our branded deals site powered by StackCommerce.
    • KillerPDF 1.5.1 by Razvan Serea KillerPDF is a lightweight, portable PDF editor for Windows built for users who want full control without subscriptions, installers, or telemetry. It runs as a single executable, making it ideal for USB use and field work. You can view PDFs with smooth PDFium rendering, navigate quickly with thumbnails, zoom, and shortcuts, and reorganize pages using drag-and-drop. It supports merging multiple PDFs, splitting documents, and extracting selected pages. KillerPDF also allows inline text editing with font matching to preserve the original layout, plus annotations like text boxes, freehand drawing, highlights, and reusable signatures. You can search full text, copy content easily, and print documents with flattened annotations. Designed as a free and open alternative to bloated PDF tools, it works fully offline on Windows 10/11 x64. No runtimes install. Everything needed is inside the EXE (targets .NET Framework 4.8, which ships with every supported Windows release). KillerPDF key features: High-quality PDF rendering via PDFium Edit PDF text inline (double-click to modify text) Page thumbnails and fast navigation with zoom and shortcuts Merge multiple PDFs into one Split PDFs and extract selected pages Drag-and-drop page reordering Font matching to preserve original document appearance Text boxes for notes Freehand drawing tools Highlight overlays with adjustable color, size, opacity Undo actions and clear per-page annotations Create, draw, and save reusable signatures Click-to-place signatures anywhere Full-text search with highlighted results Drag-select or Ctrl+A to copy text Print with annotations flattened Portable single-file app (~10 MB) No installer, no admin rights required No account, no telemetry KillerPDF 1.5.1 changelog: Performance Save Flattened PDF now uses multiple CPU cores. Page rasterization is parallelized (PNG encoding runs across cores; the PDFium render step stays serialized since the library isn't thread-safe), so large documents flatten significantly faster while the UI stays responsive (#68). Fixed PDFs that failed to open with "Unexpected EOF" now open (#72). The failure was PdfSharpCore's Flate inflater (SharpZipLib) rejecting the FlateDecode cross-reference stream on multi-revision PDFs - files that open fine in browsers, Acrobat, and Foxit. KillerPDF now detects this and re-opens the file losslessly through PDFium, preserving selectable text. Thanks to @javajon for the report and a detailed reproduction. Grid view renders every page. It was capped at the first 26 pages, so longer documents stopped loading partway through. Tiles also stream in progressively now instead of blocking until the whole document is rendered. Grid Ctrl+Scroll no longer reloads every page when the zoom is already at its limit and nothing would change. Removed a stray horizontal scrollbar (a thin green line) that could appear across the bottom of grid view. Files on UNC / network shares (including the WSL \\wsl$ filesystem) are copied locally before opening, avoiding partial-read failures on network filesystems. Changed Minimum zoom lowered from 10% to 5%, so grid view can pack more columns (helpful for wide/landscape pages) and single-page view can zoom out further. Download: KillerPDF 1.5.1 | 6.3 MB (Open Source) Link: KillerPDF Home Page | Github | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • You can enable the Nova redesign in Firefox 152 stable, under about:config.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Year In
      Console General earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Year In
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Month Later
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Twozo Technologies earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Veteran
      branfont went up a rank
      Veteran
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      520
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      196
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      111
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      89
    5. 5
      Nick H.
      71
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!