Adding ram and more power to the xc-704g

Mister_URL

Two questions.

 

One, I recently got a refurbished XC-704g desktop. It was cheap so I did not expect many bells and whistle. But it is S L O W. I hope that adding another 4gb of ram will speed it up. There is an empty slot, but somewhereelse I read that only the first slot is functional, that is, the one with the standard 4gb ship.

 

Can that be true? Can I just get another 4gb SODIMM and plug it into the empty slot, or must I buy an 8gb module and replace the chip that is in there?

 

Two, the power block is 65w (19VDC @ 3.42A). Presumably on the motherboard are voltage regulators to derive the other DC voltages needed. If I want to add a graphics card, will it exceed the 65 watts? Is it possible to add a larger inout power block, say, 120 watt, and provide more power to the motherboard or are those on-board regulators current limited?

 

My OS is Windows 10 Home 64 bit.

 

Thanks.

laurent_14

Hello,

 

Could you give me the first ten characters of the computer serial number (S/N)? Only the first ten.

Mister_URL

DTBOZAA001

 

Thanks.

laurent_14

1. What is your use: Office, browsing, videos, gaming?
2. Have you checked the memory used and the cpu usage in Task manager - Performance tab?

Mister_URL

1. A combination of office tasks and browsing/email.

 

2. The CPU is all over the place, ranging from near 100% down to 30%. Memory usage around 60%. The biggest CPU hog is Firefox, but it never seems to be more than 15%. I don't see what task is making the spikes to near 100%.

laurent_14

Hello,

 

1. Did you install the latest chipset driver?
   
   
2. Memory: According to the specifications, it supports up to 8Gb - DDR3L - 1600MHz (2x4Gb). I suggest you to buy this memory module. They will work in dual channel instead of single channel.
   
   
3. Graphic board: You could also install a low profil graphic board with an active cooling (with fan) like GT 710 - 1Gb DDR3. In this case, you'll need a new AC adapter of 90W:
   
   Spoiler

   KP.09001.002	AC ADAPTER.90W.19V
   KP.09003.005	AC ADAPTER.90W.19V
   KP.0900H.001	AC ADAPTER.90W.19V

4. I advise you to do this step by step. Reminder: This desktop is an entry level model so don't invest too much money.

Mister_URL

1. Yes, I have installed the newest drivers from the Acer website.

 

2. I will try that memory module first.

 

3. Then see if it speeds up any noticable amount before I consider the graphics and added power.

 

4. Yes, I am not expecting too much. I just expected it to be as fast as my latest PC that died, which was also an entry level box but with a low-end AMD processor.

 

Thanks for your help and advice.

 

ps. A new finding is that the slowest operations seem to be with Firefox. I tried Edge and Chrome and both were clearly faster loading webpages than Firefox. I have to see why that's happening.