Quote Originally Posted by ddt0725
I am wondering if doing it this way will buy me another couple years out of this machine though.

Maybe. I have a Dell that is just a little newer than yours. I put some money in it then the mother board failed. Its not worth fixing compared to what I can get a new one for that is equal to it.


I have a 7 year old Sony that is still going strong. In the 7 years I have had the Sony the wife and I have went through2 Dells, 2 Gateways and a HP.We have twoSony's we bought years ago, a lap top and the stand alone are being used by the kids and still kicking.


The other part of the questions is did the machine perform well enough before. If it handled photoshop and your other editing software programs fine then it should continue to do so. The biggest gripe I have with windows is bugs. My work machine has had to be wiped twice in two years because of bugs, and I do not go any where risky. On an older machine, if it is marginal in performance for what you are doing at its best, it gets intolerable if it gets a few unwanted pests on it.