Just how fast are new PC's?

[Powerstroke2000]

I have been thinking of putting my old computer (P4..1 GB Ram) out to pasture, as I can now go for a coffee while it's doing it's booting up, and still come back to find I need to wait prior to doing any work on it.
It has it's own hiccups too, where on occassion it will freeze up...but if you go away for 10 minutes or so, you come back and it's ready to go again. It's as if it's tired... but, I thought I would ask just how quick are the new computers with dual processors and the like?

This would not be for gaming at all, mainly for e-mail, the odd application, and I frequently notice I'll have 10 Firefox windows open at a time, which I can bring up as needed. I do take alot of digital photo's, thus use Canon's "Zoombrowser" a fair bit (it too takes quite some time to appear) and other similar applications for photo enhancement.

What I would like...is a computer to instantaneously giving me what I ask for, or in other words, clicking an icon, or typing a command, and it coming up instantly!
When I initially click on my Firefox (or IE) icon, I wait...and wait..and wait for the processor and HD to do what it needs to do to bring up my browser, and I'm hoping the answer to getting "instantaneous" commands is to upgrade. I see there are even quad processor computers available, but don't know if that's what is needed for my limited use of a computer, as it's "quickness" not hard work with complicated applications that perhaps many of you folks need your computers for.

Am I asking too much with today's technology from a computer in wanting to be able to click and it appear right away, or is this possible for the average computer purchaser these days?

Thanks in advance!

[NickyBlade]

Have you ever run a spyware remover program? I have a 5 year old computer with almost the same specs (I have more ram, but that's a recent upgrade and ran for years with what you've got) and it takes about 2 minutes to boot up and my internet is all instant... when it gets slow or freezes, it's normally because of spyware and I get my speed back as soon as it's removed.

But, of course a newer system will be faster than what we've got now.

[Valdeam]

Well of course a new computer will do this. I built my mother a new computer for less than 300 bucks for basic internet browsing, music, and office programs and everything loads up right away.

[windsleeper]

Before putting the old horse out to pasture, I'd consider two things first.

One, consider reinstalling windows from scratch. Or, if that's not possible, do a thorough cleaning out of the garbage applications on the machine - browser toolbars, antivirus programs (AVG is free and low overhead, unlike the mainstream apps like symantec and mcafee), programs that run on startup, programs running in your system tray, etc. You'd be amazed at what junk accumulating can do to the speed of a machine.

Second, think about upgrading to 2GB of memory, if your motherboard allows. That extra 1 GB makes a big difference in performance, in my experience.

[not important]

The P4 should boot as fast as a new PC. Boot time is slowed by applications that load on startup. A good cleaning, or better yet a format, will most likely bring it back to life.