for those who aren't hardware savvy I'd add that the easiest and quickest way to "run faster" is to max out your RAM.
the second most common traffic jam is just that...too many programs fighting over the RAM...solution is to shut down anything/everything that you don't need.
for those still on dial-up(I know...it's hard to believe)...get the big pipe(broadband) and...yep...you know it...ENJOY!
(DSL in your area may, or may not...be up to the "big pipe" task...buyer beware as always)
I dunno if I'd agree. I could be super technical and get into specifics, but generally I'd say that the "average" American hit's a break even point with hardware sold in the last two years. I've got one of the fastest internet connections in my area and my wife's PC (AMD Sempron 2800+ *32-bit!* with 768 MB of RAM and IDE hard drives) is slowed considerably by the fact that the internet simply sucks.
I'd personally put my money into a faster internet connection than more hardware especially if your computer is more than about three years old (in which case the rarity begins increasing price for parts).
with respect to what a person currently has...if it isn't "topped out" on the RAM they might suffer...and a stick or two of RAM won't set you back as much as a new machine or changing to a faster interweb connection...
my best advice to someone with...say 500 bucks to spend...bank it against a year's worth of broadband and do everything you can to scrounge up a decent frankenbox...
even better...scope out a laptop with some form of wifi and just use the wifi you find locally(like at the local coffee shop, etc.)...or at the library and what-not...
my frankenlaptopbox was a broken hand-off from a local that needs a $10.00 CCFL backlight installed before it could once again become "portable"...for my usage it got the lid ripped off and the bottom shoved up against a nice large older monitor...scrounged up a wifi card to stuff in the slot and off to the interwebs we go...
the "gimmes" I like best are the boxes that have flamed out...especially the ones that made the genie come out of the box(smoked)...this is almost always a power-supply issue and is an easy cheap fix where the internals are rarely damaged...
all in all it's nice to be able to pound on the boards and mice with reckless abandonment...knowing there are always more where those came from...