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 Message Boards » » help me figure out what to upgrade on this pc... Page [1]  
ScHpEnXeL
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-3.2ghz P4 HT, 800mhz fsb

-giga-byte motherboard, can't remember the exact model number but its pretty nice, sata, lots of
usb ports, no firewire, 8x AGP, supports dual channel memory

-1gb ddr, running at i believe 400mhz and dual channel

-video card is some kind of ATI, FX5200 I believe is the model. I know it has 256mb of memory on it...

-primary HD is a 200gb maxtor, 7200rpm, 8mb cache and I also have another 160gb and another external 120gb for data...obviously

This thing runs slow as balls sometimes. It has a fresh install of winxp prof., spyware isn't the problem. I'm thinking the video card sucks, but it seems like everytime it has to access something off the hard drive it damn near freezes but is fast as hell after that. I have basically nothing on the primary drive besides windows and office right now.

Earlier I was just moving some files around and I thought it had locked up completely, cursor wouldn't even move...then it came back as always and is working fine now. This is fucking annoying considering how fast it should be. Give me ideas people. Thanks.

9/22/2005 12:30:21 AM

smoothcrim
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install security patches and SAV BEFORE plugging into the network. either you dont have all the drivers for the system or you have a virus if you can verify all the hardware is functional
http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=197114

also, if you plan on gaming, upgrade the video card to a geforce 6600gt or better

9/22/2005 12:45:56 AM

Quinn
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jason kidd black

9/22/2005 12:57:08 AM

smoothcrim
Universal Magnetic!
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casper white

9/22/2005 1:06:03 AM

ScHpEnXeL
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yea i've done everything in that thread and could have probably written it because i used to have to do it pretty often at work before some major changes happened that blocked most of the shit

anyways, blah, this thing is pissing me off... i thought it had locked up earlier when i was just typing a lab report in word but 10 seconds later the cursor finally started going again and the sentence or two i had typed while it was frozen came flying across the page.


probably not worth noting, but i didn't mention it before... I hadn't even used this computer in like 4 months until today... Not sure how it would possibly matter but it's just been sitting here off lol

[Edited on September 22, 2005 at 1:20 AM. Reason : asdf]

9/22/2005 1:16:01 AM

Josh8315
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the specs are fast. its a nice computer.

its not a mater of upgrading, its a mater of finding which part is defective

9/22/2005 3:37:04 AM

Stein
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Any PCI cards?

9/22/2005 3:49:22 AM

ScHpEnXeL
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nope

9/22/2005 8:49:20 AM

Maugan
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what are your virtual memory settings like? With 1 gb of ram, it shouldn't be allocating a huge amount of virtual memory to the drives. I used to run 1 gb with no virtual memory at all on my old athlon system.

9/22/2005 8:55:10 AM

qntmfred
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yeah, that pc should NOT be running slow. check your processes, you might have something running (spyware or not) that could be hogging up resources

9/22/2005 9:07:14 AM

GraniteBalls
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Quote :
"-video card is some kind of ATI, FX5200 I believe is the model. I know it has 256mb of memory on it...

-primary HD is a 200gb maxtor, 7200rpm, 8mb cache and I also have another 160gb and another external 120gb for data...obviously"



Get a new video card and add some Raid 5.



1 Quick solution to speeding up a windows PC = Adjust the visual settings.


Quote :
"How to change the visual effects
Windows provides several options to set the visual effects of your computer. For example, you can show shadows under menus. Shadows give menus a 3-D look. You can configure Windows to display all the contents of a window while you move the window on your screen. To make large text more readable, you can display the smooth edges of screen fonts.

Windows provides options to turn on all the settings (for best appearance), or none of the settings (for best computer performance). You can also restore the default settings.

To change the visual effects, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Run, and then type sysdm.cpl in the Open box.
2. Click the Advanced tab, and then under Performance, click Settings.
3. Click the Visual Effects tab, and then use one of the following methods:• Click Adjust for best performance to have Windows automatically adjust the settings for best performance.
• Click Adjust for best appearance to have Windows automatically adjust the settings for best appearance.
• Click Custom, and then select the check boxes for those items that you want to turn on. Clear the check boxes for the items that you want to turn off.

"


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308417

9/22/2005 9:55:24 AM

jbtilley
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^
My computer is half this guys and I have window blinds running. Still no slowdowns. Maybe this is a brag thread in disguize?

If not try disabling any services you don't need via Control Panel -> Admin Tools -> Services

Here is a good list of services from the black viper site (currently down):

http://inside.bard.edu/~winig/BlackViper.doc


[Edited on September 22, 2005 at 10:24 AM. Reason : .]

9/22/2005 10:05:33 AM

ScHpEnXeL
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i've already got it set for maximum performance and i'll get a new video card soon, at least to see if it helps... and Raid 5, hmmmm yummy, I'll look into that

this really isn't any kind of 'brag' thread in disguise... I just notice this thing hanging like hell for no apparent reason and used a buddy's computer that really isn't close to as powerful and it seemed a lot quicker/smoother.

oh well, thanks for the help

9/22/2005 1:27:49 PM

typhicane
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upgrade all the drivers.

windows key + r, type "msconfig", last tab called "startup". disable everything in there but your spyware programs and antivirus. you do not need adobe acrobat or quicktime or that crap loading at startup.

get a registry scanner and run it for errors.

defrag maybe.

run trend micro's online virus scanner/spyware and see if it finds anything.

run CCleaner123 and kill some temp files.

Check your paging file and virtual memory.

upgrade your bios and check and make sure your FSB and Mem are clocked right. Might have a jumper setting or bios setting wrong.

Only thing you could really upgrade would be the video card and add a 10k raptor drive for your os.

9/22/2005 2:03:57 PM

typhicane
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drivers for your MB, bus, proc settings, etc. Like if the processor stepping is off, it could run weird like that.

Then video and the rest of the drivers.

9/22/2005 2:05:04 PM

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