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Hog1986

Hog1986

Hog1986

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Joined
31 Dec 2010
Posts
15
Evening Ladies and Gentlemen.

I have been having a look around your wonderful forum and would like to say hello to you all!

My reason for joining, however, has to do with the computer I built myself a while back (out of second hand parts, bits of old computers etc., as I was on a tight budget)

Now I am after some advice. What is slowing this computer down? It's a few years old, do I need a new processor? motherboard? Here is the spec at the moment...

Asus P5N32-SLI Premium motherboard
Intel Pentium D945 processor
6GB DDR2 PC2-6400
ASUS ATI Radeon HD 5570 PCI-E Graphics Card - 1GB
500GB Hard Drive

If there's any more information you need, then just ask!

Thanks in advance people, I look forward to your suggestions, because you lot seem to know your stuff!

Thanks

Rhys
 
Hello and welcome to the forum.

I would say the processor is slowing you down the most there. Swap it out for a Core 2 Duo, E8500 etc should do the trick.
 
greywolf said:
Hello and welcome to the forum.

I would say the processor is slowing you down the most there. Swap it out for a Core 2 Duo, E8500 etc should do the trick.
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I thought it might be the processor, it has 2 cores but it's so old that it's just so jumpy! the rest of the hardware should be alright should it?

Yeah it doesn't support quad core :(

Thanks for the advice mate, :)

Rhys
 
Hog1986 said:
I thought it might be the processor, it has 2 cores but it's so old that it's just so jumpy! the rest of the hardware should be alright should it?

Yeah it doesn't support quad core :(

Thanks for the advice mate, :)

Rhys
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No problem.

What OS are you running btw? and how is the RAM adding up to 6GB? ie 2GB x3 etc?
 
Is the HDD IDE, Sata 1 or 2?

IDE and Sata 1 is pretty slow and could make the whole experience of your pc feel sluggish.

If that isn't the issue than its probably your processor holding you back :)
 
What do you use the PC for? That 5570 could be holding you back.
And what RAM is it? If it's 3x2gb then the RAM will be running in single channel instead of dual channel.
 
Hello friend and welcome. I've found the people on this forum to be extreamely helpful and friendly so I'm sure they could help you out.

Your Pc - I'd upgrade to a good dual core. You will see a major boost in performance, and having recently upgraded to one myself I can tell you they are pretty cheap and easily avaliable. I got mine used on Ebay for a good price in mint condition so look around for a bargain as I'm sure you will find one.


Other things to try...

Make sure you've got a decent Spyware and Antivirus program and do a full system check.

Run Defragmenter and defrag if nescessary.

Run disk cleanup.

Delete browser cookies, history etc from your browser.

Scan and delete any .tmp files.

Download Ccleaner and use it to clean your registry and repair any errors it finds.


Hope this helps you out.
 
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yeah it's 3 x 2gb of RAM, and basically, I don't use it that much because it's slow now and won't run any decent games. But if it was able to play some games, then I would. I would use it for my programming too lol

the OS is windows 7 ultimate, 64bit.

Thanks

Rhys
 
SonicUK said:
Hello friend and welcome. I've found the people on this forum to be extreamely helpful and friendly so I'm sure they could help you out.

Your Pc - I'd upgrade to a good dual core. You will see a major boost in performance, and having recently upgraded to one myself I can tell you they are pretty cheap and easily avaliable. I got mine used on Ebay for a good price in mint condition so look around for a bargain as I'm sure you will find one.


Other things to try...

Make sure you've got a decent Spyware and Antivirus program and do a full system check.

Run Defragmenter and defrag if nescessary.

Run disk cleanup.

Delete browser cookies, history etc from your browser.

Scan and delete any .tmp files.

Hope this helps you out.
Click to expand...

I only just recently did a clean install, so I don't think the speed was down to the software. but yeah thanks for the advice, it looks like a dual core CPU it is!

Thanks

Rhys
 
Hog1986 said:
I only just recently did a clean install, so I don't think the speed was down to the software. but yeah thanks for the advice, it looks like a dual core CPU it is!

Thanks

Rhys
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On top of this I would also remove 2GB of RAM and go for 4GB dual channel over 6GB single.
 
greywolf said:
On top of this I would also remove 2GB of RAM and go for 4GB dual channel over 6GB single.
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I'm sorry, I don't know that much, but why would that be beneficial? Do you mean take the one stick of RAM running by itself out? And keep the other 2 in? If it will make a difference then I will definitely do this!

Thanks gents for all your help!

Cheers!

Rhys
 
Hog1986 said:
I'm sorry, I don't know that much, but why would that be beneficial? Do you mean take the one stick of RAM running by itself out? And keep the other 2 in? If it will make a difference then I will definitely do this!

Thanks gents for all your help!

Cheers!

Rhys
Click to expand...

I think wiki can explain it better than I can so...

Dual-channel technology was created to address the issue of bottlenecks. Increased processor speed and performance requires other, less prominent components to keep pace. In the case of dual channel design, the intended target is the memory controller, which regulates data flow between the CPU and system memory (RAM). The memory controller determines the types and speeds of RAM as well as the maximum size of each individual memory module and the overall memory capacity of the system. However, when the memory is unable to keep up with the processor, a bottleneck occurs, leaving the CPU with nothing to process. Under the single-channel architecture, any CPU with a bus speed greater than the memory speed would be susceptible to this bottleneck effect.

The dual-channel configuration alleviates the problem by doubling the amount of available memory bandwidth. Instead of a single memory channel, a second parallel channel is added. With two channels working simultaneously, the bottleneck is reduced. Rather than wait for memory technology to improve, dual-channel architecture simply takes the existing RAM technology and improves the method in which it is handled. While the actual implementation differs between Intel and AMD motherboards, the basic theory stands.
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So basically have 4GB (2x2GB) in the corrects slots (A1,B1).
 
:) thanks, as it was my first build, I didn't really know about all this stuff!

Does anyone want to buy some RAM?! hehe

What about the rest of the hardware? would it be ok to run decent games well? or should I start again?!

Thanks

Rhys
 
:( :( :( the news I was dreading. Well I will try to do the things mentioned in this thread first I think. At least then I can sell it as a semi decent computer can I? :)

Rhys
 
Well overclocking the CPU should help, but best for a brand new PC.
Perhaps maybe you can sell your current PC to add funds for a new one.
 
It's going to look that way I think, hopefully, with all the spare parts I have got etc, I can sell it all for £230.

Would I get more money if I split everything do you think?

Thanks :)
 
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