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Geek Culture / PC Performance?

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 5th Sep 2006 18:09
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My friend bought a new game, he could wait to test it, so I though what the hey, nothing better to do, his PC lagged far far less, the spec was the same, except his GFX card wasn't as good and his processor was slighlty faster. His computer, clogged up with a lot of stuff on his desktop, ran pretty quickly, start up quick, shut down quick, and played the game with no lag...

However I find my computer is slow and lags most of the time, with game far below it's spec, so obviously there must be a performance issue.

So in short what ways can I improve the performance of my computer, I've ended CPU/Ram munching processes that I know 100% I don't need, but there are others like SMC and CLI that are there that take up CPU (And explorer ranges from 2- 15%) and I set the computer performance settings to max performance, same for gfx card and used a demo of a PC tuner to optimise my ram...it improve things a lot, played Call of Duty 2 demo with medium/low setting and Half Life 2 demo with medium settings, it lagged, but was playable.

But I'm sure I can do other things to increase performance with out overclocking.

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Sid Sinister
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Posted: 5th Sep 2006 19:15
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I know on games like oblivion you can tweak the .ini files to improve performence by telling the computer how far away to start generating grass and how many trees show up when. Check out www.tweakguides.com for tweaks for call of duty 2, fear, hl2 and a lot of other games. I end the explorer.exe process when i play oblivion. I also open up my case and point a fan in there at high speed.

A huge thing you can do to increase performence is defrag your hard drive. A fragmented hard drive will slow down read times and cause your games to lag.

Try all that stuff and get back to me.
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 5th Sep 2006 19:40 Edited at: 5th Sep 2006 19:43
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I did a clean up two months ago, I think it did defrag my hard dive...Ending explorer sounds useful, but I'm not going to mess with the hardware, hence I refuse to use any kind of overclocking.

Cheers.

[edit]

I've found a bunch of software, hope this is useful, mostly registry cleaning and cleaning in general, no harm in trying. (Well...that depends really )

http://www.sharewareconnection.com/titles/increase-pc-performance.htm

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Sid Sinister
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Posted: 5th Sep 2006 19:45
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None of the stuff I mentioned was overclocking. So don't worry. You should defrag your harddrive every week if you have to. Two months is over do. You need to do that.
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 5th Sep 2006 20:56 Edited at: 5th Sep 2006 23:03
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k dude, I'll do that.

I download XP Smoker from the link site, to increase my performance. The after a PC Mark test my results were.


I hope thats good, the lack of lagging is a good sign. I'm gonna test a Torque project, they lag usually, so lets hope theres an improvement. And then turn on 'Game mode' in XP Smoker and see how much more it speeds up.

And I've got the general feeling things have greatly improved in speed.

[edit2]
My RAM seems to be at 50mb (20%) I used a ram cleaner program, went to 56% and slowly drops... Which could be the culprit.

On an average usage of a computer, what is an 'average' performance on a computer of my spec;

1.5ghz P4
256mb RAM
256 ATI Radeon 9550 AGP 4x

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 6th Sep 2006 01:07
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Okay it is official, my computer is crap as far as it spec goes. I've use the PC/RAM performance improving programs as far as I can, useing minimal processes, minimal resolution...windows performance settings maxed out, graphics card permances settings biased (rather than appearance)and follwing sid's advice and I still get damn lag! Heck I'm viewing this page in 800x600.

Its obviously something hardware. What does everyone else, think, parts to upgrade? If so which ones would be causing me grief, if I have to replace the motherboard, may as well get a new comp. Fancy making. After seeing how my PC should perform, it winds me up.

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Sid Sinister
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Posted: 6th Sep 2006 03:13
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What are your current computer specs Musashi?

How much money are willing to spend on a computer? Minus the case since you already have one(also minus keyboard, mouse, monitor and speakers).
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 6th Sep 2006 18:06
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My specs are 1.5ghz P4, 256mb RAM, 256mb ATI Radeon 95550 AGP 4x/8x(runs at 4x) Motherboard handles AGP 4x and 256mb RAM max, if you want more specs, I'll look them up.

As for a new computer, I was going to replace it anyway before uni with a Mac Pro, I priced up a nice one for £1,500, with the time until uni, thats a good price. Thats probaly the maximum I'll go, something cheaper would be nice, if I am convinced the stability, ease and knowledge knowing that the comp will be built up for the best, without irritating faults, then I will go PC, I priced up a cool one on Aria.co.uk, but I need to know more on whats a good spec, because even knowing what the fancy numbers mean, you're not always gonna get an efficient comp, as I can see with mine in comparisson with others.

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SimSmall
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Posted: 6th Sep 2006 20:16
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Quote: "1.5ghz P4"


get this upgraded if your board will take a faster processor - until about 2 months ago, I was finding my 1.6 GHz AthlonXP barely able to play anything - even unreal tournament 2004 on anything other than absolute lowest details. (Which says it wants only 1.0 GHz)
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 6th Sep 2006 20:27
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Oh right, how odd, mind you, my CPU does seem to be used up too easily to me, right now it is 25% with minimal processes. I'll uncover the capabilities of my motherboard, cheers.

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SimSmall
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Posted: 6th Sep 2006 20:33
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Until then, a small workaround could be to load your game, then CTRL ALT DEL , and make it a high priority process (If you have fraps active, then use AboveAverage instead)
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 6th Sep 2006 20:44 Edited at: 6th Sep 2006 21:01
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Thanks, I could do, I've tried setting other things to 'high priority' before and crashes my PC, but, theres no harm trying again

[edit]
What would you say to this processor?

http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=19456

Intel Pentium 4 2800 (HT,OEM,800)

CPU Speed - 2800ghz
Features - Hyper-Threading Technology Intel® NetBurst™ Micro-architecture 800Mhz System Bus Retail boxed with INtel Fan & Warranty

Front side bus - 800mhz

Level 2 cache - 512kb

Multiplier -14
Type - Socket 478 (Same as mine according to everest)

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SimSmall
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Posted: 6th Sep 2006 21:39 Edited at: 6th Sep 2006 21:41
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Good if your board will take it, but it appears not to be 64-bit, if so be prepared to upgrade again once everything starts demanding 64-bit capabilities. At which time, you'll likely need:

a new board,
a processor for it,
possibly new ram depending on the speed of your current ram,
probably a new graphics card since most new boards come with PCI-E, so later, they probably all will... Quite a shame since your current card sounds like it not all that old.

64-bit hasn't yet fully phased in, but it can't be far away now... With your current board, I'd say you could be in a bit of a sticky situation (and a costly one). How old is that computer of yours? You might be a ble to last for just a pinch longer...
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 6th Sep 2006 21:43
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Quote: "How old is that computer of yours?"

'twas bought in 2001.

I don't think my motherboard can hack much, as this computer isn't paid by me and my parents have their owner ship over it, they won't be happy if I turn it into my own with too many upgrades. I'll probaly just upgrade my processor, and either build a custom comp or save up for a Mac Pro.

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Sid Sinister
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Posted: 6th Sep 2006 22:16
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I say that processor sucks and you seriously need to think about upgrading. You don't need to go top of the line but seriously think about upgrading. By looking at your specs I can tell you that what you have is very low end and if you even want to consider playing any modern game anytime soon your going to need to upgrade. I'm suprised you can even get the games to appear with crashing with 256MB of RAM. I can also tell you right now that THAT computer may have been bought in 2001 but it certainly outdates it. I have a HP computer that was built in 98' that tops that.

How much are you willing to spend on a new PC? I could find you the parts you'd need to play modern games with a decent framerate for under $500 maybe $400. Not including case. You give me the green light and I'll do some searching for you.
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SimSmall
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Posted: 6th Sep 2006 23:00 Edited at: 6th Sep 2006 23:01
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$500?!! That's just over £265! (I'm sure ... "Mushi" (can I say that? ) would rather have native currency)

I'd be very impressed to find new components for average frame rates come to so little... I personally would like to see this, but - not my machine in question here... I'll take a passive role from now
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 6th Sep 2006 23:55
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£265 to me spells Dell quality parts to me, although topping good framerates, but at a cost other than money, which is one of my concerns with custom builds, heck builds in general, what can I trust to work for me, and what I can't, getting a good warranty will help but hey.

Quote: "(I'm sure ... "Mushi" (can I say that? ) "


If you must

As it seems I do need a new comp to survive, I'll build one or get a Mac, probaly build one because it'll be cheaper and well, this comp does annoy me, so sooner the better . I can price up my own satifactory comps up myself, but thanks for the offer, anything I chuck out I'll get a second opinion from any computer geeks I know.

Cheers.

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Sid Sinister
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Posted: 7th Sep 2006 00:19
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Suit yourself. Use newegg.com for great prices and helpful user reviews.
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dre
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Posted: 9th Sep 2006 06:01
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256 mb of ram? I feel very sorry for you right now...

Athlon 64 X2 4400+, nForce 4 Ultra chipset, 1 gig ddr400 d-channel, GeForce 7800 GTX OC,2 WD 74 gig Raptors in RAID
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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 9th Sep 2006 13:25
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haha, me too, but its enough to survive by at the moment if I don't wanna play new games within its optimal detail.

well I've set the high priority up for games, closed as many processes as I can and set my theme to windows classic. It works like a charm, I can play Call of Duty 2 (demo) at okay/good settings with out shaders, or with out some shaders (thought I saw a normal map in the odd place) and Age of Empires III at full settings, all giving little lag and good FPS rates, very playable. Now I am going to challenge it further .

Cheers.

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BluEarth Software
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Posted: 15th Sep 2006 14:48
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I was told that you should always upgrade your system board and processor at the same time, that way there would be no issues with finding the proper processor, and they useally come packaged together. Which makes them really cheap!

Your signature has been erased by a mod because it's larger than 600x120...
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indi
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Posted: 15th Sep 2006 15:31
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why not take it a step further and create User accounts for your gaming.

it will strip out a lot of junk within your OS while you play.
Its not reccomended for games where you can pause and check msn etc. but for complete attention games and high performance games it would be an advantage.

Its bleeeding obvious but hardly enacted on, and when you do your system has a a user account stripped down to the bare bones for the game.

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Seppuku Arts
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Posted: 15th Sep 2006 21:28
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Good point, I didn't think of that. Thanks

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