is PENTIUM D820, worth 8GB RAM UPGRADE?

[lukhie]

hello & hi everyone,

will i get any performance gain, when upgrade from 4GB to 8GB RAM (ddr3).

at present booting takes 169 seconds (soluto says so),
rendering of webpages (wired broadband connected through router), takes longer than my lappy (HP pavilion g6), on any browser.

i use it only for text publishing/printing, watching HD movies, browsing.

specs:
mobo: msi G41M-P26
CPU: Pentium d 820
GPU: ASUS HD EAH5450 1GB silent
RAM: EVM (stontium) 1333MHz 4GB
HDD: 1.160GB (2ndary)
2.1TB (primary, 7200)
Page file: disabled since a year, no problem. indeed it measured a significant performance gain of about 37s in booting, and fast access to background apps, while multitasking

regards

 

[RU482]

something is wrong with your computer if it takes almost 3 minutes to boot

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Nope. It makes 8GB of RAM only if you have a Core i series setup or at the very least C2Q 9xxx

 

[lukhie]

hello & hi everyone,

will i get any performance gain, when upgrade from 4GB to 8GB RAM (ddr3).

at present booting takes 169 seconds (soluto says so),
rendering of webpages (wired broadband connected through router), takes longer than my lappy (HP pavilion g6), on any browser.

i use it only for text publishing/printing, watching HD movies, browsing.

specs:
mobo: msi G41M-P26
CPU: Pentium d 820
GPU: ASUS HD EAH5450 1GB silent
RAM: EVM (stontium) 1333MHz 4GB
HDD: 1.160GB (2ndary)
2.1TB (primary, 7200)
Page file: disabled since a year, no problem. indeed it measured a significant performance gain of about 37s in booting, and fast access to background apps, while multitasking

regards

thanks RU482,

could u suggest y it takes, so long to boot???

 

[RU482]

take a look at the System Configuration (msconfig) and look at how many items are listed and checked under the startup tab.

As an example, I have 5 items that are checked, and about 10 others that are unchecked and thus do not launch with Windows. Depending on how many items, and what items you have there, your boot time could be significantly increased.

Also, what AntiVirus software are you using?

On the RAM question, under your most severe usage, what is the maximum amount of memory that is used? If it's less than 4GB, adding more RAM won't benefit you.

Are you using a 32bit or 64bit OS?

 

[lukhie]

any suggestions????

 

[joshhedge]

Get a new computer? That boot time is insane!

 

[Coup27]

any suggestions????

RU482 just gave you some suggestions.

Also, open task manager and see how many running processes there are. Thats a good indication of how much crap is on your computer.

 

[lukhie]

thanks RU482, for replyin with suggestions,

1. i have enabled startup(using msconfig), only for those, which i need at startup, apart from important apps, i have enable only a messanger (nimbuz)
2. earlier i was using kaspers basic version(paid one, for 3 years), now i have switched to avast free version(autoupdated every 2hours, they are also claiming cloud updates)
3. while doing multitasking, and opening multiple tabs, it sometimes goes upto 3gb of RAM, with pagefile disabled, upon enabling pagefile it becomes slow on responses..
4. i am using windows ultimate 64 bit version.

do you need any other info, (actually i changed my mobo, after it wasn't powering up after an experimental trial to install my new audio system, while trying to install/connect front panel connections)

1.will i benefit from dual channel memory configuration???
2.googling suggested, that more RAM, better the performance, but i didn't get info for my processor, all benchmarks and study were done with other processor!!

 

[fuzzymath10]

A single core P4 with 2GB RAM and an SSD will probably boot faster. In fact, my netbook (with a crappy N270) with 2GB RAM and a slow 8GB SSD boots in under a minute easily. You have two options:

1) SSD
2) Reformat, see if that helps and if not, SSD

 

[lukhie]

Get a new computer? That boot time is insane!

lol thanks joshhedge,

as i informed i use it as HTPC. when i came back home, i swtich it on before i removed my shoe, and by the time i was refreshed it showed up.. LOL...

actually my parents & little niece use it. i depend on my lappy for 60% of my work..

and some1 suggested me to upgrade the RAM..

But i appreciate that, booting is insane!!!

 

[lukhie]

take a look at the System Configuration (msconfig) and look at how many items are listed and checked under the startup tab.

As an example, I have 5 items that are checked, and about 10 others that are unchecked and thus do not launch with Windows. Depending on how many items, and what items you have there, your boot time could be significantly increased.

Also, what AntiVirus software are you using?

On the RAM question, under your most severe usage, what is the maximum amount of memory that is used? If it's less than 4GB, adding more RAM won't benefit you.

Are you using a 32bit or 64bit OS?

thanks RU482, for replyin with suggestions,

1. i have enabled startup(using msconfig), only for those, which i need at startup, apart from important apps, i have enable only a messanger (nimbuz)
2. earlier i was using kaspers basic version(paid one, for 3 years), now i have switched to avast free version(autoupdated every 2hours, they are also claiming cloud updates)
3. while doing multitasking, and opening multiple tabs, it sometimes goes upto 3gb of RAM, with pagefile disabled, upon enabling pagefile it becomes slow on responses..
4. i am using windows ultimate 64 bit version.

do you need any other info, (actually i changed my mobo, after it wasn't powering up after an experimental trial to install my new audio system, while trying to install/connect front panel connections)

1.will i benefit from dual channel memory configuration???
2.googling suggested, that more RAM, better the performance, but i didn't get info for my processor, all benchmarks and study were done with other processor!!

sorry for replying twice, as i am using mail client from lappy,

regards

 

[lukhie]

Nope. It makes 8GB of RAM only if you have a Core i series setup or at the very least C2Q 9xxx

:thumbsup:thanks,

since u have gone through tech detail,
i want to ask do u mean, that pentium d doesn't support dual memory configuration??

regards..

 

[RU482]

my understanding of the pagefile is that it is a supplement to the RAM. In other words, when something won't fit into RAM, it will write it to the pagefile on the HDD.

That said, disabling the page file is typically not recommended unless you have a large amount of RAM. Also, you will not see a noticeable performance gain unless your disk is near full.

Where disabling the pagefile becomes important is when you are using small disks (example, a small SSD). In this situation, you don't want to waste drive space on a page file. Even in this scenario, I recommend setting the page file to a variable size, with the minimum set as low as you can (I think it's somewhere around 512MB on Win7, maybe a little less) and the max to the size of the RAM.

Another thought - google "defraggler portable". Download the portable build of defraggler, and take a look at how fragmented your primary HDD is....fragmentation will show up as RED blocks. In any case, run the defragmentation.

 

[lukhie]

A single core P4 with 2GB RAM and an SSD will probably boot faster. In fact, my netbook (with a crappy N270) with 2GB RAM and a slow 8GB SSD boots in under a minute easily. You have two options:

1) SSD
2) Reformat, see if that helps and if not, SSD

thanks fuzzymath10,

are u already using P4, with SSD??
as u indicated to reformat, i have done it about 3 month back, with no significant improvement.

do u think, that culprit is HDD??

second thought, since both ssd (Kingston SSDNow V100 64 GB SSD Internal Hard Drive (SV100S2/64G))
and new cpu (dual core E6600)
have almost same price tag, considering my mobo, i don't want to buy, new mobo, till october 2014(yes its expiry date of my mobo warranty:biggrin
which one is better??
anyways, i am not familier with SSD, so i was thinking how did you installed os on 8GB SSD?? just being curious!!!

regards

 

[Throckmorton]

You can use a Pentium D in a mobo that is new enough to support DDR3??

 

[Phynaz]

See what Microsoft Autoruns tells you.

 

[fuzzymath10]

thanks fuzzymath10,

are u already using P4, with SSD??
as u indicated to reformat, i have done it about 3 month back, with no significant improvement.

do u think, that culprit is HDD??

second thought, since both ssd (Kingston SSDNow V100 64 GB SSD Internal Hard Drive (SV100S2/64G))
and new cpu (dual core E6600)
have almost same price tag, considering my mobo, i don't want to buy, new mobo, till october 2014(yes its expiry date of my mobo warranty:biggrin
which one is better??

anyways, i am not familier with SSD, so i was thinking how did you installed os on 8GB SSD?? just being curious!!!

regards

I didn't use a P4 but an Atom CPU is fairly comparable. The CPU has less of an effect on boot time vs the speed of your storage, and even a Pentium D is fast enough for that. The 8GB ssd was running a shrunk version of Vista and later W7.

You could find a cheap Pentium dual core (E2000 model) or Core 2 Duo (E4000 or E6000) and they are all better and an E2000-series CPU should be extremely cheap (I sold one for $20 awhile ago). With an SSD (even 64gb) it will be a very usable PC for non-gaming tasks for awhile, with 4gb ram.

 

[Bman123]

I used a pentium D 830 cpu before and that thing was god awful slow. Dont waste money buying a core 2 duo unless you can get it dirt cheap.

Take it how you want but here is my suggestion on all this. Instead of buying a SSD buy a celeron G530 cpu and cheap H61 board, should put you around $80 if you shop smart. 4 gb of ddr3 ram for $25-$30 so say $110 and you will have a way better pc

 

[lukhie]

my understanding of the pagefile is that it is a supplement to the RAM. In other words, when something won't fit into RAM, it will write it to the pagefile on the HDD.

That said, disabling the page file is typically not recommended unless you have a large amount of RAM. Also, you will not see a noticeable performance gain unless your disk is near full.

Where disabling the pagefile becomes important is when you are using small disks (example, a small SSD). In this situation, you don't want to waste drive space on a page file. Even in this scenario, I recommend setting the page file to a variable size, with the minimum set as low as you can (I think it's somewhere around 512MB on Win7, maybe a little less) and the max to the size of the RAM.

Another thought - google "defraggler portable". Download the portable build of defraggler, and take a look at how fragmented your primary HDD is....fragmentation will show up as RED blocks. In any case, run the defragmentation.

thanks a lot RU482 for ur step by step guidance,

I wouldn't mind enabling pagefile but it load snappier, when pagefile disabled, that's y i left it disabled.

as suggested, m already using Defraggler, since 3-4 yrs(scheduled monthly), i did a scan it shows 3% defragmentation.

any opion on SSD..??

 

[lukhie]

You can use a Pentium D in a mobo that is new enough to support DDR3??

Thanks for reply,

my mobo MSI G41M-P26, is already sporting a single 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 RAM!! (running at 800MHz)

 

[lukhie]

I didn't use a P4 but an Atom CPU is fairly comparable. The CPU has less of an effect on boot time vs the speed of your storage, and even a Pentium D is fast enough for that. The 8GB ssd was running a shrunk version of Vista and later W7.

You could find a cheap Pentium dual core (E2000 model) or Core 2 Duo (E4000 or E6000) and they are all better and an E2000-series CPU should be extremely cheap (I sold one for $20 awhile ago). With an SSD (even 64gb) it will be a very usable PC for non-gaming tasks for awhile, with 4gb ram.

Thanks for a lucid statement:thumbsup:
cpu has less effect on boot time, does it mean the problem's solution lies in a SSD??
don't mind but i didn't get!! what's a shrunk version???

meanwhile i also got this link, suggested in a forum.
http://itexpertvoice.com/home/what%E2%80%99s-taking-so-long-how-to-fight-slow-startup-times-in-windows-7/

havn't gone, in detail. but the last comment also suggested SSD.
so before i invest in SSD, i wil follow the link on thursday (sorry i have to go, i work in shifts)

will post everything that's handy,
i hope to c, u again!!()

till then
take care

 

[wpcoe]

As far as speeding up boot time, you can go into Services and (after disabling unneeded services) set appropriate services to "Automatic (Delayed Start)."

That just shifts the processing burden from "now" until "later," but it can make a computer seem faster since it will boot to a workable desktop faster.

 

[Zap]

I wouldn't mind enabling pagefile but it load snappier, when pagefile disabled, that's y i left it disabled.

This indicates a performance problem with your HDD. Check to see if it is running the proper mode, and that you have the proper motherboard drivers installed. What model HDD is it? Old HDDs are quite slow compared to new ones, let alone SSDs.

 

[exdeath]

Time for SSD. It's the cassette tape that you use as a boot drive holding you back, not RAM. From experience, for a casual use machine to browse the web etc, I would take a 10 year old PC with an SSD all day any day over a new PC with a primitive HDD. What good is a 16 core CPU with 16 GB of RAM when it's all idle waiting on disk interrupts all day?

Browser speed is heavily affected by random write performance of the storage device due to having to write to temporary internet files and most pages being a bloated inefficient mess. Consider an ad blocker as well. Downloading 100 MB of Flash garbage that initializes and freezes the entire browser for seconds every time you open a web page isn't going to help an already slow PC.

If you want web pages to load as fast as they did in the dial up days (eg: before flash, video, Java, etc, infected the web) I suggest the following: SSD + Chrome + AdBlock.