What would be my most effective solution(s) for getting rid of the computer slow downs?

[AntMan]

Current Computer Spec...

MSI KT3 Ultra
Athlon 1800
1GIG of ram 2100 DDR
Audigy MP3
Radeon 9700
2x IBM Desktar 60GPX's



Bottom line the computer laggs to much... When doing alot of multitasking, or just using powerful programs like photoshop or what not, the computer drops to ultra slow levels..

Here's a small list of some of the programs I use



Asheron's Call 2
Office XP Pro
Front Page
PhotoShop
Homeworks Interactive
Sonic MyDVD
Visual Studio . Net



Thanks so much for any help in advance... basicaly looking at which ways/options I can head in order to improving these speed flaws..

 

[Filter]

try changing your swap file to a set size. defrag your harddrive. i have almost an identical machine except for vid card and only got 512 of ram. and i only get a little slow down running asherons call 2. i think that is more of a program issue that should be fixed over time with the monthly updates. but your other programs shouldnt be making you run that slow.

 

[Brian48]

Get a RAID controller and install the two HDDs onto it. You've got plenty of RAM for Photoshop and Visual Studios, but you still need to wait for the HDD to load the data into it.

 

[AntMan]

I used some cheap ddr 2100 ram... could that be it?



It was fry's generic brand...


and thanks Filter, I'll go ahead and do those again.

 

[Arhra]

When is the last time you ran a Disk Defragmenter? That could be causing some of the problems, as it would take a bit longer to retrieve information on the Hard Drive if it is fragmented.