Need Help with Tune-up

[zplugger]

Hello, went downstate last week and put together a computer for a friend. I did not have a lot of extra time too play around with it, he say's it seems slow opening files in MS word.
Asus-P5KC-P35
Q6600
2 GIG of Corsair- CM2X1024-6400 mem.
Windows XP Pro
I did not change any setting in Bois, I would like too OC the cpu too 3.0. Can I do this without changing the voltage? What would I have too do too get a little more speed out of this. Will it shorten the life of the cpu if I go too 3.0. He running the factory Heatsink that came with the cpu. Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[arkadi]

You joking right? You can trust me on this one….the CPU is not the problem. Word of advice, if you want to keep you friends, don’t play with the hardware, unless you absolutely sure what it is you doing.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

Ditto, test the memory sticks, see if they are ok, also, check for what kind of background services/programs he may have running, but I would NOT overclock for him. If you mess up his hardware, or if has errors, guess who gets to fix it and who gets to replace broken parts....

 

[Zorg]

What is slow in objective numbers.. seconds? What is his basis for that complaint? I don't see your HD. Are you using the old HD? Programs loading for the first time need to be read by the HD and are therefore limited by its read speed. Have him open the file and then close it and then open it again to see if it opens faster, due to the fact6 that will be read from RAM. I don't believe your RAM is bad or you would be having more problems. Here are some benchmarking programs that will help.

1. HDTune, hard drive speed tester

2. SiSoftware Sandra Lite, good for benching the CPU and comparing against equivalent CPUs. Also good for benching RAM for fun.

3. Core Temp, for monitoring temps.

4. Prime95 25.6, stress testing CPU, make sure you monitor temps

You can raise the frequency to 3G with the stock HS, but it will get warm especially if the stock HS gets loose. I prefer to use an aftermarket HS.

As was mentioned, I don't know whether you have the background to be building systems for other people, proceed with caution.

 

[Shadow703793]

^Agreed. It could be the page file. Yours is probably set at 4GB. Reduce this to 2.5GB or so. Also defrag the HDD. Download AusLogic Disk Defragment:
http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/download
runs much faster and better than the Windows defrag.

@OP: Do not go for a 3Ghz OC with a stock cooler. 2.7Ghz may be.

 

[zplugger]

what is the page file,4GB reduce to 2.7GB. Always looking too learn something new.

 

[Shadow703793]

In Windows XP go to My Computer, right click it and then choose Properties, go to the Advanced tab, click Performance Options, then click Settings.

Again click the Advanced tab and then in the Virtual Memory section click Change.

Now you can view and set the parameters you need.

Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging file you want to change.

Under Paging file size for selected drive, click Custom size, type a new paging file size in megabytes (MB) in the Initial size (MB) or Maximum size (MB) box, and then click Set.

If you decrease the size of either the initial or maximum paging file settings, you must restart your computer to see the effects of those changes. When you increase the paging file size, you typically do not need to restart your computer.

See:
http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htm

 

[Zorg]

How would reducing the page file increase performance? Certainly save disk space, but I don't think it will increase performance. I scanned your link, maybe you could post the quote for the recommendation to lower the page file to increase performance.

 

[Serj]

turning off the page file, defragging, then restoring the page file should actually help the most. I really like Perfect Disk personally. Unfortunately it's not freeware, but if you know how to do a good registry clean-up, usually you can reinstall when you need to
http://www.perfectdisk.com/products/downloadit/

In general, the rule of thumb for pagefile size is 1.5x RAM size. I have found that windows managing the file most of the time is fastest, but there are a few programs that need ALOT more. Just leave the pagefile at 2x memory both largest and smallest, but turn it off prior to a thorough defrag.

make sure your friend doesnt have antivirus on-demand scanning + bittorrent + things like spybot's Teatimer running simultaneously. all these running at once will make even a brand new gaming rig run like it's 4 years old.

 

[Shadow703793]

^Agreed. Check the back ground services.

 

[antas]

^_* Agreed with serj > we should make sure that there are no background services running.

IMO this is not a hardware issue, it could be. But at this stage I would say we take a look at softwares first:

1. Antivirus or Virus? Some antivirus are just not working well with some applications (like MS Office). It could hamper the loading time much. We should take considerations for virus too .. Is the antivirus up to date? Even worse, do you have one?

2. Other background services like serj mentioned (torrent etc). The easiest way to see is by looking into task manager and see the current load (memory & processor). If the load is 100% you screwed

I'm also as curious as Zorg: How would reducing page file size help increasing performance?

 

[Shadow703793]

Reducing the page file helps only when you have more than 4GB. By reducing the pagefile you will be able to reduce the access to the HDD at the cost of more RAM usage. You can not and should not completely get rid of the Page file, just decrease the size to about 1/2 or 2/3 of what Windows had set it to. Depending on what kind of software you are running the pagefile should not be decreased as some software requires a large pagefile.

 

[antas]

Ok, that makes sense Sadly I'm currently running on 2 gigs

 

[Shadow703793]

^You can still tweak the pagefile. Experiment with different settings and find the optimal one.