Faster Processor?

[Jonka]

G'Day from Downunder.
The name is John and I am a retiree now residing on the Central Coast of NSW. We are having the best Autumn (Fall) weather we have had for some time, cool mornings and warm bright sunny days.
Main hobby is woodworking, the kind where you reduce nice bits of timber to sawdust. Have used a number of woodworking forums in the past.
Now have more time to concentrate on improving my computer skills and the computer itself. So my question is what is the fastest processor I can use in my Asus P5KPL-AM/PS motherboard which currently has fitted an Intel E5300 Socket 775 processor?
Look forward to reading your advice.

Cheers --- John

[DMB2000uk]

Hi John, Welcome to LR.

Provided your motherboard is updated to the latest BIOS, it will support any current Socket 775 processor, so the limiting factor will become how much do you want to spend on it?

Dan

[Jonka]

Hi Dan,

Good to hear from you, thank you for your thoughts and words of wisdom..
Two comments. Everything I read says don't mess with BIOS unless you know what you are doing, I don't Secondly does a budget of $150 max sound reasonable?

Cheers --- John

[DMB2000uk]

The fastest CPU for that amount (presuming AUD) would be the 2.93 GHz Intel E7500.

While it's true that it's best to leave your BIOS alone if it's working fine, the update procedure is pretty straight forward and relatively safe. There are two easy ways to update your BIOS with Asus, either by using the 'update BIOS' feature in the BIOS itself, or run a program from Asus that will let you update the BIOS while still in windows.

Dan

[Jonka]

Thanks Dan,

Went wandering around eBay looking at processor prices and found a E7500 for $AUS125.99, also an E8500, that if I saved up my pension I could get for $259, presumably the E8500 is the faster of the two?
On your advice took a look at the Asus site regarding Bios and was quickly bamboozled by the technical jargon. Think I will abide by the old adage 'if it ain't broke don't fix it. Regardless, appreciate your help anyway.

Cheers --- John

[DMB2000uk]

What sort of things will you be using your machine for?

The E8500 will be faster, but unless you're going to be doing lots of demanding stuff with your PC, I don't think it's worth spending twice as much on (as it'll be at most 10-15% faster depending on use).

Dan

[Jonka]

I'm a fairly average user on the computer. Mainly web surfing and a fair amount of emailing and downloading the odd bit of software. The reason behind my request for speed is that if I am doing a backup to my external USB drive, then try and do something else my web browser (Firefox) is slow to download then if I try to view a video link from a site all is reduced to a crawl. I now try and do my backups overnight but if I still download some software and surf at the same time, even with my current duo processor, they both seem to take an eternity.

I get your point on the pricing comparison between the E7500 and the E8500, looks like the way to go is the E7500.

I managed to make a slight change to my registry a while ago but I followed a numbered step by step guide. Now if there was something similar around for updating the BIOS I just might have a crack at it, hint hint!!

John

[hnzw_rui]

Lol, by the sound of it, you don't need a faster processor. Seems like what you want to replace is your hard drive, probably with an SSD. You might also benefit from a faster internet connection. By the way, I don't think a higher clocked processor would help much with your multi-tasking woes. If you want to upgrade the CPU, a quad-core is probably better.

[DMB2000uk]

How much RAM do you have? What make/model hard drive arenyou using? And what version of windows are you running?

Odds are that there's more at work here than your CPU slowing the system down (in which case even a quad core wouldnt really help). It sounds like stuff is having to use the hard drive a lot and that's when you're experiencing your slowdowns. This could be due to not having enough RAM or a old/slow hard drive. So you probably need
more RAM or a faster hard drive.

Like Geokiller mentioned a SSD would sort the hard drive slowness out (because they are very fast hard drives), but they're probably going to be too expensive (especially in AUD hardware prices!). You can still get pretty fast hard drives though, so if the Hard drive turns out to be the problem then there's still an upgrade oppertunity.

Dan

[Jonka]

Is this any help?

Field Value
Computer
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
User Name John
Computer Name JOHNSCOMPUTER
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 3

Motherboard
System Memory 3584 MB
BIOS Type AMI (06/10/09)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM2)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)
CPU Type Intel Pentium III Xeon, 2633 MHz (7.5 x 351)
Motherboard Name Unknown
Motherboard Chipset Unknown

Display
Monitor LG W2252(Digital) [NoDB] (1811175081)
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT (512 MB)

Multimedia
Audio Adapter Intel 82801GB ICH7 - High Definition Audio Controller [A-1]

Storage
Disk Drive Canon MP550 series USB Device
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive HDT722516DLA380 (160 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4163B (DVD+R9:4x, DVD+RW:16x/8x, DVD-RW:16x/6x, DVD-RAM:5x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:40x/24x/40x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM)
IDE Controller Intel(R) ICH7 Family Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 27DF
IDE Controller Intel(R) N10/ICH7 Family Serial ATA Storage Controller - 27C0
SMART Hard Disks Status OK
Disk Drive SAMSUNG SP0411N (40 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)
Disk Drive ST332062 0A USB Device (298 GB, USB)
Disk Drive ST3500418AS (465 GB, IDE)

Partitions
D: (NTFS) 124997 MB (77724 MB free)
J: (NTFS) 163630 MB (148851 MB free)
H: (NTFS) 351940 MB (337494 MB free)
C: (NTFS) 37377 MB (19079 MB free)
G: (NTFS) 45492 MB (44635 MB free)
Total Size 786.9 GB (687.7 GB free)
E: (NTFS) 82347 MB (76443 MB free)

Input
Mouse Microsoft USB IntelliMouse Web
Keyboard Microsoft Wired Keyboard 600 (IntelliType Pro)

Network
Modem Communications cable between two computers
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8169/8110 Family Gigabit Ethernet NIC (192.168.1.101)
Modem Standard 2400 bps Modem

Peripherals
USB Device Canon MP550 ser
Printer Canon MP550 series Printer
USB Device Generic USB Hub
USB Device Generic USB Hub
USB2 Controller Intel 82801GB ICH7 - Enhanced USB2 Controller [A-1]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801GB ICH7 - USB Universal Host Controller [A-1]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801GB ICH7 - USB Universal Host Controller [A-1]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801GB ICH7 - USB Universal Host Controller [A-1]
USB1 Controller Intel 82801GB ICH7 - USB Universal Host Controller [A-1]
USB Device Microsoft USB IntelliMouse Web
Printer Microsoft XPS Document Writer
Printer Send To OneNote 2007
USB Device Unknown Device
USB Device USB Composite Device
USB Device USB Composite Device
USB Device USB Human Interface Device
USB Device USB Human Interface Device
USB Device USB Mass Storage Device
USB Device USB Mass Storage Device
USB Device USB Printing Support

[DMB2000uk]

That's great thanks.

You've got quite an interesting hard drive setup there. Do you know how it's broken down in regards to physical hard drives and which drive letters are running on which drive? The easiest way to find out is to show us a screenshot of your computers disk management.

To get the disk management program open, right click on my computer, click manage then click on the "disk management" section. Make sure the window is big enough to see all the blue bars on all the different drives at the bottom. Now take a screenshot and upload it to your reply (Press the 'PrtScrn' key on your keyboard, open up paint and edit>paste the screenshot into paint. Then save it as a jpg and upload it to this thread using the 'upload attachment' feature when replying).


From the information you already posted, I did see that you have a 40GB drive in your PC, it the C: drive is running from the 40GB drive, this could be the cause of why your computer feels so slow. If it's possible to do, you'd definitely notice a performance improvement if you re-installed your computer to the 500GB drive, seeing how your drives and drive letters are arranged will be the easiest way of working out how to do this or if it's even true.

Dan

[Jonka]

That was quite an exercise into the unknown (for me). I managed to get lost a few times especially when trying to save it but it looks OK on preview.
My computer has grown over the years, with the assistance of various "experts". The most recent was a few months ago when I bought a new CoolMaster case, motherboard (current) and processor (current) and the 500GB hard drive. It was all then installed into the new case in the arrangement as attached. I suggested at the time that all the drives could perhaps be consolidated onto the 500 GB drive but was told I would loose all my software and would have to do a clean reinstall of Win XP Pro. This I was reluctant to do at the time, so I guess the current arrangement was a compromise. I currently have a paid version of Genie Backup Manager and I surmise that if I do a backup of 'everything' then a move to the 500Gb drive may be feasible?

Really appreciate all your assistance, my thanks --- John

[DMB2000uk]

Moving everything off of the 500GB drive, then installing windows onto it would be the best plan. But, like was brought up last time, it will mean you have to re-install all your programs and then put all your data back on again, but it should be worth it.

In terms of saving the data from the D: drive before installing windows, you could literally just copy it all across to the H: partition on the drive drive, and then install windows onto the D: partition. But when you're installing windows, be very careful to make sure it's the 122GB partition you install to (might be listed in MB's so around 124997MB), and not the larger one (or another drive) as installing it anywhere else will erase your data.

Dan

[Jonka]

I think a reformat of the 500GB drive, then reinstalling Windows is the way to go. Might also be a good time to be thinking of a Win 7 install while I'm at it as I believe that you can't upgrade to Win 7 from XP. Quite used to reinstalling everything after big crashes I have had in the past. May also take the opportunity to remove all the other drives and just leave the 500Gb on its own. Could perhaps improve speed with only one drive to read instead of multiples. I am assuming that whatever OS I subsequently install will look after the partitioning for me? My only concern if I go this way is resetting how the computer will read the new drive sequence. Can not get my head round the Master, Slave, Primary thing.The way I understand it is that first it checks if there is a DVD in place then would read the 500GB drive that I assume it will designate as C:\ then the external drive that currently is J:\. I think I will need an "Dummies Guide to Installing Hard Drives"
Not sure if you are familiar with the Genie Backup Manager I have? This I have installed on my external drive as if the main computer crashes I hopefully can restore things back the way they were..Currently it is set to restore things back to the drives as they are now.I can imagine the chaos if I tried this with only one drive remaining as suggested above. However, I have discovered that I can nominate the drive for restoration and could use the remaining partition after the OS has been installed, that's my reading of it correct me if I'm wrong.
Sorry about bombarding you with all these questions and thank you for your patience and understanding. --- John

[DMB2000uk]

If you're going to install win 7, it'll be a lot easier to see how the drives are partitioned when installing it new compared to XP. All the partitions will be recognised by win 7 and you'll be able to use whichever one you choose right away.

In regards to which drive it will try to use first, in the BIOS there will be a section called 'boot' (or similar), and on that page you will be able to tell it which hard drive to look on first for the OS. Whichever you set first there, windows will probably look at first and call C:.

While you're re-installing I think it would be a lot easier to manage everything if you were to drop all the different partitions. So before you do anything, make sure you copy everything off of your partitions that you want to keep, and then when installing win 7 you should be able to reformat the whole drives (except the USB one, because I presume that'll be where you've saved everything to) and remove all the partitions to make installing and looking after everything easier.

I'd take out the 40GB drive completely, but for a reason I'll tell you after you've reinstalled (don't want to throw too much at you right now ), leave the 160GB drive in the computer.

I'm afraid I've never used Genie, so can't really help you out there. Once you've installed win 7 though, I'm sure you'd be able to re-set up genie to take new backups and it should work out the new drives and partition setup on its own. It will mean that you won't be able to restore what you have backed up right now, unless as you discovered, setting the restore destination will allow it to restore to a new location.

Dan

[Jonka]

Thanks Dan for all the great info.
Here's what I plan to do.
1. Back up every drive and every folder on every drive, except of course the external one (J) where the back up will be stored. Discovered that not only can I restore to a designated destination but can also predetermine which folders to restore also. This is going to take some time as the last time I did a full backup it took 48 hours to complete.

2. Troll eBay for a Win 7 OS. This is where the budget I had for another processor will likely go. Depending on what is available will probably go for Win 7 Pro but if the price is right the Ultimate version. Will also try for a retail version as I will then have a choice of 32 or 64 bit, but will probably only need 32 for what I do. I understand that there are OEM versions available but these sound a bit suspect.

3. Wait until the OS is in my hot little hand then crack open the computer case.

4. Remove the 40GB drive leaving the 500Gb and 160GB drives in place.

5. Reformat both the above drives.

6. Install Win 7

7. If all goes well report back to you. and you can satisfy my curiosity as to what you have in store for the 40 GB drive. If things go bung I will get in touch via my wife's computer after registering with LR again.

I am going to take my time in doing all the above and it will be interspersed with a couple of wood working projects that have been on the back burner too long now.

On a more personal note, I guess you are resident in the UK? I was born in Watford Herts more years ago than I care to admit. Migrated to Australia in 1964 after marrying this delightful Aussie girl who brought me home as a souvenir of her overseas trip.

Fingers crossed --- John

[DMB2000uk]

It sounds good.

I don't have a use in mind for the 40GB drive, but I do for the 160GB drive. I figure you've got enough storage with the 500 and 160 to not need the 40, and it'll remove a bit of clutter in your PC.

Yeah, I'm English too.

From up Derbyshire myself, Chesterfield to be specific.

I can't imagine leaving everything behind like you must have, but I bet it was a hell of a rush! If I had to emigrate somewhere though, it would have to be Aus, or maybe Canada.


Good luck, and be sure to let me know how it all goes.

Dan