[golfturbo]

I currently have a pc with the spec below, replacing it isn't an option however upgrading it may be possibel.

I really need it to open the thumbnails of 1mb pics etc quickly, sometimes it can take about 2 - 3 miniutes to open the thumbnails of just 30 pictures which is just plain frustrating! Any advise would be greatfuly recieved!

Operating System		System Model
Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (build 2600)		Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a		Main Circuit Board b
2.40 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 8 kilobyte primary memory cache 512 kilobyte secondary memory cache		Board: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD MS-6760 Bus Clock: 133 megahertz BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 09/04/2003
Drives		Memory Modules c,d
312.42 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity 141.77 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space ATAPI CD-RW 52XMax [CD-ROM drive] 3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive] Maxtor 6Y060L0 [Hard drive] (61.49 GB) -- drive 0, s/n Y2VG9LTE, rev YAR41BW0, SMART Status: Healthy Maxtor OneTouch USB Disk (250.99 GB) -- drive 3		992 Megabytes Installed Memory Slot 'A0' has 1024 MB Slot 'A1' is Empty
	Local Drive Volumes
	f: (NTFS on drive 0) 61.48 GB 8.91 GB free g: (FAT32 on drive 3) 250.93 GB 132.86 GB free
	Network Drives
	None detected
Users (mouse over user name for details)		Printers
[B]local user accounts[/B] last logon [IMG]file:///F|/Program Files/Belarc/Advisor/System/local/images/trans.gif[/IMG] Steve 20/06/2005 18:42:22 (admin) [B]local system accounts[/B] [IMG]file:///F|/Program Files/Belarc/Advisor/System/local/images/trans.gif[/IMG] Administrator never (admin) [IMG]file:///F|/Program Files/Belarc/Advisor/System/local/images/trans.gif[/IMG] ASPNET never [IMG]file:///F|/Program Files/Belarc/Advisor/System/local/images/trans.gif[/IMG] Guest never [IMG]file:///F|/Program Files/Belarc/Advisor/System/local/images/no.gif[/IMG] HelpAssistant never [IMG]file:///F|/Program Files/Belarc/Advisor/System/local/images/no.gif[/IMG] SUPPORT_388945a0 never Marks a disabled account; Marks a locked account​		HP DeskJet 840C/841C/842C/843C on USB001 hp LaserJet 1010 on DOT4_001 pdfFactory 2 on FPP2:
Controllers		Display
Standard floppy disk controller OEI-USB CompactFlash USB Device [Controller] OEI-USB SM/MS/SD USB Device [Controller] Primary IDE Channel [Controller] Secondary IDE Channel [Controller] SiS PCI IDE Controller		SiS M650 [Display adapter] AOC LM720/LM720A [Monitor] (17.1"vis, s/n 08538JA005807, August 2003)
Bus Adapters		Multimedia
SiS 7001 PCI to USB Open Host Controller (3x) SiS PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller		Realtek AC'97 Audio Windigo Virtual Audio Device (WDM)
Communications		Other Devices
Communications cable between two computers [Modem] Communications cable between two computers #2 [Modem] Standard 9600 bps Modem Windigo Bluetooth DUN Modem 1394 Net Adapter Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC primary Auto IP Address: 192. Gateway: 192. Dhcp Server: 192. Physical Address: 00:0C:76:22:08:AE Networking Dns Server: 192.		OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller Bluetooth COM Bridge HID-compliant consumer control device USB Human Interface Device Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard Maxtor 1394 Storage Front Panel Microsoft USB Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer (IntelliPoint) Generic USB Hub Maxtor OneTouch USB Mass Storage Device USB Root Hub (4x)
Virus Protection [Back to Top]
Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition Version 9.3.0.1000 Scan Engine Version 51.1.0.15 Virus Definitions Version 22/06/2005 Rev 17 Last Disk Scan on 24 May 2005 21:44:31 Realtime File Scanning On

 

[Coolcurly Pt 2]

CPU could be upgraded, but to be honest you wouldnt see that much of an increase.

What type of Memory are you using as you seem to have enough to make the machine fast??

Also, what connection are you uploading the pictures through? Firewire? USB 2?

 

[golfturbo]

I upload using USB 2 but the problem is really accessing them from the HDD, RAM is new last month

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.asp?Mfr%2BProductline=MSI+%28Micro+Star%29%2B+Desktops&mfr=MSI+%28Micro+Star%29&cat=&model=MS-6251+%28MEGA+651%29&submit=Go

 

[Coolcurly Pt 2]

Crucial Memory is one of the best, so thats ok.

USB 2.0 is quick, but not as quick as Firewire.

What speed is your 60GB HDD? That could be the bottleneck..........a faster newer drive would have a faster data transfer rate.....

Im just ticking off all the different things...

 

[mh]

i think your hard drive is fine its not a bad spec see below link

http://www.maxtor.com/_files/maxtor/en_us/documentation/data_sheets/diamondmax_plus_9_data_sheet.pdf

looks like your on board graphics could be what slows it down you are using 32mb try increasing this in the bios.

the memory you have bought is too slow in my opinion. your CPU should be fine.

The easy upgrade I would try is this:

Find out your Exact Motherboard Model (report back to here) and when you know exactly what your it can take from me get Faster Ram (Perhaps DDR333 will work with your Motherbeard) and a AGP graphics card.

The Ideal Solution would be:

New motherboard with Dane-Elec DDR400 memory and a graphics card.

I can supply and fit any of the above. (you should be able to fit graphics card and ram yourself)

 

[shiuming]

What budget do you have? You might be surprised at what processor, motherboard and memory configurations you can now buy for very little money. I don't think what you do really requires a powerful graphics card, as your requirements are mostly CPU/memory/disk intensive, not real-time 3D graphics.

 

[john_wintle]

Looking at it from another angle, how large are the images that you are trying to load, and into which s/w package are you loading them?

 

[golfturbo]

I'm just trying to preview them as thumbnails in an windows folder, the files are around 1mb and are about 1280 x 1024

The problem I think I may have with board etc is that the MEGA PC is somewhat small! Will other boards etc fit in it?

 

[mh]

not seen a mega pc is there a pic ?

 

[golfturbo]

MSI Mega PC

Pics & Specs....

 

[golfturbo]

http://www.maxtor.com/_files/maxtor/en_us/documentation/data_sheets/diamondmax_plus_9_data_sheet.pdf

Looks like your on board graphics could be what slows it down you are using 32mb try increasing this in the bios.

Stupid question, but where should this be changed (I know you said Bios but help me out!) and also what should it ideally be increased too!

 

[mh]

when the pc is first turned on press the 'del' key on your keyboard to enter the bios
(Turn PC on and keep pressing 'del' on and off)

use the arrow keys on your keyboard so that 'integrated peripherals' is highlighted

press enter

use the arrow keys to go to 'system share memory size'

press enter and it should show you what the maximum can be - s elect the maximum setting and press enter

or if it needs you to type the value enter 128

(If the Maximum is 32MB then just press Enter on that)

press 'Esc' on the keyboard

use the arrow keys to go to 'Save and Exit Setup' and press Enter - your PC will now reboot

 

[golfturbo]

Ok, settings changed in BIOS although would only allow a max of 64mb

Doesn't seem to have made alot of difference though

 

[golfturbo]

I could probably get away with about ?200 - ?250. I like the machine size I've got as it's neat asnd compact hence why I don't really want to change the actual PC but would prefer to upgrade!

 

[mh]

according to the specs of your PC you can Run PC2700 (333Mhz)

 

[golfturbo]

Can you price for this please?

 

[mh]

512Mb PC2700 would be ?35+Vat including delivery

but out of stock at the moment

theres also no garantee that this will speed things up significantly