kona0197 kona0197

So the computer finally is showing it's age

So the computer finally is showing it's age

It's taken me awhile to start this thread, sorry. I know this may end up in flame wars. Again I am sorry.

So everyone knows my situation. Well those close to me on this site do. My computer is finally showing signs of how old it truly is. Keep in mind my computer has a Pentium 4 processor so I am guessing this setup to be almost ten years old. The problem, even after a few friends helped me here with a new hard drive and more memory, is the rest of the system. The processor can't keep up with the newer operating systems. I'm having a hard time just running XP. Found out the other day my DVD Burner drive is almost dead as it will read disc sometimes and other times it will not. Monitor is on it's last legs as well. Hard to read anything and the brightness is going out. It's an old CRT Dell monitor that is almost as old as the tower.

As Starkers had told you this computer is my main way to communicate with the things that are important in my life. So I was hoping someone out there had a few newer parts I could install to extend the life of the machine a bit. Nothing special. I already have DDR2 memory and a newer hard drive. Just need a few other things.

So carry on. Discuss I guess.

1,124,562 views 739 replies
Reply #651 Top

It must be that pesky Power On LED thats slows me down. I'll unplug it to speed my rig up.  ;P BTW, Monk, the gfx card, CPU and PSU all have fans too. Do you advocate getting rid of those?  Go ahead and disable all your fans and tell us how fast your rig boots in a few days. :P

If only I could afford a 10KW PSU, I could boot in 2-3 seconds, I'll bet.

 

Reply #652 Top

Yeah, Wiz. That LED takes a few nanoseconds to light up. Better disable it, you'll increase your boot speed!   ;P

Reply #653 Top

I've been running AMD machines for about 8 years and a 20 - 30 second boot time with a clean install on a platter drive is nigh impossible.  I can get below 30 [25 - 26 seconds] with my SSD's in RAID0, but a regular platter drive is not going to replicate those times.

As for the fans, I have 6 big buggers spinning up at boot on my rig and I doubt very much that I'd see faster boots from switching them off.

Now kona, your most recently posted boot time of a 1m.30s is not bad, okay!!!  You cannot expect to get the kind of boot times others here are getting with SSD's, not with your hardware. However, given your hardware, a minute thirty is quite decent, so not to worry, okay?

 

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Reply #654 Top

Quoting starkers, reply 653
Now kona, your most recently posted boot time of a 1m.30s is not bad, okay!!! You cannot expect to get the kind of boot times others here are getting with SSD's, not with your hardware. However, given your hardware, a minute thirty is quite decent, so not to worry, okay?

What the good Cap'n said. :thumbsup:

Reply #655 Top

 

Alright......alright people.......so apparently the 'seconds' I count in my head are really long seconds!  hehe  :blush:

 

I timed it with a watch and my systems boot to the desktop between 44-54 (SSD's at 44) seconds not the 20-30 I originally claimed.     O:)     My apologies for misleading anyone in this thread. 

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Reply #656 Top

Quoting the_Monk, reply 655
My apologies for misleading anyone in this thread.
  Accepted. Now, about those fans. Ya might want to go turn a few of them back on. ;)

Reply #657 Top

I had a guy at work tell me his laptop with an I7 boots to desktop in five seconds, I just kept my laughter inside!And I bet it had a fan too.

 

Turn on computer, go get coffee, come back, works like a charm for me. A minute and 30 is fast,, IMO.

Reply #658 Top

Quoting doortech1, reply 657
Turn on computer, go get coffee, come back, works like a charm for me. A minute and 30 is fast,, IMO.

Yep, I agree......that is well within an acceptable boot time. You should not worry Kona, your rig seems to be doing just fine imo. My boot times are not much faster and I have a homebuilt custom rig, so I can confidently say that you're doing well my friend.

Reply #659 Top

Question, why is boot time that big of a deal to all of you? I may re-boot my main system once every couple weeks at best, the rest of the time it's up and running.

Do you guys really shut your PCs down that much? 

Reply #660 Top

Quoting CarGuy1, reply 659
Do you guys really shut your PCs down that much?
  I used to only shut mine down/reboot as needed. Nowadays I shut it off to save electricity and wear and tear on parts I can't afford to replace. Fast boot times don't mean  squat to me if I need to go start everything up manually so I can actually use the damn thing. o_O

There is more to life than spending it trying to increase its pace.

Reply #661 Top

you make a very good point CarGuy......I've always been an advocate of leaving the system up and running as opposed to always shutting down. The reason primarily for leaving a system up and running is because, in all actuality, it is much harder on platter drives to always have to spin up and then shut down and it is twice as hard on an IC chip. Even though they are made of the latest polymers, the biggest enemy is expansion and contraction which will inevitably lead to microscopic cracks that will lead to catastrophic failure eventually. The more you heat-up and then cool down a polymer the more brittle it becomes over time. Your computers internals actually suffer less stress if they are left on and temperatures remain constant and stable over an extended period of time. My rig is an energy hog no doubt, but I think I probably break even by leaving my system running rather than shortening the life of the components and having to replace them sooner than later.     -- Ace --

Reply #662 Top

I agree Ace, not only does it save wear and tear on your drives, as Jafo pointed out a while back it affects other components like his CPU fan.

If he hadn't shut his system down, it would probably still be running today.

Reply #663 Top

I do it with my laptop, put it to sleep at night then wake it up in the morning.

Reply #664 Top

Yeah I've just been putting the system to sleep. Is this a good behavior? I'll take some time readings of boot times and stuff when I am not so busy.

Reply #665 Top

Just trying to help Kona,Carguy, I really do not care myself. I am a leave it on always person myself.Work speed is what matters to me!

Reply #666 Top

I wish the OP luck, but what a ridiculous thread on a Stardock forum.

 

I could send lots of old parts, too, but it really is time to upgrade to a cheap new one.

Reply #667 Top

Not so ridiculous had you been a member as long as they have. These are good, generous folk here and we look after each other. Stick around and you'll see that for yourself.

Reply #668 Top

Quoting Uvah, reply 667

Not so ridiculous had you been a member as long as they have. These are good, generous folk here and we look after each other. Stick around and you'll see that for yourself.

As I said, I can send lots of stuff, man, but as others have said, there comes a time to KISS your computer goodbye.

 

Take care.

 

 

PS: Yes, I am very generous. Nothing to do with generosity.

I have sponsored children through World Vision.

Reply #669 Top

Ignorance is bliss I guess. Reading the whole post would be a better approach to knowing what your talking about, Dypsis. A lot of people spent a lot of time and effort and have already replaced the pc. 

 

Commenting without a clue is ridiculous!IMO.

Reply #670 Top

You are a rude bastard, doortech1.

Have you ever thought of sitting behind your keyboard and being polite?

 

There is already a thread about your type.

Please treat people with respect.

Reply #671 Top

Easy lads....I'm sure dypsis read the post before commenting. Benefit of the doubt and all that.

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Reply #672 Top

Looky here, dyppy. Personal attacks are not tolerated in the forums. You came late to this party, and for 665 replies, it has been handled by and for the community. kona has already replaced his aging PC,  without any input or contribution by you, I might add. Now he has questions pertaining to the proper care and configuration of what he now has. If you have something of merit to add to this thread, by all means, do so. If not, perhaps you should  find someplace else to be a troll.

Reply #673 Top

Quoting dypsis, reply 670
Please treat people with respect.
Respect is earned. Try to do so.

Thank you.

Reply #674 Top

Quoting dypsis, reply 670
You are a rude bastard, doortech1.

doortech1 is entirely correct and well within forum guidelines.... you are/were not.

You were given some good advice, I suggest you take it before commenting again..

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Reply #675 Top

Quoting kona0197, reply 635
Firefox and iTunes take minutes to start up.

Does anybody have any idea what he might do about that?  "That just ain't right."

Come to think of it Kona, how long does it take Firefox to start up if you set it to start up to a blank page?