Question for Vista Owners.

[Kamal]

I have an old-ish PC (3.2 Ghz P4 + 1GB Ram) running Vista and the performance is less than desireable. The sidebar widget that displays CPU and RAM usage shows CPU consumption is maxed out at 100% whereas the RAM lingers between 60 - 80%. Will adding more RAM resolve the slowish performance issue ? (I know most will say yes right off the bat but the reason I'm confused is that the RAM consumption never reaches 100% so there could potentially be available memory for use, its the CPU that seems to be going belly up)

I also did that Vista "score" thingamagig and my CPU received the lowest rating.

My question is, should I still try and add more RAM to remedy the situation or should I just upgrade and get a relatively el-cheapo dual core HP machine (which I dont really want to do because I spent a load on my current system when I built it and dont want to retire it just yet, however if it needs to be upgraded, then it needs to be upgraded.)

Some may wonder that the price difference spending $100 for RAM vs. at least $600 for a new PC doesn't make sense. Thing is I'm trying to reduce the noise the PC makes because of overheating and fans blowing outta control. For this purpose, I need to get a new case (about $50), a new CPU fan (about $24), new HD ($160) and the ram ($100).

This totals up to about $340 (shipping + taxes extra) so spending the extra $200 for a new machine isn't as bad.

I've been struggling with this decision because I dont really want to change my old PC but at the same time I am not sure if I spend the $340, get the upgrades, dont get the result I am hoping for i.e. slightly faster performance + lower temps and the net result is that now I've wasted $340 and have to end up getting a new PC. Yet, if it works, then not only do I get to keep my old PC but also save $200.

Will appreciate the recommendations,

[rainman]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

"Ask not what Vista can do for you, ask what you can buy for Vista."

tough call Kamal. Not sure if the upgrades will give you what you want. Sorry not much help.

[arielus]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

I've used Vista on smaller machines with no problems. Just had to disable all the visual crap it brings.

[Funky Dredd]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

Try using Vlite and take some things out of Vista, load it and then see what you get. The most you'll waste is a few DVD's. Using vlite you can take out search and other things that slow down the performance of Vista with only a gig of ram. If it doesn't add up to what you want then go for the new hardware.

[toasty]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

go back to XP IMO

[Kamal]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

btw Toasty, how has your time been with your HP ? It's actually the one I am considering as the new pc purchase

[toasty]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

btw Toasty, how has your time been with your HP ? It's actually the one I am considering as the new pc purchase

OK, but now that I have a mac, the Vista PC really pales in comparison, so you're going to get a somewhat jaded opinion from me. When it's running, the HP PC performs well. I do have problems with it freezing up on me from time to time, typically when I'm away and leave it running for a long time (I use it as a Media PC, so there are times that it could be on and running for a week or so without me having occasion to use it). Line level sound output is just OK.

Apart from these occasional issues, though, it meets my needs just fine. It's not the greatest box I've ever had, but it's far from the worst. Very serviceable, and quite reasonably priced.

[kalin]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

go back to XP IMO

best possible answer ever! or get Ubuntu, if you like nice visuals with a rock-solid system. If you have to upgrade a 3.2 Ghz/1GB Ram PC just to get a decent user experience with an OS, then you've chosen the wrong OS. it's as simple as that.

[Kamal]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

OK, but now that I have a mac, the Vista PC really pales in comparison, so you're going to get a somewhat jaded opinion from me. When it's running, the HP PC performs well. I do have problems with it freezing up on me from time to time, typically when I'm away and leave it running for a long time (I use it as a Media PC, so there are times that it could be on and running for a week or so without me having occasion to use it). Line level sound output is just OK.

Apart from these occasional issues, though, it meets my needs just fine. It's not the greatest box I've ever had, but it's far from the worst. Very serviceable, and quite reasonably priced.

what about noise ? Is it too noisy when its on or you're viewing TV through media center ? Also did you upgrade the video card ? If so, can you tell me which one you went with ?

[emuler]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

get dual core, imo

[toasty]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

what about noise ? Is it too noisy when its on or you're viewing TV through media center ? Also did you upgrade the video card ? If so, can you tell me which one you went with ?

It's basically tucked behind my entertainment center, directly behind a speaker. It's a ways from where we're sitting when we're watching TV, and apart from the wireless mouse/keyboard receiver peeking up over a speaker, you'd never know that it was back there at all. Honestly, I can't hear a thing, but there's always some other audio on when we're up there and, like I said, it's behind a speaker.

Didn't upgrade the video card -- as I recall, it came with a slightly upgraded (i.e., not on-board) video card, but I don't play games on it so I wasn't too worried about upgrading it. My monitor is a 62" DLP TV so it's big enough that I'd notice serious performance issues, and it's worked just fine for me.

[beanzncheez]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

You can upgrade and get RAM for damn cheap. If it's DDR then you can get another GB for $40 but if you're using DDR2 then you can get 2GB for $40. You can get a quality heatsink for your cpu from Thermalright for damn cheap and it'll be more efficient. What rating are your fans and are they mid-grade, low-grade quality?

[Kamal]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

You can upgrade and get RAM for damn cheap. If it's DDR then you can get another GB for $40 but if you're using DDR2 then you can get 2GB for $40. You can get a quality heatsink for your cpu from Thermalright for damn cheap and it'll be more efficient. What rating are your fans and are they mid-grade, low-grade quality?

can you send me a link where I can get that ? I have DDR memory and I have been really looking for a half decent deal but have been unsuccessful at locating one

[Troklo]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

Weren´t you going to save a buy your self a mac? I mean if noise is you concern get an Imac, the first thing I noticed was how quite it was.

[Kamal]

Re: Question for Vista Owners.

yea Mac is a future possibility, looking to fix my media center issues for now. The Mac upgrade will be at least $2500 so defo going to consider the cheaper alternative at this time