Bottleneck?

Cookiemonster · Mar 07, 2008, 18:52:49

OK here is my predicament!

Bought a Desktop from PC World last winter as i was being impatient and didn't want to order the parts, wait for them and then build it. So i got myself the following System.
The Quad core swayed me and that version is highly overclockable. I got rid of the 8600 Graphics card and i now have the new 9600GT. So with that nice new Graphics card, 2GB Ram and a Quad core processor i was expecting good things, but not to be.Turns out that the Mainboard chipset is pants and my Ram is slow, it's DDR2 running at 266MHz, when my processor can handle 1066MHz.

So my question is, do i need a new motherboard and Ram to increase my overall speed? Or is the bottleneck else where? I can only narrow it down to this really.

Any info greatly appreciated.

Rik · Mar 07, 2008, 19:01:38

There's not a huge amount of info in that spec, but I'd be a bit wary of a mobo that only provides 10/100 in this day and age. My gut feeling is a new mobo and RAM will see a big improvement, you might want to think about going to 3GB while you're at it. You'll probably have to do a manual re-activation of Windows, though.

Sebby · Mar 07, 2008, 19:03:07

Something else is the hard drive. It's possibly SATA if the PC is only a year old, but could be IDE. Either way, you really want SATAII, and maybe some kind of RAID setup. Also, I must just add that if you're running Vista, that could also be playing a part.

RA-1972 · Mar 07, 2008, 19:03:44

I know with later pc a good psu helps they reckon 1000 w , but again cheap ram doesnt help . What psu do you have ?

Rik · Mar 07, 2008, 19:04:46

Quote from: Sebby on Mar 07, 2008, 19:03:07
Something else is the hard drive. It's possibly SATA if the PC is only a year old, but could be IDE. Either way, you really want SATAII, and maybe some kind of RAID setup. Also, I must just add that if you're running Vista, that could also be playing a part.

It's SATA and XP, Sebby, there's a link to the spec, though it's not very detailed.

Sebby · Mar 07, 2008, 19:08:14

Quote from: Rik on Mar 07, 2008, 19:04:46
It's SATA and XP, Sebby, there's a link to the spec, though it's not very detailed.

Ah, well there you go. On a high-end system, SATAII would certainly help I'd imagine.

Cookiemonster · Mar 07, 2008, 19:10:54

It actually came with Windows Vista Home, so thats what I'm running at the moment. As for the PSU it's a 500W that i purchased along with the new Graphics card.

Sebby · Mar 07, 2008, 19:12:45

I built a pretty decent PC a few months back and it ran terribly with Vista. I'm now running XP, which although at first felt like a step back, I'm now used to and it performs like a high-end system should. Something to think about...

RA-1972 · Mar 07, 2008, 19:13:38

I have read somewhere about quad cores and pci gfx cards about psu somewhere , it might pay to get a 1000 w one and try . ? reason for saying i changed my gfx card not long back and had 350 w and performance went down , got 1000 w now and we are raceing along .

Rik · Mar 07, 2008, 19:14:56

Quote from: jester212 on Mar 07, 2008, 19:10:54
It actually came with Windows Vista Home, so thats what I'm running at the moment.

Damn. I could have sworn I read XP.

Personally, I'd use a higher-rated PSU, eg 600-750W, but then I hang lots of drives off mine.

Cookiemonster · Mar 07, 2008, 19:16:03

Yeah it's something i might have to look into. I just found some more info on the main board and it's not even dual channel, nor can it take anymore than 2GB of Ram at any speed higher than what is in it at the moment. So it does look like to start with a new board and some faster Ram will be needed.

Rik · Mar 07, 2008, 19:18:31

Sounds like a plan.

Niall · Mar 07, 2008, 22:23:08

Unless you only use email and browse the web, NEVER buy from PC World (with the exception of some laptops they occasionally sell there). They WILL lie to you to get you to buy software and hardware. They tried it with my aunt, who had luckily been to see me before she went there. The motherboards on any PC the Dixons group sell are very poor generic ones. If you are going to buy a pre built one, use a well known online company (Mesh, Evesham, etc - although the last one just got bought by time, so it may be wise to avoid them now

)

I always use www.scan.co.uk to buy all my PC bits and pieces. The only downside is that they use Citylink, which is something you'll see me ranting about in the rant section

If you can't be bothered to build a PC yourself, either through being worried you'll do it wrong, or lack of knowledge you can:

a) Have a go (it's really a lot easier than you think)
b) Speak to a local shop and ask about building a PC for you

There is one thing I've learned with motherboards in the last 8 years. This is that you don't need all the bells and whistles of the £150 motherboards. Soltek is a manufacturer that gets no where NEAR enough praise in my opinion. They make basic budget motherboards that are ROCK SOLID stable, and are almost always in the £50-£70 region. Corsair value ram is another nice budget route. If you're not planning on overclocking your PC, you'll be hard pressed to do better than Soltek motherboards and Corsair ram.

Hmm, I wonder if Corsair and Soltek will see this post and send me free stuff

Cookiemonster · Mar 07, 2008, 22:31:41

Quote from: Niall on Mar 07, 2008, 22:23:08
Unless you only use email and browse the web, NEVER buy from PC World (with the exception of some laptops they occasionally sell there). They WILL lie to you to get you to buy software and hardware. They tried it with my aunt, who had luckily been to see me before she went there. The motherboards on any PC the Dixons group sell are very poor generic ones. If you are going to buy a pre built one, use a well known online company (Mesh, Evesham, etc - although the last one just got bought by time, so it may be wise to avoid them now )

I always use www.scan.co.uk to buy all my PC bits and pieces. The only downside is that they use Citylink, which is something you'll see me ranting about in the rant section

If you can't be bothered to build a PC yourself, either through being worried you'll do it wrong, or lack of knowledge you can:

a) Have a go (it's really a lot easier than you think)
b) Speak to a local shop and ask about building a PC for you

There is one thing I've learned with motherboards in the last 8 years. This is that you don't need all the bells and whistles of the £150 motherboards. Soltek is a manufacturer that gets no where NEAR enough praise in my opinion. They make basic budget motherboards that are ROCK SOLID stable, and are almost always in the £50-£70 region. Corsair value ram is another nice budget route. If you're not planning on overclocking your PC, you'll be hard pressed to do better than Soltek motherboards and Corsair ram.

Hmm, I wonder if Corsair and Soltek will see this post and send me free stuff

i know what you mean by PC World they are horrid and yes i know i still bought from them it was just pure impulse buying. I've built several PC's in the past so i do have some knowledge and i have certainly learn't my lesson this time. In future I'll just be more patient and build it piece by piece.