Poor performance with a 2.4 GHZ Pentium PC

andy.m · Post by **andy.m** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 4:55 pm

I could not test my PC with a different RAM. I removed the two 512MB PC2100 modules and I installed a 512MB PC3200 module I borrowed. The BIOS recognized it as a PC2700 (333 MHz) module, but Windows didn't boot at all. I had several "blue screens", each time with a different error. So my motherboard (Epox 4G4A+) does not support RAM faster than PC2100.

Then I tried changing the video card. I have a fanless ATI 9000 video card.

Using the integrated video card (Intel 845G chipset) instead of the ATI 9000 the performance is the same with 2 tracks, and even worse with more tracks.

With an nVidia-based card (very noisy fan by the way) the performance is the same as with the ATI 9000 video card.

What can I do next?

longjohns · Post by **longjohns** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 5:13 pm

There are P4 2.4's with 400, 533 and 800 FSB speeds.

could that account for the differences you see in the performance thread?

andy.m · Post by **andy.m** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 9:48 pm

Yes, RAM speed might account for the performance difference. But the RAM/FSB speed is not included in the test results, so I can't tell it for sure.

As a last attempt, I would change the 1 GB of PC2100 RAM with 2 GB of PC2700 RAM on my Epox 4G4A+ motherboard. The official Epox documentation says it supports up to PC2100 RAM, but searching on the Internet I found that it unofficially supports PC2700 RAM. On the other side, my test with PC3200 RAM was unsuccessful.

Is the Epox 4G4A+ motherboard compatible with PC2700 RAM?

longjohns · Post by **longjohns** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 10:04 pm

maybe there is a way in the BIOS to disable the automatic detection of the RAM modules

so that even if you put in a faster memory, it will just run it as ddr 266

I would have thought it would have run at that speed anyway, but apparently not!

I wish someone more knowledgeable would come along to help you

husker · Post by **husker** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:16 pm

What sound card driver and latency setting are you using? These will have the biggest impact on your problem...

jonny72 · Post by **jonny72** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 10:32 pm

The Sound on Sound website is a good resource for tuning a PC for music apps, a few links to some useful sections of their website (it can be a bit of a maze):

http://www.soundonsound.com/search?url= ... Subject=61
http://www.soundonsound.com/articles/Technique.php
http://www.soundonsound.com/forum/postl ... d=PCMusFAQ

When was the last time you did a clean install of Windows? When I had a PC it always seemed to speed things up a fair bit as it clears out all the crap that builds up.

I'd also suggest getting more ram if you can as an extra Gb normally makes a huge difference to performance and is a pretty cheap option.

andy.m · Post by **andy.m** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 1:58 pm

I changed the RAM from PC2100 to PC2700 (1 GB was all I could find) but there was no significant performance improvement. My PC is still slow, both as a general purpose PC and with Ableton Live. The typical results of the Tarekith's Performance Test range from 15% CPU for 8 tracks with a Core 2 Quad to 80% CPU for 2 tracks with a Pentium 4 CPU. My results are 160% CPU for 2 tracks with a Pentium 4 CPU. My PC is twice as slow as a PC with comparable hardware. I know it is not the latest (Pentium 4 2.4 GHz, 1 GB RAM PC2700), but I suspect that:

1) The reference parameters in the Tarekith's Performance Test do not include RAM/FSB speed, and it is significant to understand the results.
2) There is some (hardware/software) problem in my PC.

Can you please suggest me some references for PC troubleshooting/optimization? The Sound On Sound site is really a maze....

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:05 pm

Do a clean reinstall of windows and your programs. Start with just essential stuff, I kept my last reinstall down to win XP (plus SP2), MS Office SBE, Firefox and my music apps (Live, Cubase, Reason & Soundforge) plus essential plugins.

I do this about once every 18 months and it's amazing how much crap clutters up your machine which can adversely affect performance.

Or try something that will clean out the registry BUT be careful, there are a lot of adware/spyware rogue products that masquerade as registry cleaners.

But really - computers are relatively cheap these days, a P4 2.4 system doesn't really cut it now and the next range of sequencers will call for even more processing power. You should really look at getting a new (minimum) dual core and preferably quad core processor with 3GB minimum ram. This should keep you going for another 2-3 years in an ideal world. Probably a good idea to look at 64 bit systems. Be sure that if you are looking at 64 bit, that your audio card supports it or look at upgrading that too.

I feel your pain because I have a 3.2 Ghz P4 laptop and I am pretty much in the same boat. I can get Live 7 to run OK but have to use track freeze for most tracks and whn mixing down step up latency etc. I will probably go Mac next upgrade, but want to wait until they get quad core Imacs as the Mac Pro towers are just insane money.