New Build, Need Advise

Hello, I just built a new computer and it seems kinda slow to me.
I have an i5 750, Asus p7p55D m.b (I was told the P55 was better than the H55?) Is there a performance difference? I also have 2x2GB G.Skill Ripjaws memory, (XP only see's 3GB), WD Raptor 150GB 10,000 RPM HD. Radeon HD 4550 PCI-e video card.

Booting seems slow, opening certain apps like Itunes is slow. Shutdown is slow.

I also have a Pentium D 3.2Ghz with 1 gig of RAM and that seems just as fast on most things.

If I upgraded to Windows 7 64bit would that improve performance?

I was thinking of trying a different system board and/or memory? Let me know what you think.

Oh yea, I also am overclocking my CPU at 3.2GHZ. still not as responsive as I expected.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Did you load your chipset drivers and then the rest of the drivers? A new system isn't going to suddenly do mundane tasks much faster, like opening Explorer, right-clicking on something, etc, so is it possible you were just epxecting something different? iTunes is slow on all computers, which is why I use MediaMonkey instead.

As for the OS choice, a new system, with new hardware and new drivers are usually optimized for the OS of the time...which is Windows 7. Windows XP is approaching a decade in age, so the driver's optimzations won't be meant for it.

It probably takes 45 sec - 1 min. to boot. and shutting down it does not hang on waiting to close any programs. It seems to sit for a while at the windows is shutting down screen. I cleaned up in msconfig, disabled a lot of the visual effects, defragd it. I have build many computers, none "i" series. wasn't sure if i needed to try different memory or a system board.

charles8998 said:

Hello, I just built a new computer and it seems kinda slow to me.
I have an i5 750, Asus p7p55D m.b (I was told the P55 was better than the H55?) Is there a performance difference? I also have 2x2GB G.Skill Ripjaws memory, (XP only see's 3GB), WD Raptor 150GB 10,000 RPM HD. Radeon HD 4550 PCI-e video card.

Booting seems slow, opening certain apps like Itunes is slow. Shutdown is slow.

I also have a Pentium D 3.2Ghz with 1 gig of RAM and that seems just as fast on most things.

If I upgraded to Windows 7 64bit would that improve performance?

I was thinking of trying a different system board and/or memory? Let me know what you think.

Oh yea, I also am overclocking my CPU at 3.2GHZ. still not as responsive as I expected.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Welcome to SevenForums.

The quick solution to slow bootup/shutdown:
WIN | type MSCONFIG | ENTER | Startup tab
Uncheck everything that is not absolutely necessary.
When you uncheck,, you just telling Win 7 to not start the program at startup time. Win 7 will still start the program when the program is needed.

WIN is the key with the wavy flag.

The next biggy is to make sure that you haven't set your anti-virus program to run a check of the system at startup and/or at shutdown. This is not needed since your AV checks continuously.

There are still a couple more things but these are the biggies.

Windows 7 is alot faster. why would you use xp?

charles8998 said:

Hello, I just built a new computer and it seems kinda slow to me.
I have an i5 750, Asus p7p55D m.b (I was told the P55 was better than the H55?) Is there a performance difference? I also have 2x2GB G.Skill Ripjaws memory, (XP only see's 3GB), WD Raptor 150GB 10,000 RPM HD. Radeon HD 4550 PCI-e video card.

Booting seems slow, opening certain apps like Itunes is slow. Shutdown is slow.

I also have a Pentium D 3.2Ghz with 1 gig of RAM and that seems just as fast on most things.

If I upgraded to Windows 7 64bit would that improve performance?

I was thinking of trying a different system board and/or memory? Let me know what you think.

Oh yea, I also am overclocking my CPU at 3.2GHZ. still not as responsive as I expected.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

The Win7 installer is driver-complete with newer arriving quickly via optional Windows Updates. I do not recommend switching out the drivers provided unless performance dictates. You can then try the mobo maker's chipset, card maker's display driver, etc. to test for better performance or if necessary roll back.

As stated edit your Startup in msconfig to the bone. I only allow AV and gadgets as others are freeloaders or spy on you.

Use a lightweight free AV like the expert's favorite MS Security Essentials with the Windows Firewall. Critical.

Study your Event Viewer>Admin view to google repeat errors to find how others have solved them. Same with Performance Log (which logs startup/shutdown hangs) in Advanced Tools menu, accessed by clicking through WEI score link on Computer>Properties. WHile there look for cued issues at top and Generate a System Health Report.

Clean and order your HD perfectly with free state-of-the-art CCleaner and Auslogics Disk and Registry defraggers.

Try without overclocking.