Slow computer with good specs

[silenzer]

Hi all,

My computer is starting to run slow these last few months.
I have low framerate when playing Napoleon: Total War on semi-high, which I think with these specs I should be able to play with ease... I lag on 1080p Youtube videos, for Christ sake. I have formated it twice within that period.

Here are my specs:

What I think could be wrong (will update if I remember anything):

1. The hard drive is very old, 6+ years
2. I haven't vacuumed my computer for months

Damn, Napoleon: Total War is much smoother without AVG running in the background...

hope you can help me on this one

 

[Zomby88]

You should be smokin , maybe uninstall AVG and see if it improves.


Is it Defraged ?

 

[whs]

Uninstalling AVG is a good idea for several reasons (protecs zippo). Try Avira, Avast or MSE, they are all much better options. A good cleaning is a good idea too. And the ultimate would be to replace your old HDD with an SSD - but that's expensive.

 

[Everlong]

AVG has never given me problems with performance in the 5 or so years I've been using it :huh:

Your HDD most likely is one of the culprits, as well as it being on IDE still.

Are all your drivers up to date as well?

 

[silenzer]

Thanks for all the replies

Nope it's not defraged, I'll do that right now

Unfortunately buying an SSD is not in my budget range

Yep all the latest drivers. Would a Western Digital (WD2000) be my saviour? It's IDE but at least it's not 6 years old.

 

[whs]

Compare the specs of the WD2000 with your current disk - then you know how much you can expect. You can run HD Tune.

 

[silenzer]

That's a pretty complicated program... I'm probably not buying a new one anyways so whether or not this drive is crapping crocodiles, I'll have to stick with it

 

[Everlong]

I imagine a decent SATA drive wouldn't cost you that much more.

 

[whs]

That's a pretty complicated program

Does that matter? It runs all by itself once you started it. All you need to do is select the drive - in case you have more than one. And we'll help you interpret the results.

 

[Mellon Head]

2. I haven't vacuumed my computer for months

Just a suggestion. It's never a good idea to vacuum the inside of a computer, unless you're using an anti-static vacuum. It's much better to blow the dust out with compressed air. The end of a normal vacuum wand can generate static electricity, and you don't want that around your static sensitive components.

 

[silenzer]

Thanks, Mellon Head

ok I ran some test, hope this helps:
HD Tune Pro: WDC WD2000JB-00GVA0 Benchmark

Test capacity: full

Read transfer rate
Transfer Rate Minimum : 0.8 MB/s
Transfer Rate Maximum : 43.6 MB/s
Transfer Rate Average : 4.4 MB/s
Access Time :
Burst Rate :
CPU Usage : -1.0%

 

[whs]

Thanks, Mellon Head

ok I ran some test, hope this helps:
HD Tune Pro: WDC WD2000JB-00GVA0 Benchmark

Test capacity: full

Read transfer rate
Transfer Rate Minimum : 0.8 MB/s
Transfer Rate Maximum : 43.6 MB/s
Transfer Rate Average : 4.4 MB/s
Access Time :
Burst Rate :
CPU Usage : -1.0%

That is pretty dismal. The average transfer rate should be in the 50 to 70MB/sec. Apparently you did not let it run to the end and did not get an access time, which would be important too. Let it run until it stops, then you get it.

 

[Mellon Head]

It could also be a cable issue, as well.

 

[HUknows]

More than likely it is the hard drive, I had an older drive that I had set the pagefile on and it ran very slow and unstable. I ran hdd regenerator and found many bad sectors, I set the pagefile to another drive and it runs like normal. If you can't afford a new drive, look on craig's list and see if someone is giving one away or selling one cheap. The Fry's ads are also a good way to save money if there is a Fry's in your area.