My computer seems unnaturally slow, and it's specs are decent.?

Question

Hey all,

Well, first off, here are the specs of my computer:

Processor: 1.79 ghz AMD Athlon 64
Memory: 2 GB DDR 400 mhz
Graphics: ATI Radeon Integrated (256 MB of ram allocated to graphics

I think these specs are pretty good, but it seems stupidly slow. I have reinstalled Windows multiple times, and right from the very first boot, it can not smoothly drag windows across the screen, I click the start menu and it only shows up after 2-3 seconds, etc. I have tried installing Ubuntu on it as well, and I get the same effect. Windows even "lags" when loading the blue Welcome screen on boot (it starts off showing a dark blue screen and then progressively flashes lighter shades of blue, and then finally shows the blue Welcome screen).

This computer was built for me by my dad's company, and I have replaced every component with a new compnenet of the same type (power supply, motherboard, etc.)

I even upgraded it from the original 512 mb of ram to 2 gb of ram. What could be wrong? :(

Answer 1

First off, thanks for the detail included in your question.



The Athlon 64 is a good chip and the 2GB of ram should do just fine, although the 400 MHz is slowing you down quite a bit - can you go any faster? (would have been good to ask before you upgraded to 2GB!)



Putting the RAM aside I would place money on the fact that it's your graphics card. The problems seem render related and it would point me to the fact that you're using integrated graphics.



I have had personal experience with integrated graphics and trust me, a $20-50 256MB card bought locally or on eBay will do wonders for your system. Even a 128MB graphics card that isn't integrated would do better than what you're using now with the 256 allocated.



In the mean time (while you're shopping for a cheap graphics card) I have a suggestion. Both the start menu (fading menus) and the drag and drop (preview drop contents) are eye candy that can be turned off to optimize the performance of your system.

1. Right-click on Computer -> Properties -> Advanced Tab -> Click on the Settings box under Performance. Cick the radial button that says, "Adjust for best performance" (you can add back ones you really want later if it doesn't degrade performance)

2. Right-click on your desktop -> Properties -> Appearance Tab -> Effects. Uncheck the box that says preview contents while dragging.



Hope this helps!

Answer 2

If your virus/spyware free, there are a couple things you can do get your computer working faster. If you using your computer for normal stuff and not gaming. You don't always need more RAM you just need to perform a few maintenance task.



First, if you haven't cleaned your registry in a while. This is necessary. Your registry holds all the information regarding updates, installs, un-installs etc. Each one of those events produces a key. That key needs your PC's resources and free space. So, if you clean your registry, you make more resources available for speed. Do a registry scan if you got more than 20 errors you should clean it.

http://www.delete-computer-history.com/what-is-the-best-registry-cleaner.html



2. Clear your Windows cache files, this is your temporary file. It can grow up to a large volume and stop your computer from using RAM properly. In a sense slow it down by preventing it from using free space.Here is how:



1. Quit Internet Explorer, Firefox, or any other web browser

2. Click Start, click "Control Panel", and then double-click "Internet Options".

3. On the General tab, click "Delete Files" under Temporary Internet Files.

4. In the Delete Files dialog box, click to select the "Delete all offline content" check box , and then click OK.

5. Click OK.



3. Manage your startups. Your excess CPU usage is due to too many programs running in the background. You can cut these to barebones by alter your msconfig. Here is how:



1. Open your Start menu.

2. Click Run

3. In the command screen type "msconfig.exe"

4. In the "system configuration utility",click either "service" or "startup" tab

5. Uncheck all programs that your are no longer using.

6. Click "OK"



Other great tip is increasing your virtual memory to simulate more RAM. This will give you a bit more resources for multiple program use or CPU heavy programs.

Hope this link helps. Shows you how to do everything step by step. You should get a least 60-120% more resources and speed

if you follow the tips.

Answer 3

the right driver for the graphic card is not installed, drivers that came with OS's are not the reliable. use the driver that came with your graphic card

Answer 4

have you run virus scanners/ spyware



that could be slowing you down a lot