Ways to speed up your computer....

[Nick]

I've never thought about fan noise either but I now realise that when I switch the PC on I have to turn the radio up. I can't hear it at present as I've got the fan heater on having run out of heating oil.

PWM fan control has been pretty standard on all motherboards for the last 5 years or so.

Cheap after-market fans are ofton not PWM as they are designed to just run of the 12V supply. No PWM fans have 2 or three pins (0V, +12V and optional tacho output). PWM controllable fans have a 4th pin, the PWM input pin, to control the fan speed - they are backward compatible with the 3 pin fans but just run at full speed all the time.

The other thing to make sure off is that all your fans are BALL BEARINGS and not sleeved bearings - much quieter and longer lasting.

Make sure you hoover out your case every 6 months or so, especially the CPU cooling fan as all sorts of crud gets sucked in a blocks up the CPU cooling fins...

[Radio Fixer]

And what Nick didnt say, assuming that it was understood, is that modern MOBOs have sensors under the CPU, and output to the PWM cooler fan, so that it only runs as fast as is needed. Same with case fans, the MOBO will have a PWM control for that.

When I was working (13 years ago) we used to have PCs that were very quite, almost silent apart from HDD noise, and that then became for me an important spec requirement. Its just something you get used to needing, like low HUuuum from a radio and particularly a HiFi (whatever you deem that to be). I cant remember what those early quite PCs were, now gone as I havent seen any ads for them, but before PWM technology they did it with a massive heatsink for the CPU and very slow running large diameter fans. Its the small diam high RPM ones that get to me as they whine terrible.

Good advice from Nick about hoovering the case but I dont do it every 6 months: too much of a drag, literally, to get it all out. Maybe 2 to 3 times that. But if you build your own than what I do is make sure un-intended appertures are blocked off and intended ones include a filter. Its not too hard to improvise this if it isnt included being careful to use material that doesnt block airflow.

Glad you are impressed with the Crucial cache Nick ... I'm really keen to try it and do have a mch that would be an ideal test bed. But its one I seldom use and so its an extravegance (how do you spell that and I cant be bothered to look it up... its nice that the Forum doesnt bleep at you for mis-spelling).

Anyway a Happy New Year to eveyone and lets look forward to Colin's joy with his new wonder box. Gary

Gary

[Yorkie]

I have a standard CPU fan which runs all the time, as does the one in the PSU. I don't find the noise level oppressive and don't really think about it. Others clearly do - I know that a lot of computers are advertised as being 'silent' or at least 'quiet'. I'm also aware that there are water cooled CPU cooling systems, eg: http://quietpc.co.uk/watercooling

I had this PC built by a small local firm to my requirements - not to keep down the price, but because so many PCs - indeed most, have specs that go far beyond my requirements. Fan noise wasn’t a consideration – I’ve never found computer fans noise oppressive. I'm not interested in gaming, don't download films, don't store thousands of photos - I can't imagine what I'd do with a 1TB hard drive or SSD when I've got a 297 GB hard drive, which - after three years of use - still has 209 GB of free space. I have an Intel core duo E700 3.06 GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT220 graphics card and a 19" monitor. I use Win7 32-Bit as I use several older programs which I was told could be problematical on 64-bit. It boots up in less than a minute.

Obviously my needs and wants differ greatly from those of others.

More important to me is the service I receive from my ISP. As often as not, in excess of 10 MBPS download and 0.5 MBPS upload. Just as well, as I only have the choice of one landline ISP in this area - KC karoo - never skips a beat - call centre and help desk, 3 miles away.

Looking at the specs of current PCs, I can only assume that many users are very much into gaming and watching action films. Even so-called ‘entry level’ PCs have specs that not so long ago wouldn't have been used for simulated moon landings, but exceed that of actual ones. Because the technology is available, PC suppliers seem to feel that to remain competitive and to be ahead of the game they need to offer PCs that go far beyond the needs of most users.

I’d draw an analogy with ‘petrol head’ car enthusiasts – objectivity and fitness for purpose go out of the window for those who have the money to indulge their desires.

My elder son has had a Porsche 911 for four years. 0-60 in 4.8 sec, top speed 179 MPH. What’s that all about? As he lives in London, his average speed since the car was new has been 13.8 MPH – about the same as a horse-drawn cab 100 years ago, and about a third the average speed of his mum’s Fiat Panda. He’s hanging his nose over an Aston Martin now. 0-60 in 4.6 secs, top speed 186 MPH, so technically, it margially outperforms the Porsche, but practically, a Fiat Panda would have a much higher utility value – five doors, roof rack, more space, and one year’s depreciation on an Aston Martin would buy at least three Pandas. And with a wife and three kids, they also need a ‘proper’ car to be able to get about – not something that only two people can be shoe-horned into. Nothing to do with meeting 'needs' - everything to do with 'wants'.

Ho hum - I blame the parents.

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks John for your good wishes. Win7 in both 32 & 64 bit are still readily available; I surfed the web to check and the prices vary a great deal but I opted to pay the full £85 to save hassle allowing both the new computer and Win7 to arrive together.

Oh dear Joe; to run out of heating oil and using a fan heater; a couple of months ago I could have given you a wagon load of logs during my lumber-jacking fun.

I'll certainly keep you updated Gary regarding how the new computer performs once I receive it. I've received a message from the seller this morning explaining that although my new computer is now showing as despatched it won't actually leave the seller for up to 48 hours as all their computers are rigorously tested first.

What a lot of common sense once again David in your post. One thing I wished to avoid was to buy an all singing all dancing computer way over spec for my humble needs; in buying this new computer I've actually far exceeded what I'll possibly ever need in a computer. It is so easy to get carried away when buying anything. It's nice to learn of SSD's i3/i5/i7 and quiet cooling fans and I'm sure all these must be very important considerations to a computer expert but I've said a number of times I only want a computer that is fast with a good graphics card.

For once in my life I'm being rather reckless with money; I don't even NEED a new computer but I did promise myself one once I retired. Bron and I have saved hard all our 36 years of married life to the point that we can afford anything we want now rather than anything we actually need and boy there is a huge difference between the two. Hopefully my new computer will last ten years or more so in real terms it is dirt cheap and like my old computer will receive a great deal of use. We never go away on holiday or try to keep up with all the latest must have electronic gizmos just because others behave like sheep; we don't queue around the block on a freezing day just to buy the latest mobile phone in fact I don't even own a mobile phone.

I do download lots of free movies and music videos because there is something wrong with our telly; every time I switch the telly on I'm greeted with sport and more sport; sport dominates the news channels and I couldn't care less if Harry Rednapp is upset because of a referee's bad? decision. We all pay our money and choose what we want; I reckon I'm getting something for my money buying the new computer.

I can shop on-line saving lots of money without even leaving home; I can amuse myself by logging onto excellent Internet forums such as GF; I can learn things such as CAD; I can download lots of free stuff to watch on TV in short my computer is worth a great deal more to me than the initial cost of it.

You are bang on regarding buying cars David. With a 70mph maximum speed limit in the UK most modern low powered cars will exceed this. Our small Aygo will top out around 100mph.

When Bron and I moved into this our dream bungalow 25 years ago we were running a Citroen 2CV; our then immediate neighbours were running a three year old Saab; I couldn't believe it when they told me they could not afford a new car because our 2CV was newer than their Saab. We still run a small car and laugh at our neighbours trying to better each other with BMW's; Merc's; Audi's and even recently a Porsche Boxster. Our bungalow is fully paid for as is the land it sits on; we have no debts other than the usual utility bills so we live here very cheaply indeed and due to our undemanding lifestyle I was able to retire from active conflict aged 53 in 2000. In short Bron and I have always lived within our means so now whilst many are bankrupt after wearing their credit cards out we are buffered against things like mortgage interest rate rises etc because we no longer have such things and for other purchases we can now afford to pay cash; we have no children so at last after years of doing without we can spoil ourselves and we intend to do so.

Sorry if I sound pompous or on a soap box but over the years Bron and I have watched many get into huge debt buying things because they felt they wanted them rather than needed them; everything needs paying for at some point and I don't envy our neighbours who told us many years ago that they had put all their brand new "white" goods onto the mortgage because they could easily afford the monthly payments; 25 years to pay off a washing machine surely makes a lot of sense to such people but not to Bron and me.

Owning our own home has always been a priority to us and rather than try to show off we gradually paid the mortgage off because this to us was much more important than flash cars or foreign holidays.

You or I David would look at our money before dashing out to buy a high performance car and save the money to safeguard our home and future for when we get older as we are doing. We've both owned BMW motorcycles so in a way we have been reckless in our own way but I'm sure we've only bought such bikes knowing we could afford them without incurring heavy debt.

I'm looking forward to my new computer; paid for up front.

Kind regards, Col.

[Radio Fixer]

Well David comparing PCs to cars is daft to me. I dont own an ultra fast car or want one. But I do want a fast PC and can use it every day without endangering anyone or risk getting tickets. I have used slow mchs and the egg timmer is very frustrating and indeed some were so slow that they wouldnt do what I wanted.

As you say we have the tools we need even if they are excessive to others. I fill a lot of disk space with pics and video and need a multi-core processor for rendering. This is extremely CPU intensive but the later 6 core or more chips can cut the time to do this by a factor of 15 or more … can still take a quarter of an hour for a 2-3 GB video though.

As to SSDs once you have had one you will never go back. To me it would be like returning to the ‘floppy’. And actually you are an ideal user for one as you don’t need a lot of disk space. Prices are down to < 50p / GB so for a new machine are affordable.

I have a 256 GB SSD in this PC and archive and back up to two TB USB3 (another great step forward) external HDDs.

Why do I Iike SSDs so much? Almost instant boot up and down (how many times have we booted down and thought “I should have done so and so” and then have to wait as the HDD grinds again. Loading SW or drivers and get asked for a reboot … Yeah! No frustration with an SSD … do it! And fast for everything, photo editing, drawing packages, everything, you never wait for the hard disk to happen or so it seems to me.
No defrag ever again and totally silent and hopefully as reliable as all memory has been for me in the past.

As to quiet it depends what you do… Ever program? Yep! You will luv silent then and its something once used to you wont want to give up. Even for video making silence is golden. Why have noise if you don’t have too? PWM coolers and fans are inexpensive in the cost of a new PC and probably last longer as they don’t work hard all the time etc.

I’m sure I’ve written much of this before on the way to advising Colin and so this thread has to be closed for me.

Gary

[Retired]

Hi,

C'mon Gary please don't close this thread to you as we all have different opinions as to what works for us. You like quiet ultra fast computers; fair enough but many of us are happy to settle for less.

I tried my best to get the HP Pavilion through Amazon and ended up sulking for a few days because I was so badly let down but I came round and tried again ending up ordering the computer I've just bought.

I fully understood what David was explaining regarding comparing computers to cars. I can afford a Porsche but after Bron and I have worked so hard for what we now have I would never buy such a car when our small Aygo is a much better car more suited to our lifestyle; I would not live with a car if I couldn't carry four bags of shopping or lumps of timber and machinery in comfort; this doesn't mean that a Porsche isn't suitable for someone else; so it is with computers; what suits one might appear rubbish for another.

I've been delighted to read all the information thus far supplied regarding computer specs and even on this short thread I've picked up a lot of useful information from members kindly posting.

I don't think its a case of taking sides with any ideas put forward more of one in selecting the best to suit me for my purposes.

Because of information posted I opted to buy a top end HP Pavilion at £500; it's spec looked excellent to me but I'm no computer geek; this deal fell apart so I considered having a computer built to my own spec but then I remembered when I had this computer upgraded a few years ago; I know little of what is considered good or bad when it comes to computer components; after the expensive upgrade of this computer I later found I could have bought a brand new complete computer with better spec for a lot less hassle.

I then spent quite a while surfing eBay which initially I was dead against but a friend pointed out the benefits of eBay so hopefully my new computer will be light years ahead of my light demands upon it and I even saved quite a bit of money over the HP. Time will tell if it will work out OK but I not only ask questions on this forum I read and take in every reply because I value everyone's opinion. We are all free to pick and choose from information kindly supplied free of charge on forums to suit ourselves but because some information isn't included in our choice doesn't make this information irrelevant.

I understand your passion for a very quiet but powerful computer Gary because it suits you and the information you've kindly given me is valuable for future reference. At the moment I'm happy with my new computer choice but should I ever get fed up of slow boot ups I can easily follow your advice and go the ssd route; it won't break the bank for me but firstly I'd like to try out what I've bought or at least I will once it arrives.

If we all liked the same there would only be one car and one computer.

Kind regards, Col.

[Yorkie]

Well David comparing PCs to cars is daft to me. I dont own an ultra fast car or want one. But I do want a fast PC and can use it every day without endangering anyone or risk getting tickets.

As you say we have the tools we need even if they are excessive to others.

Gary

The analogy was simply to make the point that 'needs' and 'wants' are not synonyms, and that what people 'desire' is not at all the same thing as what they 'require'. It's the job of marketeers to try to get people to want stuff they don't actually need, to desire in excess of what they require, and to prefer one brand over another.

I wasn't alluding to you Gary, or anyone else on the forum - I was just making the point - not very well it seems - that for many buyers, even what are termed 'entry level' PCs far exceed their needs, and that certainly applies to me. I don't download films, (and for those that do, however high spec a PC is, that won't speed up a slow internet connection), I don't play 'shoot 'em up' games, don't make videos, don't program - it's all I can do to use programs, never mind about write them. My relatively low spec PC happily copes with films on i-player without buffering, and I can't hear the fan over the sound from Magic Radio. But that's just me.

Fact is, that as soon as new technology becomes available, there is an irresistible urge - indeed a compunction - for companies to apply that technology as a 'must have' feature and to market it as such to 'early adopters' or they don't stay ahead of the game. Heck, the term 'dumb-phone' as an antonym for 'smartphone' has just entered the dictionary to describe a phone that doesn't take pictures.

Clearly for your own needs Gary, the features you mention are what you consider essential and you derive much pleasure from using your computer to the full. I'd no more lecture you or anyone else on how you should spend your hard earned cash, any more than I'd lecture my own son about his Aston Martin aspirations. I'm simply saying that for the average punter who sets foot in PC World, Currys or wherever saying 'I'm looking for a PC' they'll probably end up with something far beyond their needs, and you can just hear the Saturday morning shop assistant ‘talking it up’ saying “of course, if you want the best you'll need ...".

I recently tried to buy some 1GB memory sticks for committee members of the woodturning club of which I'm secretary, to swap files etc. 1 GB far exceeds their needs, but the shop assistant almost laughed me off the face of the planet saying the smallest they sell is 8GB, because 'there’s no call for anything less'. Oh well, I’ll get 8GB ones then, given that they’re only £4.00 each, never mind that they have about 1,000 times more storge space then is required (or desired).

As you say Gary, Colin's queries have been answered and he will soon take delivery of an excellent PC that will amply cope with anything and everything he wants it to do, and will overcome the limitations he's experienced. Also, your advice will be valued by anyone who does want the latest in PC performance. (SSDs rather than hard drives etc).

[Radio Fixer]

Thinking about it my analogy of comparing going back to a HDD to a floppy was very exagerated. A better comparison would have been to compare a cordless mouse to one with a cable. Would you ever go back to a cable one after optical cordless? Unless of course some are still using them.

Another example would be going back to Dial Up modems.

To me making and having things quicker for the masses is not really a bad thing. The old adage of "No one ever complained about a PC that was too fast" still holds.

Happy New Year everyone Gary

[Joe]

Until a couple of years ago I was using a computer with only floppy drives on and it was fine for what I wanted it for, ie word processing. It booted up much faster than my W98 system for a start.

I've never used a cordless mouse, for me the big leap with those was the change to optical ones, and can't see any advantage. At least with a wire there's no concern that the battery is going to fail; for the same reason I never had a cordless 'phone.

I do absolutely agree about dial-up internet though. I had it but very quickly gave up on it as it was just too frustrating. I'd never had access to broadband so it wasn't even that I'd been spoilt with that.

In some ways I'm as demanding of technology as anybody. I'm not bemoaning the demise of teletext as I thought it was rubbish when I first saw it as a child and never had cause to revise that opinion.

- Joe

[Retired]

Hi,

One thing which is easy to overlook regarding electronics is how quickly each new item goes out of date.

No doubt by the time my new computer reaches me on Friday it too will be rapidly aging.

I've been backing up lots of files including everything on Floppies to the Iomega 1TB external hard drive and there is still free space of 928GB available. My new computer is supplied with a 1TB HDD. Combined I believe I'll only use a fraction of this huge memory available.

Compare this 2TB with with the first ever hard drive introduced by IBM in 1956; this highly up to date drive in 1956 occupied the space of a refrigerator and stored 5MB of data. For home use there just has to be a limit eventually on data storage even for the most avid computer geek.

What is the best way of disposing of an old computer? My current old computer is promised to Joe but I'll retain its 80GB HDD for my own security and as it has 2 DVD/CD drives I'll retain one of these for use with my new computer as for my needs two DVD drives are very useful. I can now let the floppy drive go with the computer having backed up all the floppies.

I feel rather mean in retaining the HDD but I've been reading scare stories regarding these devices; free software is available to extract deleted files and although I trust Joe once the drive leaves me I no longer have control over it. At least these days a new 80GB HDD is very cheap so it will cost little to get this computer fully operational once again and to make up for it I also have a new motherboard to go with it.

I used to use Cyber Scrub to completely remove old data and files and would welcome members suggestions as to personal online safety.

Kind regards, Col.