upgrade tips for best performance

Marcusb · 2005-05-13, 19:15

Hi all,

I have MP working almost perfectly now. There is only a slight stutter every so often, especially when time shifting large amounts or watching a movie while recording TV.
My system is an AMD 2500XP with 512Mb of dual channel RAM. The video is the onboard GF400 built into the NF2 chipset. I have 32Mb of RAM allocated to onboard graphics. The HDD is Seagate 80Gb.

I want to upgrade something to remove the slight stutter. The choices are- CPU to 3200XP, RAM to 1GB, dedicated video card or newer HD.

My system seems to have higher specs than a lot of the others I have seen so there must be something slowing it. What do you guys recommend out of the above list?

I have already disabled all the bloat in XP that I can. Most of the options listed above will cost around the same amount but I do need a bigger HDD at any rate. At this stage I am thinking a dedicated video card simply to stop sharing system RAM.

Callifo · 2005-05-13, 20:04

Dont know if Id be too worried about the CPU at this stage but more ram and a new video card would be a start. Hdd couldnt hurt but only for storage purposes, I dont think it would speed anything up.

1 gig (total) would be plenty and a new 128/256mb 6200 AGP would go nicely.

As for the stutter, I only get this in the first 2 seconds of starting the dvb card. I just the first few times but after that its really smooth, thats on a 2600+ sempron. Playback and recording of dvb/analogue at the same time is super smooth.

You arent using a software card though are you?

Marcusb · 2005-05-13, 20:59

Nope, it's hardware. Thanks for the reply.

I think the first thing I will do is buy new RAM. A matched pair of 512s should make things work better and then I will decide about the graphics card. I would rather stick with the built in graphics as the case is small and there is not much room to add any more cards in (especially when I get my second DVB card

)
My current ram is generic and two separate manufacturers, which isn't the best in a dual channel system, especially when the video card is using it too...

Callifo · 2005-05-13, 21:11

I think the problem might lie in that video card. GF4mx's are only dx7 cards from what I remember which is going to put a lot of strain on the cpu trying to do dx8/9. Just a thought but doing those other things may not fix your problem if I am correct.

Marcusb · 2005-05-16, 01:07

Hi Callifo,

Thanks for your help. I bought a low profile GF5200 card on the weekend.
That solved all my problems (well, apart from the memory leak :lol: ).
Now timeshifting and recording is very smooth. I still want to do the other upgrades but at least the main problem is fixed.

Thanks again,

Marcus.

2005-05-13, 19:15	#1 (permalink)
Marcusb Super Moderator Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,869 Thanks: 55 Thanked 24 Times in 24 Posts Country: My System	upgrade tips for best performance Hi all, I have MP working almost perfectly now. There is only a slight stutter every so often, especially when time shifting large amounts or watching a movie while recording TV. My system is an AMD 2500XP with 512Mb of dual channel RAM. The video is the onboard GF400 built into the NF2 chipset. I have 32Mb of RAM allocated to onboard graphics. The HDD is Seagate 80Gb. I want to upgrade something to remove the slight stutter. The choices are- CPU to 3200XP, RAM to 1GB, dedicated video card or newer HD. My system seems to have higher specs than a lot of the others I have seen so there must be something slowing it. What do you guys recommend out of the above list? I have already disabled all the bloat in XP that I can. Most of the options listed above will cost around the same amount but I do need a bigger HDD at any rate. At this stage I am thinking a dedicated video card simply to stop sharing system RAM.

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2005-05-13, 20:04	#2 (permalink)
Callifo Retired Team Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Adelaide, Australia Age: 22 Posts: 1,444 Thanks: 0 Thanked 10 Times in 1 Post Country: My System	Dont know if Id be too worried about the CPU at this stage but more ram and a new video card would be a start. Hdd couldnt hurt but only for storage purposes, I dont think it would speed anything up. 1 gig (total) would be plenty and a new 128/256mb 6200 AGP would go nicely. As for the stutter, I only get this in the first 2 seconds of starting the dvb card. I just the first few times but after that its really smooth, thats on a 2600+ sempron. Playback and recording of dvb/analogue at the same time is super smooth. You arent using a software card though are you?

2005-05-13, 20:59	#3 (permalink)
Marcusb Super Moderator Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,869 Thanks: 55 Thanked 24 Times in 24 Posts Country: My System	Nope, it's hardware. Thanks for the reply. I think the first thing I will do is buy new RAM. A matched pair of 512s should make things work better and then I will decide about the graphics card. I would rather stick with the built in graphics as the case is small and there is not much room to add any more cards in (especially when I get my second DVB card ) My current ram is generic and two separate manufacturers, which isn't the best in a dual channel system, especially when the video card is using it too...

2005-05-13, 21:11	#4 (permalink)
Callifo Retired Team Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Adelaide, Australia Age: 22 Posts: 1,444 Thanks: 0 Thanked 10 Times in 1 Post Country: My System	I think the problem might lie in that video card. GF4mx's are only dx7 cards from what I remember which is going to put a lot of strain on the cpu trying to do dx8/9. Just a thought but doing those other things may not fix your problem if I am correct.

2005-05-16, 01:07	#5 (permalink)
Marcusb Super Moderator Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,869 Thanks: 55 Thanked 24 Times in 24 Posts Country: My System	Hi Callifo, Thanks for your help. I bought a low profile GF5200 card on the weekend. That solved all my problems (well, apart from the memory leak :lol: ). Now timeshifting and recording is very smooth. I still want to do the other upgrades but at least the main problem is fixed. Thanks again, Marcus.