Memory and mobo

[Jards]

Hey Folk. Computer novice disclaimer !

Having just managed to format the HD and taken note of the performance of the machine as I loaded up each new program I have a fair idea of how the puter is travelling generally. eg I just replaced explorer with chrome as explorer was slowing everything down.
So: all is well until the kids attempt to download and play 'Minecraft' which seems to pretty well kill the CPU.
So: I have a a 2.8GHz processor ( Gigabyte 865G) and 256meg RAM. do I have enough processing power and RAM to run this kind of game. ? Will a RAM upgrade make any dif ? Apparently its is DDR modules required. is DDR 3 going to fit ? so many questions - so little knowledge. Sorry about the 'Chipsets and bios' it would'nt let me submit till I had chosen something
regards JJ

 

[mubin]

Hi, your cpu and memory seems to be alright and you cant fit DDR3/DDR2 module in your DDR mobo. If the game run perfectly you dont need anything. Close background process like, music, video to lower cpu & memory usages.

May be a clean installation of os can make your pc faster if your os installed long ago.

 

[sosofm]

You must to upgrade the RAM. DDR2 and DDR3 is not compatible with your motherboard. I think this is your mobo specifications : http://www.motherboards.org/mobot/chipsets_d/Gigabyte/865G+ICH5/

 

[Jards]

Mubin and sosfm thanks so much for taking the time to reply. Good call Mubin to close everything else and sosofm I will have a look around and see if I cant find a bit more memory

 

[Jards]

and folk is there any brand of RAM I should steer clear of ?

 

[Jards]

..and I note that RAM specs generally quote speed eg 400MHz. Is this to do with the processor speed. eg my processor is 2.8 GHz. Are the related things ?

 

[mubin]

Ram speed is related to cpu fsb, not clock speed. If you have a P4 then it may have more FSB. What is your processor?

 

[Jards]

From 'system info' it is:x86 family 15 Model 4 stepping 9 Genuine Intel~2800MHz

 

[mubin]

There is no information about fsb. You can check cpu name and fsb from bios or simply download Intel Processor Identification utility.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?ProductID=1881&DwnldID=7838&lang=eng&iid=dc_rss

From this software you can know about your fsb and other speed.

 

[Jards]

Yeah thanks Mubin. As it turns out I could'nt get the Intel program to download but ran across CPUID instead which gave me lots of info about the system.

So: Processor: Celeron 336: Rated FSB 533.4 MHz

On the Memory side of things: 512MB DDR1 166.7MHz.

Tried to get 'Minecraft' running again the other day and had the task manager looking over the performance :

The CPU was maxed, the Page File usage was maxed and the game was barely limping along, freezing quite a bit and nothing else was open.

I'm thinking I should max the memory - Mobo can handle up to 2 gig - and see how that goes.

I see on e-bay that you can still get new DDR 1 1Gig modules.

Will this help the ( maxed out ) processer tho ?

Other thing I noted from task manager was that of a total of 508meg of memory I only have 142meg available.

Interestingly 'Chrome' is taking up 124meg of that in 3 different listings in the list of processes.

Somethig fishy going on here I think.

 

[Jards]

The other thing I noticed from Task Manager is that simple things like clicking on an email to see it in the preview pane takes up to 50% of the CPU.

Surely can't be right

 

[Jards]

..and 100% of the CPU to submit this reply

 

[Jards]

and its Java sucking 98% of the CPU trying to run 'Minecraft'.

 

[mubin]

Then close email apps. If game running well then nothing to worry. Background process can make a cpu slower, like Celeron and if many program open, then ram will be full. So you cant switch to another apps or file quickly. Closing unnecessary apps to free some memory and cpu to speed up your pc, if you dont want to update your hardware.

Minecraft is a java based game, so it will utilized your cpu fully. So dont worry.

If you want to add another memory module then you have to use same frequency as you are using now. If you use high speed ram than old memory module will not run. If you want to update then G41 DDR3 supporter mobo will be cheap. But you have to buy a new cpu too, cause your old celeron 336 is not supported in new mobo. But if you are not happy with your system, then updating to a new budget system will be great.

512mb ram is good for you if you are not using multitasking frequently and close unused apps. I am still using 512mb ram in my old pc for web. It is faster for me.

 

[Jards]

Righto thanks Mubin. The point is tho that with all other aps closed the game is still barely limping along - freezing constantly -- it is not playing well -- and the task manager indicates that all resources are fully utilised.

I guess I am trying to determine if this is what is to be expected given the current CPU and memory I have or if the game should be playing well and I have something else wrong with the computer.

It is not a hassle to to upgrade the memory ( 2 gig ) or even the CPU( to a pentium 4 ) - I can still get both new - but I would be pissed off to do that and find I still have problems.

Also - at any given time the computer is running up to 40 separate processes which seem to soak up much of the memory

 

[mubin]

Thats high for your pc. If you can get a clean installation of os then you will get much improvement if there is wrong in os. Do a clean installation of os.

If you can upgrade to pentium 4 then seek for 800Mhz FSB with 3ghz clock speed. It will give you much improvement.

 

[Jards]

Yeah performed clean install of OS 2 weeks ago so is running on the bare minimum. Think it is time for the upgrade. Thanks for your help Mubin

 

[Jards]

Best answer selected by Jards.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr