My new PC isn't so fast..Why??

[chandradhar]

Friends, I've built a new PC last week and it isn't as fast as expected..

Issues (I think):

1.My motherboard supports SATA 6gb/s and My HDD also does but I'm not getting more data transfer rate. (I'm getting 30 MB/s while copying files using default windows copy.
2.My friend with 1st gen i3 with veryold gpu gets more framerate for GTA 4 while I don't get frame rate (average 15 fps in benchmark).
3.For win XP, when I connect my monitor using HDMI cable, The desktop isn't appearing full screen.(I mean there isn't display on entire monitor. borders are in black colour upto 1 inch)
4. The startup times and shutdown time is looong..(more than 1 minute)

My PC specs:

Intel i5 2500k Processor
Asus p8h67 M LX Mother board
Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDD Internal Hard Drive (ST31000524AS)
Transcend 4 GB DDR3 RAM
Nekolo 700w PSU
Acer 22 inch monitor Resolution 1920 x 1080
Nvidia GT 520 GPU

I've inserted the HDD cable in 6Gb/s slot in Mobo and Even after inserting HDMI cable, Realtek doesn't show HDMI output option.Why?????
Guys help me out

 

[RetiredChief]

From earlier post
More info on changing ide->ahci
More info on this:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugex [...] 23&bih=658

when you flashed the Bios, HDD bios control changed, thus windows did not know how to talk to HDD untill you changed it back to what it was when windows was first installed.

 

[Graphite946]

Some times, PC is getting jerky..while listening to music and copying files or installing, the audio becomes jerky. I used to have a Dual core PC which was the same so I've spent 900 usd to get this PC..

You're having driver issues it looks like. Yes, you spent 900$ on the PC, but you went backwards with your GPU choice.

Change your hard drive to ahci, and reflash your bios.

Please go buy a new GPU, or use your integrated graphics.

 

[loneninja]

2.My friend with 1st gen i3 with veryold gpu gets more framerate for GTA 4 while I don't get frame rate (average 15 fps in benchmark).


My PC specs:

Intel i5 2500k Processor
Asus p8h67 M LX Mother board
Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDD Internal Hard Drive (ST31000524AS)
Transcend 4 GB DDR3 RAM
Nekolo 700w PSU
Acer 22 inch monitor Resolution 1920 x 1080
Nvidia GT 520 GPU

You have a very low end GPU that is incapable of running games at 1080p, there are plenty of 4 year old video cards that are more powerful than that thing. So what GPU does your friend have?

For your issue with the black border on the screen with XP, that sounds like an overscan/underscan problem. I know the software that comes with AMD video cards has a way to correct that, you should be able to find something with your Nvidia software to do the same thing.

 

[N.Broekhuijsen]

@ xbeater
I know NOT how you or the OP derived your HDD performance.
Which benchmark used??. Was it using windows transfer rate, if so, what the source drive was as this would then be determined primarily by the slowest drive.

I was just using a 7gb HD movie copied with windows copy. Source drive & destination drive was an SSD (my main C drive), so no bottleneck there. The HDD is defo the slowest part.

 

[13thmonkey]

source and destination = SSD?

 

[mikes1992]

^ Minor clarification:
Quote: Also don't forget when your moving/copying files to different locations on your HDD the actuator has to keep sweeping back and forward to read then write which can cause it to show slower readings End quote.
If this is writing / moving files from one HDD drive to another HDD it is true. BUT NOT true if moving say from one directory on the SAME HDD as The only thing that is changed is the FAT pointers to the files - the Files themself are not physically moved from one sector to a different sector.

I was meaning if you have partition, lol forgot to mention that hehe.

 

[ttg_Avenged]

Sorry guys,Forgot to list my graphic card..it is Nvidia GT 520
Im using both win 7 and win XP.

Wait, GT!? Or GTX. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but isn't that a ANCIENT card? If correct, you sir have a MAJOR bottleneck and would need to scrub that GT 520...

EDIT: Yea uh, I'm sorry. With that card I'm sorry I don't think your be able to play GTA 4...

 

[mikes1992]

"The CPU meter shows 5% CPU usage and 60% RAM usage but firefox is taking a few seconds to minimise and maximize, When opened more than 3 tabs, firefox hangs for a while shows not responding but in a few seconds it is normal..."

You could also be having problems with ram, Ram is a likely thing to highly effect performance and cause programs to be unstable and crash. 60% ram usage also seems a little high (although Not really sure what conditions you are quoting). I have experienced problems with ram in the past and it can have extreme effects on your performance. My system atm idles at around 1.3gb and with firefox about 1.8gb out of my 8gb ram (win 7 ulti) and your system is running about 2.4gb? with 4gb on a new system which seems pretty high. Hope this might provide a different approach to this topic.

 

[shadow_city]

To fix your screen problem, go into your Nvidia control panel and find the scaling options for "my flat panel display". Then you will have to over scan it. I am more familiar with ATI's but not Nvidia's but it should be similar.

 

[chandradhar]

I did not see if you stated if u did a clean install of windows or not? Some times when u migrate a windows install from an old mother board to a new one you have instabilities.

I've formatted the entire HD thrice!!

 

[chandradhar]

You have a very low end GPU that is incapable of running games at 1080p, there are plenty of 4 year old video cards that are more powerful than that thing. So what GPU does your friend have?

For your issue with the black border on the screen with XP, that sounds like an overscan/underscan problem. I know the software that comes with AMD video cards has a way to correct that, you should be able to find something with your Nvidia software to do the same thing.

My friend's GPU is some 8XXX seriest and its not GTX..I exactly don't remember name.

 

[chandradhar]

Wait, GT!? Or GTX. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but isn't that a ANCIENT card? If correct, you sir have a MAJOR bottleneck and would need to scrub that GT 520...

EDIT: Yea uh, I'm sorry. With that card I'm sorry I don't think your be able to play GTA 4...

The Best commonly available card in India is Geforce 210. I think this is better than that..Most available GPUs here are not gaming GPU's they are just basic GPUs...So I've ordered this onlne and had to wait for more than 2 weeks to get it.

 

[N.Broekhuijsen]

source and destination = SSD?

As in to measure read speed of HDD I copy to SSD, and to measure write I copy from SSD to HDD.

Sorry that was unclear.

 

[chandradhar]

Can this problem be because of Faulty RAM??? I've changed SATA configuration from IDE to AHCI ..The system is much better and stable now but still its a bit jerky(Very little) I think RAM has something to do with.

 

[Graphite946]

Can this problem be because of Faulty RAM??? I've changed SATA configuration from IDE to AHCI ..The system is much better and stable now but still its a bit jerky(Very little) I think RAM has something to do with.

You can run memtest on the memory, also try moving the slots. Are the sticks the right voltage for your motherboard?

Please buy a GPU from this decade, that GPU wasnt very good 4 years ago, and has only gotten worse. That GPU is like putting bicycle tyres on a Ferrari.

 

[chandradhar]

I'm gonna change the GPU next month.. suggest me with some good GPUs..Max budget 200usd only.

 

[Graphite946]

Off the top of my head, I would look at the ATI 6870. I'm a big fan of MSI, and for a budget, sapphire is usually not bad priced. It's right on, or near your $200 price point. Remember though, your i5 can handle nearly anything you could put in it.

 

[chandradhar]

Whcih is better?? ATI or Nvida(In the 200usd price point cards)

 

[ElMoIsEviL]

I feel like shooting myself (no offense to the OP not you... just some of the answers).

If an HDD is only transferring around 30MB/s then it is operating in PIO mode (IDE mode) in the bios. You can change this to AHCI but you will have to re-install windows (worth it though if you want Native Command Queuing and other features available to you).

Your graphics card is too slow for GTA4 to run well. You'll want something closer to a Radeon HD 6770 or GTX 550 for most modern titles at decent settings.

You should use Windows 7 not Windows XP with such a build. Latest drivers from AMD/nVIDIA ought to fix that issue you're having with HDMI. You can use the desktop custom resolution or "resize" functions to get rid of black borders. This is found in the AMD or nVIDIA display driver (depending on the brand you use).

Under AHCI mode both start-up and shut down times will be drastically cut. I would recommend you install the latest Intel Chipset and RST drivers from the Intel Download Center as well.

Good luck.

 

[ElMoIsEviL]

Now that I think about it... it might be doing UDMA33 (33MB/s) rather than PIO4 (16MB/s).

Back in 1999 we switched over from UDMA33 to UDMA66. Actual hard drive transfer rates were something like 16-25MB/s for UDMA33 and around 40-50MB/s for UDMA66 (realistically).

So if you're getting 30MB/s then you're clearly in IDE mode in the BIOS and being limited severely. Quite a few folks end up using IDE mode due to the compatibility (especially when installing Windows) as some Controllers requires you hit the F6 key (in Windows XP during the install) or use a USB thumb drive/CD during the Windows 7 install in order to detect the hard drives (as Windows doesn't natively support the said controllers).

Just a heads up.

 

[chandradhar]

If an HDD is only transferring around 30MB/s then it is operating in PIO mode (IDE mode) in the bios. You can change this to AHCI but you will have to re-install windows (worth it though if you want Native Command Queuing and other features available to you).

I've changed it to AHCI mode and completely formatted HD and reinstalled Win7...No luck

You should use Windows 7 not Windows XP with such a build.

I said I use dual boot..both XP and 7..XP for some 32bit programs and 7 for everyother purpose

Latest drivers from AMD/nVIDIA ought to fix that issue you're having with HDMI. You can use the desktop custom resolution or "resize" functions to get rid of black borders. This is found in the AMD or nVIDIA display driver (depending on the brand you use).

Solved after installing Drivers in win7 but still no luck with XP.

Under AHCI mode both start-up and shut down times will be drastically cut. I would recommend you install the latest Intel Chipset and RST drivers from the Intel Download Center as well.

The startup and shutdown times are quicker than that of IDE mode but.. even its worse..

 

[chandradhar]

So if you're getting 30MB/s then you're clearly in IDE mode in the BIOS and being limited severely.

I've changed it to AHCI mode the computer is a lot quicker than the previous IDE mode. It was like a Pentium 3 processor then and now its like Dualcore..Much better but I've got an i5.

Can it be issues with RAM or HDD(I dunno why but this thought is always in my mind )

 

[HEXiT]

1) a standard HD cannot transfer data much faster than 30MB/sec, it does not matter what connection standard it supports.
To use the ever reliable car anology - it doesn't matter if you drive on a dirt road or on a 4 lane highway if your max speed is 30mph - Sata is the road your using not the speed of your harddrive 🙂

2) frame rate in games is also very much dependent on the graphics card you use and which one your friend is using - CPU is only one part of the equation.

4) This is caused by speed of harddisk and number of services that run during startup - you processor has very little to do with that

i dunno where you got that little nugget of info from but its wrong...
his drive has a largfile transfer speed of around 100MBps and about 70MB for small files.
as do most 1tb 7200rpm drives... the spinpoint f3 is the fastest hdd in the 7200rpm bracket with transfer speeds of over 140MBps... i know this as i have 3 of em in raid and i get between 160 and 240MBps on a sata 2 connection... if your only getting 30MB the either your transfering lots of small files or the hdd is damaged or running on the wrong settings.
the transfer speeds of the 2 standards are
sata 2 3Gbits or 300MBps
sata 3 6Gbits or 600MBps.

OP try copying a single big file of say 700mb avi from your drive to another even if you just copy it to another partition you should still clear 70MBps on that drive if its working properly...
also ahci mode does nothing to increase read write times it just enables hotplugging of your hdds. as far as i know...
what will happen when you switch from ide/legacy mode to ahci is that the drive is forced to run at its max setting normaly dma 4 or above. so if its been set to pio inadvertently it wil be set/forced back to DMA which is probably why your drive started performing after tghe switch over.

 

[diablo34life]

Friends, I've built a new PC last week and it isn't as fast as expected..

Issues (I think):

1.My motherboard supports SATA 6gb/s and My HDD also does but I'm not getting more data transfer rate. (I'm getting 30 MB/s while copying files using default windows copy.
2.My friend with 1st gen i3 with veryold gpu gets more framerate for GTA 4 while I don't get frame rate (average 15 fps in benchmark).
3.For win XP, when I connect my monitor using HDMI cable, The desktop isn't appearing full screen.(I mean there isn't display on entire monitor. borders are in black colour upto 1 inch)
4. The startup times and shutdown time is looong..(more than 1 minute)

My PC specs:

Intel i5 2500k Processor
Asus p8h67 M LX Mother board
Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDD Internal Hard Drive (ST31000524AS)
Transcend 4 GB DDR3 RAM
Nekolo 700w PSU
Acer 22 inch monitor Resolution 1920 x 1080
Nvidia GT 520 GPU

I've inserted the HDD cable in 6Gb/s slot in Mobo and Even after inserting HDMI cable, Realtek doesn't show HDMI output option.Why?????
Guys help me out

you NEED to get a new GPU. the gt 520 is horrible ( sorry to say ) you need to look at a radeon 6790 or higher from amd/ati or if you want nvidia you need higher then a gtx 550 and up. cuz with that gpu u got now ur not goign to get any higher then 18 fps its way to weak. i was going to tell u update your graphics card driver or version but thats not going to do jack all. get a brand new gpu then install the latest updates for it and ull be good. in nvidia or catalyst control centre under desktop or display settings it will have an option for having the black bars on the side of your screen if the video or game ur playing doesnt support widescreen. for HDD my transfer rates are the same 30 mb a second which isbt great but its around 60 times faster then actually downloading something its normal to see 30mb transfers. and for your boot times there gunna be slow unless u get an ssd. also always use windows 7 dont use old operating systems ull slow urself down and run into driver issues

 

[chandradhar]

for HDD my transfer rates are the same 30 mb a second which isbt great but its around 60 times faster then actually downloading something its normal to see 30mb transfers. and for your boot times there gunna be slow unless u get an ssd. also always use windows 7 dont use old operating systems ull slow urself down and run into driver issues

I've changed many settings but my boot time is horrible. It is stuck at welcome screen for about 30 seconds and later to load gadgets and get into proper state it takes about 15 seconds(I've nothing in startup except Daemon tools and Norton AVP)
The firefox hangs for a while........shows Not Responding for a few seconds(5-10) and gets back to normal position.
I tried to copy:

1. 1.5 GB movie to another partition.. shows 30 MB/s
2. many songs(each song around 5 MB) shows 19-23 MB/s
3.File around 3.5 GB, copies for a while and windows explorer crashes..says not responding and stays forever until we cancel it.
WTF shud I do???