Stupid question about PC stuff

[Dee_Ann]

*solved* - Stupid question about PC stuff

Hi guys, I don't know where else I can go to for an answer and you guys are all really smart so I thought I would try here.I have a desktop PC that I do my internet stuff on and it's horribly slow.But it's a few years old and all the stuff in it has been discontinued. I want to double the memory in it. It runs Ubuntu but I'm really tired of the extreme slowness of it so I want to make it into a Mac OSX machine. I've found websites that tell you how to do it. I bought a physical copy of Snow Leopard and I'm planning on buying an upgrade to Lion soon. It used to be really fast when I had an OLD copy of Ubuntu on it but when I "upgraded" (HA!) to the newest version, it got horrible, horrible slow.So, the PC has 4gb of memory. I want to double it to 8gb of memory.But when I tried to locate more of the same memory that's already in it, there is none to be found. Discontinued.What's in there now is this: Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1200 (PC2 9600) Desktop Memory Model F2-9600CL6D-4GBRHIt says it is DDR2. I don't know what DDR is and don't care. But I realize that it's important for the compatibility.So my question is, can I replace my DDR2 memory with DDR3 memory? I see that DDR2 is yesteryear and DDR3 is what's hot at the moment and there is plenty of that stuff to be found.Or am I just out of luck and stuck in yesteryear with this thing?Thanks!

 

[qwert1515]

It's been a while since I upgraded my desktop, I don't think you can use DDR3 in place of DDR2, I think it has a different pin configuration plus other differences.
Wiki kind of says the same thing: DDR3 SDRAM - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There is an image of the pins on the right hand side.

 

[Dee_Ann]

It's been a while since I upgraded my desktop, I don't think you can use DDR3 in place of DDR2, I think it has a different pin configuration plus other differences.
Wiki kind of says the same thing: DDR3 SDRAM - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There is an image of the pins on the right hand side.

Aw c**p........... :cry:

Yep. Wiki says no...

I guess I'll have to cruise ebay for used memory now..

Thanks..

 

[cyberham]

Dee_Ann...unless you love to live and breathe old PC maintenance/upgrades (read PC geek), don't bother. It is technically difficult to know what will be compatible with what, and probably you're going to have trouble finding the old stuff anyway even if you know what to get. Move on to a newer machine. What you can buy new now for $300 or $400 (Boxing Day sales) will make your head spin compared to the old antique PC stuff. If you don't need performance, buy the new clearance PCs that are almost being given away to make room for the new stuff in the stores. I know $400 is a lot of mozza, but it's an investment in your sanity. And the pleasure you're going to have using the fast newer stuff.

 

[FaT Air]

I've run into the same problems on a few Ubuntu installs. Why not re-install the "older" version? My thinking is the new version has features that don't "play well" with the older hardware. One install required just uninstalling a couple of features.. I got help at Ubuntu Forums. Before spending money on RAM- Another cause of slowing is a dirty cpu heatsink. I've seen the Power supplies in a few computers totally plugged with dust also. I blow mine out at least once a year. Hold the fans from spinning when blasted with compressed air.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Dee_Ann...unless you love to live and breathe old PC maintenance/upgrades (read PC geek), don't bother. It is technically difficult to know what will be compatible with what, and probably you're going to have trouble finding the old stuff anyway even if you know what to get. Move on to a newer machine. What you can buy new now for $300 or $400 (Boxing Day sales) will make your head spin compared to the old antique PC stuff. If you don't need performance, buy the new clearance PCs that are almost being given away to make room for the new stuff in the stores. I know $400 is a lot of mozza, but it's an investment in your sanity. And the pleasure you're going to have using the fast newer stuff.

Well, to be honest, I do want extreme performance. I want performance so high that it will outrun stuff that won't be invented for another 5 years.

I'm sick and tired of this slug slow thing. It has four cores in it so I thought that meant it would run 4 times faster than 1 pc. Nope.. 4 times SLOWER..

I do not play computer games at all. Never have, never will. Not even on a bet.

But when I click on something, I want it there on the screen before I release the mouse button.

Right now, EVERYTHING I DO makes the hard disk light come on and chug, chug, chug, chug for 5 frickin minutes. Everything comes to a stop and all I can do is sit there while it chugs until it stops chugging.

It's a 2 terrabyte 7200 speed Hitachi disk and it's mostly empty. It's about 80% empty so there's no excuse for the chugging.

The ubuntu 9 ran really fast. Then I upgraded it to 10 and it got BAD. Just clicking on a link makes it chug for minutes. Sometimes I fall asleep in my chair waiting on it to chug after I click something.

So I want massive overkill.

I've been reading about high performance stuff and I want to put an electronic disk in it, like 100gb for the operating system. It doesn't have moving parts so it's supposed to be really fast.
Then I want to put in a 320gb 15000 speed rpm disk for my home folder because a lot of files are stored there for stuff like browsing and what-not.
Then I can put a 7200 disk in, like a 2 terrabyte for my files.

I already have a new Nvidia GTX-460 that I bought to be compatible with OSX.

I need more memory too. 4gb of memory is just not enough. I want at least 8gb and if I can get it, I'll take 16gb.

The main cpu chip is an intel 4 core. Here's a C&P of the description of the one I have now, "Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80580Q8400"
I don't know what all that means but when I got it it was supposed to be scary fast and I was told it would run 4 times as fast as a one core. NOT............ Someone lied to me.

I guess I'll have to buy a new main board, new frickin cpu chip and new memory. And I guess that means a new flippin cpu fan cooler too. I have a special one on it now that cost $100, it's a big giant copper thing that barely fits in the case.
I'm betting it won't work on a new cpu. And then there's the cores. I don't know if I should buy a new cpu with more cores or what. I want speed, hard core down and dirty speed. I never, ever want to wait again on a computer to do something. I want it done yesterday. I want it to be a virtual time machine that reads my mind and reaches forward into tomorrow to fetch my commands and deliver them to me before I know I need them.

I have zero tolerance for stupid machines. I have less than zero tolerance for stupid machines. SLOW = STUPID.. STUPID = SLOW..

I have had it with the Ubuntu. It's pig slow and I'm done with it. It used to be ok when all I did was browse webpages.

But I just bought a Canon EOS 5D mkII camera and I need to switch to OSX Lion so I can process photos and videos and Ubuntu does not have anything worth a flip for that. I've looked and everything is nerdware and very hostile towards stupid people like me. I need OSX because it just works, it's stupid people friendly so I can work with it. And no, I absolutely will not consider using windows, period. I have it on my home theater PC and I hate it. I only use it because it was there to begin with then my ex put the My Theater app on it. Long story there but I'm stuck with the My theater app.

But my desktop PC, something has to change and soon. I'm about half a breath away from taking a baseball bat to it. My nerves are so frazzled down to the last raw neuron that I'm teetering on the edge of doing extreme violence to this thing.

 

[Dee_Ann]

I've run into the same problems on a few Ubuntu installs. Why not re-install the "older" version? My thinking is the new version has features that don't "play well" with the older hardware. One install required just uninstalling a couple of features.. I got help at Ubuntu Forums. Before spending money on RAM- Another cause of slowing is a dirty cpu heatsink. I've seen the Power supplies in a few computers totally plugged with dust also. I blow mine out at least once a year. Hold the fans from spinning when blasted with compressed air.

Oh the inside of the PC is so clean you could eat a meal in there. Spotless, nary a single speck of dust.

As to the older versions of Ubuntu, I had to upgrade because they stopped supporting the older ones. I kept getting error messages telling me that my version was no longer supported and that there were no longer going to be any security patches available. In other words, it was abandoned by the people that wrote it.

I guess these jerks buy the latest, greatest, bestest stuff every 2 months and they write the Ubuntu to work on the newest, fastest stuff and have no regard for people that can't afford to keep up with the Joneses.

 

[JAG72]

FYI, there is a lot of memory out there that can be bought as new that is DDR2 and is compatible with what you have. Without knowing what system board you have I would hate to recommend one that would work for your situation.

Also there must be something else wrong. The Intel chip that you have should not be as dog slow as you say.

 

[Dee_Ann]

FYI, there is a lot of memory out there that can be bought as new that is DDR2 and is compatible with what you have. Without knowing what system board you have I would hate to recommend one that would work for your situation.

Also there must be something else wrong. The Intel chip that you have should not be as dog slow as you say.

The main board I have is this one, "GIGABYTE GA-X48-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard

"
​

When I first got this thing, it was crazy fast. I had no complaints at all about it.

I think the disk has something to do with it. I had the old Ubuntu on a different disk. When I had to upgrade I put a new disk in and installed the new Ubuntu on the new disk.
Ever since then, it's been absolutely horrible.

I'm no computer expert but I've learned over the years how to put a disk in, video card, etc. after I got ripped off a few times at Best Buy and Circuit city.
Maybe this disk is labeled wrong, maybe it's a very slow disk with the wrong label on it. I know they make them in different speeds.

 

[JAG72]

Since you have the GIGABYTE GA-X48-DQ6 you can use any of the following memory.

DDR2 1200/1066/800/667MHz

I would stick to the DDR2 1066 modules.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Memory, Desktop Memory, DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500), 4GB (2 x 2GB)

 

[navychop]

Before you do anything, defrag the disk. And I agree, that is not a bad CPU. Then try ccleaner or Ubuntu equivalent (if that really applies, someone chime in). Then look to see if you have a lot on your desktop. If you have a program there, move it off the desktop. That last one really applies to Windows, but perhaps will apply to Ubuntu also. Been a number of years since I've dealt with Unix.

 

[JAG72]

Just wondering why not just put Windows 7 on the computer? I am a MAC and Linux fan but Windows 7 is also a pretty good operating system.

Also if you are looking into new remember that more cores doesn't mean that it will be faster. It only means that you will be able to run more items at the same time. If the program is not written to use the multi cores you will not see any benefit from it.

As far as your comment about the disk. As long as you are running the OS on a 7200 RPM drive you should be fine.

I really think that something is just not right about the OS installation since you stated that is when you started to see your issues.

 

[JAG72]

I would also like to see what a free -m command displays when you are having the issues with the drive just running wild. This will tell if you have run out of memory and are swapping to disk. If you have heavy swap it can really impact the performance of your machine.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Since you have the GIGABYTE GA-X48-DQ6 you can use any of the following memory.

DDR2 1200/1066/800/667MHz

I would stick to the DDR2 1066 modules.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Memory, Desktop Memory, DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500), 4GB (2 x 2GB)

Ok, so here's some more stupid questions.

I'm looking at the memory on Newegg and I see they have them with different specifications.

For instance, it says on some of them CAS Latency 5 or 7.
I see also they list "Timing 5-5-5-15"

And they are all different voltages. What do those things mean and which is better, lower or higher numbers?
They just assume everyone knows all these cryptic numbers and codes..

I guess I will have to buy four memories and remove the two that are in there now so that all four are a matched set, right?
I read somewhere that you have to do that, that if they are mismatched it will make it crash a lot. I certainly don't want crashing.

Thanks!

 

[Dee_Ann]

Just wondering why not just put Windows 7 on the computer? I am a MAC and Linux fan but Windows 7 is also a pretty good operating system.

Also if you are looking into new remember that more cores doesn't mean that it will be faster. It only means that you will be able to run more items at the same time. If the program is not written to use the multi cores you will not see any benefit from it.

As far as your comment about the disk. As long as you are running the OS on a 7200 RPM drive you should be fine.

I really think that something is just not right about the OS installation since you stated that is when you started to see your issues.

I will not use windows, any version, ever. The Home Theater pc it's on, I didn't put it there, my ex did. And it's not connected to the internet. I don't use the windows at all on it, all it does is run the satellite app.

I used to use windows and all I ever got were blue screens of death and a bazillion viruses. No thanks, never again..

 

[JAG72]

For instance, it says on some of them CAS Latency 5 or 7.

The lower the CAS Latency the better. You also don't need to have all the same within the system. The memory will downgrade itself to the lowest common denominator.

I fully understand you hate to Windows. Have you also thought of trying a different version of Linux (Fedora or OpenSuSE)?

 

[Dee_Ann]

The lower the CAS Latency the better. You also don't need to have all the same within the system. The memory will downgrade itself to the lowest common denominator.

I fully understand you hate to Windows. Have you also thought of trying a different version of Linux (Fedora or OpenSuSE)?

Thank you for the clarification on the memory. You just saved me some money..


As for the Linux, no.

I just sunk about $4,500 into a camera so I need to have REAL photo and video editing. Nothing exists for Linux to do that.
There is Gimp which s*cks and for video, there just isn't anything at all.

I'm going to spend another $8,000 to $10,000 on additional lenses this year coming so I'm getting super serious about my photography now.
I like the idea of "free" like Linux is supposed to be about but "free" offers nothing to do the things I need.

I need to get the Adobe stuff for photos and video and those do not work on Linux. I despise windows so that leaves OSX.

I have several old Macs but they are too old to do modern things. Most of them are the old Powerpc chips which Apple abandoned. Nothing is supported or offered for them anymore.
I have an old Intel Mac but it's one of the very first ones and it can't upgrade beyond Tiger. It's stuck in Tigerland forever. They all still work just fine but they are soooooo far behind the times now and just will not do the things I need.

I really would like to have a Mac Pro, I see they have a 12 core but there are things about it I don't like. I would rather buy it without their puny little disk and put a bunch of much larger disks in it myself for a lot less money. I don't like that it has an ATI video card but I doubt that can be changed out for an Nvidia. And Apple overcharges by a great deal on their stuff. And I hate their planned obsolescence policy.

Maybe next year I'll buy one but it's rather unlikely. That's why I'm wanting to build one.

What I do like about Apple is that they are 100% reliable and very easy to use. You can not say that about Linux or Windows. Linux is much more reliable than windows but it's many times more difficult to use and there's no commercial apps for it and the free apps, stink. It's great though if all you do is browse the internet, do email, facebook, etc.. Windows is a constant pain, you spend all your time fighting viruses and you have to have THREE anti-virus programs running at the same time to cover what the others might miss. This slows it down so much it's unbearable. And it's a never ending money pit. NOTHING for windows is free. Even "free" things come at a price, full of spyware, toolbars, viruses, begware, etc.. Nope... I'm done with windows. I only wish I could be rid of it on my home theater machine too but I haven't found a satellite tuner yet that can do what it does so I tolerate it, from a distance.

 

[Dee_Ann]

I would also like to see what a free -m command displays when you are having the issues with the drive just running wild. This will tell if you have run out of memory and are swapping to disk. If you have heavy swap it can really impact the performance of your machine.

dee@Xena:~$ free -m
             total       used       free     shared    buffers     cached
Mem:          3960       3928         31          0         13        199
-/+ buffers/cache:       3715        245
Swap:        38146       2449      35697
dee@Xena:~$

 

[JAG72]

dee@Xena:~$ free -m
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 3960 3928 31 0 13 199
-/+ buffers/cache: 3715 245
Swap: 38146 2449 35697
dee@Xena:~$

You need more memory. You are using 2.5 GB more memory than what is in you pc. You are using swap which could really slow down you machine.

 

[Dee_Ann]

You need more memory. You are using 2.5 GB more memory than what is in you pc. You are using swap which could really slow down you machine.

That sounds about right. It's this new Ubuntu. They just wrote it assuming everyone else will have a bazillion trillion jigabytes like they do. Idiots..

So I learned a lot about memory the past few hours. Whew!
I learned about the CAS latency, lower is better.
I learned that the timing numbers need to be low too. I saw cheap memory that was like 8-8-8-25... Nope..
I also learned that if you meddle with the voltage in the setup you can lower the numbers on the timing. Yep..
I saw some memory that ran at speed of X but it required 2.3 volts to run that speed.
I saw other memory that ran also ran at the same speed of X but at a lower voltage of 1.8 volts.
The first one, you can't overclock it. The second one, you can by raising the voltage and setting the numbers lower.

Mmmmmmmkay............. That's what I read anyway...

So I sound some PC2-8500 that runs at 5-5-5-15 and 1.8 volts. I bought 8gb of it for $120 and it'll be here by the 29th (Amazon Prime)
I should be able to overclock that memory to run faster. I don't know anything about overclocking but I've bookmarked a few pages to read up on it.
I'm going to try it anyway.. I'm a little afraid to because I read if you do it wrong you can burn things up.. Ooooopsy... We do not want that.
So I'm going to do a lot of reading first.

And the swap disk on here. Arrrrrrrgh!!! SLUG SLOW!!!!!!!!!! I need to put a very high speed disk in for the swap memory!!
That's where I'm thinking about getting one of those new electronic disks. But I also read that those burn out after you write to them X number of times.
That seems like a pretty stupid design. Well, it's a smart design for THEM, the money grubbers. But for us, BOHICA!!

I'll just take the memory that's in mine now and put it in Dad's machine, his and my computers are identical. He's not even on the internet and rarely even turns the thing on.
Plus, I learned in all this, that the memory in my machine is slow. It's 6-6-6-18-2N (I don't know what that 2N is about though) so I think the 5-5-5-15 will be an improvement.
Especially if I can get it down to 4-4-4-12 like other people said they were able to do.

OMG I'm learning stuff!!