# Computer Geeks! What do I need more of?



## thatguy188 (Sep 28, 2011)

Im sitting here waiting for my install of Cinema 4D to finish ... and it's taking FOREVER. Same with rendering animations, a short 10 second animation takes my computer about 2 1/2 minutes @ 25 FPS.

Just out of curiosity and to see what I should upgrade on this thing I am asking you guys. Thanks for any pointers! Lets see everybodys suggestions. Please be money conscious. It's unrealistic for me to drop $$ on the latest Ram, CPU, graphics, HD etc.

CPU: AMD Phenom II x3 710 2.6GHz
RAM: 3GB
Graphics: XFX GeForce 9800GT
HardDrive: Western Digital Sata 320GB
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Now realistically ... should I upgrade my CPU or add 3-4 more GB ram?


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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

Look at your ram usage and cpu usage in resource monitor (in system tools) while doing this, and see which of these is maxing out.


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## thatguy188 (Sep 28, 2011)

jellybellys said:


> Look at your ram usage and cpu usage in resource monitor (in system tools) while doing this, and see which of these is maxing out.


Look to the right in my pic the little widget. None are really maxed

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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

Then it is probally the speed of your disk somewhere.
Check that your drives are on SATA mode in the bios, not SATA running as IDE mode.
It could also be your processor if it is not that. My processor could run circles around yours


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## cammiso94 (Jan 22, 2012)

You need more video possessing power. You're GPU is old, so when using a large application like that, it uses all of your video ram, and you only have 1GB. If your motherboard can do it, I would SLI another 9800 GT, or get a faster CPU. A core 2 duo e6600 is better than what you have.


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## winner00 (Jun 6, 2011)

What is your usage when rendering stuff?


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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

May I ask what is your ram speed too?
IE DDR2 vs DDR3 and the speed like 800 or 1066


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## T_Yamamoto (Feb 2, 2012)

He is just installing something so for him to get more horsepower,
1) upgrade CPU to something more current, what type of mobo do you have? AM2? AM3? depending on that you can upgrade that sucker,
2) what type of ram? you do realize you have Win7Pro x64, meaning it can utilize more than 3 GB of ram!
3) video card has nothing to do with encoding or junk.


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## iowabeakster (Feb 13, 2012)

I would hazard a guess the real problem is software, not hardware. There could be some background errors wasting a bunch of compute cycles. But, if that isn't the case I think you are most likely going to have to solve the problem with a credit card. I am POSITIVE my computer would turn into a lifeless turd also if I ran windows 7 and anti-virus software.

Have you considered trying other operating systems? That would definitely be the most money conscious way (Linux is free!!!) of making an old computer run faster. My old system just hums along nicely and mutli-tasks just fine (old pentium D 2.8 ghz, 4 gigs DDR2 RAM, new but cheap nvidia card). I run the lighter weight Xubuntu. If Linux is totally foreign to you I understand the reluctance as there will be a pretty frustrating learning curve, but you will save TONS of money on hardware and software going forward... and much of the stuff you learn will be applicable with your android phone too.


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## nykiyo (Feb 23, 2012)

Que motherboard es? ?

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## T_Yamamoto (Feb 2, 2012)

okay, guys, its hardware. not software that is slowing down his process.
he only has 3 GB of ram and has a x3.

OP, have you tried unlocking the 4th core? OCed?
i would add more ram since you have a 64 bit OS.
have you defragmented the HDD recently?


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## iowabeakster (Feb 13, 2012)

Geez, sorry for bringing up software.

He said to be conscious of money, and fixing the problem with hardware costs money. Fixing it with software does not. I dealt with my similar problems with software, and saved myself a bunch of money. Again sorry...

So just go thow money at it like they say. More RAM, better CPU, better graphics card, better MB, and probably a PSU to power it all should have everything flying... until the next OS is released.


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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

jellybellys said:


> Then it is probally the speed of your disk somewhere.
> Check that your drives are on SATA mode in the bios, not SATA running as IDE mode.
> It could also be your processor if it is not that. My processor could run circles around yours


Still haven't answered my question.
This would really slow you down... alot.


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## JBirdVegas (Jun 11, 2011)

If your gonna be a nerd do it right boot your favorite Linux distro and run the app in the wine wrapper.

But seriously ssd and around 8 gb ram is where you want to be think $100 for ram and 300 for ssd and Linux is free.

Yes the hw is an issue but an intelligent os helps more than any windows users would know


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## kvswim (Aug 20, 2011)

Get a better GPU (GPU hardware acceleration helps rendering tremendously) , unlock that X3 (it's got 1 more core, go get it) , get an SSD (better responsiveness) , and get at least 1 more GB of RAM. 4GB seems to be enough for most power users (I know this seems low) unless you're running a VM or something. What's your RAM usage while rendering videos?

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## Scottysize (Mar 4, 2012)

Well, f your RAM and CPU are not maxed out, then your bottle neck is your hard drive. If money's not an issue, I switched over to a SSD hard drive this year and it's impressive. I picked up a 240GB SSD Drive for $250. So, they are expensive, but worth it to me.


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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

Scottysize said:


> Well, f your RAM and CPU are not maxed out, then your bottle neck is your hard drive. If money's not an issue, I switched over to a SSD hard drive this year and it's impressive. I picked up a 240GB SSD Drive for $250. So, they are expensive, but worth it to me.


Or RAM speed or BIOS settings.


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## masterchung7 (Dec 19, 2011)

Cheapest way to go is to buy a cooler for cpu and overclock it. For gpu, I recommend msi afterburner to give yourself a speed boost. If you want to upgrade your gpu, buy one that its at least one generation old since they lose value fast and you can find them cheap. Your 3gb of RAM seems sufficient, I never get over 3gb when gaming or video editing.

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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

jellybellys said:


> Or RAM speed or BIOS settings.


Just to clarify, I'm talking about RAM speed, not amount.
For those of you who don't know what that is, you are most likely on DDR2 800 instead of DDR3 1800


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## masterchung7 (Dec 19, 2011)

Given that he is on a phenom ii I would think that he has ddr3 ram.

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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

masterchung7 said:


> Given that he is on a phenom ii I would think that he has ddr3 ram.
> 
> Sent from my DROIDX using RootzWiki


You never know though. I've seen someone who thought they had a supercomputer because they had 12G of DDR2 800 ram


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