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my pc is a memory hogging beast

Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 12:37 am
by s.dot
Okay, so I'm trying to diagnose why when simple things like AVG anti-virus runs.. my cpu usage goes up into the 60th+ %, making my fan overwork itself, and most annoyingly.. sound like a UFO taking off.

It's not just the anti-virus. Same goes for when firefox stays open too long (but I think that's a given), when I open Photoshop (which I just upgraded to cs3.. i hate to use it for fear of the hum).

It used to do this before, too. That's when I opened my tower and took out the tons of dust that had collected on my fan and vents. Problem fixed. So I figured that was the problem again, but it's not. The inside of my tower is as clean as it's probably ever been.. since I cleaned it thorougly.

So, here's my system specs and my thoughts:
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium version 6.0.6000 Build 6000
System Manufacturer: HP Pavilion 061
System Model: EL456AA-ABA a1328x
System Type: x86-based PC
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06 GHz 3066 MHz, 1 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
Total Physical Memory: 1,469.94 MB
Available Physical Memory: 878.89 MB
Total Virtual Memory: 3.11 GB
Available Virtual Memory: 2.00 GB

Display/Graphics Card (I'm Assuming) RADEON XPRESS 200 Series (Microsoft Corporation)
My thoughts are: the quick solution would be to add more RAM. But my PC goes up to 2GB, of which I already have 1.5GB.. so I'm not sure how much difference 512MB more would make.

Windows has a thing called a "base score", which grades your computers hardware on a scale of 1 to 5.9.. with 5.9 being the best. Here's what it says about mine:
Processor: 4.2
Memory: 4.0
Graphics: 2.1
Gaming Graphics: 3.0
Primary Hard Disk: 5.2
So, my base score is 2.1.. based on my lowest subscore. Which makes me think.. does graphics display use up a good amount of cpu? Such as replacing my graphics display (would this be my graphics card?) would make for a much better performance?

I don't want to tune my computer for performance. I like it the way it is. I'd like to have sufficient hardware to suit my settings I have now.

Another thought would be.. maybe I just need to replace my fan? Although that doesn't keep my memory usage under 60%, it may be quieter.

Thoughts/suggestions on what hardware to upgrade?

Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 3:00 pm
by califdon
Another solution would be to play more tennis, less computer games. :lol:

Seriously, though: I agree that adding 0.5MB RAM will probably not improve performance noticably. I have no experience with Vista, and have postponed replacing my computer because of some of the bad things I've heard about Vista. But how long have you been running it? A friend of mine who has been CIO for several large companies says that he always insists that all work stations in his company have Windows re-installed once a year! He says it's partly the fault of the OS and partly the fault of the users (like me!) who constantly install more and more software, some of which loads on bootup. I've never had the guts to do that on my own machines (I'd go into a tantrum if I didn't have all my little "comfort" software available!), but for whatever it's worth, he thinks it is the answer to good performance.

I believe you're right about the graphics display. Low-end graphics cards use main memory instead of having their own on-board memory, so that could be an issue.

If you find a magic answer, please post it. You're not alone!!

Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 3:16 pm
by s.dot
I think I hacked a very nice post by maugrim the reaper =[. I probably edited and quoted it instead of just quoting it.. that would make it the second time that that's happened. :(

Anyways, I don't play many games.. actually any games at all online. So, that's not it. I just like to have all my comfort software, as you put it, available.

Windows Vista isn't the problem.. I don't think. I'm sure the aero graphics display might be a part of the problem. I'm leaning towards a new graphics card and a new fan.

Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 3:47 pm
by califdon
scottayy wrote:I think I hacked a very nice post by maugrim the reaper =[. I probably edited and quoted it instead of just quoting it.. that would make it the second time that that's happened. :(

Anyways, I don't play many games.. actually any games at all online. So, that's not it. I just like to have all my comfort software, as you put it, available.

Windows Vista isn't the problem.. I don't think. I'm sure the aero graphics display might be a part of the problem. I'm leaning towards a new graphics card and a new fan.
Yeah, I've been bitten several times by this s-l-o-w server, ending up reposting the same stuff. Man, I hate that, then it takes forever to try to delete the dupes. Yep, after I replied to this one, I saw the dupe and the replies there. Sheesh! Hope they get something done on the problem soon, I'm finding it frustrating to participate here.

Well, the fan and/or HD could produce the noise, but replacing them would only eliminate the noise, it couldn't do anything about the cpu usage, which seems to be the main problem.

Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 10:06 pm
by RobertGonzalez
I am locking this forked thread from our CS (crappy server) days. Please continue this conversation at viewtopic.php?t=76154

Thanks.