PC Building Guide and Discussion #11 (everything is expensive...)

[The Nuge]

Question for those more knowledgeable than myself. My wife’s computer has 4 gb of ram, and she’s basically maxing it out from her normal usage (without doing much, it’s showing ~3.8 gb being used), and things have been running quite slow. I was going to upgrade it, but the other issue is web browsers are taking an unusually long time to load a page (not an issue on any other device in the house). Would it make sense that the web browser is being slow as a result of the lack of ram?

 

[SniperHF]

Question for those more knowledgeable than myself. My wife’s computer has 4 gb of ram,

Do you know what type of RAM it takes? DDR2, 3, 4? Laptop or desktop? Was it ever upgraded before?

If you don't know, post the model of the system and I can probably find it.

Some laptops are unfortunately very difficult to upgrade RAM on.

and she’s basically maxing it out from her normal usage (without doing much, it’s showing ~3.8 gb being used), and things have been running quite slow. I was going to upgrade it, but the other issue is web browsers are taking an unusually long time to load a page (not an issue on any other device in the house).

Windows 10? A base install of 10 with a few normal programs running tends to take up 2 - 2.5GB or so at idle.

Depending on how many tabs open the browser usually between 300MB and 1GB. I have 32 tabs open and my browser is taking about 1.5 GB right now.

If you aren't sure, take a screen shot of the processes tab (sorted by memory) of task manager and we can see what's using how much RAM.

While 4GB is a little thin these days I still find it workable on my laptop with only 4GB for just general internet usage. So I'm guessing there might be some fat that can be trimmed in terms of what programs launch at startup.

Would it make sense that the web browser is being slow as a result of the lack of ram?

Most likely.

When you are near maximum capacity on RAM the system will dump more data on to what's called the page file which is located on the hard drive. Hard drives are much slower than RAM, even SSDs are slower by a significant amount. So you're essentially using that much slower hard drive as overflow RAM.

 

[Kestrel]

Question for those more knowledgeable than myself. My wife’s computer has 4 gb of ram, and she’s basically maxing it out from her normal usage (without doing much, it’s showing ~3.8 gb being used), and things have been running quite slow. I was going to upgrade it, but the other issue is web browsers are taking an unusually long time to load a page (not an issue on any other device in the house). Would it make sense that the web browser is being slow as a result of the lack of ram?

RAM CAN keep itself occupied doing normal stuff, but shouldn't in and of itself automatically make the computer slow. BUT - browsers can be real pigs when it comes to memory use too. What version of Windows is she on? Any idea how old that particular installation of Windows is? Windows, over extended periods of time, can run worse and worse, and need a refresh or reinstall for a computer to run the way it ought to. But yes - that amount of RAM isn't much, and could slow things down. For comparison though, my dad is on 2 GB of RAM - really less than should be used for Windows 10, but seems to do okay. All the same, I've got another 4 GB of RAM on the way that I'm hoping will add a little extra something to the computer.

 

[SniperHF]

I'm now the owner of a Buffalo 8GB 2 disk NAS. I have no idea what to do with it though (was free), never been interested in media servers and what not.
Maybe I'll just use it for scheduled incremental back ups instead of plugging in my stupid USB 3.0 drive every time I wanna run one.

 

[Kestrel]

I'm now the owner of a Buffalo 8GB 2 disk NAS. I have no idea what to do with it though (was free), never been interested in media servers and what not.
Maybe I'll just use it for scheduled incremental back ups instead of plugging in my stupid USB 3.0 drive every time I wanna run one.

8 GB? Or 8 TB? I'd be happy to have a NAS setup, I'm just not willing to pay for it

 

[The Nuge]

Do you know what type of RAM it takes? DDR2, 3, 4? Laptop or desktop? Was it ever upgraded before?

If you don't know, post the model of the system and I can probably find it.

Some laptops are unfortunately very difficult to upgrade RAM on.



Windows 10? A base install of 10 with a few normal programs running tends to take up 2 - 2.5GB or so at idle.

Depending on how many tabs open the browser usually between 300MB and 1GB. I have 32 tabs open and my browser is taking about 1.5 GB right now.

If you aren't sure, take a screen shot of the processes tab (sorted by memory) of task manager and we can see what's using how much RAM.

While 4GB is a little thin these days I still find it workable on my laptop with only 4GB for just general internet usage. So I'm guessing there might be some fat that can be trimmed in terms of what programs launch at startup.




Most likely.

When you are near maximum capacity on RAM the system will dump more data on to what's called the page file which is located on the hard drive. Hard drives are much slower than RAM, even SSDs are slower by a significant amount. So you're essentially using that much slower hard drive as overflow RAM.

RAM CAN keep itself occupied doing normal stuff, but shouldn't in and of itself automatically make the computer slow. BUT - browsers can be real pigs when it comes to memory use too. What version of Windows is she on? Any idea how old that particular installation of Windows is? Windows, over extended periods of time, can run worse and worse, and need a refresh or reinstall for a computer to run the way it ought to. But yes - that amount of RAM isn't much, and could slow things down. For comparison though, my dad is on 2 GB of RAM - really less than should be used for Windows 10, but seems to do okay. All the same, I've got another 4 GB of RAM on the way that I'm hoping will add a little extra something to the computer.

It’s DDR3.

Sorry guys. Should have clarified. It’s an iMac ( ) not a PC. She runs photoshop for her scrapbooking, which takes up a big part of the ram. It seems a ram upgrade is like the one thing that’s easy to do to it, so I was going to upgrade it to 12 GB.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Kestrel]

It’s DDR3.

Sorry guys. Should have clarified. It’s an iMac ( ) not a PC. She runs photoshop for her scrapbooking, which takes up a big part of the ram. It seems a ram upgrade is like the one thing that’s easy to do to it, so I was going to upgrade it to 12 GB.

Thanks for the advice.

Sorry, I'm way out of my element with anything Apple!

 

[SniperHF]

Sorry guys. Should have clarified. It’s an iMac ( ) not a PC. She runs photoshop for her scrapbooking, which takes up a big part of the ram. It seems a ram upgrade is like the one thing that’s easy to do to it, so I was going to upgrade it to 12 GB.

Ewwww

Anyway, I don't know that I'd go all the way up to 12GB, I think 8GB total would do.

Do you have to replace the existing stick of RAM or does it have an empty slot?
If you've never cracked it open, you can probably find out via the model number. It most likely has a single stick of 4GB RAM though if it's older it might have 2x2GB. It could even have RAM embedded in the motherboard which isn't upgradable.

I would also check to see what type of RAM you have currently in terms of specs(1333, 1600, timings, etc) and try to match that with whatever you buy.

8 GB? Or 8 TB? I'd be happy to have a NAS setup, I'm just not willing to pay for it

Yes, Terabyte

The NAS interface is also pokey as all hell but hopefully once it's set up I wont have to mess with it much.

Although it's currently in a RAID 1 so I've only got 3.6TB usable or so.

 

[Kestrel]

Yes, Terabyte

The NAS interface is also pokey as all hell but hopefully once it's set up I wont have to mess with it much.

Although it's currently in a RAID 1 so I've only got 3.6TB usable or so.

I was going to ask just how old this thing was

 

[SniperHF]

I was going to ask just how old this thing was

Think it will run on my token ring network?

 

[Kestrel]

Think it will run on my token ring network?

I dunno... haha, I never did get to play with token ring - but I don't feel like I missed out.

 

[Kestrel]

Here you go Sniper - this should help you out.

 

[SniperHF]

Here you go Sniper - this should help you out.
Bridge

Looks like a bridge, so yeah probably
But I'm running IPX SPX on the system so I'm not sure the NAS can communicate over that protocol anyway.


I also just got an older Cisco 2690, since it's old and commercial grade I figured it might suck a bit more power than your typical crappy linksys switch. But it's only about 3 bucks a month 24/7 use after doing the math. So not bad.

 

[Kestrel]

Looks like a bridge, so yeah probably
But I'm running IPX SPX on the system so I'm not sure the NAS can communicate over that protocol anyway.


I also just got an older Cisco 2690, since it's old and commercial grade I figured it might suck a bit more power than your typical crappy linksys switch. But it's only about 3 bucks a month 24/7 use after doing the math. So not bad.

Novell? I had to look that up, it's been so so so many years since I had to deal with that - even then, it was only in a class - I wouldn't have a clue what I was doing now!

 

[Kestrel]

Well, I've managed to do it - I've managed to pin Threadripper to 100% - not consistently, but enough to make the system unresponsive at times. I've got NiceHash running in the background, nothing unusual there - but combined with some Plex and Chrome use, and Qbundle running itself in the background and setting up, yeah... it's annoying. I didn't expect Qbundle to do that.

Edit: And I think I have figured out why... if my computer's going to be on 24/7, I figured I might as well do some hard drive mining as it doesn't really cost anything to do - but I think the thing is starting out by trying to CPU mine Burstcoin... I might have to turn it off for now until I get this thing figured out.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Oh f*** off...

NVIDIA's GTX 2080 Flagship Will Allegedly Sell For Or Upwards Of $1500

 

[Kestrel]

Oh **** off...

NVIDIA's GTX 2080 Flagship Will Allegedly Sell For Or Upwards Of $1500

Haha... wow. If that's the way things are going, my RX 560 can stay in my system. Gaming isn't that important to me. Or I'm lucky enough to have a 480 in the other computer - either way, I'm not paying those kinds of ridiculous prices. My only hope then would be that the Nvidia card makes most other cards useless for mining.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

Cryptomining needs to f***ing die or find something else to get at. Jesus this is f***ing dumb. Nvidia is going to be laughed off stage if they announce it at this price.

 

[Kestrel]

Cryptomining needs to ****ing die or find something else to get at. Jesus this is ****ing dumb. Nvidia is going to be laughed off stage if they announce it at this price.

I agree with you in principle, but I'm still hoping to make back some of what I spent on my computer

But yeah, the mining is ridiculous. I was looking into hard drive mining, and I came across pretty ridiculous threads - ie, a guy from China who is wanting to know how profitable hard drive mining is, and if it's worth him buying 100 6TB drives to mine with - because his 50 GPU rigs are getting to be less profitable. He also mentioned being one of the "small" mining farms in his neighbourhood. It's an industry that is ruining the computer market for everyone else.

 

[SniperHF]

Oh **** off...

NVIDIA's GTX 2080 Flagship Will Allegedly Sell For Or Upwards Of $1500

Just have to laugh.

This is also assuming the wholesalers don't unload 30-50% of their inventory out the back door instead of the things ever hitting retailers anyway

That practice is supposedly partially responsible for killing Vega 1.0.

Novell? I had to look that up, it's been so so so many years since I had to deal with that - even then, it was only in a class - I wouldn't have a clue what I was doing now!

You could run IPX/SPX on Windows 9x boxes too and I think there was a way to emulate it on NT/2000/XP

The only reason I ever needed to was to play games of course
A decent amount of mid-late 90's games ran only on IPX/SPX for LAN play. Including a few C&C games as I recall.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Well this should be fun.....

 

[mouser]

I'm now the owner of a Buffalo 8GB 2 disk NAS. I have no idea what to do with it though (was free), never been interested in media servers and what not.
Maybe I'll just use it for scheduled incremental back ups instead of plugging in my stupid USB 3.0 drive every time I wanna run one.

Scheduled network backups are so nice. No need to worry you forgot something. If somethings goes terribly wrong and a virus gets in, just reinstall from backup. One other cute trick you can do with most higher end NAS systems is plug an external drive into them and backup the backup. If for example you wanted to keep a backup copy offsite.

I tend to keep things on mine that I don't want to move if I build a new system. e.g. iTunes library and other longer term files.

 

[Kestrel]

You could run IPX/SPX on Windows 9x boxes too and I think there was a way to emulate it on NT/2000/XP

The only reason I ever needed to was to play games of course
A decent amount of mid-late 90's games ran only on IPX/SPX for LAN play. Including a few C&C games as I recall.

Ah, makes sense... it's been a LONG time, but I remember seeing IPX/SPX showing up in games now. I don't remember which ones, but it definitely would have been during that time period.

 

[SniperHF]

Scheduled network backups are so nice. No need to worry you forgot something. If somethings goes terribly wrong and a virus gets in, just reinstall from backup. One other cute trick you can do with most higher end NAS systems is plug an external drive into them and backup the backup. If for example you wanted to keep a backup copy offsite.

I tend to keep things on mine that I don't want to move if I build a new system. e.g. iTunes library and other longer term files.

Yeah it has a USB for that (or I could set it up as a print server). It does have a built in iTunes server but my library isn't that big.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Couple of thoughts on that supposed price point for the new GPUs....

1. I wonder what kinda of impact long-term there will be on other pc hardware manufactures and game developers when building a new gaming rig becomes too expensive due to these stupid prices? My wife has already backed down on her desire for a new PC and she probably is far from alone in this regards. I also have put the breaks on upgrading from my 4790K and GTX 970. I was going to just rebuild in a small form factor (Ghost S1, Dan Case or NCase) but can't find a decent itx motherboard for 4790K anymore.

2. If the price is temporary, I don't mind the revenue going to Nvidia and/or their partners. My understanding is that these manufactures have not been seeing this huge windfall in increased prices. I was under the impression people were getting these GPUs at a slight markup but then flipping the on amazon for huge profit? Have I been wrong on this thought?