New computer, running slower and slower with SP2 - any ideas?!?!

[David D]

I need some help deciding whether to reformat my drive. Here is the
situation :

Ok, I will try to make this simple because I am trying to figure out
if I have done something wrong and which of my systems is faster.

I have two computers:
1) Dual Core Pentium 3.0Ghz - 1.75meg of DDR 333 RAM - SP1 XP (10
months old) - 80 gig MAXTOR IDE (Asus P5P800 SE )

2) X2 AMD 3800+ - 2 meg of DDR2 667 - SP2 XP (brand new) - 80 gig
MAXTOR IDE (Asus M2NPV-VM)

Now, I am trying to determine which is a faster system for Sony Vegas
6 (an NLE) - and faster in general so I can make it my HD computer.
The trouble is, I am finding that computer "1" is faster (it only has
SP1) and computer "2" is slower since I put Service Pack 2 on it. It
could be just me, but when I start the programs from a cold boot,
computer "1" takes less time to load up and start - I used a stopwatch
and by the time the Vegas window is up, Computer "1" is a winner by
over 20 seconds. Now, that might not be the best method to testing out
the speed of a computer, but it is a start for me. I am wondering if
the SP2 has clogged my "2" system down and whether I should leave it
off.
Does anyone know a benchmark test or a way of figuring out which which
is faster? Again, my eyes don't lie when I say computer "2" does
seem to run slower even though it has DDR2 RAM and more of it. More
interestingly is that computer "2" ran very fast when I first
formatted it and put Vegas on, but alas in the past 3 days, it has
very much slowed down with other programs etc. Both computers has
Anti-Vir on them and have the same amount of background programs
running.

As an update, I just rendering out a small clip on both systems and
computer "1" render times was 1.5 X(times) as fast. This is crazy.
Computer "2" should be faster according to the specs, right?

I am at a point, where although I am going to hate myself, I think I
might have to reformat the drive and spend another 8 hours putting
software back on, but without SP2.


Any ideas?

 

[GHalleck]

I need some help deciding whether to reformat my drive. Here is the
situation :

Ok, I will try to make this simple because I am trying to figure out
if I have done something wrong and which of my systems is faster.

I have two computers:
1) Dual Core Pentium 3.0Ghz - 1.75meg of DDR 333 RAM - SP1 XP (10
months old) - 80 gig MAXTOR IDE (Asus P5P800 SE )

2) X2 AMD 3800+ - 2 meg of DDR2 667 - SP2 XP (brand new) - 80 gig
MAXTOR IDE (Asus M2NPV-VM)

Now, I am trying to determine which is a faster system for Sony Vegas
6 (an NLE) - and faster in general so I can make it my HD computer.
The trouble is, I am finding that computer "1" is faster (it only has
SP1) and computer "2" is slower since I put Service Pack 2 on it. It
could be just me, but when I start the programs from a cold boot,
computer "1" takes less time to load up and start - I used a stopwatch
and by the time the Vegas window is up, Computer "1" is a winner by
over 20 seconds. Now, that might not be the best method to testing out
the speed of a computer, but it is a start for me. I am wondering if
the SP2 has clogged my "2" system down and whether I should leave it
off.
Does anyone know a benchmark test or a way of figuring out which which
is faster? Again, my eyes don't lie when I say computer "2" does
seem to run slower even though it has DDR2 RAM and more of it. More
interestingly is that computer "2" ran very fast when I first
formatted it and put Vegas on, but alas in the past 3 days, it has
very much slowed down with other programs etc. Both computers has
Anti-Vir on them and have the same amount of background programs
running.

As an update, I just rendering out a small clip on both systems and
computer "1" render times was 1.5 X(times) as fast. This is crazy.
Computer "2" should be faster according to the specs, right?

I am at a point, where although I am going to hate myself, I think I
might have to reformat the drive and spend another 8 hours putting
software back on, but without SP2.


Any ideas?

There are any number of tests that can be used to benchmark different
computers for comparison purpose. One example is SiSoftware Sandra; or
Dhrystone and Whetstone, etc. One can develop a specific one for one's
personal computers, merely by side-by-side comparisons of some meaningful
activity, such as querying and sorting 100,000 relation database records,
and so on.

But explaining benchmark results, as already performed here, is another
matter. For example, SP2 might not even be a contributing factor for
several reasons. For instance, the chipset of the AMD system might be
the limiting factor. Or the setup of the memory timings for the DDR333
vs. DDR667 RAM. NO mention was made of the graphics card for either
system.

If absolute speed is not an issue but comparable speed is, then one
might as well update the Pentium to SP2. But if absolute speed is
the wanted endpoint...well, that option wasn't even chosen, based
on either system.

 

[David D]

I know I am I don't have the ultimate system in any case, I was just
concerned because the older computer is running faster then the newer
one. Now, if someone told me based on my system specs, this is true,
then I would file it away as a poor buying decision. But when I
purchased the computer, from my research this was a faster system
overall.
As for SP2, if it is true that it is not the culprit, that would be ok
too because I wouldn't have to reformat/reinstall.

The video cards are as follows
SO does this sound like a memory problem? Does it sound like a
hardware problem where I need to take something back to the store?

 

[R. McCarty]

When you install SP2 two conditions result - First the drive is heavily
fragmented since thousands of system modules are replaced. Second
the Prefetch/Layout data is removed. After several days (reboots) of
use the system will run a "ProcessIdleTasks" and build the Layout.Ini
and run a defragment placing Boot/System files in a contiguous place
on the drive.

Speed isn't a pure hardware comparison. Other considerations are the
drivers in use, System loading (Startups & Watchdogs) and what if any
tunings are applied ( Services ). Sometimes just the use of a single app
(Norton comes to mind) can act like a "Ball-and-Chain" affect on a
computer's performance.

 

[David D]

EDITED

I know I am I don't have the ultimate system in any case, I was just
concerned because the older computer is running faster then the newer
one. Now, if someone told me based on my system specs, this is true,
then I would file it away as a poor buying decision. But when I
purchased the computer, from my research this was a faster system
overall.
As for SP2, if it is true that it is not the culprit, that would be ok
too because I wouldn't have to reformat/reinstall.

The video cards are as follows


SO does this sound like a memory problem? Does it sound like a
hardware problem where I need to take something back to the store?

 

[Daave]

I know I am I don't have the ultimate system in any case, I was just
concerned because the older computer is running faster then the newer
one. Now, if someone told me based on my system specs, this is true,
then I would file it away as a poor buying decision. But when I
purchased the computer, from my research this was a faster system
overall.
As for SP2, if it is true that it is not the culprit, that would be ok
too because I wouldn't have to reformat/reinstall.

The video cards are as follows

SO does this sound like a memory problem? Does it sound like a
hardware problem where I need to take something back to the store?

It sounds like a software problem because of the following from your
original post:

More interestingly is that computer "2" ran very fast when I first
formatted it and put Vegas on, but alas in the past 3 days, it has
very much slowed down with other programs etc. Both computers has
Anti-Vir on them and have the same amount of background programs
running.

As another mentioned, you didn't mention defragging after the SP2
install.

See this site to speed up your computer:

http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm

If it's still slower, it may be that the dual core Pentium is better for
how *you* use a computer.

 

[David D]

It has been defragged, twice, sorry forgot to mention that.

 

[Dave]

I need some help deciding whether to reformat my drive. Here is the
situation :

Ok, I will try to make this simple because I am trying to figure out
if I have done something wrong and which of my systems is faster.

I have two computers:
1) Dual Core Pentium 3.0Ghz - 1.75meg of DDR 333 RAM - SP1 XP (10
months old) - 80 gig MAXTOR IDE (Asus P5P800 SE )

2) X2 AMD 3800+ - 2 meg of DDR2 667 - SP2 XP (brand new) - 80 gig
MAXTOR IDE (Asus M2NPV-VM)

Now, I am trying to determine which is a faster system for Sony Vegas
6 (an NLE) - and faster in general so I can make it my HD computer.
The trouble is, I am finding that computer "1" is faster (it only has
SP1) and computer "2" is slower since I put Service Pack 2 on it. It
could be just me, but when I start the programs from a cold boot,
computer "1" takes less time to load up and start - I used a stopwatch
and by the time the Vegas window is up, Computer "1" is a winner by
over 20 seconds. Now, that might not be the best method to testing out
the speed of a computer, but it is a start for me. I am wondering if
the SP2 has clogged my "2" system down and whether I should leave it
off.
Does anyone know a benchmark test or a way of figuring out which which
is faster? Again, my eyes don't lie when I say computer "2" does
seem to run slower even though it has DDR2 RAM and more of it. More
interestingly is that computer "2" ran very fast when I first
formatted it and put Vegas on, but alas in the past 3 days, it has
very much slowed down with other programs etc. Both computers has
Anti-Vir on them and have the same amount of background programs
running.

As an update, I just rendering out a small clip on both systems and
computer "1" render times was 1.5 X(times) as fast. This is crazy.
Computer "2" should be faster according to the specs, right?

I am at a point, where although I am going to hate myself, I think I
might have to reformat the drive and spend another 8 hours putting
software back on, but without SP2.


Any ideas?

Just wanted to relay something I saw 2 weeks ago. My daughter called about
a new HP printer not being seen properly by XP w/SP2. Long story short, she
forgot to remove the protective tape from the color cartridge.

This was a one year old HP laptop. It loaded XP lickety-split, fast that
is. Once loaded, it was slower than molasses running downhill in the dead
of winter.

 

[David D]

The link was helpful, but since I have most of what it offers - the
computer at present is not connected to the internet, so I am guessing
the spyware, virus etc are not the problem. When I ran separate
renders of a Video I had on both computers - same exact specs on the
NLE/video, the AMD ran 8:00 (approx) while the Dual Core ran 5:00
(approx). That is a huge difference considering the Dual core has DDR
(mixed batch 1.75gig) and the AMD has 2 gig Kingston RAM. Again, it
might have nothing to do with the RAM. It might be software related
or even a bad motherboard or something, but I want a good prgram that
will benchmark all of the things I am looking for and tell me if it is
running optimal or not.
I has been defragged and should be running quicker in my opinion. Any
ideas?

 

[David D]

I ran a program called Fresh Diagnose a computer friend of mine had
and it told a completely new story -
I don't know about the details, but I can see the numbers -
My AMD processor, graphics card etc all excel on the new AMD 3800+ x2
but when it comes to memory (2 gigs of ddr2), it drop 1/3 of the of
older system with DDR1. This is incredible to me. Do you think that
is the motherboard (ASUS m2npv-vm) that is causing it? I would like
to know if I am going to take it back and get another one that it is
indeed the motherboard problem. My other computer has the P5P800SE
ASUS motherboard and the memory (DDR1 1.75Gig) is off the chart
compared to the DDR2 in the AMD system. After comparing all variables
and testing the memory with the memory tester, there is no leaks - so
is it the motherboard ?!?

 

[Ghostrider]

I ran a program called Fresh Diagnose a computer friend of mine had
and it told a completely new story -
I don't know about the details, but I can see the numbers -
My AMD processor, graphics card etc all excel on the new AMD 3800+ x2
but when it comes to memory (2 gigs of ddr2), it drop 1/3 of the of
older system with DDR1. This is incredible to me. Do you think that
is the motherboard (ASUS m2npv-vm) that is causing it? I would like
to know if I am going to take it back and get another one that it is
indeed the motherboard problem. My other computer has the P5P800SE
ASUS motherboard and the memory (DDR1 1.75Gig) is off the chart
compared to the DDR2 in the AMD system. After comparing all variables
and testing the memory with the memory tester, there is no leaks - so
is it the motherboard ?!?

There are fast motherboards and slow motherboards. There are RAM that
is faster than others and also slower from different ones. And there
might not be anything wrong with the motherboard itself. If so, then
what's the excuse for having the retailer replace it? It's the design;
did you do your research before buying? IMO, the P5P800SE is a better,
all-around motherboard than the M2NPV-VM. And also, one gets what one
pays.

 

[David D]

Yes, I am returning it on Saturday and paying extra for a better
motherboard. I didn't think the difference would be so great, but now
I know. More money then I wanted to spend, but at least it will work
better,