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Thread: update on upgrades--

  1. #1

    update on upgrades--

    Back in the 'windows 10 upgrade still free' thread, I hijacked a good chunk of it with gathering info and advice about video cards & SSD drives and such. I mentioned that I picked up am Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 ti video card and that it 'was like a bolt of lightning' hit my computer. Sadly, turns out that was too close to the truth. At least twice a day the card would freeze the computer. Can't tell you how many jobs I was in the middle of setting up that THAT screwed up. It was in the computer less than 2 weeks, I yanked it an put the old card back in. FWIW it seems these GeForce cards come in many Chinese knockoff versions, pretty sure I got one...

    Meanwhile, right between the install and uninstall of the video card, I installed an internal Crucial 1tb SSD. I was expecting a noticeable improvement in overall speed.

    umm...a little, maybe-? Just did a fresh boot, which I don't often do. Reason for the reboot- it seems the longer the computer stays on, regardless of programs running, every button click or enter-key response just keeps taking longer, and longer, and longer before the computer responds. Everything that should happen near instantly, has been taking 3 to 8 seconds. I normally do a re-start, this time I did a full shut-down then reboot. Loaded a couple of programs and did a few file-access commands, speed is MUCH better- for now anyway...

    So I checked how long to boot: to get just to the 'starting windows' text: 18 seconds. Time to the "welcome" screen, 1:16. Time to my desktop pic and 'the music', 1:25, time to all icons alive and useable, nearly 2 minutes...? I only have 10 basic startup programs active in the MSConfig folder, the only AV/malware program I use is Security Essentials... this is a 64bit 3.16gig 2 Xeon processor 8 core 32gig ram and now SS drive machine. What can possibly be taking this computer a full minute longer to boot than any of my XP's? I don't get it...

    And I guess I lied about 'I'll never have a win10 computer'... what I should've said is I'll never BUY or convert to win10 -- One of my customers, who's trying eke a part time self employment living who's not in the best financial straits, gave me an HP laptop, originally a win8 that was converted to 10. She bought a new desktop while a computer shop did the conversion and never used it. Clean hard drive, like new... Well, the thing boots up faster than my 7 here, but that's about the extend of ANY improvement I've found with 10 v 7. It's now a proprietary computer, does nothing but run EzCad and one of my fiber lasers. Slowly.

    Maybe I'm asking too much of computers these days, but it's hard not to when my XP's, which admittedly load programs quite a bit slower, do virtually everything else MUCH faster.
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  2. #2
    Kev Williams,

    Yes, there are faked, genereic graphics cards that cobble together generations old GPU chips and are disaster areas:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrVff6C1das

    Because a large proportion of my work is in 3D CAD, I need a fairly fast system and to maintain the performance. A few ideas to speed up the system:

    1. Disk Cleaning: The details of the system were not mentioned but , I'd suggest installing and running the free version of CCleaner which gets rids of the accumulated temporary, recycle bin, and error files. It has a registry cleaner too and it may find on your system several GB's of useless files, and a 1000+ registry errors. Important, Before touching the registry, make a system restore point in case something goes wrong.

    2. It has to be done carefully, but it's possible to make a system a lot more responsive if fewer programs are loaded at startup. This i is done by pressing the Windows key, entering msconfig in the windows > enter> and selected "Run as administrator". To a large degree, it's possible to disable loading at startup almost anything except labeled as being from Microsoft.

    3. If files are kept on a mechanical hard drive, the defragmenter should be run fairry often, which puts the file segments back together. When ever something is modified, it can make a little piece that is separated and the actuator arm takes time to move to that point and read the fragment. SSD's are have such fast access times they don't need defragmenting and in fact it wears the SSD memory to do it.

    4. Depending on the file size, the system may need more RAM memory. If a file has to swap to the disk it can make a process many times longer. I'd say today that 16GB is the minimum. My two systems have 64GB.

    5. Faster processor: It's possible to dramatically speed up a system with a higher clock speed and more cores. Today, for a work system I'd have a minimum of a six-core with a Turbo Speed of at least 3.8GHz. Earlier series CPU's are not expensive. I have a third system - a free Dell Precision 390 from 2007 and can buy it's Xeon X3230 2.66GHz CPU today for $15-- and a whole 390 for $90. I had a Xeon E5-1620 v2 4-core@3.7/3.9GHz and those now are $35-40.

    6. A fast GPU can speed anything processing images, vector graphics, or renderings and I'd say today to have a video card with at least 3GB memory. In my two systems I have a 6GB card (GTX 1060 6GB) and an 8GB card (GTX 1070Ti) and the 1070 Ti is planned to be converted to a Quadro RTX 4000, another 8GB GPU. If you're running any programs with viewports, a Quadro is a good idea and the K620 and K2200 are good value.

    7. At some point, with the size and computing demands of programs today, there's a point at which it's advisable- especially if the computer is central to the business- to start with another system. Buying a generation or two back can have very strong improvement in speed and have a very favorable cost/ benefit. Plus, there are major benefits of an SATAIII disk system, faster RAM, USB 3.0, and PCIe 3.0 slots. This was the first generation that could use M.2 SSDs effectively, although they have be AHCI and not NVMe. I have very fast drives in my primary system M.2 AHCI and an M.2 NVMe but I agree with your observation that really fast drives in ordinary use save only a few seconds here and there. This is not the case though in simulations and rendering, where hours can be saved over a two days run.

    This is my second tier system, bought used and upgraded:

    HP z420_3: (2015) (R11) Xeon E5-1650 v2 (6C@ 4.3GHz) / z420 Liquid cooling / 64GB (8X 8GB DDR3-1866 ECC registered / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB/ Samsung 860 EVO 500GB + HGST 4TB / 1 / 600W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (HP OEM ) > Samsung 40" 4K monitor

    [Passmark System Rating: = 5644 / CPU = 15293 / 2D = 847 / 3D = 10952 / Mem = 2993 Disk = 4858 /Single Thread Mark = 2384 [6.27.19]

    Notice that it's running all 6-cores of the E5-1650 v2 at 4.3GHz and the single thread performance essential to 3D CAD is very good.

    This was not expensive:

    System: $136 (with Xeon E5-1607 v2, 4GB RAM Firepro V5900 graphics, 500GB mechanical HD, Windows disks, keyboard, mouse, and original box)
    Xeon E5-1650 v2 6-core @ 3.5/3.9GHz: $90 (overclocked to 4.3GHz on all cores)
    HP z420 Liquid cooler: $62
    64GB RAM: $110
    EVGA GTX 1060 6GB SSC: $111
    Samsung 860 EVO 500GB: $77
    HGST 7K6000 Enterprise 4TB: $109

    Of the 1,339 z420's tested, this is the 8th fastest and cost less than 1/5 of new.

    And, the HP site has all the manuals and drivers. The OS has an embedded code, and the HP disk or download to USB will install and automatically activate Windows.

    Sorry, for such a long post, but it's an important and also big subject.

    If you list the model and components of the system you're using, I'd be glad to make hardware recommendations.


    Alan

    PS: Windows XP was the best OS MS ever made.
    Last edited by Alan Caro; 07-22-2019 at 10:02 PM. Reason: Delsyixa, or perhaps Dyslexia

  3. #3
    I very much appreciate the input!

    I just ran this computer thru UserBenchmark, which seems to be on the up & up--

    the only hardware that seem to be working above average is the 1tb hard drive, which is what the SSD replaced and is now a slave...

    UserBenchmarks: Game 12%, Desk 40%, Work 33%


    MBD: Dell Precision WorkStation T5400
    Last edited by Kev Williams; 07-23-2019 at 1:59 AM.
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  4. #4
    Kev Williams,

    We have similar taste:

    Dell Precision T5400 (2008) > 2X Xeon X5460 quad core @3.16GHz > 16GB DDR2 667 ECC> Quadro FX 4800 (1.5GB) > WD RE4 500GB / Seagate Barracuda 500GB > M-Audio 2496 Sound Card / Linksys WMP600N WiFi / Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit > HP 2711X, 27" 1920 X 1080 + Dell 19" LCD
    [ Passmark system Rating = 1853, CPU = 8626 / 2D= 520 / 3D=1097 Mem= 736, Disk= 901] [Cinebench 11.5 CPU=7.54 OpenGL = 51.89 fps] 10.24.15

    Precision T5400_FR_P1050317.jpg Precision T5400_RR_P1050319.jpg Precision T5400_FR_Open_P1050314.jpg

    This was my main computer from 2010 to 2015- the longest I ever used a system and was 100% reliable- one of the best systems I ever had. When I sold it I replaced the GPU that arrived in it- a Quadro FX580.

    These are beautifully made, will run forever, and are theft-proof by virtue of the tonnage. I still like the case design which I call the 1962 Nash design:

    1962 Nash Convertible.jpg

    And have a 2007 Precision 390 with that case (Xeon X3230 / 8GB RAM / Firepro V4900 2GB, 2X 320GB HD). Notice the similar grille:

    Dell Precision 390_FR_P1050763_7.10.18.jpg Dell Precision 390_FR_Open_P1050762_7.10.18.jpg

    The performance deficit is related to the processor and motherboard architecture: the RAM, PCIe 2.0, and the SATAII disk:

    1. The processors are non-hyperthreading; there are 4-cores and 4 threads. While the clock speed was fast for the time- 3.15GHz, the architecture is such that the single thread - the amount of work done by the fastest core is not adequate today. On the Passmark ratings, the X5460 has an average CPU Mark of 4326 (each) and a Single Thread Mark of 1324. For comparison, the $90 Xeon E5-1650 v2 in the HP z420 has a CPU of 15293 Single Thread Mark = 2384 . It's worth noting that a lot of current software, everything of Adobe for example can only use a single CPU. Dual CPU systems were more common then because 4-cores was the maximum and anyway, most software- servers being the exception, could not use multiple cores. In September AMD is planning to release a 64 xore / 128 Thread

    2. The RAM memory is DDR2-667, again state of the art in 2010, but it runs extremely hot- up to 90C and the z420's memory is DDR3-1866. Current computers are often DDR4-2666.

    3. The FX 580 was a great one, but it has only 512MB memory and it's running on PCIe 2.0. Today, for a workstation I think of 2GB as the absolute minimum and 4GB the real minimum. For the T5400, consider a Quadro K620 2GB or better, a Quadro K2200 4GB. Keep in mind though, the PCIe 2.0 will hold either of those back from full performance.

    4. And, the SATAII 3GB/s disk controller will not get the full performance of an SSD. That could be improved by adding a Dell PERC H310 PCIe SAS/SATA RAID controller card. I had a Precision T5500 after the T5400 with my first SSD, a Samsung 840 250GB and adding the H310 without any other change, moved the Passmark Disk score from 1940 to 2934.

    5. The other feature that is a bit problematic today is that the T5400 is USB 2.0 and means that file transfers will be slower. It would take some research, but there are PCIe 2.0 cards that provide USB 3.0 ports on the back I/O panel.

    > However, for a work system, especially one for which productivity speed is economically essential, there comes a tipping point at which upgrading hits a maximum and the time, effort, and cost/benefit of upgrades is unfavorable. That's the time to move to a newer, higher potential technology and that's why I moved form the T5400 to the T5500 and from there to HP z420's and z620's.

    Consider a system using a Xeon E5-1600 v2 processors. How about:

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z420-Des...cAAOSwgWtdGmfD

    I made a quick check on Dell Precision T3610's:

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precis...AAAOSwwJhdG79J

    And there's a processor 3X faster, cooler running 1866 speed RAM instead of hot-running 667, PCIe 3/0, SATAIII, and USB 3.0. These can benefit from high speed M.2 drives- I use two M.2 drives in an HP 620 which has an almost identical motherboard to the z420. The z420 may seem light and tinny compared to the Sherman tank T5400, but is a much faster worker and will maintain a potential for improvement still for several years.

    Alan

    P.S.
    The main system:

    HP z620_2 (2017) (R7) > Xeon E5-1680 v2 (8-core@ 4.3GHz) / z420 Liquid Cooling / 64GB DDR3-1866 ECC Reg / Quadro P2000 5GB + GTX 1070 Ti 8GB / HP Z Turbo Drive M.2 256GB AHCI + Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe 500GB + HGST 7K6000 4TB / Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 sound interface + 2X Mackie MR824 / 825W PSU /> HP OEM Windows 7 Prof.’l 64-bit > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440)

    [ Passmark Rating = 6280 / CPU rating = 17178 / 2D = 819 / 3D= 12629 / Mem = 3002 / Disk = 13751 / Single Thread Mark = 2368 [10.23.18]
    Last edited by Alan Caro; 07-23-2019 at 11:26 AM.

  5. #5
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    I think that while some noticeable performance benefits can come with upgrading things like memory and storage to an SSD, a particular computer has some "wall" or point of no return. We can certainly extend the life of a machine beyond what might have originally been expected, but that's not indefinite. There's a lot of interaction between all the parts and it only takes one small bottleneck to cause a pause, as it were.

    Case in point here is the video issue. Yea, it absolutely could be a defective or, um....a case of "creatively unlicensed hardware"...that made things fail like they did. But it also could simply be that the video card is valid and there is some very small thing in the original design of the computer system board that just plain cannot handle the interaction and/or performance of that particular video processing system that is more contemporary in nature. Maybe a different video solution would work; maybe not.

    I upgraded to a new machine this week for the first time in 7 years. There's actually nothing wrong at all with the one it will replace and it runs better than new...but I've pushed it as far as it can go. My use has changed now to where I need more memory (not upgradable on the 2012 machine) and can benefit from a bit more processor because of all the CAD/CAM work I'm doing in virtualized Windows at this point. So I go from 2-core i5 and 8GB to 6-core i7 9th gen and 16GB with additional video support that will enhance 3D rendering. The point here is that for me, it was time to move to a newer machine to get where I needed to be. And I can't complain about the cost...if that 2012 machine died today (hopefully not before I'm done with final setup of the new one!) its "cost" to me was about $285 a year. It will continue to get used so that number gets even better. The new machine's initial price tag was about $400 more, but it has significantly better performance and capacity, and I anticipate it will be with me for at least the same number of years.
    Last edited by Jim Becker; 07-23-2019 at 10:31 AM.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Caro View Post
    SSD's are have such fast access times they don't need defragmenting and in fact it wears the SSD memory to do it.
    Every benchmark I've seen (or run) on current-gen SSDs indicates that they are still quite a bit faster on sequential access than random access. So there is still some benefit to defragmentation on them, just not as dramatic as for hard drives. The "wear-out" factor for SSDs is really a non-issue at this point unless you're using them in a 24/7/365 fileserver with a ton of clients.
    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Caro View Post
    Buying a generation or two back can have very strong improvement in speed and have a very favorable cost/ benefit.
    On the Intel side, at least, there is a sweet-spot effect: accept nothing older the 8th-gen, as there was a huge improvement between the 7th and 8th generations, much less so between 8th and 9th.
    Last edited by Lee DeRaud; 07-23-2019 at 2:21 PM.
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
    "Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
    We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
    The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
    The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
    You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    Back in the 'windows 10 upgrade still free' thread, I hijacked a good chunk of it with gathering info and advice about video cards & SSD drives and such. I mentioned that I picked up am Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 ti video card and that it 'was like a bolt of lightning' hit my computer. Sadly, turns out that was too close to the truth. At least twice a day the card would freeze the computer. Can't tell you how many jobs I was in the middle of setting up that THAT screwed up. It was in the computer less than 2 weeks, I yanked it an put the old card back in. FWIW it seems these GeForce cards come in many Chinese knockoff versions, pretty sure I got one...
    Those symptoms sound like they could also be an issue with borderline cooling or power supply, both of are quite likely to crop up when putting a (relatively) current video board in an older system.
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
    "Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
    We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
    The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
    The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
    You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.

  8. #8
    Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated! Admittedly much of the info provided is a bit above the extent of my current computer-tech knowledge, but I'm a fast learner - As I take it, essentially I'm bottlenecked by an old motherboard with too much "2/II" and not enough (or any) "3/III" tech, old memory cards and old tech processors..

    [pulling hair]-- I had a LONG post typed up, had to re-log in, typed the wrong password, and everything but the above got lost, aughh!

    Don't have time to retype it all, so thanks again! I'm going to search out some newer equipment. Suggestions accepted

    One thing I will retype, my total utter disgust with the Win10 laptop I mentioned above. A minute-20 just for Chrome to load? I then I type "user" in the search box and it took 4 full seconds before the text showed up? This is what Gates & Co are forcing me into? Kinda having a hard time with 'incentive to upgrade'...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  9. #9
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    Kev, that problem isn't likely the OS. I'm no fan of Windows, but Win10 loads and is ready for my password in about 30 seconds tops on my new 2019 machine and that's virtualized on MacOS. It's only a few second more on my mid-2012 machine under the same circumstances. There's zero delay in anything. I've been on Win10 for when Windoz is necessary since it was released with almost zero issues. The laptop and/or drivers are clearly the issue with what you describe. Hardware does matter, unfortunately. (And to be fair, the inexpensive laptop I had my dad using was very much a pig...but fortunately, he never noticed and my 12 year old friend who has it now doesn't complain because it's actually faster than what she was using previously.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  10. Cool Caution!

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    [snip] ... and I anticipate it will be with me for at least the same number of years.
    WISHFUL THINKING ALERT! Nothing new lasts as long as the older gear it replaces. (Some of this is a feature, not a bug.) At your age, you should have learned this lesson before now.
    Fair winds and following seas,
    Jim Waldron

  11. #11
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    That can be true, James, but I'm not hard on computers physically and Apple hardware is generally rock-solid. The biggest risk with the new machine is the keyboard, IMHO, but 95% of the time, I'm not actually using it since I work in "desktop mode" with a wireless keyboard on my lap and a large monitor on a swing arm. We got 7 years out of the Dell tower computer that pre-dated my first Mac...a Mid-2010 iMac which, oh by the way works like new except for some screen fade on the right side because of the aging backlight. (I'm going to wipe and sell that now since the MBPr13 can take its place as my spare) I used the Dell for about 5 years and Professor Dr. SWMBO used it for a couple more after I moved on. The machines I had the most trouble with were the Dell and IBM/Lenovo laptops that my previous employe provided...they were unreliable relative to Windows stability and I had to rebuild them at least once or twice a year to keep them usable for the work I was expected to do on them.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  12. #12
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    I am running a 2 year old Dell XPS 8930 with 16GB ram and 238 GB SSD hard drive with a 2T hard drive. I run the latest in Win 10 and boot up in about 20 seconds or less.

    Also I use a paid version of McAfee and System Mechanic to take care of the system. I back up my system weekly using Acronis True Image. I have yet to reload software (I hope I didn't just jinx myself!) .I haven't been that lucky with previous systems and versions of Windows.
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  13. #13
    Kev Williams,

    I lost a post of more than a hour's work also. Perhaps just as well- given the jargon density. Here's the conclusion:

    Upgrading is a good idea when the budget is quite restricted and there is plenty of time for: evaluation of the applications, research, components comparison, shopping, installing, and configuring.

    However, this process can be very time-consuming, and the learning curve is very steep when one is not used to it and has to learn what each part does and which is best for which use. One gets the exact components optimized for the use., and the cost savings can be quite good, but on the other hand, it's possible for a reasonable sum to find something that is a versatile, quite high performance system:

    HP Z440 6 CORE Xeon E5-1650V4 3.6GHz 64GB DDR4 RAM 3.5TB SSD NVDIA Warranty 2021

    The Xeon E5-1650 v4 has one of the higher single thread performance scores for a Xeon. That listing by a seller with 100% feedback accepts offers and states that it is under the HP onsite warranty until 2021.

    And, in my view, this kind of system could be ready to use in three of four hours, loading programs and files. In the next couple of weeks, upgrade the graphics card. = minimum fuss, immediately to work + future upgrade potential. I think a system like this could be useful, reliable, upper level performance and need minimal upgrades (possibly drives and the GPU) for up to four or five years.

    Alan
    Last edited by Alan Caro; 07-26-2019 at 6:22 PM.

  14. #14
    As to this slowpoke Win10 Laptop, benchmark tests:

    UserBenchmarks: Game 11%, Desk 22%, Work 13%

    "HP Pavilion 15 Notebook PC" is all it says on it...

    FWIW, I'm running the exact same copy of EzCad (fiber laser program) on an old HP small-form factor desktop that has it's original XP OS in it. Both computers are running identical machines. And while EzCad reacts pretty slow on the XP, I'm betting this HP is slower. ??

    Today I was running my big Dell with Corel x3, x4, Gravostyle 5, OEClassic email, and Foxit Reader running, with 3 or 4 Explorer windows open as I'm searching blueprints and using the different programs; after awhile it got the point where to Alt-Tab out of Reader or Gravostyle to any other program, I had to hit another key. If I don't, the computer just sits there. And sometimes even that doesn't work, and if I hit the 'desktop' button I'll get a white screen with 'not responding' along the top for several seconds. This is typical computer use for me, and no different than I've been doing for years. What can cause the computer to load up so badly that AltTab doesn't even work right? And I've only had this problem with the T5400. And its the only computer (other than this laptop) I use with a 64bit OS and more than 4 gigs of ram...

    It supifies me that I'm needing to spend north of a grand to get a newer USED computer that will simply equal the speed of my half dozen $75 computers that work just fine, but due to forced obsoletion can't run a newer browser, email, tax or accounting program.

    Rant off, again, sorry. But many thanks for the experiences and advice
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  15. #15
    Kev Williams,

    The second paragraph of your last post describes poor performance and some important not responding errors. For one thing, some of the software being used may have problems on a newer OS. I used Corel X3 on an IBM 486 DX2 50MHz runnin DOS 6 and Windows 3.1 in 1995. But, even Corel Graphic Suite X5 had be to upgraded to X6 as it would not run properly on Windows 7. The hardware is possibly just very slow and/or there are some other problems with the configuration. I don't know what the 100% reference point is but, "UserBenchmarks: Game 11%, Desk 22%, Work 13%" suggests newer hardware and probably also suggests upgrading some of the software too.

    The above is contrary to the statement; "It supifies me that I'm needing to spend north of a grand to get a newer USED computer that will simply equal the speed of my half dozen $75 computers that work just fine, but due to forced obsoletion can't run a newer browser, email, tax or accounting program. If the half dozen $75 computers "work just fine", then certainly, no action or cost is necessary. But for comparison with the description of slow performance on the current systems, I'd mentioned that my HP z420,
    two generations older than the z440, costing about $700, will open Chrome in less than 3 seconds and can easily run two browsers, WordPerfect X8, Corel Technical Designer X6, AutoCad 2018, and Sketchup 2018 at one time.

    That said, I think that it may be possible to put the T5400 back into form. As mentioned I had a very similar T5400 2X X5460 system and use to run multiple programs (AutoCad R14, Corel Graphics Suite X5, Sketchup up to 2014) with good performance. The T5400 may be suffering from multiple GB of temporary files, many error logs, lots in the recycling bin, possibly slowed by a fragmented disk and hundreds of registry errors. Before spending anything, consider installing the free version of CCLeaner and run it, run the Windows defragmenter, and the registry analyzer. But wait on repairing the registry and make a restore point before running the registry cleaner as it can sometimes be overenthusiastic. If it's in a shop situation, clean out the dust thoroughly as that will help it run cooler. If all that's not satisfactory, consider reloading Windows and the programs, and consider getting a newer version of Corel, say, X6.

    And, if all that is not enough, post a budget, keeping in mind the current systems can be sold for something to offset the costs, and I'm quite sure a replacement system could make a substantial improvement.

    Alan


    Last edited by Alan Caro; 07-26-2019 at 9:53 PM.

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