Clean re-install, for best Performance?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Junorion

Solid State Member
Messages
17
Dont know if this is the best forum for this topic but...


I am planning on doing a new and clean install of my OS and all Programs/games to setup my PC for the best performance and could use some help. I am a bit overwhelmed and donÂ’t know where to start. I have done clean installs before but never with overall best performance as a target.

I have been experiencing pretty bad performance while playing games...mostly the newer ones like Doom-3, The Sims 2, and FarCry. Now I know that most systems are not able to run these games maxed out (and I don't expect mine to) but given the system I have, I expect it should perform better than it is.

I would like to know if anyone has a good "check list" of performance tips for a new install....mostly regarding disabling background programs, partitioning of the HD( I currently have only one partition on my Primary HD), or any OS tweaks needed for a stable and simple system. I am really trying to set up my system as clean and simple as possible...90% for Games / Graphics-Programs and 10% for internet browsing. Also, will doing a clean install give me the option of installing SP1 with WIN-Update? Or am I forced to install SP2?

I donÂ’t use allot of "extra" programs or clutter my PC with allot of crap....at least I try not to.
Here is a list of most programs and games I use, and my system specs:

NORTON: virus and internet security
ADAWARE 6.0
INTEL APPLICATIONS
WMP
ACAD 2004
ADOBE: Photoshop, illustrator, in-design
3DSM 5
CALL OF DUTY
DOOM 3
THE SIMS 2
FARCRY
BATTLEFIELD 1942
HALO
PLANETSIDE

---SYSTEM SPECS---
-Intel P4 3.2Ghz HT
-800 FSB
-8X AGP
-1GB Ultra 3200/400 Dual Channel DDR RAM
-Intel D875PBZ Motherboard
-875P chipset
-Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB
-Sound Blaster Audigy X-Gamer
-Creative-Inspire-T2900 2.1 speakers
-Sony 52x CD-Rom
-Artec 16x DVD-Rom
-PRIMARY HD 80GB Seagate SATA raid ready 7200 HD
-STORAGE HD 40GB West-Dig UATA 7200 HD
-425W PSU
-Two Ultra 80mm temp-controlled fans
-Logitech MX500 Mouse
-ViewSonic 19" G90FB Monitor
(I make sure my bios and all drivers are always updated and current)

CABLE INTERNET CONNECTION
RCA-DCM315 Cable Modem
LINKSYS BEFSR41 Ver-3 four port router
ISP: Comcrap (Average 3.0 DOWN and 230 UP)
Win-XP Home Edition SP1
Direct X 9.0c

What bothers me most is the "graphic-lag" I experience in games....it's a kind of unintentional blur or like the ghosting effect seen on LCD's. I usually have great FPS with all games but the problem is still there even with medium and low graphics settings. I donÂ’t have the $ to purchase a new Vid-Card so I need to have my system setup for the best performance possible. (but my card isnÂ’t that bad...is it?)

Also any opinions on my system hardware/setup and what I can expect from it would be appreciated...I donÂ’t do any over-clocking so that isnÂ’t a concern of mine.

Thanks for any help or information!!
 
I also have many questions about "background services", below is an image of all my services/start-up programs and graphics settings. I have about 90 items showing in services.msc and msconfig, not all are turrned on but still thats alot.

Does the information in my performance and process tabs of the task manager look "ok"?
Do I really need all these services/progs running?
If not, what is the best way to weed out the un-needed ones?

When someone refers to turrning off background services, applications, and startup programs...are all those things basically the same? Like what I have shown below?

I have looked at Black Vipers site and it gives good information but as I have looked at all that is on my system I am still too thick to figure out what I can/cannot or should/should not turn off. I have even done searches on many of these apps/services and come up with mixed answeres of wheather they can be turned off or not or there is no know description.

I dont know why this is so confusing...mabey I just dont have the correct understanding of "background services"

Any further help is much appreciated! Thanks

test44.jpg
 
Everything looks in order, what I would look into is those startup services.

Obviously, the more you have, the slower your PC will run when booting up.

I'd delete the one's I wouldn't use (which is most of them) starting with the MS Office service, that isn't needed because whenever you use office it starts automatically anyway so save youself the loading time.

MSConfig is great because it has an easy interface and is very easy to use. The bad thing with MSConfig is caused by the way it applies the changes you make via the MSConfig utility.

In order for the changes to be permanent, you have to apply them everytime your PC boots up... adding yet another application to the start/boot process....:) Figures.

If you want to permanently remove some of those startup items you can do it via the registry.

If you want more info you can check out the thread on editing the registry.
 
ok first thing i noticed is that u said u have ur primary in one partitoin... thats not rite because windows xp will not give a partition above 30GB (I think arond there somewhere) a fat32 file system... itll be in ntfs... which i believe is slower than fat 32... the next time u clean install ur pc go with the following setup:

Primary (80GB) : 3 partitions
1. 26600 MB
2. 26600 MB
3. Whatever space is left on that hd, but i think itll even out pretyt much the same with these partitions.. all 3 shud be pretty equal

Secondary (40 GB):
just go 2 partitions of 20 Gb each lol pretty straight forward...

also i think the real bottleneck of ur system mite be the intel board.. intel never built their mobos with gaming in mind.. so they dont take to gaming very well.. mostly theyre suited for video editing, heavy apps, etc... so if u got the money u should buy another mobo.. perhaps a soyo, gigabyte, abit, or dfi lanpaty..

also im not sure but the clock and memory speeds for ur 9800 pro seem a little off.. i dunno if u underclocked it but they jsut dont look rite for some reson.. but i wudnt know since ive never really looked at a 9800 pro in detail... perhaps u shud look at the rest of the profiles they hae in taht tool and try chosing one of those... i dont think theyd give u some radical overclocked settings because from wut ive heard those utilities are meant for cards with stock cooling and they shudnt fry ur cards.. but again im not sure ill try to do some research on that and get back to you

and as for ur other concern.. yes it is normal to have that many background processes running.. they dont represent individual applications that windows is running but every single minor component that windows is using

also just incase u should regularly perform adware scans (using Ad-Aware) and spyware scans (using SpyBot Search & Destroy).. u can get these programs from any download site such as http://www.download.com ... just search for both the products and u can download em..

well thats about all i could htink off.. hope i helped :).. and also ill seee if i can find out more about the settings on that 9800 pro if i can.. but follow the rest of the advice and u shud see a great improvement on ur system :)
 
Holocron,

Thanks for the info, I will look into each of my startup progs and see what I can find about getting rid of them. However i dont really have a problem with my system booting up...its not slow at all. I would guess 15 seconds or so, and I let my PC run constantly, other than restarting here and there I dont see the need in turning it on and off on a regular basis.

Silver,

Thank you for your help too. I may not be correct about the one partition on my primary drive but I remember I didnt do any "extra" partitioning when loading windows the first time...just what was needed from reading my install screens.

Now as for my new install, this time will be a bit diffrent and I will have to do some more research into this but basically...

I currently have a seagate 80 gig SATA (serial-ATA) drive as my primary. When I do my clean install I will be adding a second SATA drive exactly the same as the one I have now. I am doing this so I can set up a RAID 0 array and increase the speed of my HD. Basically I will have one 160 gig drive that writes/reads at half of the speed it would normally (sharing the information between two drives). I know how to set up the RAID but I will have to look into the partitioning of SATA drives in RAID 0.

I will not be doing anything to the secondary drive, its just a WD UATA drive and I only use it for file storage.

I really like the Intel board I have, I know its not made with gaming in mind but I still really like it. I have been told the only reason its not great for gaming is because it has very little overclocking/modding ability, which I am not to concerned about as I dont do any OCing or "modding". I have looked at the DFI Lanboy and from what I can tell its pretty much the same as my Intel D875PBZ but with more expansion options.....but Im probably wrong, what are the major diffrences?


I have not changed the speeds of my card at all, I only have the ATI TOOL application because I wanted to see what the default speeds were set at, when I get a better and COOLER case, I may mess with ocing it a bit...I just dont want to fry my cash...uh...i mean card. LOL

And I regulary run Ad-Aware, delete temp files and cookies, defrag, and the usuall "clean-up" processes.

Thanks again!
 
I don't play games, but if I did. I would have one hardrive with xp for internet and other basic stuff. the other hardrive with just win 2000 and whatever I needed for the games.
 
I have a system similar to yours and ran those programs (doom 3 and farcry at max settings without any problems. Your ghosting effect is more than likely caused by your settings. It may simply be your vertical sync which, when turned off will cause an horizontal disturbance when turning (turn it on and check if it is your problem). You can try to take your resolution down a bit. Also, turn off the 'fastwrite' option under 'smartgart' tab. Defrag your HDD.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom