Comments on: Speeding up the Computer https://dfarq.homeip.net/speeding-up-the-computer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=speeding-up-the-computer David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more Fri, 01 Oct 2010 03:05:33 +0000 hourly 1 By: Anonymous https://dfarq.homeip.net/speeding-up-the-computer/#comment-3974 Thu, 24 May 2001 23:05:41 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=748#comment-3974 Andre, if your mouse is still really slow, it sounds like it could very well be the video card. I’d never realized just how lousy the integrated video on the SiS 530 chipset (which is probably what your dad’s Presario is using) really is. Buying a $50 ATI-brand PCI video card brought it back to life. ATI’s PCI cards are hardly barn-burners, but it would appear that almost anything is better than SIS’s junk.

]]> By: Anonymous https://dfarq.homeip.net/speeding-up-the-computer/#comment-3973 Thu, 24 May 2001 19:52:06 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=748#comment-3973 Actually, the real reason the machine is a PDC and my wife’s workstation is that the P90 I had her on started getting flaky mouse and keyboard ports. And I think I can scrounge up one more outlet for the machine I’m building. No, Dave, my wife could never find me any more charming.

I’ll refrain from speculating on why Dave and my dog get along so well. Suffice it say that Dave can run around in circles pretty well with those clogs on.

]]> By: Anonymous https://dfarq.homeip.net/speeding-up-the-computer/#comment-3988 Thu, 24 May 2001 19:31:16 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=748#comment-3988 Yikes. I had no idea the presario was cannibalizing so much RAM. Thanks for the warning, Steve.
Thanks also to Dave for his suggestions. They brought the computer back into the industrial age but you know, the mouse still did act like it had neuralgia or something. I picked up simcity 3000 and was horrified to see the mouse creep along at such a palsied pace.
Now I’m back from Wyoming (I live in Chicago) and that computer is no longer my problem. At least I left it better than I found it.

]]> By: Anonymous https://dfarq.homeip.net/speeding-up-the-computer/#comment-3987 Thu, 24 May 2001 17:17:17 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=748#comment-3987 But in spite of your mouse and printer not getting any better, I’ll bet your wife finds you more charming and your car gets better gas mileage now. Stupid SiS 530 video!

And Steve makes a PC split time as a domain controller and as his wife’s workstation because he’s out of electrical outlets in his computer room. That and if he were to try to cram a fourth computer under that desk, there wouldn’t be any place for his dog to hide after he gets in trouble for running laps around the computer room every time I come over.

]]> By: Anonymous https://dfarq.homeip.net/speeding-up-the-computer/#comment-3986 Thu, 24 May 2001 02:26:50 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=748#comment-3986 Andre, another thing you might look at – and I did this last night – is the Compaq’s video situation. I have a K6II-based Presario (350MHz) on my home network, acting as my W2K domain controller and my wife’s workstation (don’t ask). Its video is on-board, but (horrifically) maps 4 or 8MB of machine RAM to video.

So I grabbed a cheap 8MB ATI card, disabled the on-board controller, and slid the card in. The whole machine moves faster (despite the Bigfoot drive), since the contention for slow SDRAM was removed. Boot time went from (sometimes) 10 minutes to a couple – remember, this is W2K Server. Internet browsing and even login/logout are night and day. Ask Dave (yes, he does exist); he was heckling me as I finished the job and proclaimed my joy. No, Dave, my mouse and printer don’t work any faster than they did before.

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