pentium D performance: have i really upgraded?

[sshock1]

here's the scenario

in the last year i've been using an OLD dell dimension computer:

pIII (.9 GHz) cpu
256 MB ram (128x2)
hard drive 40 gig, <7200
windows xp home.



recently i've purchased and assembled (everything including mobo) a barebones kit

Intel Pentium D 820 2.80GHz / 2MB Cache / 800 FSB / OEM / Socket 775 / Dual-Core / Processor

Intel D101GGCL ATI Socket 775 MicroATX Motherboard / PCI Express / Serial ATA

Ultra / V-Series / 400-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / 20/24-Pin / SATA Ready / Power Supply

Ultra 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz CL3 Memory

Ultra Wizard MS-Blue ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB and Firewire Ports

my primary hard drive that is 40 gig, and at least 7200 i think

i've failed so far at attaching my slave hitachi deskstar
Capacity: 160GB
Interface: IDE ULTRA ATA/100
Rotational Speed: 7200 RPM
...............................

after a little T&E i got the new system functioning
installed windows xp home
upgraded to sp2 (which may have upgraded me to pro b/c it was an xp pro sp2 ISO file from my university..)
installed a few programs, nothing notable other than ccleaner

for both new and old systems i've kinda tweaked the hell out of my sytem, but it wasn't to an unnecessary extent...the last barebones tweaking would probably be my 20th time, so i have a good idea of what works and what doesn't. I even used multiple references and checked myths for reliable sources. I've done mostly service disabling and only a few regedits which i'm very careful with and have done several times in the past.

the performance difference of my new system compared to the old one seems only marginally better. i can successfully do more stuff at the same time in the new system usually, but i see stuttering in simply opening windows explorer even when nothing else is running. i don't have any media or office files on there yet... i can't figure out the problem and i'm majorly disappointed... i wanted a beastly system for audio app(s), but i'm scared to invest in one now.

I know i need more ram, and im getting another 512 soon... i still think the performance diff should be more drastic...


did i mess something up here???????????????????????????????????????

 

[Shady]

may be it's the HDD
check the transfer type
if it's PIO change it yo UMDA5 (ATA-100) that's the max of your HDD i guess

another thing take care when you upgrade your RAM ... try to get an identical one so you can set them on dual channel mode (if your MOBO supports that)

there might be a small possibility it could be the VGA driver
try to drag any window and move it around, if you see a noticable lag then it's your driver

 

[sshock1]

alright thanks, i'm waiting to get back home.

also, anyone: feel free to tell me if my equipment sucks.. or anything else, i wont be offended.

 

[mrjack]

Why would you put a MicroATX mobo in a Mid-Tower case? And you don't seem to have a video card, except for an integrated.

 

[fade2green514]

did you install video drivers? often i find that people forget those and then the system "lags" or "stutters" especially while scrolling and such. though, if you're worried about how quickly things "load" or how long they take to open i would investigate the hard drive.
btw the 160gb could very well be defective... i bought my uncle a 120gb deskstar... and it didn't work out of the box. no wonder they call them hitachi "deathstars" lol... they die quite easily... from my experience at least.
generally stick to seagate, western digital, or maxtor...
ive had both hitachi and samsung and they've crapped out on me within the first minute to the first day of use.
if you're currently using your old setup's hard drive it'll probably seem just as slow at first. i suggest you send the deathstar back and get a 120-320gb hard drive with at least an 8mb buffer, sata1 or sata2 compatible.
also for dual core i suggest at least 1gb of memory because you may run out of memory resources much before you run out of cpu resources.
i have 2gb and it seems to be a very balanced system for gaming.