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#11
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What processor?
kony wrote:
It's got it's maximum RAM - 1GB. Did you upgrade the CPU at some point? I ask because the typical motherboard chipset from the 2.1GHz Athlon XP era supported at least 1GB per memory slot even if the manufacturer didn't provide support enough to relist that later, though of course it may need a certain memory density or lower to detect it all. Via KT400 or later, nForce2, both definitely support 1GB per slot or more, though I don't recall much about the SIS chipsets of the era. Its specs say: Ram (installed) 512 MB (1X512MB) Maximum allowed 1 GB (2 x 512MB) http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...product=435559 MB is an ASUS A7V8Z-LA. It uses Via KM400A chipset. MB specs have the caveat: "Support up to maximum 2 GB memory (PC manufacturer's maximum memory may differ)" Obviously with bad HDD sectors you need at a minimum a new hard drive and possibly to reinstall some apps or even the OS if files have been corrupted, but another thought is some of your symptoms almost seem more like what you would see if you had simply ran out of hard drive space... including if you are close enough to that happening that when you launch an app, what little free space remains is taken up by an increase in pagefile size. HDD is actually 80GB, and is about half empty. Add up all the negatives and system age, and being sick of trying to fix things, I figure a new computer is called for. Maybe, but I'd still get a hard drive and do a fresh OS install even if you move to a new box for primary uses. While that system is slow by today's standards it is still plenty fast enough for many common uses. Perhaps. Just a matter of how much $$ I want to dump into that dog, and how much time I wish to spend fixing it (or paying someone else to fix it.) Thanks. |
#12
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What processor?
On Tue, 25 May 2010 12:08:48 -0700, UCLAN
wrote: Its specs say: Ram (installed) 512 MB (1X512MB) Maximum allowed 1 GB (2 x 512MB) http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...product=435559 MB is an ASUS A7V8Z-LA. It uses Via KM400A chipset. MB specs have the caveat: "Support up to maximum 2 GB memory (PC manufacturer's maximum memory may differ)" It should support 1GB per slot, so yes 2GB total. However you might find it more picky than some boards at what memory it will accept, you'd want to get some from Crucial or Kingston/etc who guarantee compatibility with that board model _IF_ your bios doesn't have memory timing settings to allow you to adjust that if needed... and you'd want to pick CAS3 rated memory using standard voltage, not the overclocker grade CAS2.5 1GB modules that need more voltage... though if the bios has voltage setting for memory, increasing that a notch or two might also help IF you need to do anything. Asus usually builds pretty stable boards so the odds are in your favor even though it uses the KM400 chipset. All the above assumes you are not overclocking the memory bus, if you are you are likely to find a greatly decreased o'c with 1GB modules. Obviously with bad HDD sectors you need at a minimum a new hard drive and possibly to reinstall some apps or even the OS if files have been corrupted, but another thought is some of your symptoms almost seem more like what you would see if you had simply ran out of hard drive space... including if you are close enough to that happening that when you launch an app, what little free space remains is taken up by an increase in pagefile size. HDD is actually 80GB, and is about half empty. .... still a bit old to be considered reliable, especially considering the bad sectors. Maybe, but I'd still get a hard drive and do a fresh OS install even if you move to a new box for primary uses. While that system is slow by today's standards it is still plenty fast enough for many common uses. Perhaps. Just a matter of how much $$ I want to dump into that dog, and how much time I wish to spend fixing it (or paying someone else to fix it.) Thanks. If you are sticking with WinXP or 2K instead of Vista or Win7, 1GB can be enough memory for lots of uses. I don't recall if you were looking at buying a whole OEM system or a DIY upgrade/build, but if the latter (or even the former for more storage) you could get the new hard drive and reuse it in a new system if it came to that, although since a new system would mean a move to SATA HDDs, you'd probably want to get an SATA and one of those $5 IDE-to-SATA adapter boards for use in the old system. Cheapest place to get one of those is probably meritline.com or dealextreme.com, though these two take a couple weeks or more to ship from Hong Kong. |
#13
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What processor?
kony wrote:
Its specs say: Ram (installed) 512 MB (1X512MB) Maximum allowed 1 GB (2 x 512MB) http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...product=435559 MB is an ASUS A7V8Z-LA. It uses Via KM400A chipset. MB specs have the caveat: "Support up to maximum 2 GB memory (PC manufacturer's maximum memory may differ)" It should support 1GB per slot, so yes 2GB total. So you would disregard HP's listed spec of: Ram (installed) 512 MB (1X512MB) Maximum allowed 1 GB (2 x 512MB) and the MB caveat of: Support up to maximum 2 GB memory (PC manufacturer's maximum memory may differ) ?? |
#14
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What processor?
On Tue, 25 May 2010 21:25:23 -0700, UCLAN
wrote: kony wrote: Its specs say: Ram (installed) 512 MB (1X512MB) Maximum allowed 1 GB (2 x 512MB) http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...product=435559 MB is an ASUS A7V8Z-LA. It uses Via KM400A chipset. MB specs have the caveat: "Support up to maximum 2 GB memory (PC manufacturer's maximum memory may differ)" It should support 1GB per slot, so yes 2GB total. So you would disregard HP's listed spec of: Ram (installed) 512 MB (1X512MB) Maximum allowed 1 GB (2 x 512MB) and the MB caveat of: Support up to maximum 2 GB memory (PC manufacturer's maximum memory may differ) ?? Disregard max 1GB and assume 1GB per slot = 2GB total, along with the other timing and voltage issues I mentioned. |
#15
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What processor?
On 05/22/2010 02:05 PM, UCLAN wrote:
philo wrote: My system is 6-years old. For normal home (non gaming) use, what is today's preffered CPU? Intel's Core i3? i5? AMD's Athlon II? AMD Phenom? 3G RAM? 6G RAM? If I go with a "ready made" box, HP? Dell? Thanks. For "normal" home use, if you have a 6 year old machine then you might as well keep using it for a few more years. What, specifically do you think a new machine will do that your present one does not. If your present machine is doing the job then just keep it... OTOH: If it's a bit on the slow side maybe all you need is a bit more RAM It's got it's maximum RAM - 1GB. The HD is showing signs of age. Lots of bad sectors, etc., and is small (60 GB), the CPU is old/slow (Athlon XP at 2.1GHz), I'm getting LOTS of intermittent problems in much of my software - websites suddenly not opening properly (no graphics), Word giving me "not enough memory" error message when I try to open, Adobe Reader failing to open files (or even displaying the "OPEN" file selections), Thunderbird refusing to add attachments to mail, and more. In all instances, just closing affected application and then re-opening solves problem. Add up all the negatives and system age, and being sick of trying to fix things, I figure a new computer is called for. I will be keeping my present monitor, speakers, modem, keyboard, etc., so I figure a PC only in the $600 or under range is possible. Any clues to any of the above? For what it's worth, my computer was about the same age as yours when I started seeing problems somewhat similar to yours. Mine had an Athlon XP 1900+ processor on a Biostar motherboard. I had the maximum RAM, 2GB, and an nVidia Geforce 6200 AGP video card. I presently dual-boot with Mandriva Linux and Windows 2000. First, my original 40Gb hard drive died. Mine went quickly; after seeing boot errors for a couple of days it just wouldn't boot at all. I replaced it with a 160Gb Maxtor from eBay. I had been wanting to put my secondary 80Gb drive in a secondary back-up computer anyway, so at the same time I bought a 250Gb drive to put in place of that one. The cost for both drives was about $50 total, including shipping. Then my usb started acting up, along with a couple of other things, and I decided the ol' motherboard needed replacing, too. Again I went to eBay, and bought a motherboard/processor combo from a recycler for $46 (also including shipping). It's an Asus K8V-MX/s motherboard with a Sempron 3100+ (64-bit capable) processor. My old RAM was compatible, as was the nVidia video card. So the whole outfit cost me less than $100, and it runs Mandriva smooth as silk. Seems to be the same with Windows, though I've only used it a time or two. And now I even have enough drive space to try some other Linux distros. TJ -- There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. |
#16
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What processor?
kony wrote:
So you would disregard HP's listed spec of: Ram (installed) 512 MB (1X512MB) Maximum allowed 1 GB (2 x 512MB) and the MB caveat of: Support up to maximum 2 GB memory (PC manufacturer's maximum memory may differ) ?? Disregard max 1GB and assume 1GB per slot = 2GB total, along with the other timing and voltage issues I mentioned. Hmmm...I wonder, then, why HP listed the max as 512MB x 2 ?? |
#17
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What processor?
UCLAN wrote:
kony wrote: So you would disregard HP's listed spec of: Ram (installed) 512 MB (1X512MB) Maximum allowed 1 GB (2 x 512MB) and the MB caveat of: Support up to maximum 2 GB memory (PC manufacturer's maximum memory may differ) ?? Disregard max 1GB and assume 1GB per slot = 2GB total, along with the other timing and voltage issues I mentioned. Hmmm...I wonder, then, why HP listed the max as 512MB x 2 ?? If a company has not tested the motherboard with 1GB sticks, then they may not have rated it as capable of such. That could be the reason for the conflicting info. Paul |
#18
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What processor?
On Wed, 26 May 2010 21:09:52 -0700, UCLAN
wrote: kony wrote: So you would disregard HP's listed spec of: Ram (installed) 512 MB (1X512MB) Maximum allowed 1 GB (2 x 512MB) and the MB caveat of: Support up to maximum 2 GB memory (PC manufacturer's maximum memory may differ) ?? Disregard max 1GB and assume 1GB per slot = 2GB total, along with the other timing and voltage issues I mentioned. Hmmm...I wonder, then, why HP listed the max as 512MB x 2 ?? Because that is the initial spec Asus provided to them, but Asus goes back and retests new memory while HP doesn't want the support costs. I didn't check Kingston's website, but I checked crucial.com and they don't list your board, but a contemporary KM400A board from Asus on their list shows these as compatible: http://www.crucial.com/store/listpar...odel=A7V400-MX Your board does not have support for dual channel memory so you don't necessarily even need to buy 2 x 1GB modules, could just buy one and have 1.5GB total, or of course, buy a standard module from someplace with a good return policy like Newegg.com then if it doesn't work you are out the return shipping cost and "maybe" 15% restock fee (they often waive that fee if you call and ask them to). .... or, if you're going to get a new machine anyway you might find the secondary role for this system wouldn't require over 1GB total, it used to be that 1GB seemed like plenty to run WinXP or older. |
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