So the computer finally is showing it's age

Monday, January 14, 2013 by kona0197 | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk

It's taken me awhile to start this thread, sorry. I know this may end up in flame wars. Again I am sorry.

So everyone knows my situation. Well those close to me on this site do. My computer is finally showing signs of how old it truly is. Keep in mind my computer has a Pentium 4 processor so I am guessing this setup to be almost ten years old. The problem, even after a few friends helped me here with a new hard drive and more memory, is the rest of the system. The processor can't keep up with the newer operating systems. I'm having a hard time just running XP. Found out the other day my DVD Burner drive is almost dead as it will read disc sometimes and other times it will not. Monitor is on it's last legs as well. Hard to read anything and the brightness is going out. It's an old CRT Dell monitor that is almost as old as the tower.

As Starkers had told you this computer is my main way to communicate with the things that are important in my life. So I was hoping someone out there had a few newer parts I could install to extend the life of the machine a bit. Nothing special. I already have DDR2 memory and a newer hard drive. Just need a few other things.

So carry on. Discuss I guess.

First Previous Page 26 of 37 Next Last
doortech1
Reply #501 Wednesday, February 13, 2013 5:37 PM

Well, the cpu is 125 watt, so I would not worry there. Only if it was to small. Kinda funny sidebar, Asus boasts that board as a fanless design, and your having heat issues. Gotta be the case, try the THERMAL TAKE, IE, THERMAL, .

kona0197
Reply #502 Wednesday, February 13, 2013 5:49 PM

You misunderstand. I'm not having heat issues. I'm having excessive noise issues. The CPU stays right around 120F. Just a fan that's a bit loud. I might have to get used to it. After all the Pentium 4 setup only had three fans, one CPU fan, a 80mm PSU fan, along with an 80mm rear fan. It was very quiet, almost the point you could not tell it was on.

Anyone seen Ace? This would not have been possible without him. Hope I didn't step on his toes.

ernie leo
Reply #503 Wednesday, February 13, 2013 6:17 PM

kona0197
You misunderstand. I'm not having heat issues. I'm having excessive noise issues. The CPU stays right around 120F. Just a fan that's a bit loud.

One and the same.....as CPU temps rise, the cpu fan increases in speed.....120F is somewhat on the hot side, the cpu fan is most likely running full tilt.....on that size fan most likely 2500+/-  rpm

kona0197
I might have to get used to it. After all the Pentium 4 setup only had three fans, one CPU fan, a 80mm PSU fan, along with an 80mm rear fan. It was very quiet, almost the point you could not tell it was on.

That's like comparing apples to oranges......the Pen4 wasn't a quad core 125 watt processor and didn't draw any where near the amount of current/wattage.

 

 

kona0197
Reply #504 Wednesday, February 13, 2013 6:34 PM

OK I rebooted the machine. Why does it always seems like it takes longer for Windows to boot after Windows has been updated? After a clean install it seems like Windows boots faster.

Here is some info from BIOS:

CPU temp: 113F

Motherboard temp: 96F

CPU fan speed: 2045 RPM

Front 120mm fan speed: 2083 RPM

Rear 80mm fan speed: 1326 RPM

Wizard1956
Reply #505 Wednesday, February 13, 2013 7:28 PM

Well within specs. Get used to higher powered PSU's and CPU's and even that little gfx card that need those fans to stay alive. I've worked on many old rigs with only a single fan on the PSU, period and even more with that and a tiny CPU fan.  Passive cooling is a thing of the past.

I have 7 fans running on my rig.  PSU-2, CPU-1, GFX-1, case-3. Only the 80mm front fan (a Rosewill replacement) came with a speed controller and it was on sale for 5 bucks at Newegg. It's when they stop making noise that I'll worry.

RedneckDude
Reply #506 Wednesday, February 13, 2013 9:56 PM

Wizard1956
It's when you stop making noise that I'll worry.

AceMatrix
Reply #507 Thursday, February 14, 2013 5:19 AM

One of my hobbies is building speed machines - as in Desktop Computers. The one I'm using right now has 12 fans and a water cooling radiator system to cool the CPU. This machine presently is benchmarking within the top 16 systems globally. I'm working on another build right now, I would love to benchmark to within at least 5 of the top machines globally. It can be a very expensive endeavor, so sometimes it takes me forever to get the parts I need, but it's always worth it once you fire it up and start burning up the charts in the benchmark categories. I've never had issues with noise, despite the numerous fans I always use, but I would say that a noisy fan is not good. That's usually an indication that the bearings are seriously worn and their efficiency is plummeting. Not good for the related hardware. You can never have too many fans. Heat should always be your number one concern, just as the oil level is in your automobile. It's a hidden killer stalking you everytime you boot-up.               -- Ace --

MadDeez
Reply #508 Thursday, February 14, 2013 7:53 AM

as much as i dislike thermaltake, use the case ace sent you instead of the generic one seen in those pics. price was the main objective in the design of the case you're using, not thermal properties and/or air flow. i guarantee the thermaltake will have better airflow and fans. also, there'se no way a 120 mm fan makes more noise than (2) 80 mm fans. that's almost impossible. i will admit that cpu fan is probably pretty noisy when it's a full speed. 

kona0197
Reply #509 Thursday, February 14, 2013 9:22 AM

I don't have enough fans to plug up all of the fan holes cut in the side of the Thermaltake case. There are many fans missing and the front has missing plates that cover vacant DVD-RW drives. I think that would let in to much dust, would it not?Currently the CPU is sitting at 91F in this case, not bad I guess. I will look into it. I think investing in more fans, better, silent ones would be what I need to do. This generic case is setup to handle 6 120mm or 6 80mm fans, 2 in the front, two on the side, one on the bottom, one in the rear. I think airflow will not be an issue. As for the Thermaltake case I was going to use it with another project if that's OK.

I found that the 120mm front fan is the loudest of the bunch. So I going to replace it it with something quieter. The CPU fan is always at full speed as far as I know. It is pretty loud.The PSU fan is really loud as well.

I was playing with Windows 8 in Virtualbox last night. Anyone care to tell me how Windows 8 went online and grabbed my Facebook pictures to browse through when the email I used with Windows 8 is not connected to my Facebook account in any way? That's kind of disturbing to think Windows is hacking into my Facebook account.

Ace you mentioned your machine is in the top 16 machines globally for benchmarking. Very impressive. Thank you for all you have done for me, I greatly appreciate it.

By the way did you ever notice a long lag between the time you powered on the system till the time the system would post? It seems there is a lag of almost a minute there. Windows 7 has been slow to boot as well. Used to be fast, then I installed SP1 and boot times slowed down to over two minutes.

Hey DoorTech you said something about fans? What did you have?

As always thank you everyone. This machine is far more than I expected to be using when I first started this thread. It's a blessing, and I am very grateful.

 

Wizard1956
Reply #510 Thursday, February 14, 2013 10:55 AM

kona, if you are wanting fans, I suggest these.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200028

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200027

1: They are inexpensive but reliable. The fan controller alone is worth the price.

2: They have speed controls that mount in the expansion slots so you can turn them down to a whisper

3: Ball bearings-quieter than sleeve bearings and last longer

4: They light up a very pretty blue (they dim as the speed is turned down)

5: Free shipping

I have the 80mm in the front of my CoolerMaster case and it is quieter than the original even at full speed. I'm going to replace the rear 120mm with one also.

As for the holes in the front of the case, don't you have an old DVD/CD drive you can use to fill the hole(s)?

RedneckDude
Reply #511 Thursday, February 14, 2013 12:16 PM

AceMatrix
One of my hobbies is building speed machines - as in Desktop Computers. The one I'm using right now has 12 fans and a water cooling radiator system to cool the CPU. This machine presently is benchmarking within the top 16 systems globally. I'm working on another build right now, I would love to benchmark to within at least 5 of the top machines globally. It can be a very expensive endeavor, so sometimes it takes me forever to get the parts I need, but it's always worth it once you fire it up and start burning up the charts in the benchmark categories. I've never had issues with noise, despite the numerous fans I always use, but I would say that a noisy fan is not good. That's usually an indication that the bearings are seriously worn and their efficiency is plummeting. Not good for the related hardware. You can never have too many fans. Heat should always be your number one concern, just as the oil level is in your automobile. It's a hidden killer stalking you everytime you boot-up.               -- Ace --

Ace, when you get a few extra speed machines laying around, and they're in the way, don't forget your old buddy, the redneck. Feel free to send me one of you slower ones.....hehe....

 

I'll settle for top 50. 

kona0197
Reply #512 Thursday, February 14, 2013 12:26 PM

Wizard1956
As for the holes in the front of the case, don't you have an old DVD/CD drive you can use to fill the hole(s)?

I don't. It would be hard to do so anyhow. I think during shipping the top got a huge dent so there is no way to install anything in the top slot. The side has 3 holes cut into it for fans that I do not have. So I going to use the case for a side project involving the old Pentium 4. Maybe a file server. Thank for the links, I will look into it.

Uvah
Reply #513 Thursday, February 14, 2013 12:46 PM

RedneckDude
I'll settle for top 50

I'll settle for a turtle. It'll probably leave my lappy in the dust.

MadDeez
Reply #514 Thursday, February 14, 2013 1:00 PM

change of mind.

 

starkers
Reply #515 Thursday, February 14, 2013 1:25 PM

kona0197
I don't. It would be hard to do so anyhow. I think during shipping the top got a huge dent so there is no way to install anything in the top slot.

That's a panel beater's job... get out the rubber mallet, somebody... in the trade, and knock that friggin' dent out for kona.

Seriously, my sister had an old tower years ago that had some missing front panels, and what she did was cut out some plastic facsimilies from an ice cream container and taped them in place with some tape from the inside.  It didn't look too bad for an improvised solution, neither.. and it kept the dust out/noise in.

As for the dent, get a block of wood and a hammer, turn the case upside down [before you put anything in it] and panel beat the dent out, using the wood in between so as not to leave hammer blows... then if you get a ROM drive it'll slip right in there.  Just a thought, cos the Thermaltake case would be better for airflow and cooling, etc.

AceMatrix
Reply #516 Thursday, February 14, 2013 2:47 PM

Well....the tower & board, as I had stated early on, was from a previous build that I had done a couple years ago. I was still on a learning curve and doing a little self customization in my shop to modify and improve the cooling capabilities of the tower. Yes, it had lots of fans and I had to create openings for those fans , and the front panel had alot of optical drives. Over time, those little slot covers got missplaced , but a tower is a tower. As my system building improved, that particular setup got shelved in the back of my storage closet and just sat there collecting dust until now. I'm sorry it doesn't look store bought now, but in my world, that's not what is important. If you're worried about dust, do what I do, and believe me, after all my years of experience I should know....use what is called a " Swiffer Duster" You've probably seen them advertised on T.V. and they are absolutely hands down, the best way to quickly and effectively rid the inside of your system of dust without the dangers and hassles involved with a vacuum & and it is great for removing the dust from those pesky little fan blades. You can now buy them at any Walmart store.It's the only thing I ever use to keep my systems spotless. As a side note, the more openings you have on a tower, the bettor off you are. Free flow of air current is absolutely essential if you really want to keep hot air dissipated. Using the swiffer duster occasionally only takes a few moments.      -- Ace --

AceMatrix
Reply #517 Thursday, February 14, 2013 2:54 PM

An added note here: If there are some that are not aware of it, using a vacuum to clean your system is very dangerous. A vacuum creates static electricity because of the extreme air flow created across surfaces. You should never , ever, use a vacuum near your tower.           -- Ace --

kona0197
Reply #518 Thursday, February 14, 2013 3:05 PM

I know you will say to use the Thermaltake case Starkers. It just needs some work. I'll look into it soon. Thanks!

kona0197
Reply #519 Thursday, February 14, 2013 5:31 PM

kona0197
I was playing with Windows 8 in Virtualbox last night. Anyone care to tell me how Windows 8 went online and grabbed my Facebook pictures to browse through when the email I used with Windows 8 is not connected to my Facebook account in any way? That's kind of disturbing to think Windows is hacking into my Facebook account.

Someone got an answer on this one? I think it's creepy.

doortech1
Reply #520 Thursday, February 14, 2013 6:14 PM

your facebook pics may be in a hidden file on your pc, as cookies or such would be to speed up loading, kind of a prefetch?just a guess though, no inside knowledge or outside for that matter!

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