New Dell speed question

[sharkeeper]

Dell precision boards are made by Supermicro AFAIK

Precision computers use premium parts that are not any more different than the parts I or you buy at newegg (minus the overclocking stuff).

Yes and the PERC's are made by AMI/LSi but have subpar performance to the real thing. I've had many PERC 493 (Elite 1600) that had low performance that was restored when flashed with LSi firmware!

The mainboards aren't so easy to do...

In that case, it's better to go with your own and avoid this problem. Save a lot of money to boot!

THE only reason to buy Dell is if an Organisation has the need for 50+ PC's and wants support. Some firms may use programs that the vendor will only support on a "blessed" system, i.e. Pro Engineer. In this case (where building your own is out of the equation) Dell is better than HP or Compaq.

To the original poster:

Make sure the HDD is NOT running under PIO mode! This WILL cripple performance. What OS is running? If WinXP you can easily see what speed the cpu is running by pulling up the system properties sheet. (right click my computer and select properties)

-DAK-

-DAK-

 

[broadwayblue]

Originally posted by: shuttleteam

Dell precision boards are made by Supermicro AFAIK

Precision computers use premium parts that are not any more different than the parts I or you buy at newegg (minus the overclocking stuff).

To the original poster:

Make sure the HDD is NOT running under PIO mode! This WILL cripple performance. What OS is running? If WinXP you can easily see what speed the cpu is running by pulling up the system properties sheet. (right click my computer and select properties)

-DAK-

-DAK-

where do you look under system properties to see if PIO mode is enabled?

 

[sharkeeper]

where do you look under system properties to see if PIO mode is enabled?

Right click "my computer" from desktop. You can also hold down the windows key and pause break keys simultaneously.

The System Properties sheet is displayed.

Click on the hardware tab, then click on the device manager button.

The device manager is displayed.

Double click on IDE/ATAPI controllers.

The tree opens and you should see the IDE controller and its primary and secondary channels. Double click on the primary channel. (same applies to secondary)

Primary (or secondary depending on which one was selected) IDE Channel Properties sheet is displayed.

Click on Advanced Properties tab.

Make sure Transfer Mode for both are set to DMA if available.

Repeat the same for Secondary.

Reboot if asked.

-DAK-

 

[Murr]

I got the IDE channel properties but I dont see an advanced tab, or anything that says DMA.

 

[Horsepower]

Thanx for all of the suggestions. Since this rig is at work, I won't be trying the stuff until Tuesday. I'll reply then.

 

[sharkeeper]

I got the IDE channel properties but I dont see an advanced tab, or anything that says DMA.

What OS?

-DAK-

 

[Murr]

Originally posted by: shuttleteam

I got the IDE channel properties but I dont see an advanced tab, or anything that says DMA.

What OS?

-DAK-

XP Professional

 

[sharkeeper]

This is what you normally see in XP Pro.

Do you have the Intel Application Accelerator installed?

-DAK-

 

[Murr]

Originally posted by: shuttleteam
This is what you normally see in XP Pro.

Do you have the Intel Application Accelerator installed?

-DAK-

Seems like you know your stuff, I do have the accelerator installed. What does it all mean?

 

[Keego]

winfax... hah! I used to support that product while working for Symantec.

 

[Cerb]

If it ain't DMA, it's Dell. In normal use, most of the big name computers are slow. format, reinstall and it should be peachy.
But try all of these other options first, just in case. My machine, with a rarely defragged ATA66 5400RPM 20GB Caviar, is more responsive than most computers with all the OEM crap installed--even the P4 2.4 (haven't had the pleasure of a 3.06GHz), 512MB RAM ones. Even with a quiet Seagate, a 3.06GHz P4 with 512MB PC1066 should be *screaming* fast.

 

[sharkeeper]

IAA is a specialised ATA bus master driver that contains optimised algorithms to "accelerate" disk performance. If you feel this product is causing a problem, you can remove it.

I've found the MS Default driver always gave the best performance back to Win95 days. Anyone remember the Triones drivers (actually highpoint) that people claimed boosted performance?

-DAK-

 

[beatle]

I agree that it's likely a setting with the harddrive. There are hundreds of brand new Dells at work that are all locked in PIO mode for some reason.

 

[Horsepower]

I REALLY appreciate all of the advice. The HDD was not set to PIO, but installing the Intel App Accelerator REALLY helped the system. I had never seen the "acoustic" setting on any other drive, I hope setting it to maximum doesn't fry the drive. There are still only a few apps that start slow, I am not sure it would be worth disabling hyperthreading in the bios. I have learned that perhaps HYPErthreading is more HYPE than reality, at least for now.