Slow System Dimension 8200

Question

At work, I use a PIII with 128MB RAM running windows NT. My work system screem's. My 8200 is configured with P4 2.0 Ghz, 512MB PC800 RAM, 80 GB Ultra ATA 100 and Nvidia Gforce 3 TI 200 running Windows XP home edition. It is relatively slow and sluggish. I have tried several tweaks to boost performance, defrag, scandisk, unloading drivers, turning off system restore and indexing service, etc... Maybe I'm asking to much, but it sure seems to me that this system should leave my work computer in the dust. I have 350MB of free memory with all system devices and services loaded. I have disabled the swap file and ran strickly on RAM with good results, except some programs need that swap to load, which limits functionality. I noticed on the Intel WEB Site that they have a utility called "Intel Application Accelerator" that is supposed to dramatically improve hard drive speed and reduce noise. Anyone try it. I'm sure that my speed reduction is coming from the hard drive, and it is configured for UDMA 100. I noticed that Dell offers Application Accelerator download for the 4400 only. Is there a reason for this? Has anyone tried Application Accelerator on an 8200 and what were the results? Any other tips I might be missing to get this box screeming faster than my PIII?

blueseptember · Answer

you are probably using WinXP with NTFS volumes. check the allocation unit size (or harddisk sector size). though I'm not familiar with WinXP, but in Win2k, the default size is set to 512 byte and this is relatively slow. if you don't mind waisting hdd space or files you'r work with is relatively large, set it to 16kb+. otherwise set it to 4kb for the optimal speed. you'll probably have to follow the following setps in order to do so.

there are two ways to convert your file system's allocation unit size.

1. format your system with NTFS and define the size at the prompt. in this way, you'll lose all of your data and reinstall everything.
2. seperate your hdd and connect it to the other machine which has "Partition Magic (I forgot the version, but the higher is better). the only software that can change the allocation unit size without damaging files (that I know of) is "Partition Magic". then from the menu, change the default allocation unit size into 4kb or what you wish it to be.

hope my reply was helpful enough.

p.s. I wouldn't recommend using FAT32 for the workstation for the security reason.

westomatic · Answer

i have app accel on my dim 8100.. i found no noticable difference. i downloaded it off the intel site. what exactly types of programs etc are you comparing the 2 with... im thinkin if you had the same stuff installed and running the p4 will blow the p3 out of the water... try some benchmarks with madonion "madonion.com" and sisoft sandra with the same settings of course, and see what you come up with.

Weston
San Diego, CA
Aim: westomatic
Site: http://westomatic.htmlplanet.com
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8100, p4 1700
640 PC 800 rdram
80gb 7200 rpm ata133
40gb 7200 rpm
ATi 8500 raedon
SB Audigy
ATi TV wonder pci
Hi Point ata133 controller
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16x dvd
250 zip drive
hk 695 w/ sub
17" trinitron
Dell Quietkey
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Message Edited on 08/31/02 12:30PM by westomatic

dodge1 · Answer

Try running PCMarks2002 from MadOnion, then save your project online and use the project compare feature, to see what scores other Dell users are getting. http://gamershq.madonion.com/

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Slow System Dimension 8200

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