Is my computer not ...
 

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[Closed] Is my computer not good enough now

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Been wondering this for a while now
and just tried to play the fort bill video it does not seem to like Vimeo or HD stuff just stutters along not good to watch .

Am on a fast cable broadband so dont think it is that cos even if the vid is downloaded it stutters .

Confession time it is about 10 years old so the spec will be not good .

What do I need to bring me back up to all singing and dancing and future proof for the next 10 years .

I have a HD hero camera and cant play the vids so getting frustrated.


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 5:30 pm
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{cough]mac[/cough]


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 5:33 pm
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Assuming you have enough memory and a reasonable disk then you probably just need to stick a decent video card in there.


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 5:55 pm
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Get a new PC, a basic couple of hundred pound box will be in a totally different league to what you've got. Trying to upgrade a ten year old unit will be difficult unless you know what you're doing. They're a bit like bikes, the standards change every few years.


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 6:02 pm
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Slight hi-jack, Trout is you computer eating my emails? Sent you one to confirm you had recieved my dead unit.. 😳 (must stress not a dead trout light)


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 6:03 pm
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HD is quite processor hungry so you probably need a better processor. Dual core should do it then maybe a better video card or a motherboard with decent onboard graphics


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 6:03 pm
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nope .trouty. if its a ten year old mac,theres no "spares" to upgrade anymore. just happened to mine as well. still had my monies worth to be honest..


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 6:04 pm
 Drac
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Don't use an onboad video card they're utter shite get a half descent video card if you upgrade well worth it.


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 6:07 pm
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Mac pro all the way :mrgreen:


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 6:12 pm
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better than mine!


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 6:13 pm
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Zippy
No not the computers fault with the emails more my bad computer skills

please pop me another mail so I get an addy to reply to .

Got the dead lupine no worries just not had a chance to tear it appart been clearing the late mum in laws house out as a buyer wants to complete quickly .

Sounds like I need a new puter to use all these new fangled devices
I guess that is a new OS to learn too


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 7:47 pm
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No need for a mac, I've got both and don't really see any advantage to it over Windows 7 tbh (other than Final Cut Studio and Aperture which are quite nice). I find it takes longer to navigate (and yes I am used to it before anyone says anything) because it has fancy transitions and stuff to make it look pretty. Text renders blurrier, although it is in a nicer font.

I'd just get a £300-400 windows 7 pc of a decent spec and be done with it. Bought my computer for about £600 a few years ago, I think you can get a similar spec for much less now. It'll be fine for you, mine's currently rendering high quality 3D stuff and I've been watching vimeo hd vids at the same time, been playing very smoothly 🙂


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 7:52 pm
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Download and run ccleaner ( http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download ) - it will get rid of some of the accumulated junk, and buy you a little bit of breathing space for free.

That said, you can't polish a turd, so as mentioned above, a new machine for a couple of hundred quid will give you a big improvement in capacity and speed.


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 7:56 pm
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mac

So what's the performance of a 10 year old one of those like? Assuming you don't have unlimited money, how much more up to date will your PC be on average compared to the Mac if you spend the same amount of money over a 10 year period?


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 8:22 pm
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Can we not have a Mac Corner in this forum for all the special children who answer "mac" to every computer question that they don't understand?


 
Posted : 10/06/2010 8:57 pm
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Tout YGM, really no rush m8


 
Posted : 11/06/2010 11:09 am
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Try ctrl+alt+del

Go to processes tab

Right click iexplorer (or whatever browser you use)

Set priority to 'above normal'

Might help a bit.


 
Posted : 11/06/2010 11:27 am
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If you can backup & remove all the files, photos, music, etc that you want to keep, and if you have a decent installation disk for the operating system (Windows xp?), then doing a fresh operating system installation, and reloading all the latest drivers can make a big difference IMO. It's certainly kept my old PC ticking along ok when it's past the point of worth selling on.


 
Posted : 11/06/2010 11:36 am
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update all your drivers, especially the nvida graphics card driver (if you have one) and download Flash 10.1. These are able to offload video processing to the GPU (grahics card, may be built in on a laptop).

This might not make much difference if your computer is REALLY old though.

With the right drivers an atom based nettop with an "nvidia ion" chipset can play 1080p quite easily.


 
Posted : 11/06/2010 11:50 am
 tron
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My experience of soldiering on with ancient computers is that it generally isn't worthwhile. You end up spending loads of time to get something that is a bit faster. But still way behind the curve, and what any content you use expects to be running on.

If you have the cash, drop £2-300 on a new box. There are lots of websites that list Dell's special offers, which are generally unbeatable in my book.


 
Posted : 11/06/2010 11:56 am
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Fooooooking hell that is fast 😆

Just collected a new box with nothing in it and loaded windows 7 in to it bejeezus its fast , boots up a million time faster than the shonky old one

less than an hour to be up and running and back ont net hell my old one took all hours to format a hard drive

Well happy dont know if it is a good one so preparing to be shot down and start crying
here is the spec

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 Processor 2.66GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR2 800MHz
HDD: 1TB SATA II
DVD: DVD+/-RW AUDIO: 7.1 Surround

GRAPHICS: 1GB HD ATI 5670
WARRANTY: 12 Months Return to Base


 
Posted : 11/06/2010 1:19 pm
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Sounds pretty reasonable. Should see you good for a while 😀


 
Posted : 11/06/2010 1:21 pm
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It'll be fine for about 6 months 😉

...not really that's a reasonable spec to be honest. How much it set you back if you don't mind me asking?


 
Posted : 11/06/2010 1:23 pm
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That should do the trick then. 🙂


 
Posted : 11/06/2010 1:26 pm
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£499 plus £80 for windows 7

from www.cclonline.com

Have I been robbed


 
Posted : 11/06/2010 1:31 pm
 Drac
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Nice spec there should keep you going for awhile too.


 
Posted : 11/06/2010 6:57 pm

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