GPU,CPU, mem, or OS; upgrade help

[Eltrex06]

so i've been pondering upgrading my computer. i bought a new dell XPS couple years ago and it works great and all but its just not cutting it for me.

Sitting idol, fresh from booting up i'm using nearly 1/3 of my memory. When i open 3ds Max 2010, itunes, and some photo reference i'm pushing almost 70% mem useage. i also tend to get errors when rendering with mental ray that says can not allocate XXXXXX bits (or bites whatever) which i assume is a memory error

currently my computer is running:

Windows Vista 32 bit
Core 2 Quad Q6700 2.66GHz
4gigs memory
Geforce 9600 GT 1GB

i keep hearing that vista is a memory hog and sitting idol at 33% mem usage isn't really making me smile.

lol so im trying to decide what i should upgrade first, go to windows 7 64bit or double my memory (which im pretty sure my MB should be able to handle)

another issue I'm wondering about is how does heat effect usage. I understand computers don't do well when they are hot but could that also be affecting the performance this much. The dell case has a fan in the front and a nother fan/shroud over the CPU that links directly to the outside of the case. The front side which i think are intakes seem pretty cool but the back side of the case pumps out so much heat i can open the window in the middle of the winter and wear shorts and a tee-shirt and be perfectly content. would upgrading to a new case with more space and more fans be better.

anyway.. any advice would be welcome. thanks

[DKK]

We'll AFAIK theres two issues with memory, granted I might be wrong, but;

1: 32 bit OS can only adress 3.3 gigs or something like that.
2: Vista hogs like 1 gig for itself.

So you really only have 2.2 gigs or so to actually work with, that's not really bad, and your processor is beast, so I'd say if you're going to upgrade anything you need to get a 64 bit OS first.

Alternately you might just want to clean your comptuer system files up, maybe format and do a fresh install.

[Ben Apuna]

I'm going to second the 64bit OS upgrade.

It was a night and day kind of switch for me going from 32 bit XP to 64 bit Vista.

If you can upgrade your ram to 8GB (or more) that would be good too.

As far as heat, you should physically clean your PC (get the dust off the fans, clear the intake and exhaust vents). Better fans might make a difference, I recommend Scythe brand fans. They are expensive but also much better than stock fans at pushing air through the case.

You might be able to invest in a aftermarket CPU cooler as well but getting the stock cooler off might prove difficult (sometimes they are pretty much glued to the CPU so removing them can cause damage). There's also the issue of space and compatibility with the motherboard.

[Target_Renegade]

Definitely get rid of Vista and get Windows 7 if you can. Far more stable and more intuitive. If you get the home premium, you get 32 bit and 64 bit on one disc.

Q6600
260GTX
4GB RAM

[Firebert]

Definitely get rid of Vista and get Windows 7 if you can. Far more stable and more intuitive. If you get the home premium, you get 32 bit and 64 bit on one disc.


may be wrong, but i do believe all retail shelf versions of 7 ship with both 32bit and 64bit versions of the software. i would recommend 7Pro. screw all the other crap that is on the other OS versions. you'll never use it and it just takes up space and resources you could use elsewhere.

i agree with everyone and say OS and memory upgrades will do wonders.
double check the approved ram configs for your mobo off the manufacturer website. they should all have a listing of configs that have been tested and approved on various memory brands. do some research on which memory config you want, find brands that fit your mobo in that config, and research their prices. memory is becoming increasingly cheap (cost wise).

64bit will help tremendously. a solid state drive would be an investment to consider, but holding off for the prices to come down may be a smart move. they improve your machine so much. i've read some people say it is like getting a new PC it is so fast. but being fairly recent tech, they are astronomically expensive atm.

[Eltrex06]

awesome, thanks for the advice everyone, think i'm gonna get windows 7 and then eventually down the road double my memory

[Target_Renegade]

may be wrong, but i do believe all retail shelf versions of 7 ship with both 32bit and 64bit versions of the software.


True, I've seen some OEM versions around that are £30 cheaper but dont have both 32 and 64 bit versions on the same disc. Should have mentioned it. Don't buy the OEM version!

[The Flying Monk]

64 bit Windows 7 is a good start. But you should check the inside of your case and the CPU and video card fans. If your PC is getting that hot then you may be prematurely aging the components inside, causing it to fail sooner.
Or it may just crash or hang more often.

Preventative maintenance is always cheaper than replacing dead parts.