Have to format 5 years old computer.Xp or 7 32 bit?

[-R-]

I think I'll format very soon. I have always used that computer with winXp ( sp3), and was wondering if Win7 could be more resource savy than Xp. If so, I might try it, so any opinion welcome!

[Boray]

Specs would be more useful than age.

[ObiK]

Agreed give us the details then we can see what would work best.

[bluzkat]

Check this to see if your PC can run Win7:

MS Upgrade Advisor.

[-R-]

Thank you for the responses. I did the test bluzkat suggested, and to my surprise, I could even run the 64 bit version!( but not in xp mode )
My main concern is, as I said, the ressource consumption. I will choose the os that allow me to have maximum tracks and plugins. Following are specs of the pc.According to the specs,I think I can add more ram for a total of 4 gb, but I'm not sure yet. If so, I will do it.


Motherboard Properties
------------------------

Motherboard ID 09/17/2005-i915P-6A79VG0QC-00
Motherboard Name Gigabyte GA-8I915PM

Front Side Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel NetBurst
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 200 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 800 MHz
Bandwidth 6400 MB/s

Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type Dual DDR2 SDRAM
Bus Width 128-bit
Real Clock 267 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 533 MHz
Bandwidth 8533 MB/s

Chipset Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel Direct Media Interface

Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket 775
Expansion Slots 2 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16
RAM Slots 4 DDR DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, LAN


CPU Properties
-----------------

CPU Type Intel Pentium 4 630, 3000 MHz (15 x 200)
CPU Alias Prescott-2M
CPU Stepping N0
Instruction Set x86, x86-64, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3
Original Clock 3000 MHz
Min / Max CPU Multiplier 14x / 15x
Engineering Sample No
L1 Trace Cache 12K Instructions
L1 Data Cache 16 KB
L2 Cache 2 MB (On-Die, ECC, ATC, Full-Speed)

Multi CPU
Motherboard ID OEM00000 PROD00000000
CPU #0 Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz, 2992 MHz
CPU #1 Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz, 2992 MHz

CPU Physical Info
Package Type 775 Contact LGA
Package Size 3.75 cm x 3.75 cm
Transistors 169 million
Process Technology 7M, 90 nm, CMOS, Cu, Low-K Inter-Layer, High-K Gate, Strained Si
Die Size 135 mm2
Core Voltage 1.3 V
I/O Voltage 1.3 V
Typical Power 84 - 115 W (depending on clock speed)
Maximum Power 101 - 155 W (depending on clock speed)

CPU Utilization
CPU #1 / HTT Unit #1 0 %
CPU #1 / HTT Unit #2 7 %


So, that's it. I can provide more specs if needed, but I didn't want to bother you with a huge post.
Many Thanks in advance! A new os and finally,... Reaper 4! would be like a new computer to me.

[-R-]

Ooh, by the way.. the reason I want to format is because my pc crashes more and more often. Do you think it would be enough to make an upgrade or do I have to format to be sure? ( I think I know the answer, but as we're at it,..)
Thanks again!

[Evan]

How much RAM? What video card?

Also, have you opened the case to clean the internal fans and coolers lately? I am asking because those old Pentiums got hot, and periodically cleaning the coolers from dust is important for the system stability.

(a fast way to do this is either use a vacuum cleaner to suck the dust from the cooler fins, or a hair-drier pushing -cold- air out, but don't try this inside the house)

[JGrabowMST]

If you have 2gb of RAM, you could try Windows 7, but don't expect it to be any faster or resource friendly than XP. It may perform about the same on that hardware.

Windows 7 does play nicer with resources, but it does require more than XP from the get-go, so I doubt you'll see any boosts.

If you were to jump to 4gb of RAM, you might seem improvement in XP (while only being able to use ~3.5gb of it). If you jump to Win 7, definitely run 4gb of RAM if you want a boost in speed (32bit or 64bit).

But it could also be argued that you could start putting money towards a faster system, considering where computers are going at this point, in terms of speed and hardware. Your computer runs LGA775 socket, which is slowly being phased out for LGA1156.

[-R-]

Thank you very much for the advices. I'll clean up the inside as soon as I'm done with the backups. If win 7 is not too much of a trouble I may try it, because it seems easier with the daily tasks.
Now, if I may, another question comes to mind: How to know what ram I could put? All Everest tells me is that I have 4 DDr Dimm slots. The bus type is Dual DDr2 SDram... Does it mean I can install any ddr2? Of any size? ( Does 2gb ram exist in ddr2?...)

Thanks again, this really helps...

[Sound asleep]

i wouldn't even bother trying windows 7. xp will be lighter. with that computer you want all the available resources you can get. windows 7 is, imo, much better, maybe a little less stable, but far better interface and whatnot, but i'd save that for a new computer. maybe i'd upgrade the ram if you find you're short on that specifically, but other than that, i'd just wait on getting a better computer. they are really getting cheap for the amount of power you get. i mean, you can get a computer that's like twice the performance for 400$. or you could get a used computer that's a year old, for much less and still almost get double the performance. or you could buy a gig of ram for like 60$ish.

idk, at the end of the day it's up to you, but if you want more performance, i'd start with keeping xp, then if you want more i'd get something better. if you're fine with performance, windows 7 will make you want more. but for music you need alot of power, so squeeze as much as you can get out. with a stronger computer windows 7 is easily worth it though.

[-R-]

Probably right Sound Asleep, but do you think I could put 4X 2Gb of Ram? If so, 7 could be good, maybe? Or do you think that cpu is too weak, anyway?

[bluzkat]

Originally Posted by -R-

Probably right Sound Asleep, but do you think I could put 4X 2Gb of Ram? If so, 7 could be good, maybe? Or do you think that cpu is too weak, anyway?

R,

Just so you know... your motherboard won't support 8 gigs of RAM (only 4 gigs).

I think I would stay with XP on this system.

[-R-]

Ok, that's what I'll do. Thank you very much for the input

[Sound asleep]

Originally Posted by -R-

Probably right Sound Asleep, but do you think I could put 4X 2Gb of Ram? If so, 7 could be good, maybe? Or do you think that cpu is too weak, anyway?

in music production you need a strong computer in all respects. imo the most necessary component is the processor. you can't run 64 bit i don't think so your windows can only see a maximum of 3 gigs of ram even if your motherboard could take more.

in my experience people consider ram too much as a way to speed up their computer. ram is like a hard drive in the respect that if you don't have enough space for your needs it sucks, but if you do have enough adding more won't do you any good.

you may benefit from going to 3 gigs over your current 2, but i think really in the end you need a stronger processor.

ram is kind of quick access temporary memory like your short term. you need it because your hard drive is slow. it keeps information you need close at hand to access quickly. in music this will be samples, and other things here and there that the computer needs. think about it. whenever you do something to your computer, move a window, type a letter, whatever, the computer is remembering those things. but they are not saved on your hard drive. you will lose them if the computer shuts off. these are the ram things.

computers will start writing the ram stuff to hard drives when they run out of ram, this makes your computer slow. but if you have not run out adding more won't make your computer faster.

in music you might experience drop outs from this, some plugins give you memory error messages when you run out of ram.

but most of the time, drop outs is cpu. your cpu has it's own kind of ram sort of thing called cache. your cpu calculates stuff like rendering audio and saves that stuff in the cache, like a youtube buffer, then it goes off and does other things it needs to do. it does this very quickly. if you run out of cache before your cpu comes back and calculates the next chunck of audio processing you need, you get a dropout, like running out of buffer in youtube, the video stops.

making your buffer larger, creates lag, like waiting for youtube to create a buffer so that you can watch the whole clip in one go if your connection is slow.

this is the buffer size thingy you can change for your audio card.

most plugins like compressors and eqs and digital reverbs and amp sims and all that all use alot of cpu, and so does everything else like playing multiple tracks and all that. more ram hungry stuff is generally sample things, convolution reverbs, sampled pianos, drumkits, and things like that.

if you're going to go hardcore, you need alot of everything, multiple hard drives and all that, or solid states hard drives (more similar to ram physically, but still slower). but a good way to go imo is to start off getting a computer that has the best cpu you can afford and very little else. ram you can always upgrade, hard drive you can always upgrade, video card, basically everything, but not as easy with cpu and motherboard, so this is really where you want your money to go.

i think you'd be best serve to save up for this, rather than put more money into your computer you have now, unless really you think ram is an issue for you, and you just want to get by a little better for 60$ until you buy a better computer. but imo, at 2G of ram, given your cpu you don't need that. i think that probably whatever you'd need to be running to fill more than 2 gigs of ram would be too much for your cpu anyway.

your reformat alone will likely help you out though. the fewer things you install the better. little things like printers and other little knick knacks will often run in the background using up your ram, so reall ythe fewer things the better now matter how big or small they are, in fact small is probably worse. a big thing like photoshop, or like games or something won't do anything if it's not open.

so keep it clean. if you can don't surf the net, if you must surf the net i recommend no script add-on for firefox, and disable 3rd party cookies, and tread carefully. take only what you need and nothing else.

[-R-]

Thank you very much.