Identifying the performance bottleneck

[XionTawa]

I ran HD Tune (and posted the diagnostics results) for that very reason. The diagnostics didn't return any (obviously) worrisome results, but Performance Monitor did. That's why I prioritized upgrading the RAM over upgrading the hard drive.

That being said, I would like to upgrade the hard drive (both for capacity and speed) in the future. Dell lists multiple 7200 RPM as potential upgrades for my system, so I believe I'm in the clear to pick up this drive for $61 shipped as my next upgrade.

And if I don't see any significant performance boost with the RAM, I'll likely return it and spend $61 of the $85 I spent on RAM on the hard drive upgrade. But given the information available, I think I made the right call.

Of course, if I had a job, I may have just bought both the RAM and the hard drive at the same time.

Yeah...I wasn't going to take the time to read through all the posts ...just read the first one and posted my thoughts...

 

[Tek7]

Yeah...I wasn't going to take the time to read through all the posts ...just read the first one and posted my thoughts...

Fair enough. And it's a good suggestion. Upgrading the hard drive would be my second choice (right behind upgrading the RAM).

 

[Odale]

I thought they didn't make a 4870 with 256mb of ram of ram
I think 512mb was the lowest and then 1gb.

My card does have 512mb of ram on it... dunno why I thought it didn't.

Also, my English was terrible as I was very sleepy!

I meant to say it runs every GAME very well, not just every very well, haha.

Also, if you sped up your HD you'd make your laptop run hotter.

 

[Tek7]

Also, if you sped up your HD you'd make your laptop run hotter.

Overheating was a concern, but when I checked the Dell site, they sell 7200 RPM drives as upgrades for the Dell Studio 1737, so I think it's safe to say I'm in the clear for a hard drive upgrade, too. Just have to wait until I have a little more money in my pocket first. ^^;;

 

[Tek7]

/bump

I ended up buying this 4GB RAM kit on July 30. I received the kit the first week of August, installed the RAM, and immediately noticed an improvement in performance in StarCraft II, Team Fortress 2, and Left 4 Dead 2. I noticed improved performance in daily use as well.

I can now play SC2, TF2, L4D2, and other games without any stuttering, so it seems that a RAM shortage was at fault for the issues I encountered. I still haven't tried increased the image quality in any games; the games look good and they run well and that's good enough for me. I may try increasing the shader quality next time I play the Hard Rain campaign in L4D2, though (so I can see the weather effects).

I still plan to buy a faster hard drive with larger capacity in the future, but for now, I'll make the most of my 160GB 5400RPM drive.

 

[Hescominsoon]

/bump

I ended up buying this 4GB RAM kit on July 30. I received the kit the first week of August, installed the RAM, and immediately noticed an improvement in performance in StarCraft II, Team Fortress 2, and Left 4 Dead 2. I noticed improved performance in daily use as well.

I can now play SC2, TF2, L4D2, and other games without any stuttering, so it seems that a RAM shortage was at fault for the issues I encountered. I still haven't tried increased the image quality in any games; the games look good and they run well and that's good enough for me. I may try increasing the shader quality next time I play the Hard Rain campaign in L4D2, though (so I can see the weather effects).

I still plan to buy a faster hard drive with larger capacity in the future, but for now, I'll make the most of my 160GB 5400RPM drive.

make sure your line of studios are even offered with a 7200 drive..if not they are NOT designed with the extra thermals of a 7200 rpm drive which could lead to bad effects for the drive.

 

[Whon]

I've personally been looking into getting a SSD for an OS drive to boost my performance. July's MaximumPC had a bunch of "High-performance upgrades (for minimum cost)" and they suggested the intel X-25v ssd for $125 (newegg.com has it for under $100 now). It's only 40gigs so it really is strictly an OS drive, but for the cost, it's a good performance boost.

 

[Tek7]

make sure your line of studios are even offered with a 7200 drive..if not they are NOT designed with the extra thermals of a 7200 rpm drive which could lead to bad effects for the drive.

Already done. I visited the Dell web site and verified that they sell 7200 RPM drives for the Studio 1737, so I'm good to go.

 

[Hescominsoon]

i meant to delete that post sorry tek..