CF requires a 1GHz processor? - Page 2

turbocad6 · 07-16-2005, 11:37 AM

no to really start argueing about this spdyscotty, but xp is a very ram intensive operating system....AND the majority of the newer softwares are going to incorperate thru a rich gui interface...more intense processes that while being dependant on processor speed....do rely on ram to get "the work" done.....

a 2.4 processor with 2 gb of ram will kill a 3.4 processor with only 512 if all else was equal.....your 600mhz processor is kind of minimal...but not inadequate......I run several older pIII750's & such & they can be surprisingly adequate when not asked to multitask hevy....but with 256 they work in a very frustratingly slow way......just the jump to 512 can make the difference.....& when you feed a 750 with 1 gig of ram you will see that the 750 is not as slow as you thought

think of the ram as workers or armymen & the processor as a manager or general leader..... a mediocre manager can still accomplish alot with a huge work force....

to further this analogy...the buss speed is comperable to the corridors that the workers must travel through.....having a bunch of guys with really narrow corridors will slow down the process as well......

right now you have a mediocre work environment...(the pc itself) with a not so swift head leader (the processor) & relatively narrow corridors (system buss speeds, etc..)...the best thing you can do to get the processes through & get work done by the pc is to give it as many laborers as you can......

older laptop ram should be really cheap on ebay & the single best thing you can do for your install is to bump it up to 512......I garrentee if you did this blindly without questioning it you would thank me for the advice.......

I'll even stick my neck out further & garentee this to you in front of all these witnesses.....that if you got this machine up to 512 & then disagree with anything said here...I'LL BUY THE RAM CHIP FROM YOU.....

it is in microsofts best interest to claim as little as possible as minimum......it's just bragging rights for them.....the same way a car manufacture will claim as long as possible for tune up intervals or oil change itervals......it's bragging rights but not really the optimum values.....

just trying to help.......

spdyscotty · 07-16-2005, 06:32 PM

I agree I'd surely have better performance with 256 or even 512. But on the other hand, I just reformatted and did a fresh install of only apps to be used on my carpc. I'm running it right now (using it on this forum), and all is fine. Centrafuse runs great playing music and videos without a struggle. The only thing I have not tested were higher quality videos and DVDs on this new setup. I may end up upgrading the RAM if it has trouble with any of the processes that will be used in-car. But I would to make it known that Centrafuse runs without trouble on a 600mhz computer with only 128ram. In the future I plan to add a SNES into the works so that may require a hardware upgrade. For now though, there is no need for more memory from everything I've tested.

Scott

veetid · 07-16-2005, 06:34 PM

good to know... let me know your exact specs to help me determine minimum requirements..

david

spdyscotty · 07-17-2005, 04:56 AM

Sure, other than what I've already said, what else would you like to know? Looking for a complete list off all the hardware? Also, I still havent had a chance to try DVDs or DIVX/VIDX quality videos, but will report back on that issue when I get a chance.

Scott

CavityCr33p · 10-23-2005, 09:29 AM

I've been running 1.2ghz p3 with a full atx on my carputer, but due to the overwhelming power needed for my system, Im going to down to a m-atx board with onboard everything and a Celeron 466mhz.

What do you think of running CF on XP with the 466 Celeron, as long as I can throw 512 pc133 at it?

I'm sure it will run XP, but wondering if CF is going to freak out on it. I guidance and mp3's are all I run.

Jcarere · 10-23-2005, 10:18 AM

My parents had an amd 800mhz that never registered right on their compaq mobo. So sometimes it woul show as 600mhz. Anyway they wanted xp and they only had 128mb of ram and wow it was ungodly slow. They use aol and with xp it would take over 10 mins to load and sign onto aol using cable modem. So after they cracked I bought them 2 256 pc133 and now its actually fast. On windows 98 and like wise Me it was not as apparent witht he different amounts of ram. Offcourse it helped but was not like night and day.

turbocad6 · 10-23-2005, 10:28 AM

I'm surprised that you would find a 1.2 p3 overwhelming in power consuption..... it's a pretty efficient processor..a little choked with a small l2 cache & small busses, but efficiency is one of it's stronger points.....nothing like a p4 in consumption....what else is on your system?

I would look at the rest of your system before going down to a 466 celron.... can't say if cf will be ok, XP will run... Iguidance will run & so will mp3's, but I can see taxing the system with nav & mp3's at the same time....it will be sluggish & may crash at times..... the p3 1.2 sounds like a much better choice..... I would check power calculators before making any rash decissions... I don't think there will be a huge power reduction in what your propousing..... maybe 15 watts or so less in just the processor, if that(I'm guessing though).

if your after the smaller form factor then get a mini atx for your p3.... I'd switch out other stuff before the procesor if you really need to consume less power..... going from a 3.5" drive to a 2.5" drive will probably get you half way to the difference, without having to severly undercut the processing power available to you now....

what are you powering it with.... I know an opus 150 should have no trouble with a p3 1.2 setup.......

I think anything less than a p3 700 is inadiquate for xp in a car... it will work with less, but not to the point that you could say it's good.... at least to me

TheLlama · 10-23-2005, 10:36 AM

Humm... I wonder if you really DO need > 256 MB though. I agree completely that a WinXP machine should have 512MB or up. However, once Windows is loaded then your frontend starts and that is where you will remain. Windows should be smart enough to move most of it's overhead to virtual memory. Much of the OS still needs to be in physical memory of course. The deal is that alot of shell and Explorer items can be moved out of physical memory.

Just an idea. I would try the frontend before upgrading your ram. 512 will definately help. I'd just be very surprised if it is required.

P3rv3rt B3ar · 10-23-2005, 10:46 AM

Hmmm ever checked task manager while CF is running? I think is bit of memory hog. And when we think u r runnin it on top of windows and is very propable thar u have navigation app like map monkey running too, its also big spender. So i dont think memory requirement is overstatement. I think u carPC could easily need 512Mb to keep all that in physical memory.

CavityCr33p · 10-23-2005, 12:20 PM

Well, I will be going from a p3 1.26 ghz, full ATX with pci SB audigy, ATI Radeon 7000 agp card, 2 3.5 HD (I know this is taking up a bit, getting rid of 2nd drive regardless), CD-rom, plus powering the 7" touch off of it, plus about 3 or 4 usb items.

I would going down to a Celeron 466 cpu, MATX with onboard video and sound, 1 3.5" HD, plus the usb and touchscreen.

I plan on going to a m-itx system eventually, I need to get rid of some of my current hardware (P4 1.7, Celeron 2.0) to get some cash.

BTW, another reason I am wanting to switch is because the Full ATX is causing space problems, where the MATX is much better. Ive got a p3 733mhz that would go on the board, but it appears dead, even after updating the bios it doesnt respond correct.

turbocad6 · 10-23-2005, 12:43 PM

get a m atx for the p3 1.2 w onboard video..... maybe get one larger 3.5" drive instead of two..... usb sound uses less power than pci I think,,, the p3 1.2 is ideal if you don't want to go to mobile processor & spend $$$

TheLlama · 10-23-2005, 02:32 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by P3rv3rt B3ar

Hmmm ever checked task manager while CF is running? I think is bit of memory hog. And when we think u r runnin it on top of windows and is very propable thar u have navigation app like map monkey running too, its also big spender. So i dont think memory requirement is overstatement. I think u carPC could easily need 512Mb to keep all that in physical memory.

I stand corrected. I would still recommend that he/she try with 256Mb first. No reason to purchase more if the performance is tolerable; not immediately at least.

P3rv3rt B3ar · 10-23-2005, 02:52 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by TheLlama

I stand corrected. I would still recommend that he/she try with 256Mb first. No reason to purchase more if the performance is tolerable; not immediately at least.

Oh actually wasnt reply to ur post... i wrote that completely independently and only afterwards realised that i was saying quite opposite than u earlier. My post was more about general griping about CF memory consumption than actually answers or instruction to anybody. I completely agree with u that he should try with 256 and i think its enough to make it work... allthough i think programs will not fit completely to physical memory with that setup.

m2x0p9x · 10-24-2005, 12:25 AM

Im running an EPIA M10000 w 512 megs of ram with CF and iguidance on XP...and when i have both CF and iguidance running dvd and video playback is impossible to watch...very choppy....and CF performace over all has a lag to it...but when iguidance isnt running...system runs fine..more memory the better i guess?

Splinter · 10-30-2005, 03:51 PM

I run CF on an 800mhz Via board with 128mb of PC100

Indexing takes forever, but I only have to do that once in a blue moon.