On Monday, I finally got my new External Hard Drive working (after 2 returns to the vendor). I am noticing decent efficiency gains from my new Western Digital 320 GB 7200 RPM 8MB External Hard Drive w/ Cintre Case over my old Maxtor 80GB 7200 RPM 2MB Personal Storage 3100 External Hd Drive. It took 43:06 to back up 29584 MB using Norton Ghost 9.0. My old 80GB took 56:57 to back up 29553 MB.
This is not as significant as the 8x faster that the Dynex DX-UC202 USB 2.0 PCMCIA Notebook Card (6744999176) made the backup from my USB 1.1 ports last Feb (http://boards.fool.com/Message.asp?mid=22145432 ). However, 20% faster is a bonus since the purchase was made for capacity, not efficiency (although I did pay up for the 7200 RPM over the 5400 RPM so as not to lose efficiency).
In addition, one of my card slots got damaged recently and Dell replaced the motherboard (which comes with a new video card) this week. When the technician replaced it he bent a pin on my microprocessor and Dell replaced that too. With the new processor and motherboard the backup fell to 31:45 for 29535 MB. This is another 25% faster.
Oddly, (or maybe not so oddly) processes entirely on my laptop seem much more than 25% faster. I think my Easy Cleaner runs about 4 or 5x as fast.
I also tested Disk Defrag. I defragged only the 29.5 GB on my internal hard drive. Then I backed up both my internal and my 80GB external (which only had about 8GB on it after I moved my 3 most recent internal HD backups over to my new 320GB external). Time fell from about 47:45 to 46:15.
I am wondering if anyone knows any simple performance measurements I will be able to do in the future to determine the efficiency improvements for video cards?
My computer is performing faster because Dell replaced my motherboard and processor. I called them to ask what they put in my machine that is making it so much faster. They said they replaced like for like. I.E., they put in a Pentium 4 2.4GHz chip.
How much faster should the Feb 2006 build of a Pentium 4 2.4GHz chip be than the Jan 2003 build? Is it possible that they really put something faster in my machine, but won't tell me so that in case of future warrantied (I extended my 3yr warranty another 2 years to 1/29/0
problems they are not obligated to supply such a chip?
Belarc identified the processor as follows:
2.40 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
The main circuit board is identified as follows:
Board: Dell Computer Corporation Inspiron 8200
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A11 01/07/2004
This leads to 4 questions:
1.) What is the difference between primary and secondary cache?
2.) Is it possible that the memory cache on a Feb 2006 2.40 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 is different than the memory cache on a Jan 2003 one?
3.) Is this the same bus clock speed as 2003 build motherboards?
4.) Could the newer Bios explain the increased efficiency?
This is not as significant as the 8x faster that the Dynex DX-UC202 USB 2.0 PCMCIA Notebook Card (6744999176) made the backup from my USB 1.1 ports last Feb (http://boards.fool.com/Message.asp?mid=22145432 ). However, 20% faster is a bonus since the purchase was made for capacity, not efficiency (although I did pay up for the 7200 RPM over the 5400 RPM so as not to lose efficiency).
In addition, one of my card slots got damaged recently and Dell replaced the motherboard (which comes with a new video card) this week. When the technician replaced it he bent a pin on my microprocessor and Dell replaced that too. With the new processor and motherboard the backup fell to 31:45 for 29535 MB. This is another 25% faster.
Oddly, (or maybe not so oddly) processes entirely on my laptop seem much more than 25% faster. I think my Easy Cleaner runs about 4 or 5x as fast.
I also tested Disk Defrag. I defragged only the 29.5 GB on my internal hard drive. Then I backed up both my internal and my 80GB external (which only had about 8GB on it after I moved my 3 most recent internal HD backups over to my new 320GB external). Time fell from about 47:45 to 46:15.
I am wondering if anyone knows any simple performance measurements I will be able to do in the future to determine the efficiency improvements for video cards?
My computer is performing faster because Dell replaced my motherboard and processor. I called them to ask what they put in my machine that is making it so much faster. They said they replaced like for like. I.E., they put in a Pentium 4 2.4GHz chip.
How much faster should the Feb 2006 build of a Pentium 4 2.4GHz chip be than the Jan 2003 build? Is it possible that they really put something faster in my machine, but won't tell me so that in case of future warrantied (I extended my 3yr warranty another 2 years to 1/29/0
problems they are not obligated to supply such a chip?
Belarc identified the processor as follows:
2.40 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
The main circuit board is identified as follows:
Board: Dell Computer Corporation Inspiron 8200
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A11 01/07/2004
This leads to 4 questions:
1.) What is the difference between primary and secondary cache?
2.) Is it possible that the memory cache on a Feb 2006 2.40 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 is different than the memory cache on a Jan 2003 one?
3.) Is this the same bus clock speed as 2003 build motherboards?
4.) Could the newer Bios explain the increased efficiency?
). It's a big difference to clock/tweak your normal desktop pc or your laptop. Laptops aint made to overclock. Well most of the pc's also aren't but they are more easy to cool. Good luck if your gonna try it. 
