Getting back into it...

[Tennpenn83]

Hi all,

I used to build computers with my old Army buddy back in 2001-2003. We ended up going our different ways due to the military and I haven't done much with computers since. I recently got the bite to build again.

Good thing for me, parts haven't physically changed a whole lot in 10 years. Just this last weekend, I built a computer and for the most part, things started to come back to me pretty easily. The computer is built and is up and running. Here are the specs :

Aerocool XPredator X3 Devil Red Case
MSI Z97-G45 Gaming Motherboard
Intel i5 4690K @3.5GHz (3.9 with turboboost) 6MB cache
Patriot Viper III 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 2133 MHz
Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD (for OS)
WD 1TB Black Edition (for storage)
Windows 8.1 Home

There are other little things here and there but that's the gist of it. I know it's not a beast yet, but I also know it's no slouch either. I would like to get it running as efficiently as possible. As time and budget allow, I will upgrade and add parts as desired.

I would like to get my laptop running better. It is a Toshiba Qosmio X875-Q7390 and here are the specs :

Qosmio X875-Q7390 Support | Toshiba

It updated itself to Windows 8.1 last year, but that might have only made me like 8 worse on a laptop. Whenever I start up from sleep, it will load to the Qosmio splash screen and just stay there. The only way to get it to load up is to hard restart it. Even then, it does not seem to be as fast as a higher-end gaming laptop should be. I was thinking of doing the SSD for the primary, and switching the hybrid to the secondary for some speed boost, and also maxxing out the RAM, but other than that, I have honestly no clue on the software side of it. I was seriously contemplating reverting back to Win7 and still might. I'm not sure. I'm just not a fan of 8.

Any suggestions on what I should be doing next? Which route to go? I am really wanting to get into the software side of things to understand it better, as I think I have the hardware things down pretty good.

Thanks!

 

[Wherewolf?]

Hi!

Just out of interest. Wich videocard did you pick for the pc? And power supply.

As for the Samsung SSD. Did you enable ACHI in bios before you installed Windows? That is if you installed it on that drive? This, will make quite an impact on the SSD drive performance. Did you use the tuning program Samsung Magician? That will help a lot too.

Here are some tips on how to make W8 perform better.

How to boost Windows 8 performance | Computerworld

Your start up problem, may be due to that something have gone wrong during the installation of Windows. Or, some setting related to the boot sequence in bios perhaps?

 

[Tennpenn83]

I actually don't yet have a video card for the PC. I did not need one just yet so I figured I would upgrade later on. The power supply is a Corsair CX750 ATX.

I did not do anything to the SSD before starting it up and loading Windows on it. Is what you suggested something I can do after the fact? Or would it be worth it to reboot from a fresh start/clean re-install? Or at this point is it not worth it since I have already loaded it up?

This is that software side of things that I am not as familiar with. I didn't know anything about ACHI or Samsung Magician.

 

[Wherewolf?]

Ok. Then I will suggest that you get a Radeon R9 270X or even better a Radeon R9 280 when it's time for the upgrade. MSI gaming series cards have very good and quiet coolers slapped on to them.
Asus Direct CU series are good too.

Unfortunatly, few bioses allows to enable ACHI after the Windows installation. But on the other hand, if you use the Samsung Magician program to tune the SSD, you will still see a good performance boost.

The Magician program, comes with the Samsung CD you got with the drive. Or download it from Samsung home.

And do not defrag an SSD. It's not nessisary.

It would not hurt either to get a good cpu cooler like the CoolerMaster Hyper EVO 212. Especially, if you plan to overclock the cpu later on? And anyway, you will get a considerable more quiet cooler than the Intel stock and better temperatures for the cpu.

There are good instruction videos on You Tube how to mount this cooler.

 

[Tennpenn83]

Ok, I think I've got what you're saying so far. The cooler I think I can do relatively painlessly. I used to know how to overclock the CPU but this new BIOS is lightyears ahead of what I remember from 10 years ago. Since I've only just installed Windows, it would not kill me to reboot it from scratch and reformat the SSD, especially since it only took a few minutes for all of Windows to load onto it. Recommended?

Thanks again!

 

[strollin]

Unless you changed the setting in the BIOS it most likely defaulted to AHCI so you're probably OK. Most BIOSes that I have encountered allow you to enable AHCI after the fact but the machine won't boot then. You have to make a change in the regustry first, then reboot and go into BIOS to enable AHCI.

If you read up about Magician, you'll find that it improves some benchmarks while putting a dent in others. Current philosophy is that you're better off without it.

 

[Wherewolf?]

Ok, I think I've got what you're saying so far. The cooler I think I can do relatively painlessly. I used to know how to overclock the CPU but this new BIOS is lightyears ahead of what I remember from 10 years ago. Since I've only just installed Windows, it would not kill me to reboot it from scratch and reformat the SSD, especially since it only took a few minutes for all of Windows to load onto it. Recommended?

Thanks again!

Actually, many of the new bioses allows an easier overclock than let's say 4-5 years back in time. Some motherboard manufacturers even have such overclock options that is more or less just setting the desired clock and then klick a button.

Before you reinstall, check the Magician program under " OS optimization" and see if it says if ACHI are enabled or not?
If it is? There are really no reason for you to do the reinstallation. If there are'nt any serious Windows problems that is?

A "good to have program" is this: https://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER

The free version will do.

Run the cleaner once a day. It will remove any junk files and clean up the browser cashe.

The registry part, you can run once a week.

 

[Tennpenn83]

So it is showing that AHCI is enabled so I think I'm ok. I don't seem to have any other issues right now with the desktop. The laptop will require some thinking though.

 

[Wherewolf?]

So it is showing that AHCI is enabled so I think I'm ok. I don't seem to have any other issues right now with the desktop. The laptop will require some thinking though.

Good!

I hope that you will find the soloution for the lappy too.

 

[Smart_Guy]

Just saying welcome aboard