What piece of computer hardware allows you to run multiple things at once?

[Dampwaffles]

I love to play iTunes, maybe Pandora, open up several youtube vids at once, open several web pages at once, write a post on a forum, check my email, talk on skype, download a movie or TV show, play a video game, etc - all at the same time.


Problem is, my current rig just doesn't let me do that without massive amounts of lag or even crashing.


So, what piece (or pieces) of computer hardware dictate your multitasking performance? And what kinds of specs should I be looking for with this hardware?


Thanks a million in advance.

 

[strollin]

A mid-range computer should be able to do most, if not all of that, a high end computer certainly could. As far as playing iTunes, Pandora and videos all at the same time, even though the cpu and gpu can multi-task like that, the sound system can't so you would have the audio output of those things all coming out of your speakers at the same time.

Why don't you let us know the specs of your current system to start?

 

[Dampwaffles]

Well, I don't like spending a lot of money on computers because they generally break down on me in a couple years and get surpassed by better technology every year. That's why I don't like to spend more than $1,000 on a computer and would prefer to pay the least amount possible while still getting all of the performance I need. That's why I want to know what specific components I should focus on in order to be able to multitask without lag. By mid-priced, I'm guessing you're talking about $1,500+ rigs. Something I'm not really interested in (unless that's how much I ~have~ to spend in order to get the performance I need).

As to my computer specs, it's a low end iBuypower rig I bought around 2 or 3 years ago:

Newegg.com - iBUYPOWER Gamer Extreme 910SLC Desktop PC Intel Core i5 750(2.66GHz) 4GB DDR3 750GB HDD Capacity ATI Radeon HD 5750 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

And my question isn't about how can I listen to several different youtube videos at once while also listening to Pandora and iTunes. I just tend to have tons of stuff open at once, which was what I was trying to say. So upgrading to a new sound card isn't the issue I'm asking for help on. I'm just concerned with the lag.

But from your response, it seems that the GPU and CPU are the 2 main components I should focus on?

 

[BikerEcho]

that computer should do all that without problems. you might have some software issues and/or bad internet.
i get this question all the time "why are my computer so slow"
then i ask "where/when is it slow" most of the time it's when they use the internet.
if the internet is slow then the CPU does not get the information it needs fast enough, and cant display the page in a respectable time.

first thing i am gonna ask people is what browser they use.
so... what browser do you use?

 

[Dampwaffles]

that computer should do all that without problems. you might have some software issues and/or bad internet.
i get this question all the time "why are my computer so slow"
then i ask "where/when is it slow" most of the time it's when they use the internet.
if the internet is slow then the CPU does not get the information it needs fast enough, and cant display the page in a respectable time.

first thing i am gonna ask people is what browser they use.
so... what browser do you use?

As to my internet connection, it's a standard cable connection (from Cox, if that helps at all). And I live in Fairfax County, Virginia right outside of Washington D.C.. So, I'd imagine that our internet infrastucture would be pretty good. I actually don't know the exact speed though because I'm pretty retarded when it comes to technology in general. But I do use a splitter to a TV, which I've always wondered if it slowed down my internet speed. Not to mention my TV reception is pretty bad on a few channels...

And I don't think it's just my internet that's slowing down my multitasking. Even when I'm just clicking on various programs I get quite a bit of loading lag. And I don't think I have a virus because I use Norton 360.

As to my internet browser, I prefer Internet Explorer because I like the layout. I know the webernetz community hates IE. But I prefer it. I also have Firefox and Chrome but rarely use them. I only use Firefox when I want to block ads. The web browsing speed isn't enough to bother me. It's the general computer lag from running several things at once that annoys me.

But anywho, I did a bit of quick research on CPUs and it seems that having multiple cores is the most important factor in multitasking performance. So, will getting a CPU with more cores be my solution (I hope not because they look expensive)? Or do I just need a newer/faster CPU? And what about upgrading my memory (RAM)? Will that improve my computer processing performance?

 

[BikerEcho]

you have a core i5 750, with is the second best first generation core i5.
it's a 4 core CPU. so.. no, you don't need more core's.

i really think you should dumb IE, because it is a slow browser.. just saying. you need to get use to chrome or firefox.

you can check you internet speed on the internet. google internet speed test.

you might have too much crap running in the background. try msconfig. click the start button and type in "msconfig" and hit enter.
then go to the startup tap, and remove the check with those programs you don't use.
the msconfig startup tap shown all the programs that starts up when you turn on your computer.

hit control + left shift + esc. that will open the task manager. click on performance tap and tell me how much memory you are using.

 

[Dampwaffles]

you have a core i5 750, with is the second best first generation core i5.
it's a 4 core CPU. so.. no, you don't need more core's.

i really think you should dumb IE, because it is a slow browser.. just saying. you need to get use to chrome or firefox.

you can check you internet speed on the internet. google internet speed test.

you might have too much crap running in the background. try msconfig. click the start button and type in "msconfig" and hit enter.
then go to the startup tap, and remove the check with those programs you don't use.
the msconfig startup tap shown all the programs that starts up when you turn on your computer.

hit control + left shift + esc. that will open the task manager. click on performance tap and tell me how much memory you are using.

Here's screenshots of my startup programs and my computer performance:

Anything look wrong? I don't know what to remove. I don't want to screw my computer up.

I'm downloading a TV show and watching another already downloaded TV show while doing these tests.

 

[strollin]

Looks OK to me. Were you experiencing lag when you did this? As you can see on the Performance tab, you're barely taxing any of your cores and you have plenty of Available Memory.

As far as what to disable in msconfig, disable anything that isn't necessary, especially anything that its purpose is to check for available updates and stuff like that. During installation, always answer No when asked if you want the app to automatically check for updates, you can do that manually periodically.

Is slow app loading your issue? If so, you might have a slower, 5400rpm hard drive. Can you tell us what model hdd is installed? If your hdd is the issue then you could look into upgrading to a faster hdd or even an ssd.

 

[BikerEcho]

hmmm. everything seems ok.
are you doing allot of background downloading.
like do you have some torrent client running all the time. if so, that is gonna slow down your computer.

maybe your norton is stressing your harddrive more then necessary.
open up taskmanager again but hit the processors tap instead this time. then sort the list with CPU % highest. (just click the CPU row)
then take a picture of that.

 

[Dampwaffles]

And according to speedtest.net, I have a ping of 8ms, my download speed is 31.91 Mbps and my upload speed is 3.92 Mbps. I have no idea if that's good or not.