Hard Disk Performance?

[Amnesia]

My system seems to suffer from poor hard disk performance which is most
evident when playing games. My system specs are

Shuttle SN41G2 (Latest Nvidia drivers 2.03)
Athlon XP2700+
GF3 Ti200 Graphics (latest Nvidia Driver 43.45)
512MB Corsair3200XLL operating at 333Mhz (biggest waste of money ever!!)
60GB Seagate Barracuda HD
XP patched to SP1 + all critical updates so far.

I constantly get pauses when playing games that seem to coincide with disk
access - XP reports that the disk is using UMDA 5, but I thought that this
transfer used DMA, and therefore shouldn't cause excess CPU usage?

I've tested the drive using Seagate's disktool, but it doesn't indicate any
problems and confirms its operating in UMDA 5.

One more problem is that I've used Sandra to test the disk performance and
it comes up with a rating of 17500, which is much lower than any comparison
drives it refers to....

I know this could be due to the HD, PC, drivers etc, but if anyone could
suggest a solution I'd be grateful.

Thanks

Am.

[Adrian]

The only explantion I can think is to go to POWER OPTIONS in Control Panel
and make sure that the hard disks never turn off. Also if you are playing
games such as deathmatch I suggest turning all memory resident programmes
off. Shut all the icons off in your taskbar. Hope this helps

Adrian

"Amnesia" > wrote in message
...
> My system seems to suffer from poor hard disk performance which is most
> evident when playing games. My system specs are
>
> Shuttle SN41G2 (Latest Nvidia drivers 2.03)
> Athlon XP2700+
> GF3 Ti200 Graphics (latest Nvidia Driver 43.45)
> 512MB Corsair3200XLL operating at 333Mhz (biggest waste of money ever!!)
> 60GB Seagate Barracuda HD
> XP patched to SP1 + all critical updates so far.
>
> I constantly get pauses when playing games that seem to coincide with disk
> access - XP reports that the disk is using UMDA 5, but I thought that this
> transfer used DMA, and therefore shouldn't cause excess CPU usage?
>
> I've tested the drive using Seagate's disktool, but it doesn't indicate
any
> problems and confirms its operating in UMDA 5.
>
> One more problem is that I've used Sandra to test the disk performance and
> it comes up with a rating of 17500, which is much lower than any
comparison
> drives it refers to....
>
> I know this could be due to the HD, PC, drivers etc, but if anyone could
> suggest a solution I'd be grateful.
>
> Thanks
>
> Am.
>
>


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
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[Adrian]

The only explantion I can think is to go to POWER OPTIONS in Control Panel
and make sure that the hard disks never turn off. Also if you are playing
games such as deathmatch I suggest turning all memory resident programmes
off. Shut all the icons off in your taskbar. Hope this helps

Adrian

"Amnesia" > wrote in message
...
> My system seems to suffer from poor hard disk performance which is most
> evident when playing games. My system specs are
>
> Shuttle SN41G2 (Latest Nvidia drivers 2.03)
> Athlon XP2700+
> GF3 Ti200 Graphics (latest Nvidia Driver 43.45)
> 512MB Corsair3200XLL operating at 333Mhz (biggest waste of money ever!!)
> 60GB Seagate Barracuda HD
> XP patched to SP1 + all critical updates so far.
>
> I constantly get pauses when playing games that seem to coincide with disk
> access - XP reports that the disk is using UMDA 5, but I thought that this
> transfer used DMA, and therefore shouldn't cause excess CPU usage?
>
> I've tested the drive using Seagate's disktool, but it doesn't indicate
any
> problems and confirms its operating in UMDA 5.
>
> One more problem is that I've used Sandra to test the disk performance and
> it comes up with a rating of 17500, which is much lower than any
comparison
> drives it refers to....
>
> I know this could be due to the HD, PC, drivers etc, but if anyone could
> suggest a solution I'd be grateful.
>
> Thanks
>
> Am.
>
>


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.470 / Virus Database: 268 - Release Date: 08/04/2003

[Amnesia]

Thanks for the suggestion Adrian.

I've tried closing all programs down, but I still get the same problem - I
thought it might be something to do with Norton Antivirus, but I've
uninstalled it and again that makes no difference....still the 'pauses' and
uneven playback of DVDs....hmmmm....

Am.


"Adrian" > wrote in message
...
> The only explantion I can think is to go to POWER OPTIONS in Control Panel
> and make sure that the hard disks never turn off. Also if you are playing
> games such as deathmatch I suggest turning all memory resident programmes
> off. Shut all the icons off in your taskbar. Hope this helps
>
> Adrian
>
> "Amnesia" > wrote in message
> ...
> > My system seems to suffer from poor hard disk performance which is most
> > evident when playing games. My system specs are
> >
> > Shuttle SN41G2 (Latest Nvidia drivers 2.03)
> > Athlon XP2700+
> > GF3 Ti200 Graphics (latest Nvidia Driver 43.45)
> > 512MB Corsair3200XLL operating at 333Mhz (biggest waste of money ever!!)
> > 60GB Seagate Barracuda HD
> > XP patched to SP1 + all critical updates so far.
> >
> > I constantly get pauses when playing games that seem to coincide with
disk
> > access - XP reports that the disk is using UMDA 5, but I thought that
this
> > transfer used DMA, and therefore shouldn't cause excess CPU usage?
> >
> > I've tested the drive using Seagate's disktool, but it doesn't indicate
> any
> > problems and confirms its operating in UMDA 5.
> >
> > One more problem is that I've used Sandra to test the disk performance
and
> > it comes up with a rating of 17500, which is much lower than any
> comparison
> > drives it refers to....
> >
> > I know this could be due to the HD, PC, drivers etc, but if anyone could
> > suggest a solution I'd be grateful.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Am.
> >
> >
>
>
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.470 / Virus Database: 268 - Release Date: 08/04/2003
>
>

[Amnesia]

Thanks for the suggestion Adrian.

I've tried closing all programs down, but I still get the same problem - I
thought it might be something to do with Norton Antivirus, but I've
uninstalled it and again that makes no difference....still the 'pauses' and
uneven playback of DVDs....hmmmm....

Am.


"Adrian" > wrote in message
...
> The only explantion I can think is to go to POWER OPTIONS in Control Panel
> and make sure that the hard disks never turn off. Also if you are playing
> games such as deathmatch I suggest turning all memory resident programmes
> off. Shut all the icons off in your taskbar. Hope this helps
>
> Adrian
>
> "Amnesia" > wrote in message
> ...
> > My system seems to suffer from poor hard disk performance which is most
> > evident when playing games. My system specs are
> >
> > Shuttle SN41G2 (Latest Nvidia drivers 2.03)
> > Athlon XP2700+
> > GF3 Ti200 Graphics (latest Nvidia Driver 43.45)
> > 512MB Corsair3200XLL operating at 333Mhz (biggest waste of money ever!!)
> > 60GB Seagate Barracuda HD
> > XP patched to SP1 + all critical updates so far.
> >
> > I constantly get pauses when playing games that seem to coincide with
disk
> > access - XP reports that the disk is using UMDA 5, but I thought that
this
> > transfer used DMA, and therefore shouldn't cause excess CPU usage?
> >
> > I've tested the drive using Seagate's disktool, but it doesn't indicate
> any
> > problems and confirms its operating in UMDA 5.
> >
> > One more problem is that I've used Sandra to test the disk performance
and
> > it comes up with a rating of 17500, which is much lower than any
> comparison
> > drives it refers to....
> >
> > I know this could be due to the HD, PC, drivers etc, but if anyone could
> > suggest a solution I'd be grateful.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Am.
> >
> >
>
>
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.470 / Virus Database: 268 - Release Date: 08/04/2003
>
>

[CWatters]

Is it possible your drive is failing and doing lots of re-tries? Perhaps
have a look at the SMART data and/or try a post over on
comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage



"Amnesia" > wrote in message
...
> My system seems to suffer from poor hard disk performance which is most
> evident when playing games. My system specs are
>
> Shuttle SN41G2 (Latest Nvidia drivers 2.03)
> Athlon XP2700+
> GF3 Ti200 Graphics (latest Nvidia Driver 43.45)
> 512MB Corsair3200XLL operating at 333Mhz (biggest waste of money ever!!)
> 60GB Seagate Barracuda HD
> XP patched to SP1 + all critical updates so far.
>
> I constantly get pauses when playing games that seem to coincide with disk
> access - XP reports that the disk is using UMDA 5, but I thought that this
> transfer used DMA, and therefore shouldn't cause excess CPU usage?
>
> I've tested the drive using Seagate's disktool, but it doesn't indicate
any
> problems and confirms its operating in UMDA 5.
>
> One more problem is that I've used Sandra to test the disk performance and
> it comes up with a rating of 17500, which is much lower than any
comparison
> drives it refers to....
>
> I know this could be due to the HD, PC, drivers etc, but if anyone could
> suggest a solution I'd be grateful.
>
> Thanks
>
> Am.
>
>

[CWatters]

Is it possible your drive is failing and doing lots of re-tries? Perhaps
have a look at the SMART data and/or try a post over on
comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage



"Amnesia" > wrote in message
...
> My system seems to suffer from poor hard disk performance which is most
> evident when playing games. My system specs are
>
> Shuttle SN41G2 (Latest Nvidia drivers 2.03)
> Athlon XP2700+
> GF3 Ti200 Graphics (latest Nvidia Driver 43.45)
> 512MB Corsair3200XLL operating at 333Mhz (biggest waste of money ever!!)
> 60GB Seagate Barracuda HD
> XP patched to SP1 + all critical updates so far.
>
> I constantly get pauses when playing games that seem to coincide with disk
> access - XP reports that the disk is using UMDA 5, but I thought that this
> transfer used DMA, and therefore shouldn't cause excess CPU usage?
>
> I've tested the drive using Seagate's disktool, but it doesn't indicate
any
> problems and confirms its operating in UMDA 5.
>
> One more problem is that I've used Sandra to test the disk performance and
> it comes up with a rating of 17500, which is much lower than any
comparison
> drives it refers to....
>
> I know this could be due to the HD, PC, drivers etc, but if anyone could
> suggest a solution I'd be grateful.
>
> Thanks
>
> Am.
>
>