Dell...

[Scribe1]

Back on the original "Dell..." topic of this thread, I had resigned myself to having a slow computer (new processor on order now). Today I began moving some files around and was astounded by how slow that is progressing. (Currently 3 hours and 10 minutes left to move 195 GB). Using System Monitor, I find that if I bring up Firefox, RAM usage goes up to 3.8G, but I'm sure 1.7 of that is for file transfers and running the OS. And it takes 5-10 minutes to start Firefox and bring up the Firefox home page.

Well if it's trying to run the OS and do everything else (disregarding Firefox) within 1.7G of RAM, that certainly seems to explain it.

I upgraded the RAM from 8G to 16G after I installed Mint 22.3. The system does see 16G of RAM, but as I said, it's steady at 1.7G of RAM usage. My current plan is to pull all my data off and do a new install.

 

[Scribe1]

still not up to form hands still playing up so will be short,
your I3 is mid range solid but will never set the house on fire,
the Dell model: 088DT1 v: A01 will only accept a max of 2 x8Gb of ram..
now personably think do you need to make it faster, if so my suggestions are to put in the max amount of ram [if not already installed] And swap the CPU for a I7-4770s [there are faster but this one is 100% compatible]
you could also consider fitting a PCI to NVMe riser and an NVMe memory card
I would not bother messing with the UEFI unless you do a full upgrade,

Note you may need to increase the case cooling

New processors, the one you named, on order! But as you may read above, it looks like something isn't right with RAM utilization. I hope you're continuing to recover, @Brickwizard !

 

[Condobloke]

Are you sure this is a 64 bit system ?

 

[The Duck]

@Scribe1

Look for the service tag number and post the service tag number.

With the service tag number you can go to Dell website and know exactly what hardware is in your desktop.

The service tag number takes all of the guess work out.

 

[Scribe1]

 

[Scribe1]

Are you sure this is a 64 bit system ?

Yessir!

 

[Scribe1]

@Scribe1

Look for the service tag number and post the service tag number.

With the service tag number you can go to Dell website and know exactly what hardware is in your desktop.

The service tag number takes all of the guess work out.

Yup, did that. Earlier in this thread, I also posted the following:

bob@Jolson:~$ sudo inxi -c
[sudo] password for bob:
CPU: dual core Intel Core i3-4170 (-MT MCP-) speed/min/max: 798/800/3700 MHz
Kernel: 6.17.0-29-generic x86_64 Up: 30m Mem: 4.12/15.54 GiB (26.5%)
Storage: 1.14 TiB (4.0% used) Procs: 253 Shell: Sudo inxi: 3.3.34
bob@Jolson:~$ inxi -M
Machine:
Type: Desktop System: Dell product: Inspiron 3847 v: N/A
serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: Dell model: 088DT1 v: A01 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Dell
v: A08 date: 06/29/2015

 

[Scribe1]

And so, this is what caused me to come here and whine again:

 

[Condobloke]

DDR3-1333/1600, DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.5V

Is that the ram you installed ?

 

[Scribe1]

DDR3-1333/1600, DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.5V

Is that the ram you installed ?

Good question! I read the label the best I could (it's currently installed in the computer I'm using and complaining about), and clearly saw "DDR3 1333." I did see 1.35V as opposed to 1.5V, but don't know if a fraction of a volt for a logic "1" makes that much difference.

 

[Scribe1]

OK, from the order I placed:
Timetec 16GB KIT(2x8GB) DDR3 / DDR3L 1333MHz PC3-10600 Non-ECC Unbuffered 1.5V / 1.35V CL9 2Rx8 Dual Rank 240 Pin UDIMM PC Desktop Computer Memory RAM Module Upgrade (16GB KIT(2x8GB))

 

[Brickwizard]

in the mint repository there is an ap called memtest68 try running this and seeing what the result is

 

[wizardfromoz]

memtest68

memtest86

HTH

 

[Brickwizard]

as part of the ddr3 specification, low voltage must also work at normal voltage [1.5v]
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000132438/what-is-ddr3l-memory

 

[Scribe1]

Thank you for your help! Whenever this thing finishes moving files (it was working on that all night long while I slept), I'll run memtest86. Thank you so much, @Brickwizard and @wizardfromoz!

 

[Scribe1]

Okay! I installed and ran Memtest86+ v. 7.0 - everything passed. Pretty cool testing application! Iterative and thorough, is my layman's impression of it. So, anyway, my plan is still to take everything off and reinstall Mint.

 

[The Duck]

Good question! I read the label the best I could (it's currently installed in the computer I'm using and complaining about), and clearly saw "DDR3 1333." I did see 1.35V as opposed to 1.5V, but don't know if a fraction of a volt for a logic "1" makes that much difference.

This should explain the difference.

https://blog.memorystock.com/post/Difference-between-DDR3-Memory-and-DDR3L-Memory.aspx

 

[CaffeineAddict]

@Scribe1
Based on info you gave so far it seem your CPU may be bottleneck, however I find it hard to believe this to be true in idle mode (when the computer isn't doing anything)

If you see slowness while doing something take a look at CPU load to see what's happening, if cpu load goes way above 50% it's CPU, if not it's something else.

I'd like to see full system info of sudo inxi -remzax

 

[Scribe1]

@Scribe1
Based on info you gave so far it seem your CPU may be bottleneck, however I find it hard to believe this to be true in idle mode (when the computer isn't doing anything)

If you see slowness while doing something take a look at CPU load to see what's happening, if cpu load goes way above 50% it's CPU, if not it's something else.

I'd like to see full system info of sudo inxi -remzax

root@Jolson:/home/bob# inxi -remzax
Error 22: Unsupported option: -emzax
Check -h for correct useage.
root@Jolson:/home/bob# inxi
CPU: dual core Intel Core i3-4170 (-MT MCP-) speed/min/max: 891/800/3700 MHz
Kernel: 6.17.0-29-generic x86_64 Up: 27m Mem: 3.09/15.54 GiB (19.9%)
Storage: 232.89 GiB (23.8% used) Procs: 249 Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.34
root@Jolson:/home/bob#

 

[CaffeineAddict]

Error 22: Unsupported option: -emzax

OK sorry, this is already second time with this error and happens on Mint only, so this command instead should work:

sudo inxi -Faz

And please let me know your observations about CPU I was talking about, describe what you do that makes the PC slow, is it browsing, or what exactly? how much is CPU load when working on something like watching videos etc.