Feedback on New PC Specs

FredJones · 01-02-2017, 09:53 AM

Feel free to comment--if we could figure out what's wrong, it would save my a lot of headaches.

I closed my Firefox now and left Chromium open with 4 tabs. Take a look at my htop: http://i.imgur.com/hLnXJUo.png

Thunderbird uses 12% (of 4GB) which is 491MB and conky says 466MB so that's around correct.

Chromium uses 9.3+4.7+4.6+3.6+3.6+2.8+19+1.9+1.7+.9+.8+.8 = 53.7% which over 2G. Conky says it uses 355MB. Not sure how to understand that but I imagine I have understood htop incorrectly.

rokytnji · 01-02-2017, 10:00 AM

I seem to remember reading that open tabs in Chromium based browsers are new ram suckers like leaches being added to a person crossing a amazon river.

I am a simple kind of commenter. So excuse me if I don't provide a link just now on where I read something like this.

Edit: Just a Bump.

Quote:

My current machine with i5 4 cores 650 @ 3.20GHz, 4 G DDR3 and a Intel DH55PJ mobo runs (always) the very latest ArchLinux 64bit and I use OpenBox (b/c of the sluggishness).

My dual core Dell T3400 platter hard drive installs with less ram do not gulp ram like you post.

Timothy Miller · 01-02-2017, 10:02 AM

I'd be more inclined to believe HTOP. Testing my own chromium, with but this one tab open, htop & Ksysguard report basically the same thing, and it's nearly 400 MB for chromium (although my entire system is only using 800 MB). I do admit that htop does show several more processes than ksysguard, and shows more memory usage, but on my system at least, the difference is minimal (and I also have no idea WHY they differ).

FredJones · 01-02-2017, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokytnji

I figure it may help you find where the ram suckage culprit is. Since You should be under the 1 gig or even just a little over the 1 gig ram usage. Not 2 or 3 gig while running Open Box.

Yeah, if I could figure that out. But it seems like Chromium and Thunderbird also use a lot. However Timothy says that his Chromimum uses 400 so maybe that's normal.

I opened a total of 10 tabs in Chromium and see

9.3+5.4+5+4.7+4.5+4.6+4.6+4.4+4.1+3.9+2.8+1.9+1.7+1.7+0.9+0.8+0.8 = 61.1%.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timothy Miller

First thing I'd try if you haven't already is to check if there's any bios/firmware updates. Often minor issues such as memory incompatibility can be fixed through the firmware updates, so while not overly likely, it's a good place to start.

Here is my dmidecode: http://pastebin.com/uY3SD4yX I'm afraid I don't know exactly what it means however.

Seems like it's supposed to recommend patches but I see here https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=213083 that in Arch it doesn't and the bug opened there is still open.

Just Googling for "recommended patches for SMBIOS 2.6" doesn't show anything straight away that looks like it's what I need.

Timothy Miller · 01-02-2017, 10:11 AM

Check your motherboard manufacturers website (if it's a laptop, check the OEM's website) for the bios updates. My Arch laptop actually just got an update about 2 months ago. My primary Debian laptop just got an update 2 weeks ago.

FredJones · 01-02-2017, 10:20 AM

I have an Intel DH55PJ and I found now that Arch has a tool https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Microcode that will update Bios when booting up.

OK, a bit nerve-wracking but I could try it. Arch is generally quite stable in reality.

Timothy Miller · 01-02-2017, 10:24 AM

There are also bios updates in general for your board. Intel released 8 updates after the bios version you have installed. While they may not help your issue, it's always possible they might (bios updates include MUCH more than just microcode updates).

FredJones · 01-02-2017, 11:32 AM

Microcode just updates CPU bios, not mobo. OK, I will work on this. Flashrom doesn't work for me:

Code:

$ sudo flashrom --programmer internal
flashrom v0.9.9-r1955 on Linux 4.8.13-1-ARCH (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Calibrating delay loop... OK.
Found chipset "Intel H55".
Enabling flash write... Error accessing ICH RCRB, 0x4000 bytes at 0x00000000fed1c000
/dev/mem mmap failed: Operation not permitted
FAILED!
FATAL ERROR!
Error: Programmer initialization failed.

So I will explore some other methods.

Timothy Miller · 01-02-2017, 02:12 PM

If all else fails, if you have 2 USB drives, download Gandalf's Win10PE (or similar, Gandalf's was the first I tried that worked) to one and boot from it, and then have the bios updater on another USB and install the update while booted in the PE. I actually had to do this for one of my old laptops (HP, surprise surprise) that I simply could not get ANYTHING else to work with it for updates.

FredJones · 01-03-2017, 08:25 AM

Took a few tries, but I got this http://askubuntu.com/questions/12135...s-using-ubuntu method to work. Here's my new dmidecode http://pastebin.com/LmSENGLh

Not sure if this helped at all. Look at my CPU usage: http://i.imgur.com/T3083oA.png Closed this tab in Chromium: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/dow...0H-86A-?produc and then it dropped: http://i.imgur.com/NavxQKm.png

Then I reopened it and it stayed normal. No idea about that, but this exercise may have helped the RAM. I will have to use my PC normally now a bit and see what happens....

rokytnji · 01-03-2017, 01:09 PM

Just for info so you know what you have. I got this from your pastebin dmi code report.

Quote:

Core Count: 2 >>>But you say: My current machine with i5 4 cores

So your box is no different than my I5 laptops. Dell E4310 and IBM T430 <16 gig ram laptop with a slower 320 gig platter sata hard drive, but runs 32 bit pae AntiX also>

So I think your high ram usage is software related. Not Hardware related.

So I don't think you need

Quote:

need a new PC

I shoulda noticed this back when you posted

Code:

Dual core Intel Core i5 650

The Intel I5 750 cpus are 4 core cpus. All the lower number ones are dual core as far as I know , with hyperthreading. I looked at your imagur link showing 4 cores. But maybe that is a dual core hyper-threading gui readout.

Quote:

I7 9xx & 8xx are quad cores with hyper threading (with turbo)
I5 7xx are quad cores without hyper threading (with turbo)
I5 6xx are dual core with hyper threading (with Turbo)
I3 5xx are dual cores with hyper threading (without Turbo)

citation

Maybe throw some of that 800 bucks at a ram upgrade to 8 gig or more and a fast SSD drive with the Gigs of your choice. Be a lot cheaper, I think. Plus a better unit than what your buddy is trying to sell you.

You can take my post with a grain of salt. Just my personal opinion and uneducated suggestion is all.

Timothy Miller · 01-03-2017, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokytnji

Just for info so you know what you have. I got this from your pastebin dmi code report.

So your box is no different than my I5 laptops. Dell E4310 and IBM T430 <16 gig ram laptop with a slower 320 gig platter sata hard drive, but runs 32 bit pae AntiX also>

So I think your high ram usage is software related. Not Hardware related.

So I don't think you need

I shoulda noticed this back when you posted

Code:

Dual core Intel Core i5 650

The Intel I5 750 cpus are 4 core cpus. All the lower number ones are dual core as far as I know , with hyperthreading. I looked at your imagur link showing 4 cores. But maybe that is a dual core hyper-threading gui readout.

citation

Maybe throw some of that 800 bucks at a ram upgrade to 8 gig or more and a fast SSD drive with the Gigs of your choice. Be a lot cheaper, I think. Plus a better unit than what your buddy is trying to sell you.

You can take my post with a grain of salt. Just my personal opinion and uneducated suggestion is all.

You're definitely correct about the CPU. The 650 is a dual-core hyperthreaded, so will show 4 cores when you check from the OS, but 2 of those cores are "virtual".

FredJones · 01-03-2017, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timothy Miller

First thing I'd try if you haven't already is to check if there's any bios/firmware updates. Often minor issues such as memory incompatibility can be fixed through the firmware updates, so while not overly likely, it's a good place to start.

First of all, Timothy, this may indeed have saved my PC. Firefox still uses a lot of RAM of course, but the machine seems to work a lot better now that I upgraded the BIOS. I owe you a beer.

Thank you!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timothy Miller

You're definitely correct about the CPU. The 650 is a dual-core hyperthreaded, so will show 4 cores when you check from the OS, but 2 of those cores are "virtual".

That is really interesting. I had no idea.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokytnji

Maybe throw some of that 800 bucks at a ram upgrade to 8 gig or more and a fast SSD drive with the Gigs of your choice. Be a lot cheaper, I think. Plus a better unit than what your buddy is trying to sell you.

I tried to upgrade the RAM a year ago but they said my Intel DH55PJ can't take any more. Or that you can't buy what it needs. I forget exactly, but the guys at the store (who I trust somewhat) said I can't get more. Or perhaps I am remembering wrong and it was that the RAM I got somewhere else didn't match, or maybe I tried to upgrade the CPU and I couldn't. I see online now that I could switch out my two 2Gs for two 4Gs and have 8.

Can someone clarify if I am really stupid or if I can actually just do that? I don't know why I didn't do it before it that's right. I see someone else wrote that this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...33&ignorebbr=1 (out of stock) item would work for me

Also buying a new SSD is very interesting--that makes a lot of sense.

Thank you.

FredJones · 01-03-2017, 06:32 PM

No, now I remember--I bought the right RAM in the end but one of my ports doesn't work, that's what it is:

Code:

$ sudo dmidecode --type memory
# dmidecode 3.0
Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 2.6 present.

Handle 0x0028, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
	Location: System Board Or Motherboard
	Use: System Memory
	Error Correction Type: None
	Maximum Capacity: 16 GB
	Error Information Handle: 0x0029
	Number Of Devices: 2

Handle 0x002B, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
	Array Handle: 0x0028
	Error Information Handle: 0x002C
	Total Width: 64 bits
	Data Width: 64 bits
	Size: No Module Installed
	Form Factor: DIMM
	Set: None
	Locator: CHANNEL A
	Bank Locator: CHANNEL A-DIMM 0
	Type: Unknown
	Type Detail: Synchronous
	Speed: Unknown
	Manufacturer: A1_Manufacturer0
	Serial Number: A1_SerNum0
	Asset Tag: A1_AssetTagNum0
	Part Number: Array1_PartNumber0
	Rank: Unknown

Handle 0x002E, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
	Array Handle: 0x0028
	Error Information Handle: 0x002F
	Total Width: 64 bits
	Data Width: 64 bits
	Size: 4096 MB
	Form Factor: DIMM
	Set: None
	Locator: CHANNEL B
	Bank Locator: CHANNEL B-DIMM 0
	Type: DDR3
	Type Detail: Synchronous
	Speed: 1333 MHz
	Manufacturer: Kingston        
	Serial Number: 6B0C80EF  
	Asset Tag: A1_AssetTagNum1
	Part Number: 9905403-438.A00LF 
	Rank: 2

So for that, I guess I'm stuck.

rokytnji · 01-03-2017, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Maximum Capacity: 16 GB

That tells me one slot can handle a 8 gig ram stick per slot.

Even if the other one is bad.

I've never had a bad ram slot on my laptops.

Code:

root@biker:/home/harry# dmidecode --type memory
# dmidecode 2.12
SMBIOS 2.6 present.

Handle 0x0019, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
	Location: System Board Or Motherboard
	Use: System Memory
	Error Correction Type: None
	Maximum Capacity: 8 GB
	Error Information Handle: 0x001A
	Number Of Devices: 2

Handle 0x001B, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
	Array Handle: 0x0019
	Error Information Handle: 0x001D
	Total Width: 64 bits
	Data Width: 64 bits
	Size: 4096 MB
	Form Factor: SODIMM
	Set: None
	Locator: DIMM_A
	Bank Locator: BANK 0
	Type: DDR3
	Type Detail: Synchronous
	Speed: 1067 MHz
	Manufacturer: 80AD
	Serial Number: 2E71D725
	Asset Tag: Unknown
	Part Number: HMT351S6BFR8C-H9  
	Rank: Unknown

Handle 0x001E, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
	Array Handle: 0x0019
	Error Information Handle: No Error
	Total Width: 64 bits
	Data Width: 64 bits
	Size: 4096 MB
	Form Factor: SODIMM
	Set: None
	Locator: DIMM_B
	Bank Locator: BANK 2
	Type: DDR3
	Type Detail: Synchronous
	Speed: 1067 MHz
	Manufacturer: 80AD
	Serial Number: 01BB7EB6
	Asset Tag: Unknown
	Part Number: HMT351S6CFR8C-H9  
	Rank: Unknown

root@biker:/home/harry#

As you can see. I bought this Dell E4310 laptop maxed out. It used to be my wifes Windows 7 Enterprise laptop. I keep the Windows platter sata hard drive in the bag. The Kingston SSD drive I installed.

Code:

# parted -l
Model: ATA KINGSTON SV300S3 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 60.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 2      1049kB  8390MB  8389MB  primary  ext3
 1      8390MB  60.0GB  51.6GB  primary  ext3

makes this laptop a speed demon with no /swap partition. It boots up in seconds and opens apps instantly and never lags or hang up.

My wife now uses a Windows 10 Acer Flip Touchscreen laptop. Her job requires Windows and she has no desire to be a Linux user. So I keep her old hard drives on ice. In the laptop bag. Just in case. I find it easier and cheaper and less time consuming to just buy a SSD and put Gnu/Linux on it. It makes us both happy campers.