Vista - Help Needed please *Vista 64 Bit*

Hello just built a brand spanking new PC, quite a nice spec,

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz) Socket 775 L2 8MB Cache (2x4MB (4MB per core pair)
Asus P5N-E SLI 650i Socket 775 PCI-E Onboard Audio ATX Motherboard
1 x Kingston 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Non-ecc CL5 Unbuffered 1.8V
Maxtor STM3250310AS 250GB SATAII 8MB Cache + 160GB Back up Drive out of old computer, IDE.
Zotac 8800GT 512MB DDR3 Dual DVI HDTV Out PCI-E Graphics Card
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium.
Samsung SH-S223F 22X DVD±RW/RAM/DL Serial ATA Black Bare Drive
EV Black Mid Tower Gaming Case with Massive
Hi-Power Black 700W 14cm Blue LED Fan PSU

Since I put it together I have had a few problems with the system itself, being a lot slower than I expected it to be, and in idle mode its using approx 30%-50% of the Ram according to the file in my side bar, is this normal to use so much ram?

Also when using the internet and several other files this morning like my computer & my documents, it would stop and then say "Not Responding" go pale then come back 20 - 30 secs later. This was the first time I had connected it to the internet so was downloading lots of updates, but still, a nice spec PC, I expected to deal a lot better.

Also sometimes when I boot up Windows, it takes ages, sometimes my monitor goes into standby mode it takes that long. Is this normal? Also had a blue screen fatal error message this morning, but it restarted itself.

Could this be either a memory or a software issue? Too little memory? Or could this be basically Windows upto its old tricks? Is it worth maybe trying a reinstall?

On my boot up screen it also says that my primary hard drive is in Sata 3 or something, could this be an issue? Or would this not matter?

I am very new to this building game so any advice you could give me would be seriously gratefully recieved?

Nick

First that comes to mind when reading your specs - not enough RAM. A minimum of 4Gb is recomended for Vista x64.

Yes its normal that Vista use that much ram, and more. When Vista finnish loading it starts to cache stuff into the ram for faster access, its called Superfetch and eats ALOT of ram. Its a service and can be disabled if you like.

Your instability issues could be caused by bad rams and/or incorrect settings in BIOS, but thats just a theory. You could test them with +Memtest86 to be sure. If your rams turn out to be fine you could try a fresh Vista install.

Thanks for your reply. Well I could send the ram back, I loked at getting some new ram Geil, GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC))

But not sure what will be better, how do I install or go around the Bios - resetting etc? thanks in advance.

You enter BIOS by hitting a key at POST (during the first seconds after computer ON). Look at the bottom of the screen during POST and u´ll see what key to press. But be very carefull what you change in BIOS. Read your mobo manual to see what the options mean if you are not familiar with them.

I think you should test the rams you have now before you send them back, download Memtest86+ Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool Burn it on a CD and boot from it, let the test run for ~1 hour. If you dont get any errors the mems are probably fine.

If you going to get new rams, I suggest you get a kit of 2 x 2Gb and not 4 x 1Gb. Populating all four memoryslots will make the northbridge work harder than neccesary.

What is the exact name of your rams? If you give me the name I can lookup what settings you should use for them in bios.

Spot on mate its
Kingston 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Non-ecc CL5 Unbuffered 1.8V! I will download that file now and see what happens! Thanks you in advance

2 services noticably eat up ram in vista.

1st is superfetch, i find all this does is reduce my logon time from 12 seconds to 2

2nd is windows search, which catalogues all files in c:\users & all shortcuts in the start menu.

Try disabling both & see how you go

*Edit*

infact, windows search also catalogues all files in the user's temp folder which could result in 100's of files being catalogued for no reason

I have 4GB of Ram and quote like superfetch...It will slow down once it learns which programs you open often....
For the first few days you will notice frequent hard drive activity but that is cashing of files for quicker searches....
Both of those can be turned off.
If it is of any consolation to you I have 4Gb of ram and 35% is used before I open any other programs. Currently sits at 1.7Gb out of 4

There are alot of Kingstons out there, you need to be a bit more specific than that I am afraid. Give me the link to where you bought them and I´ll check em out.