DesktopX and resource useage

Isn't DesktopX supposed to use very little resources? I ask because whenever I load up an object, it causes my resources to climb. If I load a large meter object, forget it. My CPU cranks away at upwards of 90-100%, thereby rendering my computer useless to accomplish anything else. And, how *useless* is that? I've tried to run the DesktopX themes, Olive being one of my favorites, but it became too onerous to run. So, I'm back with the standard bars and icons, though I can use Sysmetrix and Object Dock without any problems.

I'm running a Dell XPS T500, upgraded with a Powerleap processor to 1.2g. I also have 512mb RAM, and my graphics card is an NVidia TNT2. I ran a test that states that my computer is not capable of alpha blending, so I suspect that may have something to do with it. But, I really don't even know what that means.

Also, DesktopX will become corrupted and crashes. I've had to uninstall and reinstall at least three times. It'll work well for a while, then crash. Is there some kind of memory leak that builds up till the computer cannot handle it anymore?

Anyone have any ideas what the problem is? What kind of system is required to run all this stuff? I suspect I'm at the bottom rung of what is acceptable, but I don't have the money to buy a new computer. Upgrading my RAM and my processor was about all I could afford, and 1.2g is the maximum my 440BX motherboard will accept.

Thoughts, please?

Dabe



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Reply #1 Top
Dabe,
Cool of you to reference my theme in there.
In my opinion, part of it would be your video card. A TNT2 is a pretty old chipset i believe.
I myself have a geforce2 64MB, and recently discovered that I had a driver problem. I went to nvidia.com and grabbed the latest detonator drivers and it fixed my particular issue with DX. That same driver should work on a TNT2 chipset. Whether it fixes your problem remains to be seen though.
A xps t500... is that a p3 500 cpu? What is a Powerleap processor?? I have a second system that is an xps 600 and that is a p3 600 chip, same tnt2 video. It is a bit sluggish with DX, but im running win2k server on it. I imagine with XP it would REALLY drag. So a combination of these factors could do it.
Hope this was a little help,.. im sure confused now!!
Reply #2 Top
I agree with Phoon, I think maybe be you need to update ur drivers, i have an 1.3g, 512mb, no graphic cards at all. DestopX works find on my destop, never have any problem.

@ Phoon, yes me too
Reply #3 Top
512mb, no graphic cards at all


Sure you have a graphics card... it may be built on to the motherboard and uses a portion of your RAM, but you have video chips somewhere. If not,, then DAM, you are talented to be able to navigate here and "sense" the words being posted without seeing them!!!!
Reply #4 Top
hehe i meant like a seperate graphics card Nviada, Matrox... The one that's built on the motherboard is not worth mention.

excuses for my stupidity
Reply #5 Top
Phoon, thanks for your quick reply. I love your themes. I even posted a comment on the Olive theme download site at Wincustomize. Olive is a work of art, and exactly the kind of appearance I'd like to achieve when I start skinning my own themes. And yes, I did download the latest driver off the nVidia website, in the hopes that it would solve things, which it didn't. And yes, my computer is becoming an antique in a hurry. I need my son to build me a new system. But, I don't have the money right now, and won't in the forseeable future. I just had to buy a new car.

I digress..........

Powerleap is a brand of processor upgrade that enabled me to upgrade that aching old mobo as high as 1.2ghz. I learned about Powerleap, www.powerleap.com, from the Dell user forum, which by the way is the best bunch of computer geeks I've found anywhere on the web. A great resource for assistance about anything computer related, gee..... including Dell's.

I had Olive working on my desktop for a few days before it started dragging my system down (which is why I think that DesktopX keeps filling up the memory in a way that I think is called a leak). But, in that time, while I was busy configuring Olive to suit my needs, I learned so much about the program. I learned that DesktopX is really my program of choice to develop a comprehensive desktop. It's quite a gem of a program. So, not being able to run it is really disappointing.

I'm gonna start looking at maybe upgrading just my video card. Any suggestions? I'm also going to Dell's user forum for recommendations. I gotta tell ya, though. This whole skinning thing is starting to cost me. The amount of time and money that's going into this (I installed another 256mb RAM card for this), and the time is starting to border on ADDICTION!!!!



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Reply #6 Top
i have an HP Pavilion xt935, which has a S3 Graphics Inc. ProSavage vid card, 1.2G AMD Athlon(tm) Processor, and 114160KB of ram. I am running winXP as well but I have no problems keeping cpu & ram usage under 50%.



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Reply #7 Top
Cummon Man!!!!
TNT2 Cards SUPPORT Alpha Blending......There May Be some probleemo with ur hard or mother board....can u satate the rpm of ur HDD

Me uzing TNT2 on PIII, and it's goin just great



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