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    Slow T430?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by IhsansShade, Sep 28, 2013.

  1. IhsansShade

    IhsansShade Notebook Enthusiast

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    Just got a T430 with i5-3320 and 4 GB RAM. I'm just a bit surprised at how much it drags when I'm trying to do simple things, like web browsing. Even opening google sometimes takes a while. Is it just the fact that it's an older generation? Do you think upgrading the ram would help significantly?

    Thanks!
     
    IhsansShade, Sep 28, 2013
    #1
  2. pepper_john

    pepper_john Notebook Deity

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    no. it should be faster.
     
    pepper_john, Sep 28, 2013
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  3. ajkula66

    ajkula66 Courage and Consequence

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    Three questions:

    1) What AV software do you have installed, if any?

    2) How may processes you have running on a freshly booted machine?

    3) What OS are we discussing here?
     
    ajkula66, Sep 28, 2013
    #3
  4. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    Getting a SSD would cure what ails you. My X220i has 4GB and it's peppy. The T430 has the mSATA SSD option if you are not using WWAN so you can keep the hard drive for storage.
     
    ZaZ, Sep 28, 2013
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  5. ajkula66

    ajkula66 Courage and Consequence

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    This is very true, presuming that the slowdown is not related to buggy software of some kind, where installing a SSD would not solve the issue at hand, although it would make the machine snappier.
     
    ajkula66, Sep 28, 2013
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  6. IhsansShade

    IhsansShade Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the thoughts so far- it's a factory installation of Windows 7 pro. Came with Norton installed, and about 100 processes on a freshly booted machine.
     
    IhsansShade, Sep 28, 2013
    #6
  7. ajkula66

    ajkula66 Courage and Consequence

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    I would ditch Norton immediately, but that's me.

    Secondly, 100 processes is a lot in my opinion, I'd go into msconfig and start disabling whatever isn't really necessary...

    My $0.02 only...
     
    ajkula66, Sep 28, 2013
    #7
  8. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    Once you go all SSD, which I've been for three years, you forget how slow platter drives are, particularly a 5400RPM laptop drive.
     
    ZaZ, Sep 29, 2013
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  9. ajkula66

    ajkula66 Courage and Consequence

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    No argument from me on that aspect of the story, but I'm still suspecting a software-related crawl here...
     
    ajkula66, Sep 29, 2013
    #9
  10. iCrazyNoob

    iCrazyNoob Notebook Guru

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    100 processes are normal, a fresh windows 7 installed with all the lenovo add on (power manager, aps, fingerprint etc gets me around 100-120 process count)
    but yea my T420 was pretty slow too before i upgraded to a SSD, so definitely try that you wont regret it!
     
    iCrazyNoob, Sep 30, 2013
    #10
  11. Kaso

    Kaso Notebook Virtuoso

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    Web browsing? Loading web pages? Double check your Internet connection.

    Opening Chrome? Opening any application? SSD can help here.

    T430 with i5-3320 is no joke. Older generation? LOL. I still speed through things with a T510. Anyway, bump the RAM to 8GB, add a second 4GB stick.

    And, yes, get rid of that Norton. (You can always use Microsoft Security Essentials.)
     
    Kaso, Sep 30, 2013
    #11
    lead_org likes this.
  12. hmmwv

    hmmwv Notebook Consultant

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    Just like everyone said it's like a combination of things, single channel RAM (I assume it's just one 4GB stick), the slow 5400rpm HDD, and Norton. Upgrading to a SSD will make your computer fly.
     
    hmmwv, Sep 30, 2013
    #12