PC Upgrade in the Student Terminal Area
In the last Semester Break (20 Dec 2010 - 8 Jan 2011), the Computing Services Centre (CSC) replaced the five years old HP dx6120 computers with new HP 8100 Elite computers. Below shows the major configurations of the new Elite computers:
|
Processor |
Intel Core i5-750 (2.66 GHz, 4 MB cache) |
|
Chipset |
Intel Q57 Express |
|
Memory |
4 GB (DDR3, 1333 MHz) |
|
Hard disk drive |
500 GB (SATA-II, 7200 rpm) |
|
Optical drive |
DVD Writer |
|
Operating system |
Microsoft Windows 7; Microsoft Windows XP SP3 |
In total, more than 800 PCs were replaced in the CSC’s Student Terminal Area and Library’s Information Space. After this exercise, the performance of PCs has been improved significantly. The following table summarizes the machine boot up and startup time of some typical software:
|
Operating System |
Performance measured |
Old PC (HP dx6120) |
New PC (HP 8100) |
|
Win XP |
Boot up and log on |
3’38” |
2’33” |
|
|
Run pre-installed software (Word 2003) |
0’18” |
0’05” |
|
|
Run AppV installed software (PhotoImpact 8) |
1’10” |
0’40” |
|
|
Run On-demand installed software (PASW 18) |
5’25” |
2’51” |
|
Win 7 |
Boot up and log on |
2’50” |
1’37” |
|
|
Run pre-installed software (Word 2010) |
0’14” |
0’12” |
|
|
Run AppV installed software (PhotoImpact 8) |
1’12” |
0’38” |
|
|
Run On-demand installed software (PASW 18) |
4’36” |
2’16” |
Apart from hardware replacement, the system image was also updated to make the latest software versions available for selection at boot-up time, the newest plugins, and the latest security patches for Windows and antivirus signature data.