Bought a mini PC with Windows 10? After set up, it's so slow and barely usable...

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Any advice welcome CPU usage at 70-100pc

glomar

anything .. specs ad build information be useful
could be windows updates or windows defendor running updates in the backround

0gac3yjefb5sv7

glomar wrote: »

anything .. specs ad build information be useful
could be windows updates or windows defendor running updates in the backround

Sure, see below:

Fanless Mini PC,Intel x5-Z8350 HD Graphics Desktop Computer,Windows 10 64-bit,DDR3L 2GB/32GB eMMC/4K/Built-in WiFi/BT 4.0

glomar

entry level proc .. storage not great either .
any bloatware installed or did you do a vanila instalation ?

0gac3yjefb5sv7

glomar wrote: »

entry level proc .. storage not great either .
any bloatware installed or did you do a vanila instalation ?

Didn't install anything yet, just downloaded Chrome...it's even lagging when opening a new tab or clicking out of an application...

your 32gb emmc is very likely already mostly full, and certainly one or two windows updates will fill it

this limits the amount of virtual ram available to run things, as well as the updates manager messing things up in the background by constantly seeing that youre not up to date and generally being a pain

there are things you can do, but short answer is that they would all be temp fixes and you simply need a bigger hard drive for your OS

if the emmc is hardwired in that adds complication to this as the damned thing can be hard to remove as default windows drive even after cloning.

Psygnosis

That's a very weak processor. Would you consider using a Linux distro you could test out a distro from USB pen.

that cpu is dire, no two ways about it.

a low-level android phone is more powerful.

not surprised that it's at such a high utilisation.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

[Deleted User] wrote: »

your 32gb emmc is very likely already mostly full, and certainly one or two windows updates will fill it

this limits the amount of virtual ram available to run things, as well as the updates manager messing things up in the background by constantly seeing that youre not up to date and generally being a pain

there are things you can do, but short answer is that they would all be temp fixes and you simply need a bigger hard drive for your OS

if the emmc is hardwired in that adds complication to this as the damned thing can be hard to remove as default windows drive even after cloning.

So I should just return it and get something faster? Ant recommendations. Need something that can browse fast and stream Netflix, Sports etc easily.

beauf

That's the same spec as my 3yr old netbook Lenovo 100. To start run Windows 10 32bit not 64. Takes less space and less ram.

Mine runs ok but it's only good for basic office and web stuff. Can play full hd video etc.

Can you install a add or more ram? You might not be able. What's the name or model of the pc.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

It's a Wintel Pro from Amazon. If I can't even browse fast then it's no use to me..

Pheonix10

Pheonix10 wrote: »

So I should just return it and get something faster? Ant recommendations. Need something that can browse fast and stream Netflix, Sports etc easily.

yes, return it.

buy one with a cpu like...

a celeron n4100, n5000 or a pentium 4415u or a core i3 will do.

avoid celeron 4200, despite number it's older and less powerful.

if you buy a barebones one with just the cpu you can add ram and an ssd cheaper yourself.


https://www.geekbuying.com/item/Beelink-Gemini-N41-Gemini-Lake-N4100-6GB-128GB-Windows-10-Mini-PC-412379.html

even the cheaper option on that page is ok but better to have 6gb ram and 128gb ssd.

for 212 euro it's not bad. I'd go for that one. the 6gb will give you more leeway for multitasking in windows or even just having a lot of browser tabs open and 128gb ssd gives you more room and a lot faster than emmc memory

1 week delivery from any of the European warehouses

for streaming and etc the processor imo isnt the limiter

i run my media pc setup off something quite similar (N3700) and theres no issues

the lack of space available in the OS drive is the limiter based on my own very similar experience with the above

fritzelly

What did you buy if for? Whats the primary purpose?

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

for streaming and etc the processor imo isnt the limiter

i run my media pc setup off something quite similar (N3700) and theres no issues

the lack of space available in the OS drive is the limiter based on my own very similar experience with the above

even that is over 50% more powerful than the atom.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Bought it on Amazon for basic browsing and Netflix etc but don't want to be waiting 10 seconds for a new tab.

glasso

glasso wrote: »

even that is over 50% more powerful than the atom.

fair enough i didn't have ability off hand to do direct comparison

OP you def need a bigger hard drive, minimum 50gb for OS imo

as everyone else is noting, several grades higher of processor prob wise also

Pheonix10

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Bought it on Amazon for basic browsing and Netflix etc but don't want to be waiting 10 seconds for a new tab.

if you can stretch to the 212 euro that I linked on geekbuying that will do the job.

the n4100 cpu is decent enough
6gb ram for comfortable running
128gb fast ssd to give you enough space
hdmi 2 will allow 4k output

the_syco

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Windows 10 64-bit,DDR3L 2GB/32GB eMMC/4K/Built-in WiFi/BT 4.0

2GBs of RAM is min spec for Windows 64bit.

Also, there's been a few updates lately. It'll use up all your resources whilst it updates itself.

fritzelly

I'd be tempted to stick to a stick like Roku for Netflix and use the phone for browsing (can probably cast to the TV as well if need be)

ED E

Price of an Android box, running windows. Recipe for disaster.

Double-Triple the budget or drop the "mini" idea.

ED E

Oh and for extra fun it seems theres a rake of chinese spyware preinstalled. Wonderful.

ED E

ED E wrote: »

Oh and for extra fun it seems theres a rake of chinese spyware preinstalled. Wonderful.

on what?

ED E

glasso wrote: »

on what?

The device the OP bought, going by what an amazon user found with MBAM.

yeah that one for £90 that the OP got is a false economy with poverty specs that don't cut it for any use really.

Beelink are a decent enough brand for stuff like this as far as it goes.

fritzelly

Just double checked (price too cheap) and it doesn't have a valid W10 licence (you have to buy it) - so you could end with a dead box anyway

beauf

I've another machine with 4gb of and a n3550 not much difference between that and the atom when using them.

If it's too slow as others have said send it back and get faster one with a mainstem CPU.

I find them fine but I'd never use them as my main pc

dubrov

It's a low spec but should still run a browser easily.
If you have only windows 10 and chrome installed, even 32gb would still have a fair bit of space remaining.

Check how much space is left on the storage drive first.
Failing that do a complete clean install of windows.

If that fails, bring it back

beauf

Mines has about 16gb free with 32 bit Windows installed. 64bit takes up more space though. I must check the other one.

TerrorFirmer

The processor is seriously low-end. Though it shouldn't be pegged at 100% usage either - possibly the device needs to be updated and downloading the updates is eating into the CPU.

It should be grand for light browsing and video playback.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Anyone have any recommendations for Sky Go etc. Just want something fast for browsing and streaming. No gaming or work at all.

TerrorFirmer

What is the budget? You can get a much improved one for about 200, but about 300 would get you a genuinely fast one that would be good for a fair few years.

Also, does it have to be tiny? You can get "mini" PC's that are bigger than those NUC style ones, but still way, way smaller than an actual desktop.

My parents have an i5-2500/4GB Ram/120GB SSD HTPC, think I paid about 70E on Ebay for it and it's lightning fast for Netflix/Kodi/web/etc. It's about the size of a large paperback novel.

It's about this size. Easy to get machines like this for small money on Ebay or Adverts and they'd be three/four times as powerful as what you bought.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

What is the budget? You can get a much improved one for about 200, but about 300 would get you a genuinely fast one that would be good for a fair few years.

Also, does it have to be tiny? You can get "mini" PC's that are bigger than those NUC style ones, but still way, way smaller than an actual desktop.

My parents have an i5-2500/4GB Ram/120GB SSD HTPC, think I paid about 70E on Ebay for it and it's lightning fast for Netflix/Kodi/web/etc. It's about the size of a large paperback novel.

It's about this size. Easy to get machines like this for small money on Ebay or Adverts and they'd be three/four times as powerful as what you bought.

Yeah I'd have a budget or 50-200 but obviously I just need it to be speedy for very basic tasks so 70 on eBay would be ideal...

worth getting a newer one so you can output 4k - you need hdmi 2 for that.

also fanless means no noise and uses less electricity.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Can anyone advise where I would get that ebay one or something similar, I don't mind on size. Price and speed are the main considerations.

cunavalos

One thing worth trying is to stop and disable 'superfetch' and "Windows Search" using the windows 10 services function. I have had a couple of similar spec pc-sticks and this has brought about a noticeable improvement in Windows 10.

https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/should-i-disable-superfetch-and-how-to-do-it/

Having said that there is a limit to these type of pc's and your 32gb will slowly fill up with constant windows updates and something with a better processor, more ram and expandable memory is probably only marginally more expensive

Pheonix10

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Can anyone advise where I would get that ebay one or something similar, I don't mind on size. Price and speed are the main considerations.

search "htpc" on ebay
or "htpc ssd" for one with ssd

unlikely to get one as cheap as what other poster said unless you get lucky

€150 euro is about the cheapest I would say

even then you run the risk of it being unable to run modern formats like hevc x265 that are increasingly used if it's an old cpu (plenty of cpus in htpc's are 6/7/8 years old)

you're better off buying a new modern nuc with a cpu that has hardware support built in for modern codec formats.

other reasons that I mentioned here already also.

power consumption
noise
size
ram - ideally min 6gb for win 10
ssd better than spinning hd or the emmc found in the 32gb and 64gb ones
stuck with old ports like usb 2 instead of 3
hdmi 2 for 4k output (only pretty recent on pc's)

no point in doing the same thing again and buying a pos

although if you're focused on something like that maybe this would do

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Pc-HTPC-Small-Form-Factor-With-SSD/123609393551?hash=item1cc7b1a98f:g:aZEAAOSw1rpcTEUg&frcectupt=true

but doesn't give cpu number and it has usb 2.0 only so probably fairly old.

nuc's have taken over from htpcs in the non-discrete graphics card form factor so they are not made anymore.

i'd recommend the one that I linked before instead really. it's also on amazon but 20% + more expensive. you'll have it in a week from one of the european warehouse options. the cpu is as powerful as an older i3 but with the benefit of moden codec support and lower power consumption and all the modern ports - hdmi 2, usb 3 etc.

https://www.geekbuying.com/item/Beelink-Gemini-N41-Gemini-Lake-N4100-6GB-128GB-Windows-10-Mini-PC-412379.html

Pheonix10

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Would a firestick be suitable for popcorn time or SkyGo?

yes. maybe buy the newer more powerful one

https://firestickappstips.com/sky-go-on-firestick/

you can also do the other but not legal to discuss here.

check sideload app fire stick

0gac3yjefb5sv7

glasso wrote: »

yes. maybe buy the newer more powerful one

https://firestickappstips.com/sky-go-on-firestick/

you can also do the other but not legal to discuss here.

check sideload app fire stick

I'm going for this second hand
Gigabyte GB-BXi3H-4010 mini PC

Gigabyte GB-BXi3H-4010 mini-PC with 4GB DDR3, 128GB Samsung 830 SSD and Windows 7 / 10 in mint condition.

dubrov

Pheonix10 wrote:

I'm going for this second hand Gigabyte GB-BXi3H-4010 mini PC

That's a huge step up from your previous device. It should run everything you need very quickly.