Computer slow.

[chris86]

I installed a new Asus A7N8X Deluxe mobo with AMD XP 2800 + CPU on my computer. I noticed that Win XP does not run any faster now than with my last setup (AMD Thunderbird 1Gb and some MSI mobo). It's actually a bit slower now i think. I've checked my BIOS setup and i can not get my computer to use the 400 mhz FSB that is provided by my mobo and ram. I can only get the external clock to run with 166 mhz, which means the memory frequency is 332 mhz, right? Now i have a couple of questions.

2) How can i get the extrenal clock to run at 200 mhz?
1) How can i get my system to run faster?

 

[BrownPaper]

the athlon xp 2800+ runs at 333mhz fsb. the memory by default runs synchronyously (1:1) with the cpu so the ram is stuck at 333mhz, even if the ram can run at 400mhz.

1)if you want to run your ram at 400mhz (200x2) then you have to raise your fsb from 166mhz to 200mhz. that will bring up your ram's and fsb's speed. your cpu will be overclocked as well. you can adjust the cpu mulitplier (on most athlon xp's) to change your cpu's speed. you should only do this if you know what you are doing. your pc may run unstable or something can go wrong if incorrect settings are used or if you have inadequate cooling.

2)you can overclock your system. as always, only overclock if you know what you are doing. also, how much memory do you have? most people should have at least 512mb of ram installed. defragment you hard drive. the veterans of this forum would agree that the hard drive is a big bottleneck to the performance of a computer system. updating your motherboard drivers may help. there are a lot of things in a computer that can be tweaked for performance.

 

[Rick]

Even totally unoptimized, your system should run faster than your old computer.. PROVIDING you have enough memory.

If you ditched that 1GB of memory and opted for 128 or 256mb, then you'll certainly notice the difference... CPU isn't the only factor in speed.

 

[SubKamran]

I'm building a 2500+ AMD just to see if it's faster than my PIII (and because I need another comp for my bro) (For my gaming comp, I'm using a P4)

If Windows XP detects it's at 1.* Mhz (whatever 2800+ is) then chances are your CPU is fine. (If you really want to be sure, visit http://www.cpuid.com/).

Next is memory, like Rick said, if you degraded from 1GB or 512 to 256 or 128, well, it'll be slow. Windows XP runs best at 512 or above.

If you're also using a slower hard drive, that'll make it slower. Make sure you're using a UDMA cable (ones with blue ends and black and gray connectors).

 

[Rick]

Yep, there's a whole lot of things that can make your computer run slower than it should.

Drivers, an unfortunate comination of equipment and software such as spyware and even Windows updates can seriously degrade performance.