Pc Problem

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by jim_bob64, Mar 10, 2006.

  1. jim_bob64

    jim_bob64 Member

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    Hi, n00b here.

    I have a problem with my pc and hope someone here can help me with it, bit of a long read but I have to explain it in detail.

    Here are the Specs of my PC:-

    Computer made by MESH
    AMD Athlon XP 1800+
    1.5Gig DDR Ram
    Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4200 128MB (Driver version 81.98)
    300Gig Maxtor DiamondMax10 (6L300R0)
    Asus A7A266-E Motherboard
    Creative SB Audigy

    Basically the problem is that my pc is REALLY slow and I think it maybe down to either the Graphics card Drivers (from Nvidia) or some kind of setting somewhere that im not aware of. The PC is really slow booting up but it wasnt like it before, possibly something to do with SP2? Just loading things like Msn or Word or where I keep all my files is awfully slow, or even moving the mouse sometimes it pauses slightly then carries on and it does the same thing on the scroll bar when scrolling down a page. Even when playing a video it will keep pausing slightly like its struggling then carry on for a few more seconds and do it again.


    I have even gone as far as replacing parts for the pc incase there was a faulty part but while the new components help a bit, its still slow. I replaced my GeForce 3 64MB with a GeForce 4 128MB and installed the latest drivers for that to no avail. I replaced the 512MB PC2100 DDR Ram with brand new 1.5Gig PC2100 DDR Ram which did make it a little better but not like I was expecting, so this led me to believe that neither the Graphics Card or Ram was actually faulty but was still probably worth getting as they where better than the ones before it. So I then thought it maybe the HardDrive. Its a 60Gig Maxtor drive with 2MB Cache, so I decided to replace this with a 300Gig Maxtor DiamondMax 10 with 16MB Cache. But as with the other 2 parts, performance was improved slightly but not a huge amount which makes me believe that it wasn't the drive either. (Also it wouldn't recognise all 300Gig of the drive but I have since updated the Bios and I think I just need to re-partition it so it see's it all)

    This had been happening for a while and 'seemed' to get worse with the newer Nvidia drivers which led me to do some research and I came across this page on the ASUS site:-

    http://support.asus.com/faq/faq.aspx?SLang...&model=A7A266-E

    The link doesnt go directly to it, but its only one click away. Just click on the 5th one down where it mentions the AGP Texture Acceleration being disabled.

    The ASUS site also suggests going to the Ali site where it goes into a bit more detail about it:-

    http://www.ali.com.tw/eng/support/faq_products_faqs.htm

    Now what it describes here is exactly what I have been experiencing, so I thought great I have finally found a solution. So I do what it says and check DXDIAG, only to find that AGP Texture Acceleration isn't greyed out at all and it is enabled. So yet again im back at square one even though what it describes is whats happening with my pc.

    After everything I have replaced I may as well have just bought a new PC but as I haven't I would really appreciate any help with this. It could be some simple setting or a matter of a Driver that I dont have but there is something wrong with it and its driving me mad. If you have managed to read down this far then thank you very much for taking the time to read it and hopefully help me out.

    Thanks

    Jim

    Edit:- For some reason the link to the Asus site isn't displaying properly, there should be 'uage=en-us' so it should say 'aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=A7A266-E'
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2006
  2. tocool4u

    tocool4u Guest

    Did you try and see if it is your CPU because it could be that, If it is slow booting up
    Or you should check the heat on your cpu and other componets..your board my be getting hot which could decrease performance
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 10, 2006
  3. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    Last edited: Mar 10, 2006
  4. tocool4u

    tocool4u Guest

    Yea that is what i was thinking but he said he changed his HDD so it can't be
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 10, 2006
  5. jim_bob64

    jim_bob64 Member

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    Thanks but im pretty sure its not a Virus and/or Ad-ware as I've put in a new Hard Drive plus I scan for them almost everyday anyway.

    What sort of temperature is normal for a Motherboard and CPU because I can keep an eye on them from the Bios.

    The reason I mention SP2 is that it used to take about a 1/4 of the time booting up before SP2 was put on it. Does anyone know of any known issues with SP2 like this?

    Does anyone think it maybe the Graphics Card drivers because those links pretty much describe the problem im having and I did put the latest drivers on the same day I put SP2 on?

    Thanks for your comments guys!
     
  6. ozzy214

    ozzy214 Regular member

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    Did you ghost your install to the new drive or just did a fresh install? If yeah ghosted then its probaly wise to wipe tyhe new drive and format it slow and do a reinstall.
     
  7. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    temp reading of my system,right now...
    board
    35.0c 95.0f
    cpu
    24c 75.2f

    if its a heat problem,take the side off your computer and direct a large floor fan into your computer..if things speed up thats ye problem..and adding more computer fans will solve ye pronlems..

    i have 6 fans in mine
    cheers
     
  8. jim_bob64

    jim_bob64 Member

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    Thanks for the replies guys.

    No I didnt ghost it from the old HDD, I did a clean install of XP on to the new drive. I will check again soon but i've almost certainly seen either my Motherboard or my CPU over 100.0f, but I will check this again once i've left it on for a little while.

    I will give the fan thing a go, thanks. Out of interest, why do you have 6 fans in your pc Ireland?
     
  9. jim_bob64

    jim_bob64 Member

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    Just checked it after the pc was on for 10 mins. The Board was 82F and the CPU was 131F :O that is surely too high?
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2006
  10. tocool4u

    tocool4u Guest

    wow, that hot.......you might want to get a better cpu fan, good thing fans are cheap a good 1 is like $16
     
  11. jim_bob64

    jim_bob64 Member

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    It does seem very hot but i've now got the case off of it and a desk fan blowing into it but it doesn't seem to have helped the performance of the pc. I'll reboot it and check in the Bios the actual temperature!
     
  12. jim_bob64

    jim_bob64 Member

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    I've had the fan blowing on it and i've gotten down to 105F but still a bit hot and its not made any difference.

    Any ideas?
     
  13. tocool4u

    tocool4u Guest

    Did you buy a new CPU FAN?..If not you should get one with a good RPM

    At this point i wouldn't worry about noise until you get your PC stable
     
  14. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Those temperatures, while hot, aren't anything to cause your system to run unstable. My CPU runs fine at 143F. The only problem is if, after an hour, the PC runs significantly hotter than this.
    With a fresh install, as tocool4u pointed out, we can eliminate an issue with a virus.
    If the temperatures do rise significantly above what you stated, a new heatsink may be a viable option, but unless you have an aftermarket system low-temperature operation running, I can't see a reason fore the CPU to run slowly. If it's slow to boot, there's probably some hardware problem (either a fault or a bad setting).
     

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