why is my computer slow when everything is (fairly) highend?

R

rally9x

[H]ard|Gawd
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Feb 7, 2003
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Top rig in my signiture.

2.4ghz/Gig of ram/9800 pro

but I still get slow downs when playing games at 1024.

I have this with CS (ati is known to have issues), call of duty, nfs:u, and knights of the old republic is slow on anything over 800x600.

I have reformated and it was still slow with my 9600 pro. So I purchased a 9800 pro. I think put an nvidia card in while I waited for the new card (sold the 9600) then ran an nvidia reg cleaning program. Slow still witht he 9800 pro (at 1024 with or without AA and AF).

I tried reinstalling direct X also and that didn't help. I know that rambus ram isn't super fast but I don't think that it would cause this much slow down espiecally since its well suited to my chip (800 mhz rambus with a 2.4ghz that runs at 400fsb 512k cache).

One interesting thing to note is that bulletproof FTP says that I have no cache. I checked my bios to make sure its on and it is and also things like CPUID see it so I don't know.

Also I have cleaned Spyware and Virii extensively so its not that either.

Do you think my Motherboard lost Memory bandwidth somehow or is messing with cache access? also the system is stable. So what do you think guys?
 
it could be, you might want to try switching mobo's to test it.
 
I don't have another motherboard with RDRAMM right now and don't have the money to try it on a whim.

Also I have new drivers for everything most from windows update besides the important ones like:

Ati cat 3.10's are installed and newest SB live drivers.

Everything is current.
 
update the BIOS

Make sure your BIOS settings are what you want them to be
Make sure your cooling is good and your P4 isnt thottleing back

Make sure you get the latest drivers for the Mobo, vid card etc...

Defrag
 
I have the newest bios also sorry to not mention that. Is there a way to test if a p4 is throttling or not? Besides running benchmarks over and over and seeing if they degrade. Could someone point me to a free program that can show my my cpu speed in realtime? I don't think it is though because I have the oem p4 heatsink which is usually pretty good plus I have 3 80 mm fan one which is on the side of the case over the cpu/vidcard
 
it could be the pc800 ram, i'd suggest getting a new mobo and 512 megs of pc 3500 ram...probably cost you a couple hundred tho :(
 
I can sell you an Abit TH7-II RAID for like $40...it's socket 478+RDRAM. Good overclocker, too. LMK if you're interested at all...


To check if your CPU is throttling, the easiest thing to do is make sure your temps are low. Go download motherboard monitor , that should give you an idea of how hot you're running. If your temps are low (below 50C load, preferrably a bit cooler), you know that's not the problem.
Beyond that, make sure everything is seated correctly, and check your BIOS to make sure you're not downclocking it by accident or anything.
 
That abit board sounds tempting since my raid cards have been finicky lately. I just broke my burner though so money is tight and that live card needs to die (be replaced) I'll be PMing you thanks so far guys.

That board is an 850 correct? not an 850 e? so I take it can't handle anything other than 400mhz fsb? because if I upgrade I think I might want something that will support a larger fsb for the future...thanks..
 
Originally posted by rally9x
That abit board sounds tempting since my raid cards have been finicky lately. I just broke my burner though so money is tight and that live card needs to die (be replaced) I'll be PMing you thanks so far guys.

That board is an 850 correct? not an 850 e? so I take it can't handle anything other than 400mhz fsb? because if I upgrade I think I might want something that will support a larger fsb for the future...thanks..
Click to expand...
yeah, 850. I have the exact same board in my current rig, running at 125 FSB (= 500 QDR) rock solid with PC800 RDRAM. My RAM is limiting it, with decent RAM I'm sure you could hit 533. Of course, by that time you might want to upgrade to DDR...
I'd be willing to trade for a combo drive, but for some reason I doubt you have one available. ;)

review, they didn't OC it much though.
 
My question is, slow compared to what? To how you think it should be running? To how a friends machine runs? You really need to benchmark it to see where its at.
 
i have a question.. why the hell you running rdram? you should have changed ram types when u got new equipment, thats almost a requirement these days, i have rdram in my old pc and that ram is SO SLOW
 
When did I upgrade that I would have replaced it?

I'm a college student do you have any idea what its like on my budget to pay for college (yes I pay my own way no finacial aid) and then decide I want a new mobo and a gig of ram. I mean its a 400 mhz P4 at 400mhz they were designed for 800mhz rdramm so it shouldn't be a huge issue. The main reason rdramm went away was because it was expensive to get the board and ram and now that I have it (I got both for a good deal 30 for the board then 512mb free from a friend) I don't want to throw 300 dollars at a new board and ram when instead I got to put 200 dollars towards upgrading my geforce 2 gts to a 9800 pro (weakest link in the system got upgraded.) So there you go. Is there a chance your system at home uses PC600 or is one of the old p4's like a 1.4ghz or something?

In answer to Supchaka slow means I can't move or things slow down in games which shouldn't happen at 1024.
 
Ok I think I've found the problem. Since one of my 80 gigs died and hasn't been replaced yet (I lose one wd a year at least) my two harddrives that were left were getting to full to defrag properly (they need to be at least 15% open) so I think this is the problem.
 
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