New custom doesn't feel as fast as it should be.

[fewcherstar]

Hi,

I've just successfully completed my first full system build and believe it or not I had absolutely no problems on my first boot. Took me ten hours of ensuring configs were correct but the extra time spent obviously paid off.

But I'm less than impressed. I'm not seeing a huge performance increase. My last system was an HP prefab w/AMD Athlon XP 3000+ (Hyperthreaded) with 521 Mb of RAM. Considering the upgrade I've made (see my signature) shouldn't I be seeing a major difference?

You should know that I took the old HDD from the HP and put in the new rig. I know that this is a bottleneck for now (I've ordered another Seagate SATA 3.0Gb/s from Newegg - on the way). Could this be the problem? Should I not worry about it till get the new HDD?

Also, what are some good benchmark and stress testing progs to really push the limits?

And one last thing, are there any special OS optimizations I should be doing for the dual core to function tip top?

Thanks for any help/direction you can provide.

[seanarmenta]

i just learned recently that you have to enable the multiprocessor in your device manager in windows...

[fewcherstar]

How do I do that? I don't see any option in there for it. And under 'CPU' my processor is listed twice so I assume the dual core is recognized.

[seanarmenta]

Originally Posted by crjdriver
One more thing. If you want windows to use the dual processor, you must change to multi processor in device manager. Right now it is probably set to acpi uni processor. This is done by going to device manager clicking computer then right clicking acpi uni processor>properties>update driver. Have the wizard "show all compatable so you can choose" Select multi processor and restart.

this was a reply to one of my posts...

and i currently have my P4 HT installed (my dual is arriving tomorrow), and it is also listed twice in DM, and listed as multiprocessor.

[z3frog]

how can a Athlon XP 3000+ be hyperthreaded?

[fewcherstar]

It already says ACPI Multiprocessor PC. Any other tweak tips? Performance tests?

[kstatefan40]

You aren't going to notice much of a difference unless you are gaming. Believe it or not, those specs are not all that much improved. Its mainly just a RAM thing - you have more capacity - not necessarily speed. All the fancy stuff is only used during gaming. That's your only true test.

[HAL9000]

I agree, you're really not going to notice much of a difference there. To truly notice a difference in speeds of a computer, you almost need to double processing speed. Dual core does NOT mean double performance. You essentially went from an Athlon that is PR Rated to about 3Ghz to a P4 rated at 3Ghz, but dual core which you are not going to notice any differences unless you are running aps that can take advantage of the dual core.

[fewcherstar]

Great, thanks for the info, much appreciated. I do plan on OC'ing the P4 but not until I get an after market cooler. Any opinions on this setup using 64-bit windows? I was thinking about sampling the free trial from Microsoft.

[Panama Red]

Based on your bios upgrade thread, I'm thinking you have a mobo there that doesn't support a Dual Core cpu. All the spec charts I can find say the only cpu's supported are HT'd P4's, not the Pentium D. Check in the Device Manager and look under Processors. How many does it show? And does it say Pentium D?

[blue60007]

If that's a 5400 rpm hard drive you put in, the newer one should really give you a boost.

If you play the newest games, you've got a great system there.

Be *very* careful overclocking a dual core Intel like that...you don't want throw your big bucks out the window...

[fewcherstar]

No, it's 7200 but the boost should still be noticible. sitting on edge waiting for UPS to get here ( should be within the hour)

Yes, the whole reason I bought this system was to play Oblivion at max (or very near at least). Was running it a little last night and was looking pretty kick @$$. Didn't bother doing much tweaking since I'll be doing the fresh windows install.

Thanks for the advice on the OC'ing. yes I will be very careful. As an added bonus, though, my mobo has a feature called Thermal Throttling which automatically takes the load off of the CPU if the temp reaches a preset degree. Pretty swank.

Cheers

[Litespeed]

Originally Posted by fewcherstar Thanks for the advice on the OC'ing. yes I will be very careful. As an added bonus, though, my mobo has a feature called Thermal Throttling which automatically takes the load off of the CPU if the temp reaches a preset degree. Pretty swank.

Even So

[fewcherstar]

Bummer for that guy...and he didn't even say anything about OC'ing (though it probably was, I can't see a factory settings getting a cpu that hot on a system that is not under full load...and why else would he have/need a watercooler) This story sounds like that guy just wasn't lucky...what are the chances of the watercooler failing AND thermal throttling not kicking in? Either way I see your point though...No matter your skill level of OC'ing, anything can happen - Murphy's Law

[blue60007]

The CPU does the Thermal throttling, not the mobo. If the cooling system fails the CPU (whether it's OC'd or not) will heat up very quickly and very hot. Normally, Thermal Throttling kicks in and shuts down the CPU before that happens.

If your temps start getting too high (65-70C and over), you'll need to get better cooling. Just be careful not to get bit by the OC bug and start pouring lots of money into watercooling, premium RAM, etc