My computer keeps getting very sluggish

Another question, ibbonkers . . .

Someone had said that the southbridge on my mobo is slow. Is there anything like this on this mobo?

 

baklogic, you had at one time written about the ports or slots on your mobo for ext hdds and other things. What's the name of your mobo? Is it dual channel? Does it support dual core processing? Is it SATA?

If I have to buy a new mobo and cpu, I want it to have the features that I need for my ext hdds and I want it to be fast. I say "fast" because this pc is deadly slow . . . I'm not looking for lightning speed, but I would like it to be fast enough to copy/move an average size video file (750,000Kb) in under 2 minutes.

 

Mine is
Motherboard ID 63-167-0000010-00101111-122006-INTEL$CRXR2167
Asrock_CONROEXFIRE-ESATA2 BIOS P1.70
Bus Type Intel GTL+
Bus Width 64-bit
But it runs on Dual channel DDR2 SDRAM -Adata 667
Runs Vista x64 (I also run XP in x32)
EN 6200TC - pci-e Graphics Card
But I have intel core 2 duo E6400 (2.13 mhz) not clocked, yet.
I had to purchase a cheap 2.93 celeron to update the bios to use the core 2 duo.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have spent a lot of time trying to find a budget motherboard for you, but difficult for what you need
You need a motherboard that will take the items you have
pc3200 ram DDR
AMD 3200+ ,Socket 939
External sata (e-sata ) connection
External usb 2 connections
Firewire connection (or, on-board connector)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If the cpu is o.k, I would stear you to something like this Asus board,


-----------------------------------------------------------------
ASUS A8V-XE 939 VIA K8T890 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Back Panel I/O Ports
1 x Parallel
1 x Serial
1 x PS/2 Keyboard
1 x PS/2 Mouse
1 x Audio I/O
1 x RJ45
1 x S/PDIF Out (Coaxial)
4 x USB
NO EXTERNAL SATA CONNECTORS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131125
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=1043&l1=3&l2=15&l3=143


------------------------------------------------------------
ABit AX8 3RD EYE Socket 939 PCI-E x16 / 5.1CH AUDIO / SATA RAID / USB2.0 / DUAL CH DDR / Gb LAN / ATX MOTHERBOARD
http://www.pcupgrade.co.uk/productdetails.asp?ProductID=2431&categoryid=271


Back Panel I/O
- 1 x PS/2 Keyboard, 1 x PS/2 mouse, 1 x COM Port, 1 x Parallel Port
- 1 x S/P DIF Output, 1 x S/P DIF Input Audio connector (Rear-Left/Rear-Right, Center/Sub)
- Audio connector (Mic.-in, Line-in, Front)
- 4 x USB2.0, 1 x IEEE1394
- 1 x RJ-45 LAN Connector

Form Factor
- ATX form factor 305 x 245mm (12 x 9.6 inch)

Package
- GuruClock x 1, SATA cable x 4, Ultra DMA cable x 1
- FDD cable x 1, I/O shield x 1
NO EXTERNAL SATA CONNECTORS
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To get the connections you want, but again, expensive.(160 + dollars)
This board , reviewed@ PCStats, has more sata connections, internally, with an extra onboard sata controller- your simple sata plug in adaptor, could connect here and give you the external sata connections ( I have one of these , too, and its handy when I am working on other computers to connect a sata drive to the internal, and have an external point for another hard drive)
EP-9NPAJ
NVIDIA nForce4 Socket 939 with PCI-E, Audio, SATA, GbE, ATX
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1840
Can be purchased from the link below
http://www.epox.com/usa/purchase.asp
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Unless you go for a motherboard package with motherboard and cpu (228 dollars)- then your ram would not be any good , as it needs DDR2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Another possibility is that your heatsink is not making a good mating with the cpu, so, before contemplating buying anything, I would consider taking the motherboard with the stuck cpu, and having it checked, by having the cpu released. If it is not making a full contact, as has been said much earlier, now would be a good time to consider it.
---------------------------------------------------------

 

I'm going to have my pc checked out with a pc tech. I'm gathering info for my options too. I have to say, though, that having a dual channel mobo but not a dual core cpu doesn't make sense. If I had known that, I wouldn't have purchased the kit. The description of the cpu, at the time, led me to believe that it was dual core. Unfortunately, it was an expensive lesson, so I'm looking at everything from every aspect that I can. I trust the judgements of all here and I believe that I'll have the pc that I want this time, the reason for asking so many questions and looking at my options. This is the info gathering I should have done prior to puchasing this pc.
But I won't make any decisions until a pc tech checks out the mobo and removes the fan, and I also want him to check out my psu because its voltage has been questioned also.

I could tell that you did a lot of research to find the information for me using what I already have, and I appreciate it more than you know. If my mobo is good, I'll keep it and my RAM, but my cpu has to be dual core.

It was said that my southbridge is normally slow. The RAM that I purchased is slow. The CPU, besides not being dual core, is small. I believe the back plate should have been installed because the manual says so, but the instructions on the CPU package said that it didn't have to be if the bracket was already attached, which it was, but those instructions were wrong . . . hindsight is perfect.

I don't like my motherboard because it doesn't have enough slots for me to install adapter cards, especially SATA. When I read the specs on it, it sounded like it did, but I didn't understand what I was reading. When I get it checked out and if there's nothing wrong with it, I'm going to keep it, but only if a dual core cpu can be installed in it.

I'm at my pc almost constantly and I'm very disappointed about the way it turned out, as I think we all are. I don't know why the SATA card blew my psu and fdd and I don't know if the SATA card still works, but I won't install it again. I'm going to bring it with me when I take my pc to a tech and talk to him about it.

I've learned a tremendous amount of information regarding pc's here at MG, and you taught me most of it, baklogic. But I still don't know probably even 1/4 of what you know and, a lot of information that I read, I don't understand, and it's probably because I think I'm a software person, not a hardware person. I want a good, fast pc with lots of slots for cards and/or built-in ports and I want to know what will give me that, cash taken into consideration, of course. But I'm big on saving the money to get what I want, and I'm patient enough to wait a few months to buy it. The difference between $75.00 and $125.00 isn't that much and I can save that in 3 months or less. If it runs $250, I'll use plastic and pay back what I would have saved, $75 up front and $25 a month until it's paid off. . . I do it all the time so that my credit card balance is either zero or close to it. What matters is getting the most bang for my buck and getting what I want/need.

The following means nothing to me, it might as well be written in a foreign language:

What I need to read is:

if not that, I need it to say:

or a combo of built-in external ports and slots for cards

That means something to me and it's really what I need for my external drives . . . it's my ideal mobo. I don't mind using some HUBs if mobos can't have that many ports/slots, but I'd like to get the closest to what I need.

I've posted a question about SATA in the software forum. I figured you guys have had your fill of me and I want to know more about SATA.

 

The motherboard that you gave me the link for, Epox EP-9NPA+ SLI Motherboard Review,

I know that you're trying to save me money but the only requirement that I have is that it'll fit into my case. I don't want 3200 RAM because it's slow, and I don't want a non-dual core processor for the same reason. I'll buy a new cpu only if my mobo is in perfect working condition and I'll buy a new cpu, dual core or not, in order to save money now. I have a feeling, though, that the ports on my mobo are bad also. The SiSoftware Sandra VII test could not run a test on my mobo or cpu. It was able to run tests on all other features/components.

 

I see your point, and, yes, I was trying to avoid you throwing hard earned loot away.
Fred_W, and ibbonkers, and others have all been keen to help, - its' a team job, but your kind words are appreciated, nevertheless.
My motherboard has 2 e-sata ports on the i/o for external connection, these are powered of of 2 of the 4 internal connections (2 are for e-sata)
On-board are 2 firewire points, which I use for 5.25 bay multi-unit , (which also has card reader and sata, and firewire sockets.)
It was ,I believe , a budget board, around £40 (£78 dollars, or, so )
I had to pay £160 (about £315 dollars) for the cpu, at the time- They are cheaper now that quodcore cpu's are out.
Don't be fooled by core 2 duo, and dual core, AMD2.
Some of the previous versions -like pentium D, and AMD 3200+ versions will clock fast enough for most, except compulsive geeks, or, gamers, and will run all you need very wel.
Hyperthreading, and Hypertransport cpu's were, and still are very good cpu's- yours is not small, just not clocked to get more speed.
Your Ram is DDR (DOUBLE DATA RATED) which is/was for the cpu you have.
DDR2, and DDR3, but are not necessary to run for the average user.
Basically, it is impossible, unless you have stacks of loot to throw at it, to have the latest pc hardware, and also unnecessary.
What the normal pc user needs is a motherboard that will accept the ram you have, and slots for the next ( DDR, and DDR2- Like the Asrock Dual-VSTA- SOCKET 775 )
DDR3 will need time for adaption by the geeks.
I will keep my eyes open, and perhaps the others will, too, and see what is possible without breaking the bank, for your "upgrade, "should the cpu, and/or the motherboard be going south.

 

Thanks baklogic. I'm glad you understand, and my words can't be kind enough to tell you how much your help has meant to me. I also appreciate Fred and ibbonkers help. Maybe I haven't said thanks often enough, so I'll say thank you now. Fred, you've been helping me since I first started to build this pc and your input and suggestions brought to light several things that needed to be looked at and solved a problem that I was having. And I'm glad that you stepped in with your input, ibbonkers. This pc needs all the minds it can get to work on it.

Maybe my eyes have a glint in them for more than I need because I got less than I expected with this pc because something went bad on it. All I want are ports . . . lots and lots of ports for my ext hdds. If the cpu can be clocked to go faster if the mobo is bad, I'll keep the cpu, get a new mobo, keep the RAM, and I'll have all that I want and need, which is probably the speed that I would have gotten from this pc if all the unusual things didn't go wrong. I still think that the back plate has something to do with it.

One of my 750Gb hard drives is failing. After it's been on for about an hour, it starts to turn off and on every few seconds. I've had it for only about 4 months and I can't find the receipt for it. I bought a new 750Gb ext hdd and I'm moving the files onto it. The drive that's failing has about 175Gb of files on it and it's going to take 298 minutes to move them to the new drive. I thought that SATA would move fast enough to have them moved in about 2 hours. Maybe my expectations of SATA, a new mobo, cpu and more than twice the amount of RAM than I used to have were too high, but I didn't think so.

In the Software forum, I asked about SATA and was told that SATA will work without setting up a RAID array. The person who responded said that he had a similar mobo and his pc runs "FAST!"

Well, we won't know anything until a tech checks it out. Hopefully, either the mobo or cpu can be salvaged and I'll have to spring for only one or the other.

 

Denise, you can usually check with the people that make the hard drive. On most of their websites, you can see if your hard drive is still under warranty. If it is, you will get a RMA# from them and you they will replace the dead drive with another one.

E

 

Thanks Fred . . . I didn't think of that. It's either a Seagate or a Western Digital. I'll check it out tomorrow, actually today because it's 2 am here now.

 

No problem.

http://support.seagate.com/customer/warranty_validation.jsp

http://websupport.wdc.com/warranty/...994&custtype=end&requesttype=warranty&lang=en

E

 

If the motherboard, or, cpu do turn up as faulty, then consider RMA for it/them also, because this has never run very well, despite your efforts.

 

we know you appreciate the help denise or we wouldnt have stepped in as baklogic said ddr2 isnt necessary to run a fast pc.ddr runs very fast when running right. If you can rma the board that is great and as far as dual core processors go I personally recommend them to anyone who does video of any kind or likes doing more then one thing at a time. single cores do ok I'm just spoiled that way I usually have 5 or 6 things going at a time. If yoou need parts shout and we will all gladly look for good ones to your spec requirements let us know

 

Thanks everyone . . . hopefully I can do something about the motherboard or CPU or both. I had most the parts for about 8 months before I started to build it in January or February, was it? Anyway, I've had them for over a year now but some parts give 3 or 5 year warranties.

This pc is really screwy. I decided to do some defragging on my ext hdds using Power Defragmenter GUI, and then Windows Defragger which catches even more defragged files and compressed them too. After 1 drive finished, I checked it out because Power Defragmenter GUI kept saying that the file wasn't there. I prefer Media Player Classic. When I double-clicked on files, they wouldn't open. I couldn't get into some folders . . . I received a message that said that the folder isn't there and that I should check the path. I was right there clicking on the folder so the path was correct, . I then tried VLC, because it usually works even if something is missing in the file, and they played. I tried 7 ext hdds and the same on all of them. I was going to unintall and reinstall all of my video programs/codecs, etc, but I thought that I'd first do a System Restore to yesterday when they were playing ok. There were no system restore points and system restore wasn't turned off. I rebooted, doubled clicked on a video file, and it played. They all play now. I really, really, really don't understand this pc.

I didn't get an email telling me that there were any posts here again. I don't know why I sometimes get them and other times I don't, so I come here to see if any posts were made and usually there's at least 1 . . . this time 3.

Since the mobo is dual channel, would it support a dual core processor?

 

I just got around to checking a couple of my hdds.

The first one is my int hdd, Seagate Barracuda. I ran SeaTools for DOS and it passed the read test. So that's good news for me, and it's one more component that can be definitely ruled out as causing my pc problems.

The second drive is an external. It's the one that keeps turning on and off after it's been on for about an hour. I opened the case and the drive has no name on it, no serial number, no make/model numbers. I checked back through pictures that I take of some that I've purchased and paste onto Word docs. This drive was supposed to be a Maxtor, but the name Maxtor isn't on the label on the drive. I've attached the word doc that I pasted the info and pics to when I purchased it. I know who I purchased it from also, so I'll write them an email and see what they have to say. Maybe because it's OEM, it can't/shouldn't/won't have the name Maxtor on it, I don't know. The only problem is is that I've had it for well over a year and the warranty expired after 30 days.

The 750Gb drive isn't the one that turns on and off . . . it's the one that groans loudly when I turn it on.

 

I found a pc repair shop right in town (I recently moved here). I wanted to make an appointment so that I could be there when they checked it out but they wouldn't do that because, he said, they have a lot of pc's that they're working on, which makes no sense to me because I'd have an appointment. When I drop it off, it'll take them up to 48 hours :cry to test it and fix it.

I also wrote an email to Norco, the company that made my SATA card. They give a 1 year warranty on their cards, so if it's bad, I can replace it through them.

So, a little progress has been made. I'm going to bring the SATA card and the motherboard back plate with me and I printed the CPU's installation instructions for the techs. They charge $35.00 to test it. If he could get the cpu off for me, I can do the rest. If the mainboard is ok, the only thing I'd have to buy to re-install it would be longer screws because the back plate would lift the mainboard up about 1/4 to 1/2". If the cpu is ok, I just need to overclock it for a more speed right now until I can buy a dual core processor. If they're both bad, I'll have to buy new ones.

I haven't contacted the companies that makes the mobo or cpu yet, to see what warranties they have. I'll be doing that soon and I'll let you know what I find out.
.

 

It's starting to become hard to find parts for SATA I . . . most of them are for SATA II now. I found this HUB. When I get my computer fixed, if the mobo is still good, I'll be keeping it. It has no eSATA ports so I'll use either the SATA card that I bought, if it's still good, or buy a new one. I found a SATA HUB also that I think will give me the extra SATA ports that I want. It connects to a USB 2.0 port. I don't understand how connecting it to a USB 2.0 port will give it SATA speed. I also don't understand how it can be used by SATA I and SATA II cables because the plugs are shaped differently.

http://www.datoptic.com/cgi-bin/web.cgi?product=SATA2_HUB&detail=yes

In case the link doesn't work, it says:

Can someone help me out with this?

 

Should I start a new thread for the above post? This one is getting as long as the first one, lol. It's sort of an off-topic of this one but it goes along with my mobo and love of/need for ports. If I keep my present mobo, a HUB like this would fit my need for external SATA ports. But, on the other hand, a HUB isn't part of the reason why my pc is slow. I'll wait a few days and see what happens.

 

Denise: 'It connects to a USB 2.0 port. I don't understand how connecting it to a USB 2.0 port will give it SATA speed. I also don't understand how it can be used by SATA I and SATA II cables because the plugs are shaped differently.'

I am pretty sure SATAII is backwards compatible with SATAI stuff. The cables should be the same (unless I am confrused).

SATAII http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI...0&Depa=1&Description=OKGEAR+18"+SATA+II+Cable

SATAI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx?Image=12-104-150-02.jpg&S7ImageFlag=0&Depa=1&Description=GENERIC+18%22+2-Head+Red+SATA+(SERIAL+ATA+150)+Cable


SATAII cables may not work with SATAI drives. I have SATAII drives on SATAI cables and I get the right speed. Does get a little confusing, SATA, SATAII, SAS, PATA...

E

 

The cables ends are different for SATA I and SATA II. I have both SATA I and II cables that came with external hdds and SATA II cable ends don't fit into SATA I ports and vice versa, unless there's an adapter of some sort that has a SATA I end and a SATA II end to be the go-between. In post #246, I posted a picture of a SATA I port. A SATA II cable won't fit into it. A device can be backwards compatible but the cable ends unfortunately aren't.

Thanks for your help Fred.
.

 

Does this help ?
http://www.satacables.com/html/sata_external_cables.html
http://www.satacables.com/html/esata-external-esata-shielded-.html
The hub sounds good -

 

Nice links Backlogic. And sorry Denise, I was thinking internal SATA drives and such, and I knew you were using some external drives...

Dang acronyms...

E

 

"Older SATA ports?" Dang . . . a year ago, they were leading edge!


Big thanks, baklogic. . . the ones above are exactly what I need. Some of my ext hdds are SATA II and my card is SATA I. If the card is bad, I'll buy a SATA II card and do the opposite . . . use the cables for my "Old" SATA I drives to connect them to the SATA II ports on the card.

If my mobo is bad, who knows, lol. . . just gotta wait and see for now. I'm going to be bringing my pc to the tech on Monday. I wanted it here for the weekend. I should know what's wrong with it by Wednesday, at the latest, hopefully.

I picked a really bad time to build this pc, didn't I, lol . . . but if I had done it 6 months earlier, I would've been kicking myself for not waiting because SATA will have come out. A lot of changes to deal with at one time though, including Windows X64. X64, by the way, has turned out pretty good. I no longer see any difference between X64 and Windows 2000XP Pro. It seems most people are using Vista at the Microsoft Forums. I don't remember where I read it but Vista X64 was really a stepping stone to Pro X64. It could be true or not . . . I don't really know.
.

 

P.S. The HUB does sound good and would solve my need for SATA ports.

Is it possible, though, for a SATA HUB to be connected via a USB 2.0 cable and still get SATA speed? Wouldn't the USB 2.0 cable slow it down to USB 2.0 speed?

I'm not sure of this info either . . . SATA I's speed is 1.5G/s and SATA II's speed is 3.0G/sec. Does anyone know if this is right? Or is it the device that will make it 1.5G/s and 3.0G/s? It had me confused when I was looking for SATA HUBs.

 

I have not got any knowledge on these cards, as I tend to hunt around until I find the motherboard I fancy, and have as much in it as I need.
It must have its own booster, or, similar, like turbo enabling inside to give the boost to give the speeds.Its worth looking into further, before jumping the gun, though, like all extras.
Yes, Sata1 is 150Mb/sec, and sata 11 is 300Mb/s.
The device writeup says it will give you the speed you need if you need 150Mb/s then you get it,if you need 300Mb/s , then it will supply that , to that device - as I said possibly by internal boosting.

 

I am running Vista x64 , and XP x32 on my other machine, and it runs perfect.

 

It all depends on what the tech finds. Since it's either the motherboard or the cpu or both, I have to wait to make any decisions. If I need a new motherboard, I'm going to buy a SATA II. If it's the cpu, I'm going to buy a dual core. If it's both . . . ugh! I think I'll have bought enough parts to have built 2 :*** computers.

I've purchased a few USB 2.0 HUBs and the ones that have no problems are the ones that have a power supply. If they need the USB 2.0 cable to provide the power, some of them have been no good. I re-read the description of the HUB that I posted here. It will get it's power through the USB 2.0 cable and, for the price, I don't want to have a problem with it. I'll keep looking around and I'll ask the tech what he thinks too. The problem that I ran into when I was looking for HUBs is that all of them are for SATA II. This was the only one that mentioned that it would work for SATA I and the fact that it would have worked with SATA II ext hdds was a plus because I have both types of ext hdds. I'm not sure if the other SATA II HUBs are backwards compatible so I have a little info gathering to do after I get my pc back from the shop and I know where I stand.

 

I brought my pc to the tech shop this morning. He wouldn't do anything while I was there and he was in a big rush to get me out of there, which I didn't like because he didn't want to hear what was done and what the tests found. I kept yakking away anyway, no matter how many times he told me that he's going to test it.

When I was explaining the backplate to him, he told me that it isn't needed. What are needed are risers to lift the motherboard off the back of the case. I could do that myself if the motherboard is still good and if he can get the heatsink fan off the cpu. He said that he's going to test it and my SATA card and will call me tomorrow morning sometime to let me know what he found.
.

 

The tech just called me. He said that he completed the check on my pc. He removed the hsf (had no problem getting it off), cpu and mobo and placed the raisers under the mobo, replaced the cpu, and it runs fast . . . nothing is wrong with the mobo or cpu. He said that there was probably a short of some sort because the mobo was lying right up against the case.

He also inserted the SATA card. I asked him if he tested it to make sure it works. He hadn't but he said he will, and I also asked him to test the voltage of the psu, as Fred recommended.

So I'll be able to pick it up sometime tomorrow morning/afternoon! :celebrate

This was really good news. As it stands right now, I'm going to keep the mobo and the cpu. :guitar Depending on how fast it runs for video files, I might want to buy a dual core cpu in the future. Hopefully, the SATA card is okay and I'll be back in business. I'm also going to ask the tech about a SATA I/SATA II HUB.

I missed being at a pc so badly (withdrawals) that I worked on my daughter's pc all day . . . got it running pretty good too! (with the help of baklogic, adrenylin and another good guy here)

I'll write another post tomorrow after I get my pc connected and have given it a good workout to let you know how it is.
.

 

That is some great news Denise!

Be sure to let us know how Gabriel acts when you get him home. Sorry I could not help you more.

"He said that there was probably a short of some sort because the mobo was lying right up against the case."

You did not have the standoffs on? That could explain some of the weird things that happened.

E

 

They never came up in the thread or in the manuals that I received with all the components. I never heard of them. I think, though, that the motherboard backplate would have risen the board up by that same amount so that I would have had to use something else besides the screws that came with the motherboard to attach it to the case. I blame it on the instructions that came with the heatsink fan or cpu because they said that if the bracket was attached to the heatsink fan, the motherboard backplate wasn't needed. In the cpu manual that I downloaded off the net, it says that the backplate was needed no matter what. If I had installed the backplate, I would have asked you guys how I could screw the motherboard to the case because the screws that I had were too short and y'all would have mentioned the risers, or standoffs, as you called them.

But at least the problem has been found and fixed. :cloud9 It's been 6 months of constant work, parts replacement, tests, etc, to try to find out what was causing the problem, and baklogic did so much research for programs to help me pinpoint the problem and for parts, and you also mentioned a few too, Fred. Hopefully it's all in the past now. The tech was pretty confident that he fixed it. :celebrate I dropped the pc off at around noon and he called me somewhere around 5, and he had already put it all back together. It took me 5 months and how many ruined parts to build it, and it took him less than 5 hours . . . sheesh! He said that the psu was a powerful one and the 2G of RAM was sufficient. I asked him about the 2 twin sticks of 512Mb RAM that I originally purchased and he said that they were a different type and wouldn't match the 2x1G that are installed, but he didn't know what the 512Mb were so I don't know how he came to that conclusion. It was something about DDR. :confused I'm going to bring them with me tomorrow so he can see what they are. I'm going to ask him about a dual core processor and a SATA HUB at the same time. :hyper I might as well get my money's worth by picking his brain a bit, and y'all know that I can come up with a lot of questions.

You guys have been so great and you've had the patience of saints, not once, not twice, but three times! Y'all deserve a big :clap and a :grouphug and a toast :wine

Thanks from the bottom of my :heart

 

Thanks for the info Denise. I now have a new question to ask myself or others now. 'Did you install the standoff's on the motherboard?' One thing I have learned as far as working on computers, it is almost always something simple. The more you learn, the more you try to complicate things.

Again, sorry I missed that. Kinda hard to 'see' stuff over the internet. Perhaps you should rename your computer to Phoenix... as it has risen.

At least a quarter of an inch.

E

 

LOL, Fred. The tech showed me the standoffs. I've never seen them before or I might have forgotten if I did, but nowhere were there any instructions to install them so I didn't, but the blame really goes to the instructions to either the heatsink fan or the cpu because the installation of the motherboard backplate was given as an option, to be installed only if the bracket wasn't attached to the heatsink fan. The cpu manual that I downloaded, and I wish that I had downloaded it when I first started to build the pc, says that it has to be installed. I think that it needs to be installed because it raises the mobo up off the back of the case. With that done, I would have had no way to screw the motherboard to the case and I would've asked you guys how I should do it and you would have told me about the standoffs. But, instead, the instructions that I was given were wrong by saying that it doesn't have to be installed so the motherboard was installed laying flat on the back of the case. Not knowing that it shouldn't do this, I thought it was fine.

Gideon Phoenix . . . a nice, strong name. I like it! Now it has to live up to it
.

 

Hi :cloud9

Well, I'm very happy. My computer runs fast!

The problem was definitely due to the fact that the motherboard was sitting directly on the side panel. It's the only change that was made and I can move a 750,000kb video file to/from any external hdd or to/from my int hdd in under 30 seconds, some as fast as 20 seconds, depending upon the drive. This is the speed that I expected from SATA.

Thanks again guys. I couldn't have asked for more from you. There are 332 posts in this thread, not counting this one. It shows you're dedication, effort, thought and strong desire to help people like me who don't know much about computers. You were great! And no smiley can come close to representing it.

 

To Gideon phoenix:drink
To all of us missing the standoffs:foolish
But, seriously , great news, , pitty we could not see the standoffs were not fitted - as Fred says , and my favourite saying,
Sometimes the obvious eludes us.

Now you have fixed the daughters, they will all be coming to you - I know, like mine do. But its a good feeling - you had everything else right. We are always learning.:major

Have a great trouble free period, now, Denise.:seeya

 

baklogic, you posted a link for a 66 for dual core processor (AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103774

Will I have to buy a new heat sink fan or can I use the one I have?

 

Dang Denise, you get the old one up and running and now you want a new one?

Your Newegg link did not work for me. If you buy a retail unit from the 'Egg it will come with the stock heatsink and fan. If you buy OEM you just get the CPU.

E

 

The old one is single core. I have a dual channel motherboard. I use my pc a lot for video files so dual core will give me the extra boost it needs. It's either that or overclocking and I don't want to do that. My pc runs fast when I'm not working videos but, when I am, it slows down again. It's not slow all the time, the way it used to be.

Thanks for the advice about "retail" and "OEM".

 

Thanks Fred_G, I have been away for a couple of days - Denise, Fred expressed my thoughts , too.......
But, we probably guessed you might sooner, or, later - When cpu comes, check the fitting, if its the same, you can probably leave the back fitting, instead of removing the motherboard - if its not.............And that lever you had problems with.....
Keep us posted ..............

 

I am a little confused when you say dual channel mobo Denise. Dual channel refers to the MHz of the RAM. Dual core is the CPU having 2 CPU's on it.

As far as speeding up your computer, The CPU would be the cheapest upgrade I would think. I was drooling over this for my PC earlier today: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103584

As far as any practical speed up for you I don't know if a dual core CPU will help or not. I have very little experience with them, but mostly I have heard they are good for multi tasking. If you are doing video rendering and want to surf the web or play music at the same time, dual core might be the way to go.

E

 

I mentioned several times that I want to buy a dual core cpu if my mobo was okay, so I don't understand why anyone's surprised. I looked into overclocking and after I read that the RAM and psu had to be adjusted also, with complex calculations, I dropped the thought right away.

The description of my motherboard says "dual channel" so I express it that way also, Fred.

I've been checking out different cpu's and I'm glad I did. I read the reviews of some and even though a cpu/hsf would be compatible with my mobo, it may be too large, physically, to fit on my mobo without covering a RAM slot. So I have to make sure of its measurements first.

I've also read that I have to be careful to not buy one that's too powerful for my mobo.

I'm not ready to do this within the next few days but I really want to order one by the end of the week. The one that I mentioned above, with the link, is one that you found for me, baklogic. I copied and pasted the link and it opens for me but I guess it doesn't open for anyone else.

Some of the cpu's come with hsf's and others don't. When I was at NewEgg, I punched in the model number of a cpu that would fit my mobo and added the words "heat sink fan" and it came up with one hit. It was only around $7.00 and the review were terrible . . . it stopped working after about a month. So I want to get a good hsf to go with the cpu. When I checked to see cpu's that come with hsf's, the makes/models of the hsf's aren't given and it could be a cheap one. So I want to buy them separately so that I'll know that I'm getting quality.

These are things that I've been looking at, not necessarily made up my mind to buy. There are a lot of suggestions about cpu's, etc, in this thread and I want to look at them too.


AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Toledo 2.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103053


ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185125


AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103774


AMD ADO4400DDBOX Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4400+ 2.3GHz Processor
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...14601&pf_rd_i=B000FU1ZMC#moreAboutThisProduct


I'm going to take my pc to the tech who put the stand-offs under my mobo. He said that he had no problem at all getting the hsf removed, and I don't think he'll charge me for 1 minute of work.

Thanks for your suggestions about the back fitting, baklogic.

 

P.S. Next is a new video card . . . a good one for watching videos . . . much needed for my hobby. (Just thought I'd warn you in advance)

 

Denise, you made me smile tonight. Your links were to CPU's and alternative coolers. That is not the Denise from months ago.

It is great to see you looking around at alternatives. Not sure which one to tell you to get, but I bet you will be wanting to over clock whatever you get in 6 months or so.

E

 

After looking at the cpu's a little more, I'm leaning towards the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Toledo 2.2GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103053

The reason is because a reviewer said that the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103774

Am I going to have to overclock any new dual core cpu that I buy? I really don't want to have to do that. Besides having to adjust the psu and the RAM, the chipset has to be adjusted. Don't want to go there, nope, uh-uh, no way!

 

you wont have to over clock it denise unless you want to . As far as videos etc dual cores run it just fine . You will want the toledo since it's socket 939 like your board (the brisbane listed is socket am2)

 

Thank you ibbonkers , , , I don't catch those little things sometimes that make a big mistake.

Would you, or someone else, let me know if the ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler that I mentioned in post #343 will be compatible with the cpu, or if there's a better one that I could use?

I'm getting there!

 

The Artic freezer pro's are a very large effort (I use the Artic freezer 7 pro on my core 2 duo), so look at the dimentions in this review.

http://techgage.com/article/arctic_cooler_freezer_64_pro/1

 

Now the height will not matter, as you have no side fan (126.5mm), but once fitted , it is tight to the ram, so if you want to upgrade any further, the stick closest to the freezer pro will be awkward, but not impossible to change .
This review shows the artic pro as as good/slightly better than a zoolman 7000cu.

 

Biostar ecommends the 8600 gts ocr for graphics (Newegg around $150)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000380048+106791921
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/vga/content.php?S_ID=4

 

The largest piece is the heat sink = 104 x 58 x 126.5 mm. I haven't measured it yet, just finally put the side panel on after the tech raised the mobo. mm to inch conversion will be a little iffy because of the fractions.

I think someone here said (or I read it somewhere) that I couldn't install 4X1G sticks of RAM because my pc couldn't use it. If that's true, I'll be ok if I can use slots 2 and 4 if the heat sink overlaps the first RAM slot. If I can't use slots 2 and 4 and have to use 1 and 3, and if the heat sink will cover the first RAM slot, I'll have to look for another one that's compatible, and smaller. This gets very involved, doesn't it?


I Googled the Zalman 7000cu, but not sure how it would match up with the Arctic Freezer since its specs don't mention H, W and L.

Zalman 7000cu:
FHS- Dimensions : 109 (L) x 109 (W) x 62 (H) mm
Fan Mate 1 : Dimensions 200 (L) X 23 (W) X 21 (H) mm
.

 

Your ram will most likely be clear of the heatsink, but, IF you decide to change , or, upgrade your ram, it will be AWKWARD to ACCess that first stick.