A64 performs like P233

[Spikesoldier]

i dont come here for help much but this ones got me stumped. thats what this forum is for right?

anyway lets start off with the specs

A64 3000+ (939 winchester)
ePox 9NDA3J (nf3 ultra)
1GB (2x 512MB pc3200) samsung original (05 wk11, SS)
XFX 6600GT AGP
enermax 465w PSU
2hd/2optical drives
3 pci cards

the situation:

ATM i am running completely stock and i am getting horrible performance, i cant play a DVD without it skipping, or a music video or something without it dropping frames.

games are like a slideshow, and multitasking is a joke.

i have ruled out spyware or anything else as I have performed a fresh install of XP and it sitll is a stick in the mud, it took lke 5 minutes for windows update to scan the computer for updates.

im sure its not hte hard drives as i moved almost 50GB of information backing up one of my drives before i put a new XP installation on a partition i had.

this all happened after I:

switched CPU heatsink (stock to zalman CNPS 7000A ALCU)
(had to take the motherboard out to install)
switched GPU heatsink (stock to zalman VF-700 ALCU)
switched chipset heatsink (stock to zalman northbridge HS)
swithced ram (1 DS 512 stick to 2 SS 512 sticks)
and took the CPU out ONCE.

it is not an overclocking problem, as whether i run 1800MHz or 2502MHz it still acts like a pentium 2 or something rediculous like that.

i get 32C under load according to MBM5 (stock, more like 46 with voltage increase)
i am for sure that it makes good contact with the core as that HS is screwed real tight on it.

the ram memtests all day even at 233MHz, im sure its not the ram unless being single sided is bad.

im heavily leaning towards my CPU being the problem here, i was feeding it 1.6v for about 2 months. if tis because of that id just order another one, thats not a problem. just want to see if you guys know what might be at fault here.

thanks in advance guys

 

[3chordcharlie]

Sounds like you don't have dma modes enabled on your optical and hard drives.

(though to be honest, even then video should be smooth on a system that powerful).

If windows detects instability (possible under overclocking) or dma errors, it disables dma for the affected drive(s). It's worth a look, anyway.

 

[Spikesoldier]

dma5 and dma2 respictively for my pri/sec channels =

really stumped, and what sucks is taht i dont have any spare parts to experiement with.

just to clarify that the overclock is 100% stable, i have never gotten a BSOD with it. just all of a sudden after i put all the stuff in it runs like crap.

 

[mechBgon]

1) was the system kept firewalled 100% of the way through the build & update process? Worms can find and infect a WinXP SP0 or SP1 system very fast on broadband, you need firewall protection from the get-go.

2) did you install your nVidia chipset-driver package? http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_udp_winxp_5.10 If not, then install those, install DirectX 9 (or SP2, contains DX9), and reinstall your video-card drivers, with reboots as needed.

 

[Spikesoldier]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
1) was the system kept firewalled 100% of the way through the build & update process? Worms can find and infect a WinXP SP0 or SP1 system very fast on broadband, you need firewall protection from the get-go.

2) did you install your nVidia chipset-driver package? http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_udp_winxp_5.10 If not, then install those, install DirectX 9 (or SP2, contains DX9), and reinstall your video-card drivers, with reboots as needed.

yes and yes. i started off with the new XP installation with XP SP2, DX9c, nvidia unified forceware, and newest detonator drivers as well. i made sure everything worked great, as a matter of fact its so much to my liking that i imaged it as well (4.6GB, fits on a DVDR)

im totally stumped here.

it was a PERFECTLY fine and working installation before the other day when i went under that list of changes.

 

[mechBgon]

If you have any low-RPM fans sending RPM signals to the motherboard (the PSU, the Zalman, or case fans), try not. Power them straight from the PSU. I've seen some unusual behaviors with some mobos and low-RPM fans.

Also, I assume you've checked already, but make sure your video card's power cable is firmly plugged in and seated. I have the same card, and it doesn't take much to pull the cable out of the socket on mine.

 

[ViRGE]

A couple of suggestions:

1) Bring up the task manager and see if anything is eating an extraordinary amount of CPU time

2) Run Prime95 in benchmark mode so we can isolate the CPU and see if it really is a CPU problem, as opposed to say a malfunctioning video driver(my A64 rig has a similar issue when I don't install ATI's drivers just right, with all video acceleration off it kills the CPU when doing anything graphical).

 

[Spikesoldier]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
If you have any low-RPM fans sending RPM signals to the motherboard (the PSU, the Zalman, or case fans), try not. Power them straight from the PSU. I've seen some unusual behaviors with some mobos and low-RPM fans.

Also, I assume you've checked already, but make sure your video card's power cable is firmly plugged in and seated. I have the same card, and it doesn't take much to pull the cable out of the socket on mine.

if you mean by running them using a fan mate (basically an adjustable knob) no im not running them like that. since i was overclocking i am running them at full-tilt, ~2700RPM

i dont have any 3->4 pin adapters, ill check that out.

and yes its plugged in, on its own rail too

 

[wisdomtooth]

Spikesoldier:

You can methodically cycle through your components-- Disconnect one component at a time and see if performance improves. If it is a hardware problem, this is how you isolate it.

HTH.

 

[Spikesoldier]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
A couple of suggestions:

1) Bring up the task manager and see if anything is eating an extraordinary amount of CPU time

2) Run Prime95 in benchmark mode so we can isolate the CPU and see if it really is a CPU problem, as opposed to say a malfunctioning video driver(my A64 rig has a similar issue when I don't install ATI's drivers just right, with all video acceleration off it kills the CPU when doing anything graphical).

1) already thought of that, i have UD agent running in the background. its a stick in the mud too, over 2 hours of CPU time and like 2% done. usually 2 hours would be like maybe 30-50% done depending if i used the computer heavily. it uses the 'spare' CPU clocks according to taskmgr. however when i run like powerdvd, the utiliazation is rediculous, like 50% or so, when it should be absolutely less than 10% at all times, and even it chokes on some high action complex scenes.

2) ill give that a shot, however i ran SANDRA on a whim and both my cpu and memory scores are horribly low..thinking its the motherboard now.

 

[Spikesoldier]

Originally posted by: wisdomtooth
Spikesoldier:

You can methodically cycle through your components-- Disconnect one component at a time and see if performance improves. If it is a hardware problem, this is how you isolate it.

HTH.

i dont have any spare parts to swap out.

this is the only ram, mobo, cpu and video card i have.

believe me, if i had another s939 cpu or board etc, i would have been all over it.

 

[wisdomtooth]

You CAN swap your RAM-- You do have two DIMMs. Take one out at a time.

You can also disconnect your PCI cards, one of your HDs at a time, and one of your ODDs at a time.

At least you will be able to eliminate those as culprits.

HTH.

 

[Spikesoldier]

Originally posted by: wisdomtooth
You CAN swap your RAM-- You do have two DIMMs. Take one out at a time.

You can also disconnect your PCI cards, one of your HDs at a time, and one of your ODDs at a time.

At least you will be able to eliminate those as culprits.

HTH.

i have already tried this, just forgot to mention.

i do a 'testbench' runs outside of the case before i commit to screwing everything in, just to make sure it works beforehand. unfortunately, it didnt. its running on an antistatic bag on my side desk, with only my main hard drive and all my cards, but i did a test with just the video.

ill try to pull out a stick of ram real quick, although it passed memtest with flying colors even at 233MHz.