Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe seems slow?

[NokiaDude]

I just put together an Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe setup this past week.

AMD64 3200+ (Winchester)
2x512mb DDR400 Corsair TWINX-3200XL RAM
Western Digital WD2500JB ATA100 HD
Asus Geforce 6800NU 256mb 350/700

I'm currently using the Marvell networking chip because I heard it uses less CPU resources. Or should I be using the nVidia solution? I've noticed that my computer feels liek an AMD Barton 2500+ system in the Windows XP desktop. Windows freeze for a couple of seconds when doing alot of stuff but it doesn't have that "zip" that a new computer should have. Is it the outdated HD I'm using? I checked my device manager and I have all the latest drivers installed and the 1006 BIOS.

 

[Nocturnal]

Originally posted by: NokiaDude
I just put together an Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe setup this past week.

AMD64 3200+ (Winchester)
2x512mb DDR400 Corsair TWINX-3200XL RAM
Western Digital WD2500JB ATA100 HD
Asus Geforce 6800NU 256mb 350/700

I'm currently using the Marvell networking chip because I heard it uses less CPU resources. Or should I be using the nVidia solution? I've noticed that my computer feels liek an AMD Barton 2500+ system in the Windows XP desktop. Windows freeze for a couple of seconds when doing alot of stuff but it doesn't have that "zip" that a new computer should have. Is it the outdated HD I'm using? I checked my device manager and I have all the latest drivers installed and the 1006 BIOS.

I actually built a system very similar to yours and I came from a 2500+ Barton system as well. It does indeed FEEL the same exact as my Barton system. I do not feel any performance difference than what I had with my Barton and I have a 74GB Raptor too.

 

[hchu]

Surely you didn't upgrade just to have a zippier desktop?

 

[NokiaDude]

No, al my games run at above 60FPS with max settings. I just expected with a much more powerful system, XP shouldn't freeze or "hiccup" at all.

 

[NokiaDude]

Okay, I found the performance stealing culprit. It's Windows DEP. In SP2, Microsoft added the "Data Execute Protection" feature that CPU natively support in 64-bit OS'es as a software emulated feature. Because our CPU's do not support the NX bit that would do the DEP hardware side on a 32bit OS, my computer is taking a huge performance hit (about 30%). Another guy with a similar setup to mine turned off DEP by editing the boot.ini file. Search for "disable windows dep" in google.

 

[NokiaDude]

With DEP disabled this rig is BLAZING fast. I can play a DVD while having 5 Firefox windows open playing music and copying a CD to the HD. Without a hitch!

 

[steamnputer]

describe blazing fast please.

 

[sxr7171]

Originally posted by: NokiaDude
With DEP disabled this rig is BLAZING fast. I can play a DVD while having 5 Firefox windows open playing music and copying a CD to the HD. Without a hitch!

Has your bootup improved?




BTW, you can't call yourself Nokiadude and not list your phones in your sig.

 

[ahurtt]

Originally posted by: NokiaDude
Okay, I found the performance stealing culprit. It's Windows DEP. In SP2, Microsoft added the "Data Execute Protection" feature that CPU natively support in 64-bit OS'es as a software emulated feature. Because our CPU's do not support the NX bit that would do the DEP hardware side on a 32bit OS, my computer is taking a huge performance hit (about 30%). Another guy with a similar setup to mine turned off DEP by editing the boot.ini file. Search for "disable windows dep" in google.

Are you sure there isn't a typo here? Are you saying you're running Win XP 32 bit or Win x64? I thought with win x64 that DEP was supported native by the CPU and it was emulated by software on Win XP 32 bit. When you say, "Because our CPU's do not support the NX bit that would do the DEP hardware side on a 32bit OS," did you actually mean "64bit OS?" As I understood I thought DEP would be emulated on win xp 32 and hardware enabled on Win x64. Was that a typo or do I have it backwards. Are you saying that if I have win x64 I should disable the DEP and leave it on only if I'm running XP SP2 32-bit?

 

[NokiaDude]

I'm running the 32bit Windows XP SP2. You are correct, DEP is emulated on XP 32bit and hard accelerated on XP 64bit. If you have XP 32bit, disable it, if you're running XP 64bit, leave it on default.

 

[Nocturnal]

Can you post a link to which guide you used to turn off DEP? I don't want to use the wrong one and screw my system up completely. Thank you.

 

[Waylay00]

I would be interested too.

 

[Rudee]

To disable DEP (Data Execution Prevention) for Windows XP Service Pack 2, follow these instructions:

1. Open "System" control panel
2. Click "Advanced"
3. In the "Startup and Recovery" section, click "Settings"
4. In the "System Startup" section, you will see "To edit the startup options file manually, click Edit" - click the "Edit" button
5. A text file will open in Notepad, looking like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

6. Note the last item:

NoExecute=OptIn
Change this to
NoExecute=AlwaysOff

Be sure to observe spacing and case, and do not change anything else.
7. Save the changes and close Notepad, and the other control panels
8. Reboot

 

[NokiaDude]

Hmm, I guess I'm wrong on this one. My old AMD 2500+ is using DEP by default and it says it's not hardware supported. And it's just as fast as my new computer. I re-enabled DEP on my computer and the little note saying it wasn't supported by my processor is gone. I guess DEP isn't the culprit. It's most likely this old WD2500JB. I'll pick up an SATA Seagate drive with the cool NCQ feature. Hopefully my computer will be as fast as it should be.

 

[ahurtt]

Meh. .. I wouldn't bother with the NCQ drive. And whatever you do, don't buy a Maxtor for this motherboard.

 

[steamnputer]

Originally posted by: NokiaDude
Hmm, I guess I'm wrong on this one. My old AMD 2500+ is using DEP by default and it says it's not hardware supported. And it's just as fast as my new computer. I re-enabled DEP on my computer and the little note saying it wasn't supported by my processor is gone. I guess DEP isn't the culprit. It's most likely this old WD2500JB. I'll pick up an SATA Seagate drive with the cool NCQ feature. Hopefully my computer will be as fast as it should be.

I am confused now nokia are you saying that disabling DEP did not do you any good on the SLI? or did you mean on your old computer?

steamnputer

 

[luky]

no problems with maxtor any more