help! my 3ghz p4 is getting outperformed by a 1.5ghz laptop!

[bwaage]

my specs:
3.0ghz p4 with 800mhz fsb
ecs pt800ce-a mobo
512mb pc2100 ddr ram
geforce 6600 gt 128mb (agp version)
onboard sound
a few 7200rpm hard drives and a dvdrw
windows xp sp2

In 3dmark05 i get a score of 2322, which is in the bottom 5% of all 270 comparable systems.

After these results I checked out how my computer fares in Performance Test 6.1, and heres how it went:
http://img171.imageshack.us/my.php?image=perfresqx7.gif

Its a big image, but the main points are that my cpu mark, memory mark, disk mark and 2d gfx mark scores are massively lower than comparable systems. Overall passmark ratings for those systems are more than twice mine. But the real painful one is that my system even gets beaten by a toshiba laptop with a 1.5ghz mobile pentium.

It used to run pretty well; about average for its specs. But for some reason, without making any serious hardware changes other than adding on a hard drive, it now runs awful.

What should I try to do to fix it? I'm close to calling it a lost cause and just getting a new cpu/mobo/ram, but I would like to avoid spending money before I exhaust all of my options.

The sad part is that the one thing that seems to be working pretty well, the video card, would likely have to be replaced because its agp.

 

[JustaGeek]

Originally posted by: bwaage
I'm close to calling it a lost cause and just getting a new cpu/mobo/ram, but I would like to avoid spending money before I exhaust all of my options.

You've exhausted all of your options...

 

[Capitalizt]

Reinstalling XP = instant 100% speed boost

🙂

 

[bwaage]

Originally posted by: Capitalizt
Reinstalling XP = instant 100% speed boost

🙂

I did it a little over a month ago, so that shouldn't be the problem. I've also updated all drivers, defragged most of my hard drives and updated my bios.

 

[JustaGeek]

512MB of RAM is holding you back - you need at least 1GB today.

But... I had an HP Pavilion with 2.6GHz P4 w/ HT, 1.5GB of DDR 2700 memory and 7800GS AGP.

And... the only option to speed it up was to go for the ASRock 775Dual-VSTA and C2D E6600, allowing me to keep the otherwise sufficient 7800GS.

As I've said before... just build a new rig!

 

[bwaage]

I realize I dont have a lot of ram and that my system is really outdated. I generally dont mind, since the most ill do with it is play a little bf2 or world of warcraft, but even those things are basically unplayable now.

I'm not looking for superb performance here, I just want it to perform like a system with these specs should.

 

[dclive]

What malware and AV products do you have?

 

[daveybrat]

The biggest reason your system is running so slow is the choice of motherboard and ram you used.

Your P4 3.0GHz processor is being strangled. It uses a front side bus of 800MHz, and the ram you are using is 266MHz. Your motherboard doesnt' support dual channel ddr either.

800MHz FSB being fed by 266MHz ram is a huge bottleneck for that cpu. Only thing that would cure that would be to get 2 512MB PC3200 sticks of ram and a socket 478 motherboard that supports dual-channel memory. You'd then see a nice boost.

But since that's a lot of work and money, you're better off just upgrading your setup to something newer. Just make sure you run it by us to make sure everything is up to speed.

 

[pstylesss]

Originally posted by: daveybrat
The biggest reason your system is running so slow is the choice of motherboard and ram you used.

Your P4 3.0GHz processor is being strangled. It uses a front side bus of 800MHz, and the ram you are using is 266MHz. Your motherboard doesnt' support dual channel ddr either.

800MHz FSB being fed by 266MHz ram is a huge bottleneck for that cpu. Only thing that would cure that would be to get 2 512MB PC3200 sticks of ram and a socket 478 motherboard that supports dual-channel memory. You'd then see a nice boost.

But since that's a lot of work and money, you're better off just upgrading your setup to something newer. Just make sure you run it by us to make sure everything is up to speed.

He's right. I would upgrade your ram to 2x512 DDR400. Head on over to the FS/T thread, you should be able to find something for a decent price. Ram is pretty cheap right now, but DDR is still more expensive than DDR2, however DDR ram is still cheaper than a new rig.

You'll see a HUGE increase with more ram at a higher speed.

edit: and I think moving to dual channel would be negligible difference for every day use, but you would notice a difference in gaming.