Where is my bottle neck?

[FDF12389]

This is my system:

AMD Sempron 64 2800+ Palermo 800MHz FSB 256KB L2 Cache Socket 754 1.6Ghz (@ 2.32Ghz)
JetWay 754GT nForce4 Motherboard
GeIL 1GB (2x512) 2-3-3-6 @ 465mhz
Seagate 160GB SATA HD
EVGA 6600GT

My pre-game loading times are pretty slow. I had the mobo given to me, and I already had the ram and hardrive, so I bought the processor and video card to have a cheap gaming system for my little brother. So I am happy with the machine because it cost so little, but I would like to be able to load games a little faster. Is the single channel ram killing me? Or is it the small L2 cache on the sempron? Is it the cheap mobo? What to I need to replace in order to play the latest games? I usually dont play many games but HL2 and Swat4 have me hooked right now. I realize S754 is dead, show I throw any more money into it?

 

[SonicIce]

You got latest drivers etc? The system looks good, nice overclock. I can't find a review for your motherboard, but it looks good from the specs. I don't see why it would load slow. Be more specific on where and when it loads slow. I would say your system is well-equipped for some fun medium resolution gaming. If you were going to spend money on anything, I would upgrade the videocard.

 

[FDF12389]

Yes all my drivers are updated. Its specificly slow when loading levels on games, right before you enter the actual gameplay. On HL2 it takes a forever to move on to new sections.

 

[suszterpatt]

Dual channel RAM would definately help, but that would involve getting a new mobo/CPU. I wouldn't put any more money into this system, if you want to upgrade, you better do a complete overhaul.

 

[Phluxed]

Originally posted by: suszterpatt
Dual channel RAM would definately help, but that would involve getting a new mobo/CPU. I wouldn't put any more money into this system, if you want to upgrade, you better do a complete overhaul.

 

[RSMemphis]

Dual channel is not going to help with load times.

Load times can be affected by two things:
1. Not enough memory, and you hit the page file a lot. 1 Gig is good, so check how many programs are running in the background when starting HL2. That could be one problem.
2. Harddisk not running correctly, like in DMA mode. You can check for that in Control Panel/System/Device Manager/Discs and then the second tab.

HL2 load times are pretty crappy, tho. I guess more memory can help.

 

[FDF12389]

Well I dont have many programs running in the background, Just:

Trend micro PC Cillian
MS anti Spyware
Zone labs personal FW
Sometimes Sun Micro Star Office 8
Sometimes Firefox with a few tabs

Other than that I keep it clean. Its not my main computer, my school supplies me with a iBook G4. This system is just for me and my brother to play a few games on. But my other computer(listed below) seems to load games faster than the one listed in OP, which seems weird to me.

Athlon XP Tbred B 1.8ghz @ 2.16ghz
Asrock ktv600 ultra(name prolly not exact)
2x512mb kingston value ram
Wester digital WD800 80gb
ATI 9200

I am gonna swap out hard drives tonight and see if my hard drive is causing the problem.

 

[acole1]

maby the sempron cpu... but i would probably think its more software related than hardware related. is it just these games? and how long is the "pause" when loading a game/moving sections? make sure all the ram is being recognized by windows and your page file is on auto set (for now). have you tried stock clocks and seeing if it works any better? if your used to a lot faster system it might just be your not used to it.....

just some thoughts.

 

[suszterpatt]

Originally posted by: RSMemphis
Dual channel is not going to help with load times.

Load times can be affected by two things:
1. Not enough memory, and you hit the page file a lot. 1 Gig is good, so check how many programs are running in the background when starting HL2. That could be one problem.
2. Harddisk not running correctly, like in DMA mode. You can check for that in Control Panel/System/Device Manager/Discs and then the second tab.

HL2 load times are pretty crappy, tho. I guess more memory can help.

Isn't the entire point of dual channel to double data throughput? Or are hard drive hard drive data speeds too low for this to take effect?

 

[FDF12389]

Ive already tried stock speeds, and I havnt timed the pause but its probably like 20-30 secs to move on to a new HL2 section. I know this machine can do better because my S462 system does it faster.