Why is it so slow???

[Juice Box]

Hey guys, i just got dome building my new computer, and it doesnt seem all that fast. It has:
AMD XP 3000+Barton
512mb PC3200 GEIL RAM
DFI Lan Party NFII Ultra
Alien Xpire case w/ 6 fans
Coolermaster Aero 7 Lite PSU fan

So, i installed windows, then went on to putting a few games on there, and the installation seemed the same speed as my older, worse computer. Is there something i may have done wrong during installation which couldve caused this? Also, upon boot every time, it wants to create a RAID thing, and asks me on every boot up, since i have no RAID devices, i of couse say no, but would really like this to not show up. If anybody has any info on my problem, please let me know. Also one last thing, the audio on the mobo i guess doesnt work or something. The only sound i get if from a wierd sounding thing in the front of my case that beeps when i perform windows operations. I hope this can be solved, and I hope i can get my new computer running up to speed. (I looked at my temp all of today, and it hovered right around 28 C all day.) Thanks a bunch?!

 

[Ionizer86]

Did you install the nForce Forceware drivers?
What kind of hard drive are you using?
Did you disable raid if you can via the board?
Describe your older "worse" computer.

Btw while you're at it you may want to reformat again, installing these right after windows install. These are the nforce drivers, and they're essential to making your pc work right and to make the sound work.

 

[StraightPipe]

Welcome to Anandtech!


if your getting flagged about SCSI you probly dont have something right on your HD. (likley jumpers : ) )
usually the only way to stop messages in your bios is to fix the problem. (are the HD's on the mobo's IDE line ? or on some PCI card)

as far as slow, you need to elaborate, what games, what kind of vid card (vid card in old system too) have you run any benchmarks?

I just re-read your post, looks like you mean the game installation was slow. this is going to be limited by one of a few parts in your PC. most likley is one of the 2 drives that was transfering data (either your CD drive or your hard drive) if these are the same components from your old system it would make perfect sense that it feels "the same".
an upgraded CPU wont usually make install faster. while adding more RAM can really speed up loading times.

 

[DWW]

Alien Xpire case w/ 6 fans

Reason why its so slow is cause you need more fans. Six, is that all? Cmon, at least add four more, and put a racing sticker on it and some nos.

 

[ThatDumbGuy]

Ensure that you have:
A) Disable the RAID in your BIOS...

B) Installed the latest drivers for your motherboard (the nvidia nforce drivers can be found at their website), and other devices that you have (Video Card, etc)

C) Installed updates from windows updates (Look up, click tools, windows update)

I would say a reinstallation of Windows is unnecessary, unless you REALLY can't solve your problems in more than a couple hours (which is what it takes, on average, to set windows up, apply any settings you want, etc).

And you probably aren't having any HD problems. Just need to disable the RAID function in the BIOS, like I said. (RAID arrays are usually treated as SCSI devices, or something like that).

Game installation will be slow with pretty much anything you have, CD-ROM and Hard Drives really haven't ramped up in speeds near what Memory/Chipsets/Processors have. And the games have only gotten bigger.

Good luck to ya.

EDIT: If you do continue to have problems for some reason, please be abit more specific with the components of your system, it will help the troubleshooting out some.

 

[Juice Box]

Ok, to answer your questions, i have not yet applied the n force drivers. My old computer had a P4 1.6 Ghz with 256 mb SDRAM and a WD 40 gig HD. My new comp has a WD 80 gig and a 20 gig of same type. Because of the IDE cable length which came with my mobo, i was forced to put the 2 HDs on the primary IDE and then my 2 cdroms on the secondary. I am not quite sure what the error is while booting, but it says every time, to configure blah blah blah, hig Cntrl+H, then waits 10 sec, then goes somewhere else, and waits for a boot disk or somthing of that nature, then goes into windows. How do i disable RAID if im not going to use it, and would this be smart? Disable SATA,?? dont know! I guess thats it, i mainly play 1stPS like UT2k3, AA, CS, etc. well, i hope this is a little more detailed and that you can help me.
thanks!

 

[ThatDumbGuy]

You can disable SATA entirely, in your BIOS (usually found by holding delete upon turning your computer on), if you aren't using any SATA drives. Or you might have the option to just disable the RAID function of the SATA, if you would prefer.

 

[Ionizer86]

By slow, do the games run slow or does installation go slow? If the cdrom isn't upgraded it'll be pretty much the same speed, while the drive is faster than the old one, especially if it has 8MB cache.

BTW you'll want to install the nForce drivers ASAP.

 

[StraightPipe]

get the drivers if you havent already, but since your not using an RAID drives (you would know if you where) you definately DO need to disable this in bios, you can always re-enable it later if you decide to go RAID.

 

[Juice Box]

ok, and her is something that may or may not affect the performance. I was told that IDES should be on different thigns. For isntance the primary should have a Hard Drive and a cd rom in stead of two hard drives. Because the IDE cables that the mobo came with were so small, i was forced to connect the 2 HDs to the primary and then the 2 cd roms to the secondary. I was wondering if i bought 2 36" cables, if they would reach. ( my case http://www.3dxtreme.org/Aspire_X-Alien_p4.shtml ) (site with 36" IDE http://store.yahoo.com/svcompucycle...6--dual-device-ata-100-133-round-cables-.html ) If you think this may work or if it is worth my time, please let me know, and thanks, ill have to look into how to disable RAID and get that going tomorrow. thanks!

 

[Ionizer86]

Have both hard drives on one cable and opticals on another. It's fine with modern ATA standards.

 

[ThatDumbGuy]

I wouldn't go for a 36" cable. Too long according to spec's, unless I've smoked too much crack today. Can someone confirm that? But anways...

Another option (and the best one, IMO) is to just buy a cheap ATA-100 or 133 controller card from the for sale forum, have someone include an IDE cable (if one isn't included), which shouldn't be a problem as most hardware enthusiasts could build a house out their stash of them. Then put each HD on a seperate channel, and keep your opticals on one. You wouldn't be paying much more than the price of a cable and shipping.

 

[eofeapr]

Also check MOBO manual and make sure there is no jumper for the SATA option

 

[JBT]

Originally posted by: eofeapr
Also check MOBO manual and make sure there is no jumper for the SATA option

Yes My Asus A7N8X DLX has a jumper to disable SATA which Is what I am guessing is what is causeing the hold up when booting. One of the first things you should have done was install the motherboards drivers right after installing SP1. Hello major perforamnce killer right there.

 

[Juice Box]

ok, i installed the drivers, but i may need to install SP1 first, so ill do that. I found what it wants when i bot up, it wants to configure RAID devices, which i have none, so i cant do anything there. (It wants me to hit Cntrl+H) I looked in the BIOS (Pheonix AWARD BIOS) and did not see anything about disabling RAID and/or SATA. If anyone knows how i should do this, please let me know.

 

[Submit]

digitalsnare, I am not trying to be funny here, but have you read the users manual which came with the motherboard? It will explain all the bios options which should solve you RAID issue, as well as it will instruct what drivers to install which should solve your problem with sound and performance.

 

[ThatDumbGuy]

The 2 bottom lines in your Genie BIOS are:
-Serial ATA Control
-HP372N RAID Control

I looked this up in the manual provided by DFI's website, so look abit closer.

BTW, I had no idea that you hade IDE Raid on your board. This opens up a couple more options on your IDE drives:

Scenario A:
Have a total of 2 80pin IDE cables, and 2 40 or 80 pin connectors: Connect your Main Hard Drive to IDE 3 (The first RAID channel). Connect your Secondary Hard Drive on IDE 4 (Your second RAID channel). Connect one optical device to IDE 1 (your primary master), and the other to IDE 2 (secondary master). Make sure that you set your first boot device to IDE RAID or whatever setting you have.

Scenario B: Abit simpler, but not as much THEORETICAL performance (i.e, if you were burning CD to CD without copying the files to the hard drive first).
Have a total of 2 80pin IDE cables, and 1 40 or 80 pin connector: Place your main (boot) drive as the Primary Master in IDE 1. Place your secondary hard drive as Master in IDE 3. Place one of your optical drives as Secondary Master, and the other as Secondary Slave, on IDE 2.

Note that both options above mean keeping that annoying raid screen. But, you will gain performance.

 

[ThatDumbGuy]

You don't necessarily have to install SP1 first, either, it is just preferred, especially because there are problems with USB 2.0 on pre-SP1 Machines. So, installing updated drivers after SP1 has enabled USB 2.0 is your best bet. But it shouldn't be a huge deal. Just install them when ya can.