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why is my dual-core running slower than my single core?

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I recently upgraded my AMD Athlon 64 3200+ to an AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core 4200+ processor.

There does not seem to be any increase in the speed of my computer at all, in fact it seems to maybe be even running slower.

why is this?

btw when I received my processor it had fallen out of the package and was sitting around in the styrofoam packaging peanuts.

my brother told me that windows XP has no use for dual-core processors and that may be the reason why my computer isnt running any faster

Add a reply

1.) your brother is dumb.
2.) XP is perfectly capable of using multiple cores
3.) What motherboard do you have?
4.) did you update the BIOS?
5.) in task manager, does it show 2 cpu graphs?

Reply to skittle

no it only shows 1 CPU graph in task manager

no i didnt update the BIOS, could you help me?

I have a socket 939 motherboard

Reply to quitoman

Did you re-install windows?
Did you install AMD's dual core optimizer?

Reply to nightscope

yeah, your going to have to update your BIOS if you want to use both cores. you dont have to reinstall windows...

what motherboard do you have?

Reply to skittle

im not sure what motherboard i have

I have a emachines T6212 if u want to find out what kind of motherboard it has

how do i update BIOS to get both cores working?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to quitoman

go to the motherboard manufaturer website and look for the info you need there.
also
when upgrading, do the research before you get the parts and you will suffer less aggrivation and frustration.
especialy if you have a factory built PC.
good luck.

Message edited by firetatoo on 11-24-2007 at 03:19:32 AM

------------------------------ To comfort the afflicted, to afflict the comfortable.
Reply to firetatoo

Updating the bios won't make windows recognize both cores. If you want to get optimal performance from your upgrade, re-installing windows would certainly help.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to nightscope

Reinstall windows. Tell your brother to do research

------------------------------ It's a theater of love stories.
Reply to itotallybelieveyou

how do i reinstall windows?

i dont have a windows XP disk

Reply to quitoman

nightscope wrote :

Updating the bios won't make windows recognize both cores. If you want to get optimal performance from your upgrade, re-installing windows would certainly help.

what... are you like 10 years old and never had a 939 motherboard? Its painfully obvious thats his problem.

Reply to skittle

Find out the BIOS manufacturer and go to their website and look for your motherboard, your going to need to call emachines or get a utility that finds that out. There might be an update for your motherboard to support the two core; if not, tough luck. It might be impossible then. Reinstalling windows might be the way to do it, I'm not sure, I've heard that you can just fix it with a driver.

Reply to starcraftfanatic

Yeah, your going to have to find out exactly what motherboard you have.

Reply to skittle

i've been looking around all over the internet trying to find my exact motherboard and i cant. i dont think there is an update for my BIOS. if i perform a full system restore will that reinstall windows XP?

anyway i went into my BIOS and reset to factory settings and now in the task manager there are 2 CPU charts, but after running a CPU speed test i got the same results

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to quitoman

what tests did you run?

having 2 charts means windows correctly identified your chip as a dualcore.

Reply to skittle

Even if you update the bios and windows still does not recognize both cores, then re-installing windows will help. Updating the bios alone without a re-install might not work.

Reply to nightscope

Performance Test v6.1

Reply to quitoman

install Windows XP SP2

------------------------------ Intel Quad 2 Core Q6600 @ 3.20Ghz FSB @ 356 MHz, 1.288 voltage, multiplier @ 9x
Master Cooler Eclipse cooler
GA-P35-DS3L rev 1.0 BIOS Ver F8a
2Gb Patriot Extreme memory DDR2-800 at 890
Reply to boner

quitoman wrote :

How about opening up the case and looking in at the motherboard itself??? They usually say a model number and manufacturer in white letters.

Reply to vinman

I'm pretty sure a windows re-install will fix this problem.

Reply to nightscope

have you tried a program like everest to find out the make and model of the mobo?

------------------------------ To comfort the afflicted, to afflict the comfortable.
Reply to firetatoo

Use cpu-z to find out what kind of motherboard you have. Update your BiOS and download and install Amd's Dual core optimizer.

1) BIOS update
2) Reinstall windows (optional, but always good coz windows gets bogged down, although you said you don't have a disc.)
3) Install the AMD dual core optimizer (not optional )

Reply to randomizer

you guys know the dual core optimizer is just an application specific hotfix right? ... and mostly just for older games...

If you have two graphs in task manager... your cpu should be running normally.

Reply to skittle

Should, but it isn't (or so he says).

And yes, I know it's only for older apps. But that benchmark could be one of those apps, and it can't hurt to install it anyway.

Reply to randomizer

yes a bios update should do it but my memory fails me, if toms had a half decent search facility i would suggest that as it has been discussed an unreal amount of times. It also may have something to do with updating the HAL i believe so that it allows dual cores instead of one which sometimes happens. Re-instaling windows probably would solve it but it is not needed, just re adjust the options in windows itself.

a google search may provide more answers, sorry best i can do.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ I'm a git, deal with it.

Antec 1200,PC Power & Cooling 750,Gigabyte DS4-x48,Intel Q9550@3.4 W/Xigmatek S1283,8GB OCZ DDR2 800,ATI 4870X2,X-FI>CA 640C amp>Tannoy R300/Senn 595's
Reply to Strangestranger

Well, if he has two cpu graphs.. and in device manager it shows two processors... then its not a problem of windows detecting both cores.

I for one suspect that there is no issue... he just hasnt tried any multitasking or heavily threaded applications. Solitaire isnt going to suddenly get a 200% boost in fps

Message edited by skittle on 11-25-2007 at 12:38:38 AM

Reply to skittle

Strangestranger wrote :

if toms had a half decent search facility i would suggest that as it has been discussed an unreal amount of times.

The search is much better than before. The old forum required you to be exactly correct or it found nothing :sarcastic:

Reply to randomizer

quitoman wrote :

im not sure what motherboard i have

I have a emachines T6212 if u want to find out what kind of motherboard it has

how do i update BIOS to get both cores working?

Here's the support page for downloads for that E-Machines:

http://www.emachines.com/support/p [...] odel=T6212

I wouldn't recommend the bios without backing the old one up, otherwise if you make a mistake, you'll have to send the motherboard back for them to flash the bios.

I'd actually thought that most Emachines PCs weren't CPU upgradeable as they didn't provide support, but would prefer that customers just buy another PC.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to yipsl

Hi everone.i have the same problem with my Dual core,my earlier Pc Is a Celeron d331 with 2Gb ram and my new pc is a Pentium dual core e5200 with 2 Gb ram,and i don;t know why XP is verryy slow in my Dual core,and is much much smother on my Old celeron? can someone tall me why?somebody tall me becouse my eam isn't dedicated to my e5200,my ram i use in the dual core is 677Mhz ddr2,do yopu think that's the problem?

Reply to Anonymous

yipsl wrote :

Good to see you here yipsl.Some of them are.My brother gave me a
eMachines T 6420 model CPU socket 939 that used a MSI motherboard and it was upgradable.
Not worth it to upgrade the CPU now but still a worthwhile PC for using on the Internet,watching videos,burning DVD's,older games etc.I did put a discrete ATI Radeon 3650 PCI graphics card on it though.

Reply to jj463rd

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