Hello people.  
 
I just recently built a pretty cheap machine to "test" Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit) as the operating system.
 
I currently have an AMD Athlon 64 LE-1600, thinking I could get away with it for playing older games, but to my displeasure, the frame rates are pretty slow. (Especially compared to the XP machine I have with similar specs. It runs smooth on high settings btw.)
 
Can this be due to the processor being too weak for Vista?
(I've seen its usage go up to 50% just from moderate scrolling.)
If this is the case, there is a Brisbane 4600+ on newegg for 66 dollars, that I am willing to buy.
 
Maybe you guys could find me a deal on some other website(s) besides newegg?  
Also, could this be due to bad drivers from Nvidia for the 9600GT I currently have?
I also have 2 gigabytes of RAM just in case you wanted to know if that's a problem aswell.
 
_________
Thank you.

If you have a Fry's near you check the Sunday newspaper adverts for cpu/mb combo's.
I picked up a few AMD 6000+ and crappy ECS MB's for $154 USD...after putting the CPU in the trunk of the car I went back inside and returned the P.O.S. ECS MB's for a refund.
AMD 6000+ cost ended up $111 USD each.
 
Also use XP as Vista is a joke with it's DRM and RAM hog ways.
Everything...everything!....will run faster on XP,no driver issues and it will take alot less RAM.
 

That's a single core 2.2GHz.  It is very likely that it is limiting your system.  I also heard that Vista can be a ram hog.  How much of your physical memory is currently being used?

Or, if you feel like spending $20 more and already have a cooler, this thing is a steal.  I just grabbed it Friday.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103242

I got a comp that runs vista on a socket939 3000+@2.1ghz and 1GB.
Surfing the internet and regular media/office application work great. Anything else will need 2GB of ram and a dual core.

Theres also no reason to get that cpu as the 5000+BE will OC to 3.2GHZ

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Can you post your full specs? It might be more than the CPU.

Yeah its your cpu. Vista will run on a single core (even a slow turion 2ghz with 384 mb of ram, which is my laptop) but its much better on a dual core. You're lucky because you can just throw in a brisbane dual core and you'll be fine, but since you're a gamer, I would second tekzor's advice and get the 5000+ BE because you can overclock it.
I would check the drivers on your graphics cards, nvidia and ati seem to release the card well before the drivers. You may want to check out the omega drivers, (omegadrivers.net) They bumped up my gaming graphics score by .3 they might help.
Don't believe Zolddude's FUD about Vista. The DRM has been proven to not even matter, and Vista is using that RAM, not just letting it sit idle like XP did. Once you get a dual core in there you'll never look back.
 

The amount of RAM being used as of now is 888mb, but it's been on for 8 hours.
 

All the major components:
 
AMD Athlon 64 LE-1600
http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/de [...] 1600IAA5DH
 
Biostar TA770 A2+
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-u [...] p?S_ID=310
 
[ECS N9600GT-512MX EDM] Nvidia GeForce 9600GT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814134038
^Can't find the item on their site.
 
G.Skill DDR2 800 (1GB x 2) [F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ]
http://www.gskill.com/en/f2-6400cl5d-nq.html
 
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (250GB) [ST3250410AS]
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index. [...] Page=Model
 
Antec True550 ESP12v Xeon PS
http://www.antec.com/us/productDet [...] odID=22551
^Exactly the same specs as the 'Xeon', designed a tad different, except Antec doesn't list it.

For Vista you really need more than 2GB of ram.  The average system will use up a better part of a Gig sitting idle.  It will release some of that ram if you need it, but not all.  I have played around with Vista and Home Basic needs 3GB to run super smooth.  I have Vista Home basic on my kids computer and going from 2GB to 3GB made it alot smoother.  Also having went from 4 GB to 8GB on Vista Ultimate 64 I can tell you having more ram in Vista is solid improvement.  Ram is cheap now days so if you get a new CPU get some more ram.  Even if you get 4GB and Vista only uses around 3.25 GB of it,  it is still better than having 2GB.

Sorry for the threadjacking, but this is cute
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103194 compared to http://www.anitec.ca/sale/promo04w11/10844/
Anitec is cheeper than the egg, and anitec's price is in $can.

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll save up a little more for a 5000+ BE and a cooler.

Your 1600 chip is the same as an A64 3400. It should be more than enough for vista.
2 gigs of ram is barely enough. It could be your gfx drivers, get the 174s just to be sure [url] http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvi [...] _whql.html[/url]
Most likely you just need all the vista patches, and SP1.

Isn't that unethical? I'd say that Fry's customer service screwed up, they bundle the boards with the CPU's and should only replace if defective. Yes, I've often gotten a Fry's CPU/motherboard bundle, but only once an ECS board, and it died on me a short while later.

Back to the thread:

Any Athlon X2 higher than 2 gigahertz is really okay nowadays. I don't play FPS, so no Crysis, but I've had no issues with LOTR Online, The Witcher, Oblivion and HOMM V, the latest games I've been playing after upgrading to the 3870x2.

I wouldn't go for one of the 125 watt wonders, not the X2 6xxx range, or the B3 Phenom's. I wouldn't recommend a B2 because of the errata. Just get the fastest clocked 65 watt Athlon X2 you can afford and you'll be fine under Vista.

Your GPU and monitor influence your framerates more than the CPU. You can end up being CPU limited if your card is high end and your monitor is 1280 x 1024, but it's still not all that noticeable at the framerates a good GPU provides. While the Intel dual cores are a bit faster, the Athlon X2's are still up to par, and should be unless you really need a quad (then wait for Deneb and Nehalem anyways, that's my advice).

I do everything under Vista from games to burning data DVD's and downloading unlicensed anime fansubs. No problems or slowness with the system yet, and the board's budget. This Athlon X2 4600+ was bundled at Fry's with an MSI 405 chipset K9N board in February 2007 and I ditched the old board this February when I wanted to go 3870x2 with PCIe x16.

The CPU's been great this past year and I'm actually amazed that Vista's worked out for me. I mainly got it because of LOTR Online's DX10 patch (plus future DX10 games), but it's not been as bad an OS as many claim.

 
I have the 5000 + BE and am running Vista Ultimate 32 bit.  I found it on newegg.com for $89.99 US AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisban [...] F - Retail
No problems except for the occasional BSOD.  Overall a good performer & very easy to OC.  Running @ 3.2 ghz on air.  Remember you will need a fan.  I recommend the Zalman 9700.

I would go with the 45nm processors, like the BE-2400, BE-2350. Costs about $100.00. They are dual core.

 
Uhh, I think your a little confused. AMD doesn't have 45nm parts yet.  I believe you meant 45 Watt.

---------------

Sorry, I meant 65nm instead of the 90nm processors.
They are also more thermally efficient, 45 W.

I think that most of you on here who put down Vista and star going on about how you "need" more then 2gb ram and "need" a dual core cpu or else it runs like stink are just stupid....while I do have a nice QC w 2Gb ram now, I ran Vista for over a year on an amd Athlon 3000+ w 1GB ram and a 7600gt...and the system ran great...it was on 24/7 and I played games with no problems. now I will agree that games like COD4 and such i wouldn't want to think about running them with less then 2gb and a midrange dual core now, but for just regular Vista use there should be no problems with the system specs this guy has. an upgrade onthe cpu would be nice, but should be required for standard use, but it will help with the games.

2GB Ram isn't really enough for Vista Ultimate?
damn, dont' want to spent another 60$...