New Phenom II PC Runing Slow

[calvyno]

Hello,

I've been having some problems with a newly built PC I have...
It seems to be running pretty slow. Here's how I notice:

I usually run 2 instances of a game on my dual-core pc (8800gts)...other than a slight bit of skippiness, it works fine. However on this new pc (gtx285), when I have the 2 same instances of the game running, and I try to drag a window around the screen, it's incredibly skippy, and would often leave little mirror images of its previous position.

Pretty much anything I do on this new pc is slower than everything I do on the older one.

I have no idea what's causing it. At first I thought it may because I have too many sticks of memory...I had 4 sticks of 2gb ddr3 memory on the motherboard, then after finding out Windows XP didn't support more than 4, I removed 2 from the secondary slots and it seemed to be slightly better. I also thought it may be a graphics problem, so I got the latest driver from evga site for 200 series cards, and it's still slow.

Another good example, is when using the WebcamMax program. With it on on the old computer, it runs very smoothly, whereas on this new pc, it slows down the pc a lot.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I have no idea what to do next...


PC Build:
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 810 (AM3)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX285 SC Edition 1GB
Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
HDD: WD 500gb SATA

 

[p00p00head]

What are you comparing your new system to? What was your old pc's setup?

Also, what game are you running 2 instances of?

 

[aford10]

Keep an eye on the performance tab in the task manager. That will tell you if your RAM or CPU is being tapped out.

If not, you may need to update your video card drivers.

 

[calvyno]

I'm running 2 instances of Final Fantasy XI.
I'm basically comparing my 2 computers side by side, and it is very clear the faster/newer one is running abnormally slow.

My memory doesn't cap out, but my cpu goes to about 48% when running the simplest things.

I believe it's the cpu now, because for Webcammax, when I turn it on, the computer slows down to the point where I have to wait 15 seconds after every click before something starts happening, and this is happening with nothing else running, no games open, no other windows open, just Webcammax alone, and I didn't even have it capture part of the desktop yet...

Whereas on my older computer, webcammax runs perfectly fine with 2 instances of Final Fantasy XI, firefox, skype ,winamp, flash media encoder, AIM, etc... and with webcammax capturing 2 parts of the desktop (or even full screen).

If you don't know what webcammax is, it's a piece of software that's like a webcam except it allows you to show parts of your desktop and stuff, and windows will treat it like a webcam device.

 

[aford10]

start menu-->right click on my computer-->properties
Are the stats listed there correct?

control panel-->system-->under computer does it list a multicore cpu?

You may want to download cpuz and check out your fsb and multiplier.

 

[calvyno]

Under Computer in system properties it says:

AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 810
Processor
2.61 GHz, 3.25GB of RAM
Physical Address Extension



I also downloaded cpuz and here are my results...

 

[calvyno]

I can't seem to find the chipset driver for the AMD Phenom II X4 810 (AM3)... Anyone know where I can get it? Or is it with the motherboard?

Memtest says memory works fine.

 

[core i7 ownage]

Driver for AMD is from Motherboard's driver. Best not to flash bios unless it is needed. Research for risks of flashing bios.

Rule of thumb: Never fix a computer if it is already fixed.

 

[sanders4617]

Sounds like a driver issue... I would definitely make sure you have every driver updated.

 

[topper743]

What is the current BIOS version installed on your MB? The latest is F4A. Flash to the new bios correct the settings for the ram, voltage, and timmings. Was the OS a fresh install? Use driver cleaner to remove the previous driver files and install the latest GPU driver for your OS. Look at your ram info from CPU-Z. Is this your exact model ram?

http://newgskill.web-bi.net/bbs/view.php?id=g_ddr3&page=1&sn1=&divpage=1&category=2&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=4

I had some trouble finding it. If not, please post your exact modle ram. G-skill and others make ram at faster timmings (cas7) for about the same money. The ram I listed specified intel chipsets for application, this could be a problem. Is the GPU installed in the pci-e slot closest to the CPU? Any chance the system has malware or virus?
1. Install latest bios. Set bios functions for your system.
2. Driver cleaner and newest driver for your GPU.
3. Check system ram. Set the command rate to 2T. Consider this ram- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231149
4. Consider heat as a problem and what is your PSU? Is it adequate?

Most MoBo's will require a bios flash. Your MB is on it's 4th bios version. Don't be afraid of it. Read your manual and check the OEM website for all the how to's. Or get a friend with some know how or a local PC shop.

 

[calvyno]

This is the ram i'm using:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231190

Drivers are updated...about to update BIOS from F2 to F4A

 

[calvyno]

Bios updated to F4A, chipset installed. The memory settings seem correct in bios... (6.66x 1333). Although I'm not sure about the 2T thing...there's a 1T/2T Command Timing, and it's set to blank instead of 1T or 2T...when I change the DDR3 Timing to manual, and set the 1T/2T command timing to either 1T or 2T, it stays blank...

Some other things it shows in my bios for DDR3 Timing Items:
CAS# Latency: 9T
RAS to CAS R/W Delay: 9T
Row Precharge Time: 9T
Minimum RAS Active Time: 24T
TwTR Command Delay: 5T

GPU driver is the latest.

Heat seems fine. I have a lot of fans on it and the side panel is open to let more air in.




When i Check some Memory Device settings in a utility provided with the motherboard, for memory slot 1, it says the following:

Memory Error Information Handle: Not Provide
Size of Memory Device: 2048 M Bytes
Total Width: 64 Bits
Data Width: 64 Bits
Form Factor: DIMM
Device Set: 0
Device Locator: A0
Bank Locator: Bank0/1
Memory Type: Unkown

For slot 2, the Device Locator is A1 and Bank Locator is Bank2/3.

Is memory type supposed to be unkown

 

[topper743]

Info taken from the Product page:

Description
Download from ... F4A 2009/03/27 Update CPU ID

Download from ... F3 2009/03/12 Improve LAN compatibility

Download from ... F2B 2009/03/10 Update ACC code for Phenom X3 CPU

Download from ... F2 2009/01/16 First Release

With the bios updated and new settings in place how does the system run as compaired with before?

 

[calvyno]

Seems the same. I actually found the problem with webcammax, it was trying to capture from my Blackmagic Intensity Capture Card, and it was lagging up the program a lot.

However, I'm still having the window mirrored problem when dragging the window around.

Thanks very very much for the help. I'll continue to try things day by day until it works. I'll be back later

 

[sanders4617]

Hmm.. That really sounds like a GPU issue... My videocard has caused stuttering and slow actions when the right drivers were not installed. Can you take the GPU from other PC and put it in your new one and try?

 

[calvyno]

Well, the video card on my older computer is a different card. It's an EVGA 8800gts.

The new computer's video card is the EVGA GTX285. I downloaded the latest driver for the 200 series card from the EVGA website, so i'm pretty sure it's the right one.

 

[calvyno]

Is this a Vista computer? Turn off the Aero feature and the windows sidebar. They eat up resources.

Nope, it's Windows XP.

 

[Proximon]

Have you assigned the other game instance and other programs to separate cores?

 

[sanders4617]

I know its a different card.. but its a lesser card too. So if you try the other videocard (which is not as good).. and everything is faster.. then you can kind of narrow it down.

 

[snyp3r2]

Hi mate,

I just built a new computer for a mate, here are the specs:
AMD Phenom II X4 925 @ 2.8GHz
Corsair Dominator 4GB (2x2GB) PC3-12800 1600Mhz
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GT-UD3H w/ ATi Radeon HD 4200 Onboard Video
Corsair TX650W PSU

Im having the same problem as you however,
It just seems to be running poorly.

My older intel quad core 2.5Ghz, 4Gb DDR2 800Mhz system, with lower specs, boots in 1 min 30 sec (inc startup of all programs) into Win7 x64 Ultimate while this new, faster system with same operating system takes over 3 mins.
Ive flashed to the latest BIOS, updated to all the latest drivers (it seems the chipset drivers for the mobo are included in the Graphics drivers for this mobo.

The whole system is just sluggish and unuseable for the first 10 minutes, it gets much better after that, but it wouldnt be the software as its got almost none on it. and it was booting slower with none on it at all, just Win7 OS. After 15 minutes everything begins to run mostly smoothly, just programs open slower than my older pc counterpart. Please let me know if you have made progress on this problem.
Cheers

 

[calvyno]

I've never really solved the problem. It seems to run everything smoothly. The only time it seems to be choppy is when I'm dragging windows around the screen or running screen capture software. Sure, running screen capture software should cause it to become choppy, but on my older dual-core amd computer it isn't close to as choppy as it would get on this newer one.

 

[leungalv]

Very interesting, I too just put together a system with similar specifications:

AMD Phenom II 945
A-DATA DDR3 4GB RAM 9-9-9-24 timings
Gigabyte GA-MA785GT motherboard
EVGA GTX260 video card
Windows 7 64-bit

The system does seem a little slower than my latter machine that I just replaced

AMD Phenom 9750
Patriot DDR2 4GB RAM
Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe
EVGA GTX260 video card
Windows 7 64-bit

I notice that programs are starting up slow, extraction using Winrar is kind of sluggish too. I wonder if it's the AMD chipsets that are causing performance issues??

 

[javanic]

Wow. This is very similar to my experience. Here's what I just built last night:

ASUS M3A78-CM Mother board
AMD Phenom II 940 (4-core, 64 bit)
4 GB Kingston HyperX PC2 8500 CL5
EVGA 9400 GT 1 GB DDR2 (PCIe 2.0)
250 GB Hdd came from my older computer (it worked OK on that system)
Generic DVD drive from my older computer (it worked OK on that system)

I started installing Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit at 9:00 PM. By 7:30 the NEXT morning, the thing was only 50% through the stage of uncompressing the files pulled off the installation DVD. EVERYTHING on this computer is slower than molasses. The Resource Usage program shows hardly any activity on anything when I would expect it to be humming. For example, I'm downloading updates and it takes 2 hours to download 71 MB on a high speed Comcast cable internet connection. When I look at the Resource meter, there's hardly any network activity, almost no hdd activity, and CPU looks like its taking a snooze in the park.

I have not updated BIOS (will do that next if there is an update).

Any ideas.

 

[calvyno]

Hey everyone, wondering if any of the people who was having the same problems as me has fixed their problems.

Since the day I started this thread, I've pretty much just put up with the slowness. At first I was going to try to get Windows 7 64-bit, but after seeing Javanic's post about it, I'm not sure I want to get it anymore since that is probably not the problem.

One thing I noticed though, we are all using EVGA Nvidia cards. I read somewhere that the motherboard was made for ATI video cards. Anyone have an ATI graphics card with this motherboard? If so does it run slow as well?

Thanks

 

[leungalv]

Hello calvyno ... well ... here are the things that I've tried:

DIDN'T WORK
BFG GTX 260 OC
Reinstall Windows 7 x64
Added 4GB of RAM (total now 8GB)

MIGHT WORK
Changing SATA mode to AHCI in BIOS

So I made this change after reading about some of the benefits of AHCI, I went ahead and changed it. While WEI still reads 5.9 performance, the computer does seem snappier. Maybe it's just me though ...

http://www.ithinkdiff.com/how-to-enable-ahci-in-windows-7-rc-after-installation