New computer, don't know what settings to use

[Vachu]

Hi everyone,
I just bought a new computer:
Abit NF7 mobo
Athlon XP 3200
2x 512 DDR Samsung PC3200
Radeon 9800 Pro 128
Audigy 2

Now I have some questions:
I put the memory in slot 2 and 3 by mistake so it's not dual. I learned that this morning and since I'm not at home, I can't try slot 1 and 3. But, it seems my computer hangs a lot in Windows XP Pro. It takes 15 seconds or more to start the explorer or any other program. Also, it took 15 minutes to install DirectX... I know something is wrong, but I just don't know what.

Also, should I use the default settings of my mobo in the BIOS? If not, what is the recommended settings. For example, the AGP memory size aperture is at 64. Is this ok?

I also noticed that my CPU temp rised up to 52C yesterday. Is this too high? Could this be causing the slowdowns I'm experiencing?

Also, where I can see what ATA my harddrive is using?

Please help me, my computer runs slower than my PIII 450... This just can't be right.

Thank you for your time.

 

[blackphoenix77]

What hard drive are you using? If its a slow 5,400RPM one, that could be why it takes so long to intsall things and load XP. 52c is ok I think, and wouldn't be what is slowing down your computer. 64mb apecture will be fine...it doesn't really matter since you have a 9800Pro with 128mb of ram. If you are using any programs which would require more ram out of your graphiics card then you could set your apecture size to 128mb. I wouldn't keep default settings in BIOS because there are options you can change in there to make your computer faster. Like you could set your ram to 'aggressive' or even whatever the next step up is..i can't remember instead of 'optimal'. When you get home, make sure you put your ram into the first and second slot, that will help a lot.

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[Vachu]

Thanks for your reply. I have a 7200 RPM. Anyway I'll try the things you told me tonight and I'll come back here if it doesn't help. Thanks again.

 

[Coyote]

"I put the memory in slot 2 and 3 by mistake so it's not dual."

IIRC, that should be DC. 1& 3 and 2 &n 3 are DC. 1 & 2 is not. If you double check in your manual, I think you installed exactly as recommended.

Mobile XP 2600+ (11X200)
Abit NF7-S v 2.0
Maxtor 60GB ATA 133 7200RPM
512MB Corsair Twinx 3200LL
BBA 9800 Pro
Enermax Noisetaker 420 watts
Win98SE