Low system memory, dunno why

[sprocket87]

Hello all, first post, need some help...

I just build my upgrade box: Asus A7N8X-LA (HP licensed version) mobo, Athlon 2800+ cpu, 256mb PC2700 DDR400 Transcend RAM (running at 333mhz I believe, which matches CPU... Crappy BIOS has no options for changing any memory/cpu timings). I checked with Asus website to verify compatibility - Actually, the original RAM I got was some pcclub no-name stuff that locked up immediately and consistently in XP. I returned it and got the Asus-verified one, and it seems to work great - system is stable, but SLOW!

What I mean is: Software installs are ridiculously slow. WMP10 upgrade took at least 10 minutes. Basic prog installs are slow and require full system attention - I can't do anything else while anything installs. Even clicking the start menu takes a good 15 seconds to bring up and draw while a prog is installing.

That's the most noticable problem, but I can tell sys performance is lacking otherwise. I checked my System Info prog, it tells me the following:

Total Physical Memory: 256.00 MB
Available Physical Memory: 23.45 MB
Total Virtual Memory: 658.00 MB
Available Virtual Memory: 210.83 MB
Page File Space: 466.64 MB

Wow. That's some low physical memory. At the time of this query, the only apps running are my browser (IE variant), AIM, and WinAmp5. This system should be able to handle those apps with ease - my old 500mhz/128mb system did better than this!

Any words of wisdom? Its a fresh XP install, with the addition of my applications. No killer background apps running that I can see... And besides, this has been this slow since the XP install - the first progs I installed were slow too. Have all the mobo certified drivers, including chipset and video (they're on HP's site for the a320n pavilion, the PC this mobo came out of).

Ideas? Thanks!!

Jesse

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by sprocket87 on 09/18/04 01:58 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[folken]

If what you say is true and that mobo did come out of an HP desktop then that is your problem. All desktop computer manufacturers are now using the cheapest, slowest, most proprietary garbage you could possibly find. And they sell them at crazy prices. If you want to get good performance out of your system I highly suggest buying a new motherboard. They are NOT expensive and just about anything will be better than what you have now.

If you want to try and get a little more performance out of that system I suggest getting at least another 256mb of ram and increasing the swapfile to at least 1GB.

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>

 

[sprocket87]

Thanks for the reply. The mobo and CPU is out of a Pavilion a320n that my friend had. It was a very nice setup for an HP, and I used it all the time when he had it - it had no performance problems.

I already increased my page file to over 1gb (500~ mb on primary HDD, 1gb on 2nd HDD). Free physical memory usually runs around 50mb. I know 256mb isn't that much these days, but theres no way it should be running this poorly.

 

[Crashman]

No, HP's version of Asus boards isn't much different from Asus's version, just the non-adjustable BIOS and configurate jumpers removed (where applicable).

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Crashman]

Actually 256MB runs very poorly under XP.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[sprocket87]

Update:

Strange thing happened today. I'm sitting at home and I get a phone call. It's a friend of mine, he says he has an extra stick of PC2700 333MHz DDR RAM that he doesn't need anymore. He just upgraded to a GB of RAM using 2x512 chips, so with only 2 slots he doesn't need his 256. I installed the RAM in my PC and its working great, now I have around 200mb free.

So I guess that's all it was. I just didn't know the system would be such a hog!! Thanks for the tips.

 

[karamazov]

Yeah.. Windows XP Is a resource hog. Thats why I'm running my awesome 2.2 CPU, 512 mb'o ram under 98.. Loads in like 5 seconds flat..

As I sit up in my bed looking at all the stars, I begin to wonder... WHERE THE HECK IS MY ROOF!?