Help Please - Underperforming Comp.

Heya all,

So I wonder if I could get some help, as I am at the end of my tether in trying to get my computer to work. I started by buying the following from googlegear 5 weeks ago

AMD 2100+ CPU
Gigabyte GA-7VRXP
2x256 Meg Corsair PC2700 sticks

5 weeks later I actually have the computer running, since I got the memory replaced with a new revision from Corsair. This is the memory that googlegear lied aboutt when they kept telling me that it worked and sending me replacement motherboards all the time.

Anyhow, so my computer is up and running, but I am getting pretty poor performance, and I wonder if I could get some ideas as to the reason why   Here are the comp specs,

AMD 2100+
Gigabyte GA-7VRXP
2x256 Meg Corsair PC2700
GeForce4 Ti 4400
SB Live! Value
400 W Power Supply
Drives etc are fine.

For the most part in windows things seem to be ok. However there are some times when it does seem to take several seconds for things to kick in. I tried playing Unreal Tournament, and I got about 50 fps, when I would expect easily over 100 with this system. All drivers are installed, directx etc. It takes about 10 to 15 seconds to change from 16bit to 32bit in this game, and when I do that I get about 30 fps, and even on the main menu my mouse cursor lags across the screen.

So I ran 3DMark and got a value of about 8,000. This isn't bad, but I was expecting to get at least 9 or 10 grand. I then put my old Voodoo5 5500 back in the system, and in UT I was getting the same framerates as with the same card in my old P3-933 Mhz. In 3Dmark my score was just over 2,000, whereas it was about 5,000 in the old system.

So something is wrong here, and I really don't know what it is   The board is set to run at 2100 speeds, and the bios is somewhat updated. There is one newer update I can make to the bios, and I'll do that tonight, but it is unlikely that it will make any huge difference. I also need to find out what the right settings are for the memory, as I really have no idea. However, I have tried a few things, and don't think this could be causing the problems I am having. Perhaps i am wrong?

I'd really appreciate some help here, as I am completely exhausted after 5 weeks of constant troubleshooting. I am almost beyond caring about anything to do with computers anymore heh.

BTW, I have a Thermalright AX-7 heatsink with panaflo 40 cfm fan, and am running unloaded at 49 or 50 degrees c. I don't know if this processor is meant to run so hot even with a great heatsink? When the mobo etc was returned from googlegear the third time it was running at 57-58 degrees with the standard retail fan. Could it be damaged?

Thanks very much!
Mrukk