New Build is REALLY slow...

P

pickupartist3

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 28, 2004
Messages
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Recently the motherboard on my old built computer died, so I needed to build a new computer. I was on a very tight budget, so instead of buying all new components, I kept what worked and spent minimal amounts on everything else. I upgraded my CPU, motherboard, case, video card, and memory. I kept my harddrive, dvd player/burner, sound card, and some additional memory. I am a little rusty at this (my last build was 5 years ago), but I believe I was able to put everything together properly and install windows. However, the installation was ridiculously slow and the computer simply CRAWLS now. I have not installed any programs... just the base windows system. I am not sure what the problem is, but I am frustrated with the situation to say the least. I tried reinstalling the OS and made sure I followed instructions on installation. I am now worried I may have bought incompatible parts or something of that nature. Here is the list of the parts in the build, please let me know if you see the problem or have any suggestions for helping me solve the problem. Thanks!

New:
Case- http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=E-6099&cpc=SCH
Motherboard- http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=D915PGN-BULK&cpc=SCH
CPU- http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=P4631300775-R&cpc=SCH
Memory- http://www.pacificgeek.com/product.asp?c=208&s=1013&ID=58461&P=F
Video Card- http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=GF6600GT-512HDTV-P&cpc=SCH

Old:
HardDrive- Maxtor 160 gb 7200RPM
Memory- 2 512MB ddr2 memory sticks (removed to make sure it wasn't memory when I tried installing the second time)
Sound Card- M-Audio Revolution 7.1

That is all of the specific information that I know. I am researching to try to find which exact models the old pieces are, but have been unsuccessful so far. Let me know if there is anything else I can provide to help. Thanks for your help!
 
Define "slow" -- how long (in hours) did it take you to install the OS?

What were the specs of your old system (for comparison's sake)?

What were the brand/model and speed of your old memory? Your DVD burner?

Did you check your HDD beforehand for any errors or bad sectors?

For everyone else's sake (some people are lazy here), could you list out the parts and the price that you've paid for them? (Please keep the links, unless you purchased everything from somewhere else.)
 
I'll try my best to answer the questions:

1) Slow- it takes my machine about 10 minutes to get to the windows start up screen. Once inside windows even moving the mouse will lag the computer and put usage really high....opening a window (control panel or anything else) will put usage to 100% right away. Not sure how long in hrs it took to install windows but easily overnight plus.

2) My old system... Not exactly sure on all of these cause it has been a while and I threw away what no longer worked. It was in an "ice cube" case with a 1.5 ghz processor, 1 gb ram, all-in-wonder 128 mb video card (9800 pro), old hd listed, old sound card listed, old dvd player listed. I don't think I'm missing anything.

3) I am still looking for the specific specs that I can find... DVD- Pioneer 4x =/- R/RW Drive.... sku #305230 from compusa. Memory- 2 PNY 512 MB I think DDR2 and 184-pin. Maxtor- 160 gb 7200 rpm... part number 20210100/A from Maxtor. That is all I know.

4) Before I did the install I wiped and reformatted the drive to make sure it was clean. After it was not working properly I performed an error check which turned out fine.

5) Those links should all be where I bought it from except the ram which they no longer carry.... Here are the parts list for those not wanting to check...

BX80552631 -- Intel Pentium 4 631 3.0GHz 2MB Socket 775 CPU - Retail 1 $65.50 $65.50
E-6099 -- Briza 8-Bay ATX Mid Tower Case w/400W Power Supply (Black) 1 $49.99 $49.99
GF6600-512MTV-P -- Forsa GeForce 6600 512MB DDR2 PCI Express VCD w/DVI TV-out 1 $50.99 $50.99
D915PGN-WB -- Intel D915PGN Intel 915P Socket 775 ATX MB w/SND 1 $57.50 $57.50
1024DDR3200-ELIXIR -- Elixir 1GB DDR RAM PC3200 184-Pin DIMM Major/3rd 1 $46.00 $46.00


Please help if you can! Thanks!
 
The problem is that, from looking at everything, nothing is noticeably wrong (to us). All of your (current) parts should work with no trouble.

The only thing I could suggest, when you could afford to, is to replace the hard drive and see if that speeds things along. You may also want to use the Ultimate Boot Disk and/or memtest86+ to see if there are any problems that you may not be aware of.
 
Yea I can't seem to figure it out either and usually I'm pretty sound with computer problems. I don't understand why it would be slow. I would love to replace the harddrive regardless and put in a beastly one, since they've come so far down in cost....but I can't afford to do it if it isn't really the problem. I just don't get why it would work with my old system and not the new, better system?

What is the ultimate boot disk and the other test you were referring to? Pardon my ignorance. Any and all help is much appreciated. Thanks!
 
What does the taskmanager look like when windows is done loading (XP right?). Is the CPU maxed at 100%? What did you install?
 
The CPU is relatively calm... as I recall it has more activity than I am used to but when there is no activity it is in the low percentages. But as soon as any program picks up it shoots through the rood. As soon as I even move the mouse it shoots above 50% and if I try to open control panel it takes ages and goes straight to 100%.

All I have installed currently are the drivers for the hardware as well as XP Professional.

Let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks
 
What interface is your hard drive?? It's possible, just my .02c.
 
You've got a dead or misconfigured component (or multiple, perhaps). Without sitting down at it, I couldn't tell you what it is... try getting one of those super hardware test boot disks and test everything.
 
pickupartist3 said:
What is the ultimate boot disk and the other test you were referring to? Pardon my ignorance. Any and all help is much appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Ultimate Boot CD (aka Ultimate Boot Disk)
Memtest86+

We don't know what could be causing the problem. But using one, or both, of these programs may help you diagnose potential trouble spots.

Additional help/information on these two products can be found with a Google search (or even by searching here...). ;)
 
Did you do a clean install? Is you hd on the same ribbon as the cd/dvd?? Is the bios configured to boot the sata first then the ide drives?

 
How's the CPU heat? I had one of those Prescotts, and they run damn hot, could be throttling.
 
I find IDE harddrives just fine when it comes to OS.. it can't be that.

How is the temperature of the CPU? Is it throttling down to prevent damage? Go open up Speedfan to see temps, and CPUz for what the clock of the CPU is at.
 
Alright, I'll try to tackle a few questions.

First, I discovered that the old memory was actually 512 MB DDR DIMM x 2, and since that was so old I figured it might not be compatible...so I took it out and left in the 1 gb new stick for now. It still takes a really long time to get to the windows log in screen, but the performance is slightly better in windows- although every time I move the mouse the usage moves above 50% and any program takes it to 100% still which is not right.

The interface on my harddrive is IDE I believe, I use the old school ribbons and not sata. To answer the other question in relation, yes the HD and DVD drive are on the same ribbon. Is that a problem? I don't know that I have a choice the way it looks on the motherboard. I'm not sure if that is defined as a clean install or not, but all I have done should be documented on this thread. I'm not sure how the bios is set up but there are no sata drives to boot.

Pretty sure the CPU is not too hot. Seems to be running fine. I've put my hand next to it and it isn't giving off much heat. I will try the Speedfan check you suggested just to double check.

I've also downloaded the ultimate boot cd and will be burning it to cd and trying that here shortly. Any suggestions as to which options I should check first? Thanks. I have a laptop that I will be using in the meantime to try to help with troubleshooting, so please post suggestions if you have them. Thanks
 
It used to take me 10-20 minutes to boot into windows and when i did it was just unresponsive.

I got so.oh so pissed.

Problem was a failed Hard Drive :p
well it wasn't failed, more, faulty.

Oh, and it was a Maxtor drive :p
 
pickupartist3 said:
The interface on my harddrive is IDE I believe, I use the old school ribbons and not sata. To answer the other question in relation, yes the HD and DVD drive are on the same ribbon. Is that a problem? I don't know that I have a choice the way it looks on the motherboard.
Click to expand...

I think here lies your problem. Some motherboards DO NOT like having an IDE hard drive and optical drive on the same ribbon / channel. Some boards kind of "confuse" the the two drives and hence the long boot times and general lag. I had the same problem with a friends AMD rig when he upgraded and wanted to use both his IDE drive and IDE dvdrw on a board that only had 1 IDE channel. Try booting the computer without your optical drive. If it boots quicker, then you know that you can't have a hard drive and an optical drive on the single IDE channel. Or you can try using either a SATA hard drive with your IDE optical drive, or a SATA optical drive with your IDE hard drive.

The only other thing I can think of is.. did you disable the onboard audio in the bios ? There might be a driver/device conflict with the onboard sound and your soundcard.

Good luck.
 
pickupartist3 said:
Pretty sure the CPU is not too hot. Seems to be running fine. I've put my hand next to it and it isn't giving off much heat. I will try the Speedfan check you suggested just to double check.
Click to expand...

That just might be why this might potentially be the problem: it may be making bad contact with the heatsink.

Check temps in HWMonitor. If the heatsink is Intel stock and it's not significantly heating up, the contact between it and the CPU is bad.
 
Haha fair enough. Maxtor's don't seem to be the most reliable. Like I said... I don't really have a problem upgrading to a new harddrive with more space if I need to because they're so cheap now, but I just want to make sure that is the true problem.

I ran the SeaTools for DOS (made for Maxtor) for the harddrive, and it returned 10 errors, which they corrected at the end of the test. Its weird because when I ran the error check from windows it found nothing, although I'm sure this ultimate boot cd test is more thorough and effective.

Right this second it is running the memtest86+ as recommended. How long is this turn supposed to take? The HD test was quick, but this test has taken 2 hrs and 10 minutes so far and is still going strong. I just don't know how much is left. Is it slow cause my computer is slow or just because its a long test...

I will try unplugging the DVD drive from the ribbon next to see if that will help after I see what the memtest does for me. If that is the problem I could always spring for a new dvd burner cause I've heard those have gotten much cheaper as well.

How can I tell if the contact is bad with the heatsink? I.E. what could I have done incorrectly on the install to cause this? I will check into that after the other options.

Thanks for your help everyone.
 
Firstly check your temperatures in HWMonitor or another such program. If your CPU ~60c idle (my prescott idles at around 60, stock heatsink is terrible), you're fine.
 
Which readout should be around 60? I downloaded the program and it has a bunch of readings...There is one with a few categories... SMSC, then my video card, then my hard drive. I am assuming it is the one that is called "diode 1" under SMSC, which is at 56. I ran a few other cpu tests and they all matched what the specs were supposed to be too. Is this OK?

If so, I guess it must be the harddrive as the other person has suggested. Can anyone think of anything else? I could use a new HD anyways, so I don't think it would be a huge deal- but I want to be as sure as I can that it isn't anything else. I ran a few other tests on the ultimate boot cd and nothing really came up. The HD had 10 errors that it claimed to have corrected and the memtest86+ had run overnight and still did not finish (how long does this normally take and would a bad HD cause this?). It takes 10 mins to get to the windows log-in screen and then once inside the task manager cpu usage barely ever gets below 50% and the latest time just flat-lined at 100% for a good amount of the time...Very frustrating.

If no one suggests anything else, I am going to order a new harddrive. I have been looking at the suggestions on this board and since both my HD and DVD drives are 7 years or so old, I figure I will get both. Also, I need to get a wireless card because I will not have access to a direct port. Could you all please recommend these three parts to me? I am looking for a HD with at least 500 gb of space, no preferences for the DVD drive but I want it to be able to burn DVD/CD's at a high speed, and any effective wireless card will do. Obviously I want to avoid any issues, and it seems like IDE is tricky so I might as well go with SATA. I would like to spend less than $150 on all three if possible and the cheaper the better- on a tight budget right now. Please take a look at my motherboard above and ensure all parts are compatible. Thanks!!!
 
$85 - Western Digital Caviar 640GB SATA/300 HDD (free ground shipping)
$24 - Samsung SH-S223F SATA DVD burner (free ground shipping)
$17 - Gigabyte PCI 802.11b/g wireless adapter (~$9 S/H)
=====
$126 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

The Western Digital HDD will work on your motherboard, but you'll need to use a jumper to have it run under SATA/150 speeds -- and you may have to take the jumper from your old hard drive in order to do so.

This hard drive is (arguably) one of the fastest around (under the SATA/300 bandwidth), so if you're having any more problems after this upgrade... it may be the motherboard....
 
Is there anyway to check if the problem is in fact the motherboard before I buy parts? I know I've repeated this question a few times... but I've tested a lot of things and the motherboard was not one of them.

I am ready to order the parts, I just am scared that if it is the motherboard- I might need to buy all new parts to be compatible. Most of my parts should be interchangeable, but I'm just thinking if I have to get one anyways I might as well do it earlier rather than later. If there isn't a definitive method however, I'm ready to get the parts unless there are other recommendations. Those parts seemed to have gotten great reviews. Thanks
 
It sure sounds like the heatsink on the CPU is installed improperly. If your CPU usage is jumping to 50% when you move the mouse one of two things could be happening:
1. Your OS is using a retarded amount of CPU power (not likely)
2. Your CPU is throttling itself because it is overheating.
No other reason is possible. I don't know why he suggesting the harddrive is the problem when your CPU usage is at 50%+ always

Take the heatsink off, clean it with rubbing alcohol, reapply arctic silver 5 (or whatever thermal paste you prefer) and set it correctly.
 
The CPU usage is only above 50% with movement. In other words, when idle the usage is actually relatively low...although not as low as maybe it should be (~10-20%). When the mouse moves it jumps and when anything tries to open it goes to 100%.

I agree it probably isn't the OS... it seems like a hardware issue for sure. If the throttling is the problem, I would have thought it would have been caught in the hwmonitor test that was recommended earlier where the diode 1 was under 60. Is there another test I should perform to double check? Thanks
 
Any help would be much appreciated as I am planning on ordering whatever I may need tonight. Thanks for all of your excellent help so far!
 
Try going into your bios and find the entry for your 1.44MB floppy drive and disable it. I had similar problems until I did that.
 
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