Hello Everyone,

I have recently upgraded to this configuration:

Motherboard: Asus A8V Deluxe
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 3800+
Memory: Kingston 1024 MB PC3200 2 Pcs
Graphics Card:ATI Radeon All-in-Wonder 9600 XT
Primary Hard Drive: 30 GB Seagate Barracuda
Media Hard Drive: 160 GB Western Digital
Power Supply: Antec 350 Watt
Operating System: Windows XP Professional

Everything is working fine but it seems like my system is still running a little slow. I reinstalled the operating system after all the upgrades and all the software is also reinstalled. It seems like at times the RAM is just getting eaten up. I will go away from my computer for some time and when I come back the thing hardly moves and I have to restart. The boot up time also seems to be a little too long. I am just comparing it to similar systems that I have used. If anyone has suggestions on what I might want to check or of certain diagnostic steps that I might want to pursue, your help would be greatly appriciated.

Thank You,
Brian

Your PSU might be the bottleneck in your system.



WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A WELL FED SLAVE OR A HUNGRY FREE MAN?

I agree that the PSU seems kind of small for that system.

It could also be any number of spywares, virii, etc.

Use CTRL + SHIFT + ESC and tell us what Processes are eating up your CPU and mem. (You may need to use View->Select Columns to show the memory usage. I can't remember if it's there by default.)


یί∫υєг ρђœŋίχ
The <b><font color=red>Devil</font color=red></b> is in my <b><font color=red>'98 Mercury Sable</font color=red></b>!
<b>@ 201K miles!</b>

Did you test it before you installed all the apps?
That problem smells software related.

Have you checked what windows automatically starts up for you? Because if you have several programs that like to start at bootup. I remove as many as i can that i dont need. I have 3 that i like to start automatically, but only because i am just going to start them up myself. (Winamp, Trillian, and sysmetrix)

Also check for spyware
Spybot Search and Destroy
Adaware
Spyware Guard
All programs that i use, and use often.

And check whats eating your CPU cycles like others have said. Click the top of the column to sort by most to least and also do the same for memory usage. On a fresh boot nothing should be using a lot of mem.

Report back and we'll see

_____________________________
Chaintech VNF3-250/A64 2800+/1GB(512x2) OCZ VX GOLD 2-2-2-5/BFG 6800GT/Thermaltake 420W/WD 200GB/Maxtor 300GB/Soon to include Z-5500...any ideas on which SC??

<pre><font color=orange> ∩_∩
Ω Ω
(=¥=)</font color=orange> - Cedrik says that it's probably gremlins chewing on<font color=orange>
_Ū˘Ū_</font color=orange>   the cables again.</pre><p>

یί∫υєг ρђœŋίχ
The <b><font color=red>Devil</font color=red></b> is in my <b><font color=red>'98 Mercury Sable</font color=red></b>!
<b>@ 201K miles!</b>

Your PSU should be fine. A bit less powerfull CPu run with almost the same system specs as yours, except with a 300w. So don't waste money on something bigger yet. What can make your system slow is like Siver said, spyware and viruses. Running on broadband without ant firewall is asking for trouble. I did some test here, on dial-up, and I'm getting hit almost every minute, according my firewall log. I suggest to do a clean install, without the computer connected to any network. Just a plain install with drivers. Install an antivirus, in case your drivers file are infected. Now leave the computer running. Is is still normal after a while? if no, then investigate overheating, or bad ram. memtest86 is a good test for RAM. google it and download it to check if your RAM are working good with your motherboard. If the system running fine, then it is software related. Something you install that cause problem. Get a good firewall. Zonealarm is good start. Use google to find it. You can get a free version of Avast antivirus. Google will help there too. Keep installing apps until you find the one that is causing problem.

(\__/)
(=<b>˚</b>.'=)That was my bunny..terminator!!! Now terminated...

sometimes msmsgs.exe gets stuck and eats up CPU... like others said check task manager and see whats hogging it... could also be virus like others said. Your PSU should have no effect on that. Guys, he says when he leaves it for a while and comes back, not under heavy load. I'm running a similar comp (minus dual core, but i have 2 opticals + 2 HDDs)and have a 330W psu in it from Antec... no problems ever.



A64 3700 SanD / Asus A8N-SLI Prm / 2GB OCZ Pltnm Pc3200 / XFX 7800GT 256mb / Antec 550W

A64 3000 Ven / Epox 9npa-U / 1GB HyperX DDR 3200 / XFX 6600GT 128mb / Antec 330W<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by dannyaa on 11/03/05 03:00 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

Sounds like the usual Windows driver doing its nasty stuff without VIA Hyperion 4-in-1 driver to me.

<b><font color=red>Prescott=FAILURE</font color=red>
<font color=green>ASUS+AMD=Prescott</font color=green></b>

No, it sounds like VIA and ASUS! [/double whammy]

<b><font color=red>Prescott=FAILURE</font color=red>
<font color=green>ASUS+AMD=Prescott</font color=green></b>

That's not necessarily true. Hot PSUs perform worse. Even on idle, a PC without good ventilation can heat up a PSU fairly well. While I agree that it doesn't seem likely to be the PSU at fault, I certainly haven't seen reason to completely rule it out yet either. I'd still look for a software explanation first, but I've personally seen hard drives underpowered from a PSU on edge cause similar behavior as to what is being described. (Damn cheap Celeron 500 box. I should fix it up and use it as a F@H/print server.)


یί∫υєг ρђœŋίχ
The <b><font color=red>Devil</font color=red></b> is in my <b><font color=red>'98 Mercury Sable</font color=red></b>!
<b>@ 201K miles!</b>

Sorry about the delay everyone. I had to go away for the weekend. Well I just looked through all of your responses and here is some of the information that you requested. This is the list of processes that begin when I start my computer up:

DH EDIT: That link didn't work. Use http://www.imageshack.us/ to host your screenshot.

The time that it takes to boot up the machine seems a little sluggish. It may have run faster before I installed any software but I would assume that to be typical of all machines. The problem seems to be when I leave it be for some time. Also here is a list of what starts up from the registry:

ATI DeviceDetect
ATI Launchpad
ATI Remote Control
crfmon.exe
Acrobat Assistant 7.0
ccApp
HydraVisionDesktopManager
iTunesHelper
NeroFilterCheck
QuickTime Task
RemoteControl (PowerDVD)
SoundMan
SunJavaUpdateSched
zBrowser Launcher

And now for a list from the Start Menu Startup Folder:

Adobe Acrobat Speed Launcher
Adobe Gamma
AutoCAD Startup Accelerator
EPSON Status Monitor 3 Environment Check 2

I guess that whenever I experience the system lag again I will post information on what is running then. Also I do have an AntiVirus software that I installed before I connected to the network. I am running Norton Internet Securities 2005 AntiSpyware Edition. The Firewall is enables as well as almost all the other features. I am going to find and run that memory checker program when I get the free time. Thank you for all of your input so far.

Brian

Also I would like to add that the power supply that I bought came with the case so I am assuming that has the proper amount of ventilation. The box is the SLK2650-BQE. Thanks again.

Brian

Check device manager, for conflicts etc, and look for an event log.

I was just using the computer today again and I noticed that when I was closing some applications that it was panning down like a line from the top to the bottom to close them. I remember this from a while ago but that was with an older computer. I am not sure what the cause of that could be. If it is the video card, then I have had problems with that once before and had to send it back to the company once already. If it is the lack of power though, I still don't know how to check what size I need to get. Should I be going out to buy a 500W power supply even if I don't know if that is the problem. I just bought this 350W supply with the case for all my new equipment. Thanks again for all of the input so far. I appriciate it.

-Brian

I would say that powersource is fine.

This is what I would do.

Download the latest CATs and the previous version of MMC 9.06.1 (9.08 seems to have problems with some cards. Thanks ATI), DAO/MDAC, DVD player and Remote Wonder from ATI. Don’t get the CAT with hydrovision for everyone’s sanity.
Download Driver cleaner and follow the directions for removing all ATI drivers. Remember you have to boot in safe mode to do a proper cleaning and select multiple driver types!
When you uninstall all the ATI drivers and utilities before booting in safe mode, leave your Gemstar TV guide (just hit cancel during the uninstall) these have no effect and will not be installed by the new CAT drivers so if you want it don’t uninstall it.

Install in this order.
CATs
DAO/MDAC
DVD Player
MMC
Remote Wonder

If you continue to have problems, try running in AGP 4x mode. I’ve heard this is the solution to some problems with ATI cards and noisy VIA busses. Has very little effect on performance.