Asus Nvidia GT440 1Gb

[idiotboy_78]

Ok, just a quick one to throw out for advice. I'm running a AMD 3000+ overclocked to 2.4, on a ECS GS7610 ultra with 1Gb RAM. Not long ago, I cooked my 256Mb Geforce 7300 GS, & replaced it with the aforementioned GT440. This has massively slowed my PC down.

Is it time for a new CPU &/or motherboard, or would simply downgrading to a 512Mb card be a better option? I don't really do much gaming, but a lot of photoshopping gets done, as does a lot of movie watching.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Cheers.

 

[hang-the-9]

Get updated drivers from nVidia, try those. What OS are you running? All updates done for that?

 

[idiotboy_78]

I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate. To the best of my knowledge it's up to date. And the drivers for the card were taken from the Nvidia site three/four days ago.

 

[hang-the-9]

Where exactly is the slow-down? Have you run benchmarks?

I've seen bugs in nVidia drivers where they slow things down to a crawl, but so far only on XP systems, and only in very rare cases.

 

[idiotboy_78]

The slowdown seems to be general. My system takes ages to start up, browsing & opening windows takes forever. I know it's not 100% accurate, but my CPU meter gadget shows the CPU running at 100% all the time (Without the card installed,it's about 35-55%). I've disabled all but the very basic start-up programs & still no change.

I've not run Benchmarks. I've heard of it, but don't know much about it to be honest. I'm far from a newbie at this, but wouldn't say i'm advanced either!

 

[hang-the-9]

This is exactly the bug I had on some XP systems, nVidia drivers pegged the CPU. First time I have seen this happen on Windows 7. From what you say is happening, benchmarks won't do you much good.

Try updating the BIOS and chipset drivers.

Also see if you can borrow a ATI card to try. If it's the same type of issue, it only happens with nVidia drivers.

 

[idiotboy_78]

Ok. In that case, any idea where I might update the BIOS & chipset drivers, or should that be another thread.

Was wondering if, given that my CPU's AMD, whether an ATI card might be a better option. Possible conflicts, etc.. That said, my old Nvidia was flawless...!

 

[hang-the-9]

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Detail.aspx?DetailID=846&CategoryID=1&MenuID=22&LanID=0

But I don't know if that will help out.