Dual core very slow. Due to DDR Ram?

[vinster345]

Hi all, quick question. Recently upgraded pc to rig below (see signature). Its quite slow compared to how I thought it might be. I'm running only DDR1 memory and although I read a test report saying that this shouldn't cause too much trouble, i'm having my doubts.
What say you, board? Is it a memory bottle neck or should I reinstall windows and see what happens then?

 

[jetfx]

use some benchmarking utils to test your comp and to compare to other with your same system config use 3dmark06 from www.futuremark.com

if ur score is lame compare with systems exactly like yours, update all ur drivers and bios, make sure bios settings are correct, and run the 3dmark06 again, if u still get lame score, monitor all ur cpu, gpu and mobo temps search for overheating

 

[muddleclass]

:?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?:
You don't say what you mean by slow but:


Are you sure that the fan is fitted correctly. The most common cause of really slow machines is throttling because the chip is overheating as the fan isn't in proper contact with the chip. This can be a real problem with the cheap Intel fans which can pop out.

The memory is unlikely to make more than a few percent difference in speed.

 

[miro84]

somebody please correct me but surely that is impossible. core2duo's need DDR2 ram not ddr.

he just using ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA

 

[muddleclass]

Cheap Asrock boards using the VIA or the I865 chipsets can use DDR and the I865 can even use an AGP card.

 

[horstmann]

I know what you mean. DDR2 is 240 pin and DDR is 184 pin ram modules. I know you couldn't plug DDR into DDR2 slot. I think C2D needs DDR2 memory. Maybe it is a motherboard that doesnt support C2D.

 

[miro84]

I know what you mean. DDR2 is 240 pin and DDR is 184 pin ram modules. I know you couldn't plug DDR into DDR2 slot. I think C2D needs DDR2 memory. Maybe it is a motherboard that doesnt support C2D.

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/124950 :roll:

 

[zenmaster]

I think the RAM could really kill you.

I've seen a few tests where the E6300 kills the E4300 with both at stock besides the same CPU speeds. (or .06 difference). But if the Chips are OC'd to their potential, there is little if any difference in the chips.

Why is this? Well the E4300 has a very slow bus in comparison to start.
Once this is increased with the OC, the bottleneck goes away and it now is on par with the E6300.

In your case, your FSB will be even slow and less efficient than in systems that already showed a bottleneck in the FSB.

 

[dagonoth]

Intel's Core2 Duo's are not the same as amd chips in the way that they handle ram. Amd chips have the memory controller built into the processor and thus they have to have the corresponding correct type of ram based on the processor. With the Core2 duo's the ram controller is on the motherboard not the chip so if the motherboard is built with ddr and ddr2 slots and supports the core2 duo, you can use ddr1 with it.

 

[Eviltwin17]

if you are talking about gaming then you might have a bottleneck with the 7600gt in super demanding games like oblivion, stalker, supreme commander and such. I'm not sure if ddr 400 would slow down the processor or not. considering that you can run a cheap core 2 duo on ddr2 533 it probably wouldn't affect performance that much if your ddr400 is good ram. If you bought really cheap ram then that might slow down your computer because it just sucks. If you are running windows vista then that is your problem. Vista sucks up 512mb ram when your computer idles; so when you are doing basic tasks it can take up even more ram around 768mb! That is super close to 1gb, if that is the case then you would probably benefit from buying another gb of ram, or if you have a high speed flash drive you can substitute that as ram also. But don't use it as a permanent substitute as it is still much slower than regular ram.

 

[Fedor]

I'm surprised all you guys are throwing in (sound) advice when the OP hasn't really described anything. Slow as in what? What is slow exactly, and how slow is it?

 

[13thmonkey]

its not necessarily the RAM, I'm running an E6600 with DDR-3200, and it benches close to DDR2 machines (yes there is a difference but not enough to notice by-eye)

But as Fedor said, what are the symptoms...

That board for some reason tries to set my RAM to 166 and not 200 Mhz, so force 200Mhz in bios for starters.

I'm using bios version 1.9, all of the others disable speed step / C1E and it won't slow down.

 

[joefriday]

Have any of you guys read these Anandtech articles?

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2810
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2813
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2814&p=1

The answer to this question and many more are right there in black and white.

 

[vinster345]

somebody please correct me but surely that is impossible. core2duo's need DDR2 ram not ddr.

he just using ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA

Got it in one!!!

 

[vinster345]

somebody please correct me but surely that is impossible. core2duo's need DDR2 ram not ddr.

he just using ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA

Got it in one!!!

Its a fair point regarding the fact that i didn't really quntify the meaning of slow. That can really be ingnored here i think as i'm really after oopinion of whther ddr1 would make much difference. i think mainly its due to my hard drive beginning to get cluttered. i think a fresh install of windows and putting my hard drives in usb cases and using them when necessary may be a better idea. Although with ddr-533 ram at only £36 for 1gb, it may be just worth getting that stuff!

Thanks to all who posted replies

 

[Fedor]

So uh, yeah... What is slow exactly? And how slow is it? Sound familiar? lol...

As for cluttered HDs - just don't clutter your OS drive. As for the others, they can be as cluttered as you like and it won't affect anything (as long as the programs/games aren't running off the cluttered drives). However as you say, a fresh Windows install usually results in one HELLUVA improvement.

Good luck bud, do tell us how you get on.

 

[vinster345]

So uh, yeah... What is slow exactly? And how slow is it? Sound familiar? lol...

As for cluttered HDs - just don't clutter your OS drive. As for the others, they can be as cluttered as you like and it won't affect anything (as long as the programs/games aren't running off the cluttered drives). However as you say, a fresh Windows install usually results in one HELLUVA improvement.

Good luck bud, do tell us how you get on.

I haven't cluttered up the partition the OS is on, but the drive itself is moderately full (75%). Anyway, as i mentioned, don't worry. Will clean install and go from there