Barton 2500+ (computer slowdown)

Ferg

Ferg

Manbearpig
Hi there, bit of a newbie here (well to the forums anyway). heregoes

I’ve recently changed my old Athlon Xp 2000+ (which I was having no problems with) for a Barton 2500+. When I changed them over I also had to take out one of my memory sticks (in order to build a spare comp) but this still left me with 512 of pc2700 (crucial). The problem is, whenever I’m doing anything requiring a bit of power the mouse jumps and stalls. It’s really annoying! The strange thing is it doesn’t happen in games. It really happens the most when I’m running Vmware4 for suse 8.2. Switching between windows and vmware really gets its back up, and when looking through folders of divx movies is bad aswell. I have oc’d a little, but this still happens when running at standard speed. (all ive done is increase the mult to 12 and upped the vcore to 1.5 instead of recommended 1.4 – 1.45 to give me a 2ghz proc + its never crashed)

Anyone think why this could be happening? I keep an eye on the processes and performance but there is no huge drain (although i sometimes catch explorer chugging away with 98% processor usage, so i just kill it and start it fresh + i've just done a fresh install)


Sys spec:
Amd 'barton' 2500+ oc'd to 2GHz (temp never above 43)
Epox 8RGA+ mobo (latest nforce drivers installed)
Pixelview FX5200 (latest forceware drivers installed)
512mb crucial pc2700
Plextor DVD RW
WD 160 gb 7200rpm 8mb
Chieftec server case (5 case fans, neon etc)
want a razor boomslang (contact me if you want to sell one second hand!! lol)
XP pro sp1
 
What power supply do you have? If you have some generic unit, then that could easily be an issue. A solid brand power supply of say 350W is better than some generic POS unit that might have 500W.
 
It could very well be a PSU issue then. Three brands I've never had a negative experience with: Enermax, Tagan, and Seasonic. Their cost is at least double that of a generic PSU, but they also perform infinitely better and I've never seen any of them put out dirty power. If you're really on a low budget, check out the 420watt Thermaltake; they are generic but fairly high-grade.
 
If the PSU is indeed the problem, the capacitors can be damaged by too much heat or just because they've been pushed beyond their capacity for too long. I've had it happen to me before.
 
Heh. Nobody does. The main thing that points to it being a PSU issue is going to a faster CPU and then having trouble. I'm sure the overclocking isn't helping any. In addition to Anti-Trend's suggestions, I just want to pimp Sparkle/Fortron power supplies.
I noticed you've got an Epox board. I *don't* think it's a problem, but in the past there have been some issues between Enermax PSU's and Epox boards.
 
update!

i know i started this thread a while ago, and with this next bit it might need moving, but anyway :)

right, i havent bought a new psu or anything in fact. But i have realised that this problem iv'e been having is when a programs process is using around 99% of my cpu time. Ive caught lemmings for windows (dead old) chewing this much up, it just stops the mouse in its tracks! ive also caught broken sword 2 doing similar things. can this error still be due to psu? (and yes ive tried fresh installs many times)

i dont know if this old thread'll get noticed, but i couldnt be bothered explainng the problem again!
 
Then it might be a heat related issue or instability caused by your oc.

I suggest you run it at stock speed and see if it changes anything.
 
Legacy (DOS) games will chew up 100% CPU usage on any machine, no matter how beefy, unless the process is capped. You should run the NTVDM (NT Virtual DOS Machine), which has awesome DOS compatibility, and you can use it to cap CPU usage. Then you should hit Home of the Underdogs and pick up some old school gamies. ;)
 
cheers for the info anti!

as per oc i'm running stock clock and vcore but still have have problem, temp is never above 41? is that ok? im using an old tube of arctic silver 3 with a galacial tech igloo (cant remember exact model)
 
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