Motherboard quality issue

B

BEARCATJER

New Member
:confused:)Early this year i bought a custom desktop from a company on the internet.Ever since i bought it i have been disappointed with its speed in processing various transactions and i am a routine user of computers for email, net surfing, playing music etc.Nothing which requires blazing speed.Nevertheless, this box is slower than the 4 year old Dell Inspiron 8600laptop i used to use and i dont understand why. I recently contacted tech support of the company where i purchased the PC and they told me that it is possible that my continuing to use Win XP Home..32 bit.. as my OS is creating this slowness.

They also told me that the MOBO i purchased as part of this PC..an ASUS M2N-MX SE PLUS model was a fairly low end motherboard and could be part of the problem in trying to keep up with my Athlon 64 x2 dual core 6000 processor.
Working with tech support we revised some of the BIOS settings and the PC does seem to be a little faster now than it was.

They told me they could give me a credit on my current MOBO and sell me a replacement of higher quality. They are also sending me a one year free trial copy of Win Seven to see how that helps.

I am willing to upgrade my MOBO and /or the OS if it will really help. I trust the people i bought the PC from but would appreciate any feedback from users of this forum on whether or not what i have been told makes sense.

thanks for your help.:confused:

SPECS..CURRENT SYSTEM
AMD ATHLON 64 X2 DUAL CORE PROCESSOR..6000+AM2
ASUS M2N-MX SE PLUS MOTHERBOARD
4GB DDR-2 800MHZ PC6400 MEMORY
320 SATA 7200RPM HD..16MB CACHE (HIGH PERFORMANCE)
22X DVD -RE DUAL LAYER WITH LIGHTSCRIBE
NVIDIA GE FORCE 6100 VIDEO...ONBOARD
6 CHANNEL DIGITAL SOUND..ONBOARD
OKIA A-POWER 450 WATT POWER SUPPLY
SAMSUNG SYNCHMASTER 22 INCH MONITOR
WIN XP HOME SP3 OS
 
StrangleHold

StrangleHold

Moderator
Staff member
Replacing the motherboard if there is nothing wrong with the one you have isnt going to make it faster. Unless you get one with better onboard video, will make the graphics better. Have you done a disk clean up and defraged in awhile? Have you done a Virus and Spyware scan?
 
Last edited:
Slacker7

Slacker7

Member
Others hopefully will step in here and give their opinion but overall for what you want to do that is a really good set-up.

1. Your issue isn't with XP. True, it won't recognize the four full gigs of RAM because it is a 32 bit operating system but I know many that run 4 gigs and XP anyway.

2. It could be one of your issues is that you have onboard video. But I don't know the quality of said onboard video so I'll leave it at that. One thing however is that your motherboard does supply a PCI-Express slot and you could certainly improve your video quality.

3. Never heard of the power supply before.

* I have two questions:

1. What security software are you running?

2. What is your internet connection: dial-up, DSL, or cable? Wireless or wired?

*** Also, what Stranglehold asked about scanning for viruses and malware. They will really slow down a system.
 
Last edited:
Kosh

Kosh

New Member
BEARCATJER said:
:confused:)
1:Early this year i bought a custom desktop from a company on the internet.



2:Ever since i bought it i have been disappointed with its speed in processing various transactions and i am a routine user of computers for email, net surfing, playing music etc.






Nothing which requires blazing speed.Nevertheless, this box is slower than the 4 year old Dell Inspiron 8600laptop i used to use and i dont understand why. I recently contacted tech support of the company where i purchased the PC and they told me that it is possible that my continuing to use

3:Win XP Home..32 bit.. as my OS is creating this slowness.

They also told me that the MOBO i purchased as part of this PC..an ASUS M2N-MX SE PLUS model was a fairly low end motherboard and could be part of the problem in trying to keep up with my Athlon 64 x2 dual core 6000 processor.
Working with tech support we revised some of the BIOS settings and the PC does seem to be a little faster now than it was.

They told me they could give me a credit on my current MOBO and sell me a replacement of higher quality. They are also sending me a one year free trial copy of Win Seven to see how that helps.

I am willing to upgrade my MOBO and /or the OS if it will really help. I trust the people i bought the PC from but would appreciate any feedback from users of this forum on whether or not what i have been told makes sense.

thanks for your help.:confused:

SPECS..CURRENT SYSTEM
AMD ATHLON 64 X2 DUAL CORE PROCESSOR..6000+AM2
ASUS M2N-MX SE PLUS MOTHERBOARD
4GB DDR-2 800MHZ PC6400 MEMORY
320 SATA 7200RPM HD..16MB CACHE (HIGH PERFORMANCE)
22X DVD -RE DUAL LAYER WITH LIGHTSCRIBE
NVIDIA GE FORCE 6100 VIDEO...ONBOARD
6 CHANNEL DIGITAL SOUND..ONBOARD
OKIA A-POWER 450 WATT POWER SUPPLY
SAMSUNG SYNCHMASTER 22 INCH MONITOR
WIN XP HOME SP3 OS
Click to expand...


1:who exactly? you may have got a pos!

2:ignore the video card suggestion.video cards will only speed up gaming or some 3d cad work.video cards have nothing to do with internet speed.

3:sounds like someone is full of it and trying to sell you something else.

as far as what StrangleHold said about scanning for viruses etc,and doing a disc cleanup and defrag makes alot of sense.
 
Carlton

Carlton

New Member
One of my pc's has a M2N-MX board. Think the only difference is that the SE model only has 2 ram slots. It's a perfectly good board for XP, Vista and Linux. The onboard video is Nvidia 6150SE (going by memory) and can be adjusted in the bios up to 256 MB video. It's not really a low end board, it's just it's been available for a couple of years now....big deal. Your system should be more than adequate for the things your asking of it. Try this free scan, it will look at running processes, fragmentation etc. It may help you find the bottle neck.

http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/default.asp
 
B

BEARCATJER

New Member
Slacker7 said:
Others hopefully will step in here and give their opinion but overall for what you want to do that is a really good set-up.

1. Your issue isn't with XP. True, it won't recognize the four full gigs of RAM because it is a 32 bit operating system but I know many that run 4 gigs and XP anyway.

2. It could be one of your issues is that you have onboard video. But I don't know the quality of said onboard video so I'll leave it at that. One thing however is that your motherboard does supply a PCI-Express slot and you could certainly improve your video quality.

3. Never heard of the power supply before.

* I have two questions:

1. What security software are you running?

2. What is your internet connection: dial-up, DSL, or cable? Wireless or wired?

*** Also, what Stranglehold asked about scanning for viruses and malware. They will really slow down a system.
Click to expand...


I use AVG 8.5 anti virus software and use my Win OS firewall. I use Roadrunner cable wired..no wireless. have used Roadrunner for 10 years on all of my past computers.

I took the power supply infor from the invoice i received when i bought the PC. I was only concerned that it be large enough and 450w seemed fine.

I have never had a computer with a seperate video card so I didnt think i needed one this time. Im just a routine computer user..nothing fancy..so i have always had integrated video in my computers.

I wonder if going to win xp 64 bit OS would help since i could then use all 4gb of my memory?

Are you saying i could put a separate Video card in this pc and use it instead of the video in the motherboard and you think that would speed it up?

thanks so much for your help..
 
B

BEARCATJER

New Member
Carlton said:
One of my pc's has a M2N-MX board. Think the only difference is that the SE model only has 2 ram slots. It's a perfectly good board for XP, Vista and Linux. The onboard video is Nvidia 6150SE (going by memory) and can be adjusted in the bios up to 256 MB video. It's not really a low end board, it's just it's been available for a couple of years now....big deal. Your system should be more than adequate for the things your asking of it. Try this free scan, it will look at running processes, fragmentation etc. It may help you find the bottle neck.

http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/default.asp
Click to expand...

thanks. i will try it. I will say,however, that i am constantly "cleaning" my pc using various free tools, keeping the start menu cleaned up etc. I have recently started using a program called Advanced System Care which is free and seems to cover most if not all areas of computer maintenance. I am not a computer technical person, but i have been able to repair every pc i have ever owned regardless of the problem/s including formatting hard drives, replacing memory, hard drives , revising BIOS etc. I guess that is why this speed problem is so frustrating because i spend a lot of time making sure my PC is in "good shape" generally speaking.

thanks again.
 
B

BEARCATJER

New Member
Kosh said:
1:who exactly? you may have got a pos!

2:ignore the video card suggestion.video cards will only speed up gaming or some 3d cad work.video cards have nothing to do with internet speed.

3:sounds like someone is full of it and trying to sell you something else.

as far as what StrangleHold said about scanning for viruses etc,and doing a disc cleanup and defrag makes alot of sense.
Click to expand...

i bought the PC from a company called ...ALL PC ZONE IN HIGHLAND HTS, OHIO. They are an ebay seller and have a 100% positive feedback record on as I recall about 4000 transactions. I did a LOT of research before i bought from them. Historically, I have always had Dells..desktops and laptops and they worked well, or at least well enough for me. I never had a pc with an AMD processor and wanted to try one this time. Could my problem be at all the AMD brand? I dont see how,but dont really know. I have always relied on CNET for objective reviews and also various computer forums to help make buying decisions. I thought about building a desktop myself but the cost of the components i wanted was more than i could buy a similar PC for already made.

Are you familiar with a free Utility program called Advanced System Care? I have started using it and it seems to be pretty good.
Thanks for your help.
 
J

jarrado

New Member
ive had similiar problems. thats why I always wipe the computer re-install fresh ansd setup good security software to keep anything out. Which would include an "active" anti virus. I cant understand why ppl use anti-virus that isnt active. After all, its better if you catch it BEFORE its gets in your computer. Normally the firewall blocks this, but it cant stop everything. I agree with the above posts. most of the time I find its either a virus/trojan/worm or your OS has been damaged in some way due to a virus at some point. I try to stay away from "spyware" specific software. It tends to actually attract spyware for some reason.

I could be wrong, but thats my limited experience.
 
Slacker7

Slacker7

Member
AMD makes very fine processors. Getting a faulty one does occur on occasion (it happens with Intel as well) but being AMD isn't the reason for your issues.
 
B

BEARCATJER

New Member
jarrado said:
ive had similiar problems. thats why I always wipe the computer re-install fresh ansd setup good security software to keep anything out. Which would include an "active" anti virus. I cant understand why ppl use anti-virus that isnt active. After all, its better if you catch it BEFORE its gets in your computer. Normally the firewall blocks this, but it cant stop everything. I agree with the above posts. most of the time I find its either a virus/trojan/worm or your OS has been damaged in some way due to a virus at some point. I try to stay away from "spyware" specific software. It tends to actually attract spyware for some reason.

I could be wrong, but thats my limited experience.
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention that i did format my hard drive and reinstalled win xp about 6 months ago when i got tired of the relatively slow speed of operation. It didnt run as fast as the Dell inspiron 8600 i had been using for 4 years. Nevertheless, the reinstall didnt really make any difference that i have been able to see. Im not sure what you mean by an "active" anti virus. I use AVG 8.5 and have for past 2-3 years without any virus problems.
Thanks for your help.
 
jasonn20

jasonn20

New Member
I would go to your task manager then processes and click the cpu tab to see what is running. Sytem idle process should be 99% or better after eveything has loaded up. You may have a program running in the background hindering your performance.

I also would check that your drivers are up to date from asus not microsoft.

Your onboard video can effect the processor but it should not keep your machine from functioning well unless you have a driver problem.

As far as internet speed I use a program called Internet Washer that cleans once a day and I do not have any toolbars but think 1 or 2 is ok. using a generic driver can also effect speed

I have seen dual cores run as a single core on some versions of xp. You can check this through task manager click on the perfromance tab and make sure there is two windows under cpu usage.

Just a suggestion.
 
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linkin

linkin

VIP Member
I think your PC was installed with bloatware and crapware on it. A full reformat and reinstall will fix that.
just remember to:

Download your drivers
backup data externally
Take note of any settings
Possibly backup your bookmark library judging by your usage.

A full reinstall of windows has solved many a speed issue on my previous and current computers.
 
kimsland

kimsland

New Member
BEARCATJER said:
I forgot to mention that i did format my hard drive and reinstalled win xp about 6 months ago when i got tired of the relatively slow speed of operation. It didnt run as fast as the Dell inspiron 8600 i had been using for 4 years. Nevertheless, the reinstall didnt really make any difference.
Click to expand...
Before deciding on any re-install again, try this:

Uninstall AVG
Then run the AVG Remover tool (this is a must): http://www.avg.com/download-tools
Restart

Downlaod and run Combofix: http://www.forospyware.com/sUBs/ComboFix.exe

Run CCleaner: (note: new version as of 2 days ago) http://www.ccleaner.com/download/downloading

Restart

Download and install free Avira Antivirus: http://www.free-av.com/
Run a full (updated first) scan

Report on your happy findings :)
 
B

BEARCATJER

New Member
kimsland said:
Before deciding on any re-install again, try this:

Uninstall AVG
Then run the AVG Remover tool (this is a must): http://www.avg.com/download-tools
Restart

Downlaod and run Combofix: http://www.forospyware.com/sUBs/ComboFix.exe

Run CCleaner: (note: new version as of 2 days ago) http://www.ccleaner.com/download/downloading

Restart

Download and install free Avira Antivirus: http://www.free-av.com/
Run a full (updated first) scan

Report on your happy findings :)
Click to expand...

I attempted to conduct all of the above listed activities you recommended.Combofix led me to STOPZILLA but i never could get Combofix itself to completely download and run on my pc.

Nevertheless, something helped because my pc is now running faster than it was before. I wonder if the Avira anti virus is mostly responsible for that. I have always liked AVG, primarily based on how highly CNET has recommended but they also recommend AVIRA so i will stay with that.

Thanks so much for your help!
 
Slacker7

Slacker7

Member
Didn't you know that kimsland is the High Priest of All Things Avira? :D Seriously though, AVG has become bloated in its recent versions and Avira is an excellent product that really delivers and has a much lighter foot print (meaning it takes less system resources).
 
kimsland

kimsland

New Member
B

BEARCATJER

New Member
motherboard issue

:
Slacker7 said:
Didn't you know that kimsland is the High Priest of All Things Avira? :D Seriously though, AVG has become bloated in its recent versions and Avira is an excellent product that really delivers and has a much lighter foot print (meaning it takes less system resources).
Click to expand...

I dont know if it was Avira,but i am definitely seeing speedier processing since i uninstalled AVG and installed Avira. :)Thanks for all the help.
 
kimsland

kimsland

New Member
No problems :)

By the way, instead of replying to yourself, you can use "Edit" only if your post is still the last post in the thread (basically you have replied to yourself 3 times in this thread already)
 
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