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Old 03-22-2009, 09:02 AM   #17
SeanGAR
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Default Re: Question for you Computer Guru's out there

Quote:
Originally Posted by stitch View Post
Ok, Now I need a Drink ... I'm a saddle Maker guys,... I used to herd cattle for a living ...
Here's what I know so far ...

OS Version : Windows XP Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2
And right now I have 512mb of Ram.
Thanks you guys .... Now I'm gonna go have that Drink!
I have two Crucial DDR 333 512MB chips that I can send you, they look compatible with your board and should give you a bit of a boost over 512MB.

My processor is an Athlon X64 3200+, but it is the 90nmm Venice core. Your MOBO spec sheet lists only 130mm chips (Clawhammer and Newcastle). So I'm unsure if the chip that I have will work in your box. You're welcome to try it though. AMD has made chips with different processes (nm) but used the same names. Normally, MOBO manufacturers update the BIOS to take advantage of newer processors, but companies like HP that make their own BIOS for the MOBOs they bought (from ASUS for example) do not always, as they don't expect users to upgrade their equipment, they prefer a fresh sale.

Perhaps you can download and run CPUID, which will tell us the process on that Sempron chip you have in there. If it is 90nm, the MOBO will likely support other 90nm chips.

http://www.cpuid.com/

Also, I have found that the biggest thing you can do to speed up older computers running XP is to reinstall everything. A bit of a PITA if you don't have the original disk(s) from HP as you would have to find and save the drivers then install them. In lieu of that, a thorough antivirus scan and use of spybot search and destroy tools can do wonders.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/SpyBot-Sea...ols_d2471.html

You can also use msconfig or Spybot to look at and remove any un-needed startup programs that may be hogging resources. You can google the names of all the startup processes and see what they are there for. Many are unneeded.

If you have any questions shoot me a PM and we can chat at leisure. I love talking about and fixing up old computers.

Removing a CPU and reinstalling the heatsink is simple but sometimes a bit of a pain, especially if you haven't done it before. We're here to help though !!
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