Hello all ... I just got a brand new desktop (semi-homebuilt):
Processor: Core2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz,1333FSB,6MB cache,45nm
RAM: Corsair DDR-2-800 4GB Ram w/ heat-sink
motherboard: ASUS P5QL PRO
Videocard: Palit HD4870 1024MB DDR5 Sonic
Power supply: Great Wall 550SEL
Problem is that everything seems to run very slow, from booting up to
playing games.
Even in BIOS that simple graphic thing that runs across the top takes
over 30 seconds to go across.
Any thoughts out there?
These are some things that can go wrong. These don't necessarily
all relate to your exact symptom set, but I tried to include
the things that come to mind.
1) "Interrupt storm" - that is where some piece of hardware
issues interrupts, and either the hardware doesn't require
service, or the interrupt isn't bound to a handler. The processor
is kept very busy (almost stuck in a loop), servicing the
bogus interrupt. Start by removing or disabling stuff, disconnecting
hard drives and so on, to see if you can isolate the culprit.
2) Diaabled cache. L1/L2/L3 or whatever. Maybe years ago this
might have been a realistic possibility, but seems less
likely now. Sisoftware Sandra has a benchmark that can show
you the cache is working, but based on your description, it
would take forever to finish.
3) EIST or Cool N' Quiet, stuck using the low multiplier. That
would affect performance, but wouldn't be described as dog
slow necessarily.
4) Performance can be sucked down by a hard drive operating in
PIO mode, due to CRC errors. But the activity in the BIOS
would not involve loading data from the drive, at the instant
a logo is being displayed. This would be something you'd see
while running WinXP perhaps.
5) On systems supporting ECC memory, and ECC memory is installed,
the flushing of the ECC memory in the BIOS, takes a long time.
BIOS operation after that is as fast as normal. This is a BIOS
bug. It doesn't show up if non-ECC memory is used. Not many
desktops support ECC (X38/X48 for Intel, and most AMD systems).
I'd probably have a look through the VIP forum, and see if there
are any similar symptoms. Check the sticker on the BIOS chip, so
you have some idea what BIOS version you're using. Check the
CPU support chart, to make sure the BIOS is actually recent
enough to handle a E8500.
http://support.asus.com.tw/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5QL Pro
There is a rough match on symptoms here, but not enough info
to draw a conclusion. Someone using an E8500, complaining about
slow BIOS startup. He has a PCI modem installed, and that is
the first thing I'd pull. Simplify the hardware, by disabling
stuff, until some additional symptoms appear (disable unused
peripherals). If it were an actual interrupt problem, there
is a small possibility that the problem could continue to
exist, even when an onboard hardware device is disabled.
(Like if a standoff is shorted to something on the bottom of
the board - standoffs should only go, where there is a matching
plated ring on the bottom of the motherboard.)
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...rd_id=1&model=P5QL+PRO&page=1&SLanguage=en-us
Hope that gives you a few ideas,
Paul
