my CPU is too slow, why?

Question

I run windows XP Home Edition 32bit on Athlon 64x2 3800+, the actual speed is about 2000,the operating system seems to be using both cores, i ran a benchmark test recently and was told to replace the CPU, even the memory chips are faster than the CPU. Is the 32bit on which the Windows run the problem?

Answer 1

Lol, postman got attitude.
Everyone has valid points, but no one answered you question.
The 32bit XP home is not a problem, but depending on the benchmark you used it might be looking for 64bit performance,comparing your system against 64bit op systems it would only determine your processor running slow "compared" to others, the speed of your processor is 2000MHz and for X2 that's a fine speed, i would try a more comprehensive benchmark test or compare systems through forums if you want i will benchmark my athlon system using PC wizard and message you the results, i got :
Athlon 3800+ 64x2
XP Pro
Asus EAX1600Pro 512 Graphics card
1024 Kingston RAM
160 HDD
if that compares to your system then i would be happy to compare.

Answer 2

Firstly - XP eats memory.

Secondly - Try to make sure that you have at least 1/3 of your hard disc free. Get rid of any large programs that you don't use.

Thirdly - Clear off as many icons from your desc top as you can. This will slow your system down.

Fourthly - When was the last time you did your house keeping? Clear out your temporary internet files and cookies (Windows file) Also, get rid of your old e-mails.

Now run Defrag.

This should have cleared up some space. If you want to increase your speed you can do one of several things:

Increase your RAM.

Buy a faster chip or clock your existing chip to run faster (Not recommended unless you know what you are doing).

Use a section of your hard drive as RAM (This is found via the control panel - performance). Use help for more info, or ask another question on this section.

Failing that, the cleaning you have already done should get you back to a reasonable running speed.

Good luck.

Answer 3

first things first ignore the stupid people.... ok now we'll start with the basics. run defrag make sure the drives are defrag as someone else stated run disk cleanup that will take care of the .tmp and other useless nonsense. Also see how many startup programs are running. If you have a lot of background apps going this can cause performance drops. And last i recommend running kaspersky anti virus. It will find and eliminate ANY virus, spyware, adware or trojan. It works 100 times better than norton or spyware cleaners. Trust me i found this out the hard way. I also am running an X2 3800 very good cpus. Mine however is overclocked to 2600mhz but none the less yours should still move. Give what i told you a shot and I'll bet you see a world of improvement.

Answer 4

CPU is fine ,( I always choose an Athlon over a Pentium any day of the week, but then some just feel happier buying Pentium.) The problem, as the guys and girls have said, is most likely to do with your PC. I use a nice little website to run benchmarks called Pitstop. It will run through a series of scans and tests and give you a report on what they feel requires your attention. It is not the only PC Expert programme out there but it will give you some usefull tips on how to improve your PC;s perfomance. Give it a go, It cant hurt

Answer 5

When your computer comes from the factory with it's default settings, it has been optimized to run properly. Over time, as you add files and software - and just as importantly, remove files and software - your computer gets farther and farther away from it's optimal settings. To put this in perspective, it would be like adding parts to your car, and then removing some other parts and then adding more parts after that. Finally, your car doesn't run very well anymore.
More specifically, there are several primary areas that could be causing your computer to run slow. The most likely reason is that your registry has become corrupt and your system is essentially running in circles with its internal processing.
The second most common problem is that you have too many programs running behind the scenes. In this case, we're not talking about the programs you know about that are running at the bottom of your task bar, such as Outlook Express or your internet browser window. But behind the scenes, there can be literally hundreds of programs of various sizes running in the background. These are eating up your computer's available processing capacity and can bring your system to a literal stand still.
To determine if your system is in fact running slow because of problems in your registry, you will need to run a self diagnostic program such as Registry Patrol. This easy to use program will perform a deep scan on your computer and will report back on any issues or problems it finds for you at no charge - which means you can figure out what is wrong without having to buy anything in advance or pay a technician to essentially perform the same function.
Programs such as Registry Patrol work by scanning all of your files and hard drives and then creates a cue report of any problems if finds. It's not uncommon to find out that your computer has literally hundreds of irregular settings and errors - in fact when we did a test of the program on a computer in our office, it found 916 errors on the initial trial scan.
The main advantage of using a registry repair program is it will instantly fix the majority of the problems that are slowing down your computer quickly and safely - and is a whole lot cheaper than having a technician look at your computer. It also has a feature that allows you to stop programs from loading when you turn on your computer which is often a problem for older systems with too many start up applications trying to get started every time you boot your machine up. In addition, Registry Patrol will also clean what is called your cache files which will dramatically speed up your internet performance.
For those of you running the Windows XP system, you might also want to consider the XP Medic program which offers several more advanced features than the Registry Patrol application, including the ability to completely optimize your entire XP operating system.
Registry Patrol and XP Medic are both free to install and operate and will likely solve many of the slow processing problems your computer may be experiencing.

Answer 6

Perform te following actions:

Open Internet Exporer and Delete Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, History by
Click Tools->Delete Browsing History -> Delete the cookies and temporary files as well as history.

Clean your hard disk from
Start ->All Programs ->Accessories ->System Tools -> Disk Clean up -> Select your drive where the Opearting System resides e.g. C: -> Check all options -> Click on the "More Options" tab -> Click on "Clean up" button under System Restore -> Click OK.
Defragment you hard disk
Start ->All Programs ->Accessories ->System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter and defragment all the partitions one by one.

Further change the location of your "Virtual Memory" from the partition where your Operating System resides to another parition. Preferably create a partition of the size four times that of your RAM and relocate the virtual memeory to this paritition with a size equal to three times of your RAM.
To change the virtual memory loaction, right click "My Computer" icon on the desktop ->Click Properties-> Select the Advance tab -> Click Settings under Performance Option -> Click Advance tab ->Click on the Change button under "virtual memory" -> Scroll to the drive where the virtual memory resides and click on it -> Click on the Option "Custom Size" and type 0 and 0 in both initial and maximum size -> Click on Set button -> Then click on the partition where you want to place the virtual drive -> Click on the Option "Custom Size" and type a figure equal to 3 x RAM of your system in both initial and maximum size ->Click on the Set button. Click OK and reboot your system.

In addition to the above, ensure that you have alteast 20% free space in every parititon.

Answer 7

That system should be plenty fast. I would suggest a rebuild of the o/s before replacing the CPU. I usually rebuild mine every year - seems like the more programs & downloaded stuff it just bogs down after awhile.

Answer 8

just defrag and clean your disks
this is all in your start menu under all programs/ accessories/ system tools.

clean the disc first then defrag the computer it will take a few hours if you aint done it in a while but your computer will run smother as long as you aint got no virus

Answer 9

How can you be complain about the speed when you're using x2 3800? It's not the latest technology but its still pretty damn fast. What benchmark test are you using?

Answer 10

Have you defraged, cleared out rip files, .tmp files and is your internet history set low?