New user - computer probs

[jimgreen]

When I started playing LFS it was on my latop, a P4 1.7gig, 512mb (I think), 9600 machine. It ran brilliantly.

Upgraded to S2 and steering wheel and I'm playing on my HTPC... more powerfull I'd say... P4 1.8, 512, radeon 9800.... It ran terribly.

I benchmarked it, and its obviously slow on the CPU ... can anyone think of anything that would affect it like this ?

[Dennisjr13]

Im guessing that something is eating up your RAM, check out how much is being used by your software firewalls and antivirus programs. Other than that, I have no clue why it would run alot slower, unless the GPU is fried :|

[Barroso]

if its a p4 mobile then its alot faster than that 1.8 p4 for the desktop.

[jimgreen]

is that true?! wow. I always thought it was basically the same Die. Do you know of any benchmarks ??

[jimgreen]

this still isnt sorted :(


I'm starting to think HD speed ? is it an issue?

[P5YcHoM4N]

No, it's the CPU. The Pentium Mobile is a much better core then the P4, as it's the PIII revisited, which was a much better CPU then the P4. Either change the CPU in the HTPC, or go back to playing on your laptop, as early gen P4's are really bad processors. Many people say this a lot, but the message doesn't seem to be getting out there.

Clock Speed is not everything when looking at processors.

[jimgreen]

right, ok thanks. message received :) ... now to find some cheapo hardware, I need LFS on the widescreen !!

[ORION]

Centrinos are really lovely CPUs, I have a 1.5 here, and its WAY WAY WAY faster at rendering in Firefox than my 3200+ Athlon XP at 2.5GHz (watercooled)
Incredible, what a huge effect those 2MB L2 cache have.

In LFS, the 3200+ is ahead though :)

[jimgreen]

reckon AMD's are best for LFS then ? I'd be looking at about the 2200 mark probs

[DEVIL 007]

Incredible, what a huge effect those 2MB L2 cache have.

Its not the huge L2 cache;) .AMD processors dont have so huge cache and can beat P4 easily:).
Well but you are a bit right as Pentium with small cache have really bad results.

[DEVIL 007]

reckon AMD's are best for LFS then ? I'd be looking at about the 2200 mark probs
Yeh,mostly the AMD A64 processors which beat P4 a** by quite a big margin in games.:D

[(NOZ)RockyZ]

One of the easier ways to test CPU power by itself is to run SuperPi on both computers. See how long it takes for each computer to calculate the 1 millionth digit of PI. http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=36

Intel P4 Cpus are all pretty slow, the cheapest alternative for you is probably to up the ram, but besides that I think you should wait for the new Core 2 from Intel(Conroe) and do an upgrade!

[jimgreen]

its an old motherboard, so probably not worth it - and it could be another source of my probs.

Might go for an 80 quid mobo/AMD64 combo

[Forbin]

If you're buying a new motherboard anyway and your video card isn't that recent, your best bet is to wait for Conroe (official named Core 2 Duo) to come out in late July (as mentioned by RockyZ).

[jimgreen]

my ol' 9800 should still cut it right ?

When buying a new mobo I mean searching da 'bay :)

[Forbin]

In LFS with no AA or AF (or maybe just a little), yes, I think your 9800 is fine. In other games though, it'll be holding you back quite drastically.

[DEVIL 007]

HI,
if you would wait for Conroe you would need to buy new motherboard,new memory,new graphic card and new powersupply.

Thats quite a lot of bucks but if you have those money thats the best to go untill AMD will come in 1st half of 2007 iwth K8L:D and the turn will change again.It will be pretty short leading for Intel:scratchch

[WMD]

Hi guys, interesting discussion! Why is everyone convinced that a P4 is so bad? I have a laptop with a 3.2 ghz P4, 1 gig ram, and a 256 mb graphics card. No problems with any new game though, even when I run them in highest graphics mode...

[DEVIL 007]

Hi guys, interesting discussion! Why is everyone convinced that a P4 is so bad? I have a laptop with a 3.2 ghz P4, 1 gig ram, and a 256 mb graphics card. No problems with any new game though, even when I run them in highest graphics mode...
ITs not that P4 would be so bad procesor but when you compare it with A64 its kidna slow especially in games.
You can notice every well know hardware website use for testing purpose AMD A64 systems.
P4 especially the version after Northwood core were just blind way.Long stage pipeline was not good way to go for Intel.It only brought problems with being slower then AMD and heat issues.