Increasing Performance Of My New PC

[navino87]

I have recently bought a new PC. My config is as follows :-

AMD Athlon 64 3000+( 939 ) Venice core
ASUS A8N-E
BIG’s NVIDIA GeForce 6600 non GT
Transcend 2*512 MB DDR 400 MHz
Hitachi 80 gb Sata II hdd
Samsung SyncMaster 793s
Benq 1640 DW DVD-Writer
Sony Floppy Drive
Logitech Multimedia K.B + Opt.M
Antec SONATA- I Cabinet

I should thank all the digit forum members who had helped me for deciding this config.

When I decided to buy a new pc My budget was Rs. 25000. Finally it ended in Rs. 42000 for the above mentioned config.

I have installed Windows XP pro with sp2 in my new pc.

I want to know the things that are to be done in my new PC to increase its performance.

I have changed SATA I to SATA II. What are the other things that is to be done to increase the performance of my new machine ???

I have not upgraded any driver and BIOS. Is there any risk in upgraded driver and BIOS???

Thanks in advance………

Regards,
Navin.

[mohit]

Always use upgraded drivers to sort out conflicts and to maximise perfomance. BIOS updates are also recommended but be careful if u r doing it for the first time. And if u want you can also upgrade the firmware of your dvd-rw for better perfomance/reliability as Benq has real good firmware support.

[KoRn]

nice cofig dude i think u SHUD upgrade BIOS to avoid conflicts and crashes and plus they do provide optimal perfromance and r like needed!!

[mehulved]

With your config you will get gr8 performance anyhow. Updating the driver would be a first step you should do. But, be careful if you're updating ur BIOS. My friend screwed up his comp while trying to update his BIOS, he is having problems with his USB drives now. Unless you need extreme performance for high end gaming or imaging, etc driver updates will make your computer run very smoothly.

[janitha]

My recently upgraded system ( about 3 months) has a configuration more or less like yours. I think you changed SATA I to II using "Hitachi Feature Tool".

For increased performance, first of all you can disable the unnecessary 'services' in the XP. Be careful though.

All the updated drivers you can get from Asus website or maybe MS.

Regarding Bios, I had never dared to update it during the last 8 years but one of the first things I did after assembling it was update the Bios using Asus Update function. Despite all the warnings in the forum, I updated the original V.1003 to 1008 and later on (recently) to 1010. The reason why I dared to do it was that there is a utility in the Asus support CD for the MoBo called "Asus Crashfree Bios 2" which can be used in case of a corrupted Bios to revert back to the original version. So far I have not encountered any problem and the updating is from Windows itself (not DOS) and is very quick. Just make sure that there is no power interruption midway, by making sure that the UPS is fully charged.

BTW I would suggest to make use of the "Cool & Quiet" if you are not overclocking.

[navino87]

Thanks a lot for your comments & advice guys..................

But what will be the problem while upgrading bios??? Can i upgrade it or not???

If yes, Please tell me the steps for sucessful upgrading of the BIOS... Where can i get the latest version of bios??? If there is failure in the upgrade what will be the result???

Also tell me the latest version of drivers available for ASUS mobo And latest driver for my gfx card.

BTW tell me how 2 enable cool & quit tech. i.e what r the things that is to be done in bios & windows???

Thanks in advance........

[janitha]

Originally Posted by navino87

Thanks a lot for your comments & advice guys..................

But what will be the problem while upgrading bios??? Can i upgrade it or not???

If yes, Please tell me the steps for sucessful upgrading of the BIOS... Where can i get the latest version of bios??? If there is failure in the upgrade what will be the result???

Also tell me the latest version of drivers available for ASUS mobo.

Thanks in advance........

Just see my previos post

[ashu888ashu888]

navino87 wrote:

Thanks a lot for your comments & advice guys..................

But what will be the problem while upgrading bios??? Can i upgrade it or not???

If yes, Please tell me the steps for sucessful upgrading of the BIOS... Where can i get the latest version of bios??? If there is failure in the upgrade what will be the result???

Well first of all Congrats for ur newly built system dude...MAny congrats from all the users of this forum....

Now for ur Updating of BIOS.. hmm..well to tell u frankly bro, updating a BIOS is a critical step unless u really want a pushup in ur performance from ur PC, but to tell u its drawbacks..

I updated my BIOS from the Intel site (as i hv an INTEL D865 mobo) all went well in the BIOS updating process, but then after sumdays i started getting errors and my pc stopped responding.After sending the mobo (wich has gone bad)..the Intel guys told me tat ur mobo has gone, but since it was in a warranty period, i got it back fully repaired and original components from Intel.

My suggestion will be tat as of now, DO not update ur BIOS,and in future wen ur PC becomes sluggish (Or shows any signs of abrupt behaviour) the u can go for a Update of BIOS. Coz now ur system is new so avoid any major screw-up.Coz if the update is not done correctly, then things might be all messed up (I hopemany of the ppl out here will agree to this) and im the sole sufferer telling u this ...rest is in ur hands.

cheers n e-peace......

[navino87]

Thank for ur advice shu888...

[mediator]

Well Install winXp manager and explore it...to increase performance..its a great tool!

[janitha]

Originally Posted by mediator

Well Install winXp manager and explore it...to increase performance..its a great tool!

Will you please elaborate? And is it to be downloaded or contained in the XP CD?

V.Prem Kumar

[navino87]

I cant download any driver from asus website. The download speed is very very slow...... it is only 3kbps in my 256kbps connection. What can i do???

Is there any other website from which i can download latest drivers and other utilites for my mobo??? or can any 1 upload the latest drivers, bios, & other latest utilites????

Thanks in advance.......

[janitha]

Originally Posted by navino87

I cant download any driver from asus website. The download speed is very very slow...... it is only 3kbps in my 256kbps connection. What can i do???

Is there any other website from which i can download latest drivers and other utilites for my mobo??? or can any 1 upload the latest drivers, bios, & other latest utilites????

Thanks in advance.......

I have also found it to be so. But at times it is speedy. Also in the Asus Update Tool you can select and try their own mirror sites.

[navino87]

I don't know much about Overclocking and I don't need the final or ultimate gamer machine (since I use the PC mostly for playing games & for other professional tasks)...howerver...it seems, that the default settings in the BIOS are typically NOT the best choice.

So what are good and recommended settings, if you want to configure your BIOS - so that the PC is running at really good speed and is still stable (so not overclocking to the max.) !

Here are some details of the PC:
- Asus A8N-E motherboard
- BIG’s NVIDIA GeForce 6600
- Athlon 64 3000+ ( 939 ) Venice core CPU
- 1GB Ram (2x512 DDR400)
- 80 gb Sata II hdd

It would also be great, if for the BIOS settings you could explain a littly why, what, how....

Many THX in advance!!!

[mediator]

Nah winXp manager aint contained in XP cd...u can download the 15 days trial version...completely tweak ur system and then uninstall it!
Damn good software!

[navino87]

Originally Posted by navino87

I don't know much about Overclocking and I don't need the final or ultimate gamer machine (since I use the PC mostly for playing games & for other professional tasks)...howerver...it seems, that the default settings in the BIOS are typically NOT the best choice.

So what are good and recommended settings, if you want to configure your BIOS - so that the PC is running at really good speed and is still stable (so not overclocking to the max.) !

Here are some details of the PC:
- Asus A8N-E motherboard
- BIG’s NVIDIA GeForce 6600
- Athlon 64 3000+ ( 939 ) Venice core CPU
- 1GB Ram (2x512 DDR400)
- 80 gb Sata II hdd

It would also be great, if for the BIOS settings you could explain a littly why, what, how....

Many THX in advance!!!

Why no reply on this ????

[navino87]

I cant understand why there is no reply for my previous post......

Ok. I have another doubt. In my antec cabinet there is a firewire port in front panel. How to connect 2 my mobo??? (i think my mobo does not support firewire port.). How 2 make this work?????

Thanks in advance...............

[janitha]

Originally Posted by navino87

I cant understand why there is no reply for my previous post......

Ok. I have another doubt. In my antec cabinet there is a firewire port in front panel. How to connect 2 my mobo??? (i think my mobo does not support firewire port.). How 2 make this work?????

Thanks in advance...............

Buy a PCI Firewire Card which I think is not costly.

V.Prem Kumar

[navino87]

I have another doubt.....

I cant understand why the light in my optical mouse and led light in my mobo glows even after my pc have been shutdowned. Will it be soo for every one ??? or is it a problem???

[janitha]

Originally Posted by navino87

I have another doubt.....

I cant understand why the light in my optical mouse and led light in my mobo glows even after my pc have been shutdowned. Will it be soo for every one ??? or is it a problem???

Yes, it was something absent in the past and present in the newer Mobos. Does it mean that the SMPS still works after the shut down? Hope somebody will elaborate.

V.Prem Kumar

[djmykey]

It is because of the wake-up option. U can trigger the machine to wake up from any source be it a usb device, a mouse, or anything that is valid thats y that thing blinks. And the mobo thingy I think its on standby mode u know just in case anyone 'touches' or triggers any one of the above mentioned things the comp shud startup.

[navino87]

Originally Posted by djmykey

It is because of the wake-up option. U can trigger the machine to wake up from any source be it a usb device, a mouse, or anything that is valid thats y that thing blinks. And the mobo thingy I think its on standby mode u know just in case anyone 'touches' or triggers any one of the above mentioned things the comp shud startup.

No, As i said before, The light in my optical mouse and led light in my mobo glows even after my pc have been shutdowned.

Originally Posted by janitha

Yes, it was something absent in the past and present in the newer Mobos. Does it mean that the SMPS still works after the shut down? Hope somebody will elaborate.

V.Prem Kumar

Do u face such thing ??? As our config are almost same...

[janitha]

Originally Posted by navino87

No, As i said before, The light in my optical mouse and led light in my mobo glows even after my pc have been shutdowned.

Do u face such thing ??? As our config are almost same...

Definitely, and my brother who assembles computers frequently says it is common with most modern systems including Pentium. That is why I also asked for clarification. And if what djmykey said is correct, then how to disable it. And is the SMPS not switched off when the system is shut down?

V.Prem Kumar