Alright, I bought my computer from a friend of a family member's. The guy I bought it from put it all together a few years before I bought it, so I'd say the hardware was considered top of the line back in maybe.... '04? '05 maybe?

Anyways, the computer had been running pretty well for the most part until recently. I tried to run a program I recently installed, it was pretty laggy (some components wouldn't load at all...) so I decided to double check my processor speed. My processor is an AMD Athlon single-core at 2.4 GHz. However when I go Control Panel -> System it says my CPU is 1.1 GHz!

What would cause the CPU to do this? Is it permanently fried? Is there any easy fix to this--aside from complete replacement? Pardon the tech-noob question, I've never had this happen to any computer I've been on before.

 

More than likely it's running fine and it's just reading improperly. I forget what specific setting it is but in the BIOS there's an option that isn't set properly. I'm about 99% sure it's just a setting in the Bios.

 

Do you know if it was ever running at 2.4 ghz? Some of the older cheap amd boards I used failed set the setting correctly and it had to be done manually. If that was the case with your friend and it sat long enough to drain the bios battery (i'm reaching here) it may have gone back to the default setting.

 

It's possible that it's something like what Stapler mentions. It may be as simple as a BIOS update.

Something else that has come to mind that may be less likely, but maybe possible, is that it could be an overheating issue. Most modern processors/motherboards have the ability to downclock the CPU on the fly to prevent it from burning up.

FWIW - If your processor was faulty, your computer would have issues other than lag. Does it crash/freeze a lot?

 

What's the FSB bus set at? and what mhz is it set at in the BIOS?

 

Also, download this http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html and let us know what the CPU tab says.

 

Ugh, tried going into the BIOS to see if anything was visibly off. I decided to select something that said "select optimum defaults" or something similar, and now every time I boot up the computer or restart it, it gives me a "Found New Hardware" message, asking me to insert the installation disc for the RAID Controller. However it seems to have changed my speed from 1.1 GHz to 1.89 GHz now, according to the system info menu.

Meeehhhh.

 

Go back into the bios and try again. If this doesn't work then unplug the computer and remove the bios battery for 30 mins. Power the shit back up and go into you fsb speed. I would personally make sure the heat sink is properly installed and the shit's not over heating.

Don't let the computer use the optimum configuration.

 

Press the Turbo button

 

LOL

OG computers.

 

Are you sure it is in fact a 2.4 ghz processor and not marketed as a '2400+' that is running at say 1.8 ghz? AMD did that in the past (and maybe they still do)

 

yea i dont recall AMD having a 2.4ghz processor back in 03 or so.

anyways if its the older generation AMD Athlons, you better check that heatsink or else your CPU could go up in flames.

 

Well here's the CPUID:


btw any ideas on that RAID Controller thing? Anything to worry about? I've never even heard about it before, so I dunno

 

Yea, go back in and put it to factory default

 

Research the processor and make sure settings in Bios match the processor.

 

I can't seem to find anything for it under the BIOS. Press F4 on bootup? That just brings up some configuration utility.

If I just unplug it and take out the BIOS battery like phee said, will everything just reset itself back to factory default?

 

^Ugh, about the RAID thing... I just needed to reinstall the driver Durrr.

But yeah now when I start the computer and I try to keep it at 3200+, it says the CPU is unworkable. I changed it to 2500+ and it seems fine now. Weird considering it was at 3200+ for a loooong time. Maybe the guy who owned the computer before me overclocked it?

Either way, I think I'll be looking into a new setup soon

 

According to what CPU-z screenshot your processor is running right where it should. The Athlon 3200+ runs at 2.2 gHz. I had this very processor once before. It's the equivalent of a 3.0 gHz pentium 4 single core in terms of power, which today isn't much, but isn't super terrible if your running XP or older and not doing a lot of video encoding or anything.

 

Yeah it was strange that it said the CPU was "unworkable" seeing as how I actually booted it up once before that error came up.

 

Buy a new mobo with a c2d problem solved

 

^Yeah still looking into new stuff. Thinking about getting an i5, since I'm sure I won't have these problems if I go with Intel. Anyone ever had any experience with Newegg's DIY combo deals? It's funny because on the product page it says "Newegg cannot guarantee the compatibility of these products"

 

More than likely what you're seeing is AMDs Cool & Quiet kicking in. The CPU will run at a lower clock speed keeping it cooler. It'll also kick down the fan speed so the system will run a bit quieter. Windows is supposed to up the clock speed when it needs more out of the processor. Windows will also report a lower clock speed when it has it throttled down. If I remember right those Athlon XP chips will go all the way down to about 800mhz.

 

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but I figured this would be better than making a new thread entirely.

Anyways, wanting to get a whole new computer. Ever since this computer started doing the things mentioned in the OP, it's just been going apeshit. Just now I was messing around on it, then it just restarted itself automatically. Basically I'm at the end of my rope with this computer.

I already have been looking at a few things on Newegg. Think I have everything I'm looking for. Does anyone know if a quad-core is worth it? Looking into an i5 processor. Does it have any special BIOS setup compared to a Duo-core? Also, does it really matter what video card I get? I plan on using this for audio recording, so I definitely don't need something heavy-duty at all. I mean, if I get a mobo for nvidia cards, would ANY Nvidia be good?

 

ok now we are talking. what DAW do you use to record?

u really dont need a quad core unless youll be tracking a bunch of synth instruments at once while recording. a quad will be nice for those plugin intensive tracks tho..

it sounds like your proc is overheating because of bad thermal paste

 

Yeah I figured a quad-core might be a little much. Just kind of enticed by how it's already kinda unable to be considered obsolete at least for another decade

Anyways, as far as my recording setup I use a Presonus Firebox for the audio interface/external sound card. For the DAW I currently use Cubase LE, but will definitely plan on upgrading to at least Cubase 5.

Maybe 4GB of RAM with an Intel i3 would be a good start? FYI I'm definitely not doing anything professional with this, just a home studio.