Speed, speed, SPEEEEED!!!

**screwtype** · 09-23-2005, 07:49

I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my ancient 1 Gig Celeron/256 Meg RAM/2xAGP system to a 2.8 Celeron/512 meg/8xAGP. Okay, it's not state of the art but it was cheap :)

I initially had a problem with the system because it ran quite slowly and jittered when sounds played. I eventually solved the problem with a FAQ from the audio software manufacturer which said, if you have jitter, check to make sure your CD's and hard drives are DMA enabled.

So I checked in hardware devices and sure enough, DMA was disabled on those devices. So I enabled it and now I can't believe how fast my system is running! It's not just games, but windows snap open and icons load faster than the eye can see. Internet pages load almost instantaneously. It's great!

In fact, it's SO much faster than my previous system, I suspect the DMA might have been disabled on that too, for all the years I had it. Probably just the way the guy in the store handed it to me.

I'm sure most guys here are far more into hardware performance than I am, but in case there is anyone out there like me, may I suggest that you go into your hardware device window and have a look at the properties of your HD's and CD's. If the DMA boxes are unchecked, check them. You will be amazed at the difference in speed!

Caveat: Although this should be safe for most everyone, there is a small possibility that older hd's or mobo's might not support DMA. So you make this change entirely at your own risk, I take no responsibility if it screws up your system :)

**PanzerJaeger** · 09-23-2005, 08:06

*wishes he knew WTF any of that meant*

**screwtype** · 09-23-2005, 08:26

Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube

*hugs his 1.4ghz processor, 30 gig HD, and Radeon 8500*

I hope all that talk of beautiful young hardware didn't hurt her feelings too much

Originally Posted by PanzerJager

*wishes he knew WTF any of that meant*

Looks like I'm not the only one then

**Taurus** · 09-23-2005, 13:39

Originally Posted by screwtype

Celeron

Athlon is the way to go mate

**screwtype** · 09-23-2005, 16:26

Bit late to tell me that now :)

Actually I'm not all that keen on AMD. They run pretty hot and only come with a twelve month warranty, as opposed to 3 years for the Intel. And besides, it's too hard trying to figure out what their funny numbers mean in terms of actual megaherz :)

**Taurus** · 09-23-2005, 17:17

Yeah some people would say that but when you realise that an Athlon is actually twice as good as the equivent Intel then it's worth it.

Athlons are far far better.

P.S I don't mean to cause any offence btw mate

Sorry for dissin' your Celeron

**Spino** · 09-23-2005, 18:19

Originally Posted by screwtype

Bit late to tell me that now :)

Actually I'm not all that keen on AMD. They run pretty hot and only come with a twelve month warranty, as opposed to 3 years for the Intel. And besides, it's too hard trying to figure out what their funny numbers mean in terms of actual megaherz :)

Not sure about the warranty but the new Athlon 64 and Sempron chips do not run hot. In fact, they run substantially cooler than their Intel counterparts. They're also faster and run at much lower clock speeds than Intel's latest chips.