P4 system performance

[canobe]

there are two p4 system:

1st P4 spec:-
PC Partner Motherboard /400Mhz
P4 1.7GHz
192MB SDRAM PC133
Sony CD-RW 8x4x32x
Asus 52x CD-ROM
Windows 2000 Professional
20gb maxtor 5400rpm

2nd P4 spec:
Gigabyte GA-8IR2003 /400Mhz
P4 1.7GHz - overclocked to 2.1GHz
512 DDR333 RAM
TDK SE CD-RW 48x32x48
Acer 50x CD-ROM
Windows 2000 Advanced Server
40gb maxtor - 7200rpm

i just want to know why, when i doing cd to cd copy, the 1st system performance is better than 2nd system? 1st system, took less than 10 minute, but 2nd system took about 13 minutes, in approx 700MB both using nero 5.5. i suppose that 2nd system performance is better than 1st system? and sometime when i listening to mp3 while copying file in 2nd system, its lagging, not that smooth. suppose 512ddr ram is more than enough to do such task. is anything wrong with the hardware or the software??

 

[cdogg]

canobe,
You've got to think in more than one dimension. There are more factors involved that just the hardware specs.

For example, there's the configuration. Do you have both the CDROM and CD-writer on the same IDE channel in both systems? If not, do you have them setup similarly on both systems? Sometimes the CD-writer can get stuck in a lower ATA mode like ATA/33 instead of ATA/66.

Another possibility is that the 2nd system is bogged down with a lot more software or using the CPU more than it should be. The real test would be to wipe both hard drives clean and install them with the exact same OS, burner, and CDROM. If you were to do that, there would be no obvious reason why system 2 would be slower than system 1.

However, one last thing to consider is the source of the CD copying - the Asus 52x vs. Acer 50x. Even though the numbers are close, they're just numbers and don't mean a thing. I have a 32x and 52x CDROM drive on my PC. The 32x drive can rip an entire music CD to WAV about 10-20% faster than the 52x. Why? The 32x is actually a burner and CD Audio extraction is fine tuned in that device unlike the other. Perhaps the Asus CDROM does a better job of extracting data at a faster rate than the Acer. That would be my guess...

__________________________________________________

~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[canobe]

thanks for that cdogg, yes both the cd-rom and cd-rw attached on the same IDE cable in both system. but in 2nd system, in POST, CD-ROM and CD-RW stated was ATA/33 instead of ATA/66. i wonder why.

This is not only the problem, sometime in system 2, all the application will not active, i just can move my mouse here and there, just like pc hang up, but it actually doesnt. when i press ALT-TAB to make one of the application active, its back to normal. and today my sound icon in the system tray is missing. there is no sound playing. i presume it cause by virus, it i was wrong. no virus was found.

 

[cdogg]

Yeah, it sounds like system 2 may be overloaded with software or not configured properly.

A quick test would be to swap CDROM drives from both systems. Put the Asus into system 2 to see if it makes a difference. If it does, then you found your problem. If it doesn't, then the problem is either software or OS related.

__________________________________________________

~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[canobe]

i formatted and installed back the 2000 advance server and check in device manager everything install included sound card, but no icon appear in the system tray? i check in control panel on sound & multimedia, when i played either one of it, it prompt out error msg box saying "Your sound card may be in use." What is that mean?