Identifying a Sempron

[JohnD]

I have a 2-year old PC which is slow. I think I will rebuild it on a new HD, hopefully, with less rubbish on it, and am considering buying a used processor to up its speed (they sometimes look fairly cheap on Fleabay). I have an idea that there were two processor types that are interchangable, one being better than the other.

the old processor is a Sempron 2800+. I have an idea that they were available with different sockets. How can I check what I have got so I can get one to fit?

Background:

I don't mind opening the case, as I assembled it myself but can't find the details, it is just a bit of a job because it is crammed into a sort of cupboard with a great tangle of cables, so is difficult to unplug and lift out, so I don't like lifting it out and putting it back more than once.

It has 512 MB of PC133 memory which I would have thought enough. I don't do games, but mostly use IE, MSOffice, Norton IntSec and Norton Systemworks. I have two HDs. I hope to avoid having to buy XP again, if I need to, I will probably just buy another barebones.

I don't know how to look up the MB, but I see in Device Manager it has SIS 7001 PCI/UBS, SIS 180 RAID, SIS 900 Ethernet, SIS 5300 IDE

 

[breezer]

i know its not me, but i would buy a "package" mobo, processor and fan, that way you know it will work

exhibit A

other supplies of bundled packages are available

 

[JohnD]

yes, I usually buy that kind of bundle, but thought I could bump up the old one at lower cost

 

[Chudley]

cpu-z ( http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php ) will tell you the processor chip package, which should allow you to find a suitable replacement. Although, with pc133 ram its probably better replacing the motherboard etc as well, as already mentioned..

 

[Deluks]

My tip: lose everything Norton and add another stick of 512mb. For what you use it for, it should be perfectly adequate.

Of course the old disk cleanup, defrag, deleting temp files, uninstall unused progs etc can go a long way too.

Also, move your pagefile to the secondary hard drive will give a good performance boost.

If you want a faster CPU, then I don't think it's worth investing any cash if you currently have socket A or socket 754.
If you want a bundle then shop around, you can get a fast-ish Intel dual core CPU, with brand name mobo and 2GB of ram for under £100, if you know where to shop (online) PM me if you want any pointers.

 

[NewOrder]

A two year old computer with PC133 memory? PC133 was discontinued in around 2002.

 

[JohnD]

I looked up the order for this machine, it says "Order placed on: 2006-05-22 "

I found a copy of an order for PC133 mem. I wonder if it might have been for my spare machine? looks like I made a msitake

this one says
"Memory DDR 512 MB PC3200 buffered=no
DRAM frequency 200 MHz
voltage 2.5v"

I used chudley's link to report on this machine, and it says:

Product Description: Foxconn 760GXK8MC-RS - motherboard - micro ATX - SiS760GX
Product Type: Motherboard
Form Factor: Micro ATX
Dimensions (WxDxH): 24.4 cm x 24.4 cm
Chipset Type: SiS760GX / SiS964
Max Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Processor: 0 ( 1 ) - Socket 754
Compatible Processors: Athlon 64, Sempron
RAM: 0 MB (installed) / 2 GB (max)
Supported RAM Technology: DDR SDRAM
Storage Controller: ATA-133, Serial ATA-150 (RAID)
USB Ports Configuration: 8 x USB
Storage Ports Configuration: 2 x ATA, 2 x SATA
Graphics Controller: SiS Mirage 2 Shared Video Memory (UMA)
Audio Output: Sound card - SiS964 - 5.1 channel surround
Networking: Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet

 

[Deluks]

You have DDR (DDR 1) memory. You can get another for under a tenner, free post!

Cheapest answer to your problems, as well as my other tips which will cost a few hours of your time.


You could upgrade the CPU with a second hand Athlon 64, but you won't gain much of a speed increase. If you do go down this route, spending any more than £20 on the chip would be a waste of money IMO.

 

[JohnD]

thanks

I see they also have 1Gb for £16, can I put this in with my old memory?

p.s.
I moved my pagefile to the "D" drive and sized it at 760MB max/min, it feels like this has made it go faster, but I don't understand why

 

[Deluks]

No reason why you can't add 1GB, but unlikely that the full amount will be utilised. Like when insulating a loft, the first 1GB will be doing 95% of the work the extra 'bit on top' will show very little benefit.

If your motherboard supports dual channel memory it would be better to install a pair of ram sticks of equal size. So best just add another 512mb, just in case it does.


Your C drive has to access the workings of the operating system, as well as any programs you might be running. Having to access the pagefile as well just increases the amount of work the drive has to do meaning it takes longer to get stuff done.

Farming off the pagefile to a separate hard drive means both drives are sharing the workload. Good thing.

The pagefile is an area on the hard drive that gets used as a temporary 'holding area' for frequently accessed data, when the 'physical' memory (your RAM) is overloaded*.

Say if you have several large images open in a photo editing program, if the images themselves are larger than the free memory you have available then they will be kept in the pagefile.

*No matter how much memory you have installed, windows XP will always need a pagefile, it always finds a way to fill it up.

 

[JohnD]

The memory has arrived now

I also got an Athlon 64 3200 for a tenner

I see from the spec it is 64 bit and the old Sempron 2800 might be 32bit or it might be 64bit so it should be a bit faster

I got a new disk too (see my other post)