A question on AMD durability & Stability

[Game-Hacker]

I have one old computer that I did not use anymore for more than 2 years. I decided to give it to my 11-year old nephew.

The spec:

ECS K7S5A
AMD Duron 1 GHZ
Riva TNT 32MB
128 + 64MB SDRAM VISIPRO 8ic
20 GB Seagate RPM 5200
Sound on Board
Sony CD-Rom
Floopy
Using WinME

Now, when I used to use that computer, it ran ok but now, It seemed to be slower than before. My question is: Is it true that AMD processor stability and durability decrease after certain year?

I also use the following computer in my office:

AMD Sempron 2.8
ECS KT-600A
Geforce FX 5200 128 DDRRAM
2X 512 DDRRAM Visipro 81c
Seagate Baracudda 80GB SATA
Sound on Board
Samsung DVD Combo
Samsung Floopy
Using WinXP SP 2 professional edition

I notice the first six months, that computer ran pretty fast but now it still run fast but not as fast as before. So does time has effect on AMD in Stability and durability?

I need feedback as I am going to buy a new notebook and still confuse to choose between Prescott or AMD Opetron.

[Luci]

well i use AMD all my life never had intel CPU.i am very happy.the only thing you gotta worry is about the CPU temperature.with a good cooler you'll be good.maybe you installed many programs on your pc etc????

no i don't think amd has a timelife!!!

[Game-Hacker]

When I bought the computer for my office need, I also bought Pentium 4 3.GHZ (hyperthread) for my home computing exactly in the same date. This pentium 4 has all the same spec as the Sempron CPU and uses also ECS motherboard but different type of course.

Now, I did not see any significant decrease in speed while using my Pentium 4 CPU in my home but did see a little decrease in speed when using the Sempron CPU in my office.

The difference in speed processing in the old computer (Duron) is clearly experience by me. I re-formated the CPU and only installed WinME with my old favourite games STRONGHOLD CRUSADER and DIABLO II:LOD but when I started the game, I really found it turned 50% longer than used to be.

About the heat or others, I have no problem as all my computers are all in air-conditioned room.

[Luci]

pentium and sempron is not the same at all!!!!sempron might be 3.2 but it's a lot slower at speed

[Game-Hacker]

pentium and sempron is not the same at all!!!!sempron might be 3.2 but it's a lot slower at speed

I know about that. What I meant is, let say for instance:

When I wanna play a game and clicked the icon, it used to go to the main menu, let`s say 5 seconds now after six month, it took 7 seconds. That happened to the Sempron CPU but not the Pentium CPU.

[Luci]

maybe you hae installed many programs or maybe you didn't uninstall properly programs and the registry has some useless stuff.try cleaning your registry with a program.

[Game-Hacker]

maybe you hae installed many programs or maybe you didn't uninstall properly programs and the registry has some useless stuff.try cleaning your registry with a program.

I usually maintence my PC on Friday evening, that is before leaving for week-end holiday and that included, defragment, clean reg, etc. Well, I am a computer maniac. :D

Just wanna ask you some simple questions, how long have you been using your current AMD PC? any change/decrease in speed?

I would love to buy a new Opteron (AMD 64) notebook as Intel has not release their 64 bits notebook, but the only problem is that I heard, that AMD 64 bits does not support DDR2. How would you sugguest? Thx for chatting by the way.

[Luci]

my athlon xp 2.5?well it must be around 1 year.no man speed's fine.well i also happen to have 1Gb of ram and a 5700(yeah i know!!!)but the pc is damn good.have not a problem

well i am not a fan of notebooks cause in my brothers notebook i can't play any game!!!!he has 2.5 celeron with 256ram but doesn't play anything!!!.well i'd go for athlon cause i love 'em.find some tests about notebooks and see the specs.i'd surely go for an athlon64 with 512 ram

[Luciel]

The reason why its slower its not the cpu :)

ATA HDDs reduce functionality over the years if unused or nearly/tottally full. ive tested this theory several times :) now i have a S-ATA hdd for about a year, with amd cpu still and no slowdown at all :) hope this helps.

[CactuSaq]

If what you had asked initially was even possible it would mean that no one would ever have actually bought one of these processors, for they have no moving parts so why would they wear in a manner that would perform slower! :)

[Game-Hacker]

@Luciel

That was a great opinion, I should have thought about that :o
I am using SATA now and maybe as Luci said, I installed too many programs.

@Luci

I take your sugguestion, I would go for Opteron 64 bits with 2X 512 DDR, maybe not DDR2 at the moment as AMD 64 bits not yet support DDR2. I need a good notebook as I have to traveled a lot now.

As why you can't played anything in your brother`s notebook, maybe it is beacuse he used onboard display card and shared a low memory as he intented to use his notebook only for work not game. If he had a good performance display card, playing games in notebook is not a problem at all.

@Cactusaq

I asked as I am curious and as Luciel said, maybe is the ATA IDE that caused the problem. Many people still buy ATA IDE, right? so many people still buy things that decrease in performance after certain years.

[Luci]

sorry didn't thought about that.i have 1 ata and 1 sata...
well yeah he has 256 ram and one ati 9000 or something but if you can afford these stuff you said go for it man.

[Game-Hacker]

Just got a quotation from my vendor

The Acer Ferrari 3400

Athlon XP 64, 3000+, 512MB DDR333, 80GB HDD, DVD±RW/CDRW Combo, 56K Modem, GbE NIC, Wireless, ATI Radeon 9700 128MB, Bluetooth, 15" SXGA, Win XP Pro

Shipping Weight : 9 kgs

Optional:

+ Upgrade memory to 1GB
+ Trade-in 56K modem to Sierra Wireless AirCard® 555 (CDMA2000 1x)

Bonus:

+ Digital Camera Nikon CoolPix 2200
+ Flash BILLIONTON UFD2-0512B 512MB

Total Price : US$ 2455

All cost would be refund by my company. :)

So I would buy this one by this by Tuesday or once my company approved it which I am sure they would. :)

[Luci]

damn that's better than mine....if it's free go for it man ;)

[Game-Hacker]

if it's free go for it man ;)

Sure I would :D , Thx again for your sugguestion and another thank to Luciel for making my hesitation with AMD disappear. You guys are helpful.

[Luciel]

anytime matey ;)

[Meiosis]

Just wanted to add something someone touched up on.

HEAT:
PC Maintenance is a must. Computer towers collect so much dust that in time the dust causes heat and could add to the factor of instability.

Another issue is the coolent on your processor's DYE. Make sure if it's the paste version, that there is enough around the little square dye and if it's the tape version, make sure it has not been burned up.

HDD:
Many countless times the hard drive needs to be defragged and cleaned up. Make sure you delete as much useless files from the drive as possible. Doing so frees up more space for your computer to use to load applications quicker.

Memory Compatibility:
In many cases when people build computers, they tend to forget to make sure that their memory matches the CPU frequency of your prosessor. If it does not match up then your memory usage is lowered and thus will make the system slower. Many cases indicate bad or faulty memory. Do some memory checks with diagnostic software to check the health of your hardware and see if everything is running.

Conclusion:
A healthy computer will never die so long as you know how to keep it clean, configured correctly via hardware components and via CMOS. Hope these tips help you in the long run, and I speak as experience working as a computer repair technician at a local pc repair shop.

[DABhand]

Errrr

Not around! but ON!

And not alot either, it should be applied to the centre of the CPU about half a grain of rice, then spread evenly and thinly i.e. about 2millimeters so thin, if too much the paste will spread onto the other components of the processor and overheat them.

Use a thin edge, many use a razor but I think thats a bit drastic, a plastic knife or an old phone card or something.

Then do make sure you put the heatsink on correctly if using a XP or Sempron, match the ridge on the heatsink base to the platform on the CPU base (i.e. the white plastic platform where you sit your CPU into).