Thought I'd share a performance solution I found
From: aragorn (anonymous_at_discussions.microsoft.com)
Date: 03/17/04
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Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 19:09:27 -0800
especially true if your PC sits in a dusty corner on the
floor or in the bedroom... ;-)
>-----Original Message-----
>I just solved a performance problem on my machine running
Windows XP Home Edition. This problem was particularly
with running games.
>
>I have a P4 1.7 GHz Compaq Presario with 512 MB RAM and
an 80 GB hard drive, with a cable modem internet
connection. In other words, this computer shouldn't have
any problem running most software.
>
>Upon startup it would run fine and not have noticable
problems with the web and email, but running any game
would give occasional choppy performance. These programs
all used to work perfectly and the choppy sound and
graphics would happen periodically, even rhythmically.
For 35 seconds the game would be fine, and then the next
35 seconds would be unplayable. Back and forth.
>
>I tried everything from service packs to driver upgrades
to spyware removal to defragmentation to disabling devices
to total OS reinstallation. None of these fixed the
problem (though the first three are recommended practices).
>
>The solution to my problem: keep the interior of the PC
free of dust.
>
>I happened upon this when I decided to start unplugging
components one at a time. I noticed the heat sink on the
CPU (which on my P4 resembled a tomoto sauce can with a
fan on the top) was clogged with dust. With the computer
unplugged (!) I popped the heat sink assembly off the top
of the CPU and vacuumed it out. After replacing the
assembly - Voila! The performance problem was gone. The
funny thing was that the dust wasn't making the fan any
more noisy than usual.
>
>Not all processors will exhibit this behavior
necessarily. Pentium 4 processors (I don't know about AMD
processors or Intel Celeron) have a feature
called "throttling" which is a safety feature to prevent
overheating. Once the CPU reached a certain temperature
(which in my case only resource intensive games pushed it
to) my 1.7 GHz machine turned itself into a 850 MHz
processor until it cooled off sufficiently to return to
full speed. The alternating good performance/bad
performance was my CPU protecting itself (and infuriating
me) by slowing itself down. Back and forth.
>
>Hope this helps someone out. Be very careful about
cleaning the inside of your PC. I won't be held
responsible for your lost super-important data (which,
since it's so important, is backed up right? RIGHT?)
>
>C Bueno
>.
>
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