Just checking in on what could be slowing things down from higher "discrete" component performance ratings: What type of Ram Memory chips are loaded? Even if they may be relatively new, if their timing is slower, or faster than the FSB speed, or some multiple of same, they may be out of synch with the timing of the Front side bus (FSB) which can reduce performance altogether. Data transfer between the memory chips and the FSB may require more than one separate clock cycle if there is a mismatch in timing characteristics, which will also slow the CPU performance as well, since there is a bottleneck in how the parts link up and transfer data. I could be all wet about this instance, but the tip about old parts thrown together made me wonder about how the parts may be possibly mismatched.

FWIW, NEWEGG has some ECS motherboards under a $100 with FSB rating of over 2500 MHZ or 5200 MT/Sec....

DrDuBose
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