BleepingComputer.com: Built a new system, have some questions.

Finally getting tired of my 7 year old dell I decided to build a new computer. Here is what I put together from newegg.
AMD Phenom II 550x2 (dual core, 3.1ghz) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103680
Biostar t series 790gxe motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813138152
8gb ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820211281
320gb wester digital h/d http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136074
Thermaltake case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811133074
and power supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817153052

First, it says it has integraed ATI Radeon HD 3300 graphic core with DX10, onboard side port memory 128mb DDR2, max shared video memory is 512mb. I quite honestly dont know what any of this means or if it is good. I dont do any gaming but according to the vista performance monitor or whatever it was called my computer rates around 5.9 while my graphics are at a 1. Under the device manager the standard vga graphics adapter has a yellow triangle with a ! in it, it says code 10, device could not start. I have checked for drivers, it says it has the latest. I uninstalled and it didnt do anything. I am wondering if my graphics are slowing down my system. Should I just get a new graphics card?

Second question, can you unlock the other cores on this cpu?

Nice setup, though I would have changed a few things. Nevertheless, it is still very good. Can you confirm that the drivers you are using are directly from ATI and not the generic VGA drivers that Windows uses? Even on systems with integrated graphics, a discrete graphics card is always best to get the most out of the PC. Since you don't game, a low-power GPU is all you really need, such as the SAPPHIRE 100253HDMI Radeon HD 4650 512MB for low profile PC's or the GIGABYTE GV-R465OC-1GI Radeon HD 4650 1GB for normal ones. As for the unlocking cores question, some motherboard manufacturers have a special BIOS or other techniques to unlock the remaining cores. However, not all do and some have had the modified BIOS' pulled by AMD. Since you don't game, there is probably little point in unlocking the cores.

Thanks for the reply. Just curios, what would you have done differently and why? I am learning here and was trying to build a budget system that would last for a few years with just some small upgrades along the way.
I did try to load the ati driver that came on the driver cd that came with the motherboard but it siad it could not find the ati card. I will try again and see if maybe I did something wrong.


One other question, I NEVER expected this system to run slow on anything I do but sometimes it takes 2-3 seconds for the action I perform with the mouse (click on another IE window or tab for example). I hit cnrl+alt+del to see what memory was being used by what and IE was using around 150k. I was replying to this post and shopping for college books on amazon and a local text shop, nothing with major grapics or animations at all.

When I say direct from ATI, I mean from the ATI's website. Most of the drivers that comes on discs, like those for motherboards and graphics cards, are often out-of-date before they hit store shelves. Here's is the link direct to the drivers section of ATI's website. For reference, you have the integrated/motherboard type of video card. You have to select this option after you choose your operating system. As for what I would change, I would would have gone for a standard ATX motherboard. The small motherboards, such as the one you've got, can have heating issues. This usually is a problem with users who like to push their PC's. Also, I would have gotten the board from a different company that has a better track record for quality, such as Gigabyte, ASRock, or Asus. Finally, the motherboard would be AM3 as the AM2/AM2+ standard is quickly being replaced by AM3.

I honestly chosse this motherboard because newegg had a good combo deal on it. That is good to hear though, at least that is the only thing you mentioned so I must have done somewhat right.
I loaded the driver on the disk again and with the same luck, changed from code 10 to code 43. I will remove it again and try the link you provided. Thank you, I will report back.

Any thoughts on the slowing down with IE?

Which OS are you using? If you use Firefox, does the IE problem persist? If you are using a generic VGA driver, that severely limits what Windows can do with the graphics hardware. That, in turn, can translate into reduced functionality and slow downs. I did some checking into the error codes and here is what I found.

Code 10: If the device has a FailReasonString value in its hardware key, that string is displayed as the error message. The driver or enumerator puts this registry string value there. If there is no FailReasonString in the hardware key, you receive the following error message: Code 10. Microsoft suggests updating the driver to fix the issue.

Code 43: One of the drivers controlling the device notified the operating system that the device failed in some manner. I suggest, for this, you ensure that you are using the correct driver.

Wow, downloading the latests driver from the link you gave did it. Everything is different now, the windows open smoother, my score went from 1 to 4.7, it just looks better. I opened IE and it took a few seconds, I may give firefox a go again. I originally only used firefox but due to some issues on my old system I went back to IE. Thank you so much for your help, I would have ended up spending another $100 on a video card to fix a problem that is easily fixed.