My system runs slowly after I reboot. To make it run at normal speed I have to leave it powered off for at least 10 minutes. This problem is not related to the operating system or the programs running. The problem shows up whether I'm running Windows XP or Windows 98. It shows up even if I have freshly reformatted the hard drive and reinstalled the OS. I've even tried replacing the motherboard and this didn't help.

If I start the system from a cold boot (it's been powered off for 10 minutes or longer) it runs at normal speed and it NEVER slows down as long as I don't reboot.

What could cause this? Could it be the CPU? The RAM? Some odd BIOS setting?

The CPU is an Athlon XP 1700+ and the RAM is two 256MB sticks of PC2100 DDR. There are only two DIMM sockets. Nothing is overclocked. I've tried removing one of the DIMM modules (in case the modules didn't like each other) but that didn't improve things. (The modules are identical, if that matters.)

The only thing I can think of to do next is to replace the CPU, but I thought replacing the MB would be a sure fix, so I don't want to throw my money away (again).

This is a self-built system; if I ever build another one it WON'T have an AMD processor. SIGH.

Any suggestions? Ever hear of anyone else having this problem?

Thanks!

When was the last time you clean out the dust from the CPU heat sink fan assembly? You could be verging on a overheating issue.

btw...there is nothing wrong with AMD, some of the earlier CPUs may have run rather warm, but they are still good.

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