My system is custom built by self.I have a MSI-MB/K9VGM-V w/via k8m890 chipset. I BOUGHT a AMD Sempron processor1800mghz/AM2 socket.(also temporary till I can afford better AMD X2)1gig ram 667ddr, 80 HDD, with only 2 PCI 's plus the pci xprs16 for video and 1pcixprsx1 for ?.Ive got a capture card in one pci to use to download from my DV camcorder,as that was cheaper than a DV cable-firewire cable and firewire card in the pci . The other pci has a modem for faxing from fax machine from garage sale-5.00.As you can see I build on an extreme budget.I took some parts from other dead pc's.I did get a decent power supply-Thermaltake 575watt,two fan power. And I have only one fan in caselocated in rear and the fan on the cpu that came with the cpu from AMD. Everything was bought from newgg when on sale with free shipping.It took me three months to get all the part to build this pc.Only other expense was case from geeks.com for16.00,cheap,but works. I figured total cost around 225.00 dollars US.i MENTION PRICES AS i CAN ONLY AFFORD CHEAP. So any help to get this machine to run faster than default settings would be appreciated.
I'm running win xp pro (edu. version-from bookstore on OU campus)All software is hand-me down.

Need help with setting up V.6 Award bios/CMOS (Award workstation)Award-Pheonix. The SUPPORT from MSI is non EXISTANT in respect to specific part of bios as to meaning of the advanced settings such as IOA PIC functions?DQS in Dram config, DQS Training, CKE base power down, Memory check Tri-Stating, Memory hole remapping(I have since this post found some info on this one only)Bottom of UMA Dram[31:24]? I could use some help on where to look for the meaning of these settings. I found the ddr reset part of cmos, so I could change from default of 400 to 667 I use( as I would like to get 800 ram but I cant afford for my motherboard right now667-49.00 vs 100.+ for 800ddr) also where can I change the cpu setting as I'd like to try to overclock mycpu a little at a time to see if it improves performance?Normally a BIOS is limited to how it was written for a specific machine...why not visit some overclocking boards to see exactly what that board/BIOS can handle ? ?

It sounds like you're trying to make a screamer out of a budget machine which as you can see doesn't always work...