solved the problem. I'll try 64 bit next! Thanks for the input... I tried to upgrade to thunderbird 1.5, and got "error while loading shared libraries: libstdc++.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory" I read on google to try installing compat-libstdc++- and when I installed that (and it's dependencies) thunderbird 1.5 runs, and mail downloads like lightning! thanks, Jonathan Berry wrote: On 1/12/06, Mickey Bankhead <mickey@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:I have just picked up my new desktop: AMD FX55 processor (the fat gaming proc, 64 bit, 2.6GHZ) with 2GB ram.Nice.I've installed FC4 (32 bit) without incident, and it runs GREAT! (underWhy 32-bit? It will run even better in 64-bit mode : ).20 minutes to install) I then installed thunderbird - (yum). It runs thunderbird ok, but when downloading, I got only about 1 e-mail per 1.5 seconds (3 minutes to download about 120 e-mails (these e-mails were mostly TEXT)This sounds like a network problem, not a program or CPU problem. What kind of network card do you have? What is your network setup? Internet connection? What about other programs? Do they perform better/same/worse? Internet browsing?Is this a 64 bit/ 32 bit problem?I really doubt it. With a 32-bit OS, your FX-55 is a 32-bit processor. There currently is no 64-bit to talk about. Something else is going on.Would it help if I install FC4 64 bit? amd will that limit me on yum downloads too much? I don't know 64 bit stuff much....Installing FC4 64-bit will probably neither help nor hurt this problem. However, why not install it and use your hardware to its highest potential? You will not limit yourself on yum downloads. Most FC4 programs are available as 64-bit versions, but you can also run 32-bit programs for the few that are not. 64-bit might present a few issues, but overall, I recommend 64-bit. Jonathan |