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Computer issue

Mattg14Mattg14 Member Posts: 19

I'm really looking forward getting back to playing MMORPG's and currently have a difficult hardware issue that needs sorting!!

 

System specs:

 

Intel pentium D 3.2ghz

Maxtor 7200rpm 150gb sata

2gb pc5300 Memory

Powercolor AC2 x1950 pro 512

Asus P5VD2-mx se Motherboard

Arctic 600w PSU

 

- I've had choppy, low framed graphics in all the games i've tested. The framerate i receive within both low-high graphical settings is around 14-20 fps.

 

- I've checked all my drivers, all seem to be pretty much up to date, including catalyst 8.1

 

- I've done 3dmark 05 and that turned out pretty bad. (14-20 frames)

 

Is there anything you guys suggest i purchase or check. I've almost done everything to my knowledge and alot of other peoples help to tackle this. Feel free to ask me anything which you may require to narrow the problem down more.

 

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Comments

  • ShoalShoal Member Posts: 1,156

    You did not mention which MMORPGs you are trying to play.  Some, such as EQ2 and V:SoH are going to be problematic no matter what system you have. 

    However, here are a few things to check :

    *  Be sure Fast File Access is turned OFF for all your hard drives.  Open the My Computer applette and check the Drive properties.  At the bottom of the dialog is the checkbox for it.  If it is turned ON, it may take some time for the system to update all the files for it to be OFF.  Be patient.

    *  Be sure that the Restore functionality is turned OFF.  This will be somewhere in yous System app settings.  Depending on your system type.

    *  Be sure that your Virus scanner Real Time Scan is DISABLED.  If you cannot fully disable it, set it to Custom and select a single, seldom ever accessed file type.

    *  Get a good Defrag and Compression utility and run it on your Drives.  The standard Windows one is ok, but does not optimize.  Should only be about $30.

    *  Consider getting an NVidia 8800GT card (not GTS or GTX, just GT).  This is a VERY fast card and not to expensive.

    Good Luck.

  • daelnordaelnor Member UncommonPosts: 1,556

    When's the last time you played an MMO?

    That's a pretty dated processor for newer games. Turn the graphics settings down some, don't try to multi task while running games. Your processor is pretty fast ghz wise...but the frontside bus is going to choke.

    Shut down any programs that aren't necesary, including start up programs that run invisibly in the background. You'd be surprised how much crap runs all the time. You probably have unnecesary things running from startup such as quicktime, itunes, all kind of garbage.

    Update your vidcard drivers.

    How much RAM did you say you have? On an older system like that, run 2ghz, it will do wonders for you, and older RAM is dirt cheap now.

    Other than that, do what the other guy said.

    Or upgrade.
    edit: what resolution are you trying to run? Maybe drop to a lower resolution also.


    D.

    p.s. I am running a p4 3.0ghz with 2ghz of pc3200 and an nvidia 7600gs OC'd. I can play any game out there except for crysis.....crysis makes my computer scream in pain.

    image

  • Mattg14Mattg14 Member Posts: 19

    I've tried oblivion before i got the x1950 pro (xfx 8400gs) and had higher frames on oblivion, lol

    i've changed setting from very low-ultra high, both are 14-17 frames MAX.

    I also had the same problems with WoW. That was far more coppy, though.

    I have a feeling it quite possibly be my motherboard, because seriously, if my pentium D can't handle WoW, which is extremely unlikely, i think it might as well be a motherboard issue.

     

     

    PS. i tested a 8500gt and  that had the same ammount of frames (this was before i put on ati drivers)

     

    Has pci-e 2.0 have something to do with it?

    i cannot be arsed to use a 8400gs for the rest of my life :/

    please reply

     

     

  • CleffyIICleffyII Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 3,440

    Your system isn't actually as dated as many will make you believe. A 3.2 ghz processor, even a Pentium D should be good enough for most PC games.  Beats me what the problem is.  Have you tried updating your DX9.  Its like something is throttling your performance.

    image

  • Mattg14Mattg14 Member Posts: 19

    Yeah, the pentium D isnt bad at all. I'm using direct X 9.0c, maybe 9.0b perhaps?

  • Mattg14Mattg14 Member Posts: 19

    Is there even a directx 9.0b?

  • elvenangelelvenangel Member Posts: 2,205

    There's nothing wrong with your hardware, the Penium D is an older generation of Dual Cores but its still a Dual Core it just has less FSB then Dual Core 2s and while it matters it doesnt' matter THAT much as in it shouldn't kill that many frames frames per second.   

    I'm not familiar with Powercolor are they a good ATI manufactorer?  Makers do matter with video cards. Is it PCI Express 16 or just PCI Express?   Are you using a super high screen resolution?  It shouldn't matter much with that model of the ATI card but sometimse it does matter.   Hell my 8600 is not as favorable to my 1600 x 1200 resolution as my 7900 was (misses my 7900 card).

    I have a Pentium D 3.4Ghz, 2 GB ram, 8600 Nvidia (had a 7900 which in my opinion is better but it busted so i had no choice but to get what i could afford to shell out on for now) and games run just fine...I average 40 to 70 fps depending on the game.   The only thing I can think of is something you have is not in sync with the rest of your computer.  

    WoW should run suberb, Oblivion should rock, hell you should even be able to run Crysis.    Were you hit by lightening storms recently?  Have you been over heating?  

    Are you using *gasp n shudder* Vista?   If you've recently upgraded to Vista you may of fubar'd yourself.

    Please Refer to Doom Cat with all conspiracies & evil corporation complaints. He'll give you the simple explination of..WE"RE ALL DOOMED!

  • Mattg14Mattg14 Member Posts: 19

    Well, powercolor have won many awards and probably are the best sub-manifacuter of ATI. Also, the card comes with a fat 5 inch artic cooler on it, so the cooling is fine on the card. Im using 1024x 768 resolution so that cant be a drag :/ and the card is pci-e x16, using XP professional x64 version, but the problem persisted using x32 so its not the OS and no lightning storms recently (UK weather) I personally think that my motherboard can't cope, but i may be wrong. Damn i wish ATI had more of a support line :(

    can't even play WoW on 20 frames. Tried almost everything and its just not working

     

  • daelnordaelnor Member UncommonPosts: 1,556

    How much memory are you running? It could very well be that. If you're not running 2ghz on that system it could be a problem.

    It might be the motherboard, but I couldn't really tell you without having my hands on it to test it out.

    Since resolution, processor and vid card have pretty much been ruled out, after RAM I'm actually out of ideas other than some weird hardware failure.

    Sorry.

    D.

    image

  • Mattg14Mattg14 Member Posts: 19

    I'm not actually 100% on what your saying, but i'm currently running 2gb of RAM at like 666mhz . I think

  • oakaeoakae Member UncommonPosts: 344


    Originally posted by Mattg14
    I'm not actually 100% on what your saying, but i'm currently running 2gb of RAM at like 666mhz . I think image
    I think he means your processor might not be running at 3.2ghz. You can check it's speed in the bios.
  • Mattg14Mattg14 Member Posts: 19

    Oh right. Well, it isnt running at 3.2. I did cpuz to test speeds and it drops from 3.2 to 2 back to 3.2 and so on. So, i'm going to clean my cooler tomorrow, get more paste and yank it back onto the cpu. I'm truly stuck if that doesn't fix that issue :/

  • zantaxzantax Member Posts: 254

    Two things to check in your case, watch your HDD light and see if it is on continuously?  If it is check your Hard drive and make sure it isn't over 50% full, also run a manufacture scan on your HDD if the HDD is being read all the time you could have bad sectors cropping up causing you issues, that can kill your frames, if that is the case buy a new HDD.

    Second thing to check, what OS are you useing, with that processor and that setup, make sure you stick with xp, don't try vista.  To me your machine is the bare minimum to use vista as an os for word, excel...etc, e-mails and such, but not gaming in vista.  On xp though you shoudl be doing good.

     

    Those are the 2 things I would suggest checking and I am leaning towards your HDD having bad sectors to tell you the truth because wow should work on that thing fine.

     

  • Mattg14Mattg14 Member Posts: 19

    I rebuilt my OS and it basically has anything on it anyway. Just service pack 2,drivers, 3dmark05 and oblivion. Thats it

  • zantaxzantax Member Posts: 254
    Originally posted by Mattg14


    I rebuilt my OS and it basically has anything on it anyway. Just service pack 2,drivers, 3dmark05 and oblivion. Thats it

    Did you watch your hard drive and see if it is constantly reading?  Do a full scan disk with out fixing errors and see if it shows you bad sectors, I bet that is the problem.

  • Mattg14Mattg14 Member Posts: 19

    I'll bare your idea in mind. But first, i'll do a CPU cooler clean, because i think my CPU is overheating. And my hard drive seems fine to be honest. I'll test it tomorrow, though.

     

  • daelnordaelnor Member UncommonPosts: 1,556

    From what you said with the goofy readings on your CPU...I would put money on either the cpu or the motherboard. Hope cleaning it up and reseating it works for you, otherwise you may be spending some $$$$$.

    D.

    image

  • Mattg14Mattg14 Member Posts: 19

    Well, motherboards come cheap nowdays (exept sli boards). If its not that, i'll send my cpu back, i have some warranty still :P

  • zantaxzantax Member Posts: 254

    Well if the HDD checks out fine and the goofy processor speeds are not fixed by cleanin ghte heat sink, my next suggestion is to look at the caps near the processor.  I know the older Pentium 4's had this issue but it would cause straight power offs for no reason.  Basicly look for bulging on the caps near the processor if any of them are bulged a bit or have something leaking down the sides of them, it is definatly your main board.  I have doubts that it would be the processor itself, I mean Intel processors don't go bad very much, I think the rate is less then 1%, not sure about that though.

    Either way let us know what the fix was for your problem

  • maskedweaselmaskedweasel Member LegendaryPosts: 12,173

    I haven't read the whole thread but I'll give you my advice anyway, I dunno if you've heard it or not.

    You can check your CPU temp by downloading SpeedFan, it'll help determine the temperature of most of your components and alot of the time tell you what your fan speeds are set at.

    In your bios you can check alot of information, but depending on what type of BIOS you are running it may not give you too many options for clock speeds. One thing is for sure, check the temp in the BIOS as well.

    If you have a different Vid card you can test, put it in and test it out with your games. It doesn't have to be anything special, even a cheap 30 dollar one off of newegg can do the trick for you. Just see what the performance differences in normal applications are.  I've seen many a video card lose performance and just get worse and worse.

    Open up your case and turn your computer on, do you see anything obstructing fan sources, like the CPU fan, the power supply fan or any case fans?

    Listen for clicking on your hard drive, or check in your error logs under the system tab to see if you are getting any disk errors. (right click mycomp>manage>error logs) (it doesn't really sound like a HDD error but it's worth a look)

    There could also be a slight problem with your memory, you may want to run Memtest, just run a search for it, it will tell you if you have any errors in your memory. 

    Update us and let us know what the results are.



  • Mattg14Mattg14 Member Posts: 19

    I'll get to that as soon as i rebuild my OS (again) AVG screwed up my pc by downloading a x32bit update on a x64 OS :/

  • MehjrianMehjrian Member Posts: 127

    If this happens again, even after the new rebuild, I would try finding a set of older drivers for your video card. I had to do that a few times unfortunately. I was lazy and didn't feel like tweaking newer drivers, so I rolled back to an earlier version, and my frames would go back up again.

    Actually funny story ... I have an older computer, and decided to upgrade the video card (AGP slot :P). The ati card I bought wouldn't run any 3d applications at all using the latest drivers. It would start loading a game (for example), then just quit right back to the desktop. I tried a few things, but decided wasn't worth my time. I ended up switching to Omega Drivers, and now the card works beautifully. Runs WoW perfectly, counter strike source, F.E.A.R., etc. Ya ... nothing latest like Crysis or anything, but meh HL2 will always be my friend.

    Moral of this story, if nothing else works, you can try the Omega Drivers. I have never had any problems with them, and I have been using them for a while now. Let us know how it goes!

  • elf225elf225 Member Posts: 85

    It could be your power supply.  Do you have enough power to run all your hardware, it could account for the performance drains on your processor and card.  Also, would make your mobo look like the culprit.

    "You dont win a war by dieing for your country, you win a war by getting the other poor bastards to die for theirs!"

    -General Patton

  • Mattg14Mattg14 Member Posts: 19

    I heavily doubt it. I have a 600W with alot of Amps on the rails

  • maskedweaselmaskedweasel Member LegendaryPosts: 12,173
    Originally posted by Mattg14


    I heavily doubt it. I have a 600W with alot of Amps on the rails



    I did forget to address the PSU make sure that it's actually a 600W instead of 600W peak surge (capable of spiking at 600W).  Usually it will say on the PSU itself.  A peak surge wattage allows companies to sell an item as X00 wattage but it doesn't actually run as such.  Just an afterthought.



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