computer going bonkers, please help sg!

slackerz · Post by **slackerz** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 5:47 am

hello, there, i'm having real problems with my pc and i think i've tried everything so i'll post here and maybe some kind soul would help me out.

first, let me state my specs.

pentium 4 1.6ghz [windows xp home]
768mb ram
nvidia geforce 4 mx 440 128mb
hp desktop [pavilion 8988]
cd-rw
40 gigs

i'm using this pc basically for gaming purposes/internet surfin, but recently, a couple of problems came. i just tweaked my connection based on this thread - https://www.speedguide.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=204346.

after a few 'huffs and puffs', i get my connection tweaked and smooth. suddenly, my system was 20% slower than before [opening of apps], and when i go to places like youtube or any webstreaming sites, its all jerkish/laggy and unviewable. the audio is smooth but the video isnt and its high on cpu usage. i thought maybe its the server or something as my download is really fast and smooth. the next day i tried it again and its still the same.

next, i just bought star wars battlefront 2, installation went smooth but when it comes to the gameplay, i couldnt play it. it stutters like hell. i know maybe my video card is low but i checked their system requirements, my ram was past theirs. i mean at least i could run on lowest with not problems, but in this case, lowest quality didnt make much difference.

so i thought maybe i had to uninstall/update my graphics card. end result was the same, still laggish with streams and the game couldnt run. it never happened before like this.

i think the problem with battlefront and video web streaming is connected. any ideas guys? i hope you can help me, i'm really struggling.

thanks in advance..

David · Post by **David** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 6:20 am

Some suggestions.

Update windows... Go to microsoft update site and get all the latest fixes and patches.
Dated hardware... If you plan on keeping your present system, expect some of the latest games to challenge its capabilities. Run them at the lowest settings.
Scan for spyware and other garbage... Clean out you computer. Ad-Aware, CCleaner, a registry cleaner etc.

slackerz · Post by **slackerz** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 9:45 am

Thanks for that.

I've done Microsoft Updates.

Checked for spyware and removed them.

Downloaded CCleaner and clean the crap off.

Streaming is still slow, BF2 can't run. It's weird, this never happened to me before. Any other suggestions?

slackerz · Post by **slackerz** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 11:41 am

I was wondering, how do I check if my Gfx card is working well, so that I could mark out that this isn't a Gfx card issue.

Sava700 · Post by **Sava700** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 3:24 pm

slackerz wrote: first, let me state my specs.

pentium 4 1.6ghz [windows xp home]
768mb ram
nvidia geforce 4 mx 440 128mb
hp desktop [pavilion 8988]
cd-rw
40 gigs

You don't have enough Video power, and processor isn't exactly medium, BF2 likes at least 1gig of ram also but in saying this I think you need to really look at a video card update.

slackerz · Post by **slackerz** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 12:24 pm

thanks for the help guys, i totally agreed with my video card thingy and has put the game away sadly. anyway, about online streaming, i've quite solved the problem by removing 2x 128 mb ram. i just installed it with my new 512 kingston but maybe it has brand conflicts or something. the 128mb is infineon, cheap **** hp gave me.

anyway, there's a small problem. with the 512mb, after a restart, streaming was smooth but after a couple of mins, it suddenly lags/stutters. any ideas? i've tried streams with best links with excellent peers but it still lags.

thanks in advance mates.

only forum that has come up with ways to help me unlike other crap ones.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:35 pm

slackerz wrote: the 128mb is infineon, cheap **** hp gave me.

Actually Infineon is good stuff....Kingston is common value ram. Regardless of what brand you use, the exact part numbers you get should be approved to be compatible with your system...you don't just grab "any old stick of RAM which appears to be the right speed" like way back years ago in the EDO days.

slackerz · Post by **slackerz** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 9:24 pm

YeOldeStonecat wrote:Actually Infineon is good stuff....Kingston is common value ram. Regardless of what brand you use, the exact part numbers you get should be approved to be compatible with your system...you don't just grab "any old stick of RAM which appears to be the right speed" like way back years ago in the EDO days.

really? didnt know about that, i probably didnt know loads of things lol. anyway, yeah, i asked hp about how much ram can i upgrade and they said its up to a maximum of 1.2gigs. also the ram is pc133. so i bought one pc133 512mb ram and placed it with the old infineon. but when i took it out, streams weren't laggy as per before.

any ideas?

Shinobi · Post by **Shinobi** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 10:57 pm

Just throwing my 2 cents in..

You sure it's not a overheating problem? Did you check your fans inside the computer?
Maybe it is the fan that is on the "GPU" of your video card?
Make sure there isn't any dust in the fan, maybe it is jammed up and not cooling down the GPU?

Shinobi

slackerz · Post by **slackerz** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 12:45 am

Well, I've downloaded and checked my PC temp with Everest. It's between 72 to 78 degrees. How do I check my Video Card's 'GPU'? Is it the fan?

Anyway, many thanks for the reply.

slackerz · Post by **slackerz** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 2:29 am

I've checked my GFX Card's fan and everything, removed all the dust. Improved my PC performance. The only thing is that when I watch a stream anywhere, it lags after 5-10 mins.

Unholy · Post by **Unholy** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 4:55 am

slackerz wrote:It's between 72 to 78 degrees.

Celsius?

slackerz · Post by **slackerz** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 11:27 am

Unholy wrote:Celsius?

Yeap, but now its like 66 degrees after I clean off dusts behind it.

slackerz · Post by **slackerz** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 12:10 am

Anyone? I'm pulling my hair now.