Serious probrem with pc/graphics card/windows

[neo776]

hi everyone,
k this is my first time posting in a forum for help, but i cant seem to get help anywhere else. ok ill start off with the small problem first.

--------Pc Lagging in Windows---------
After sometime(don't remember when or clearly), my pc started having occasional slow-downs. I thought it might be spyware, so i cleared out all baddies on my comp, and plus reformating it. After everythings done (mind you i did the proper format, not a quick one, and a clean windows xp installation, booting it from the cd) i thought, well woohoo, problem gone.
After 2MINUTES, it started playing up again (i didnt connect 2 the net yet). I've been told to update drivers, but i find no use in that if they worked fine before, and all the games i run work with my drivers, plus i have the latest anyways. This problem is most noticable when music is played, and a distinctive static noise is heard (but its not the track, how could all my 1600+ songs be corrupt, including videos and games) and when the mouse is moved, it moves normally then freezes for a second, and returns to normal (but this is a loop and goes on forever...so every other second it freezes).
Urgent help as this is driving me insane, and forcing me to do all my school work on my other pc (no big probrem, but other one is much faster).

Hope you could understand that problem. Now onto the major one.

----------------------Can't have graphics too high or pc locks up.------
This one i came across when i got my new graphics card...worked fine for a couple of days, until it would drop-out in games, (I.E: black screen, long static noise). The screen would go orange(the LED) indicating that its either off, or on standby, and the keyboard, and mouse would lock-up. Reset would'nt fix it either. So I upgraded mobo's to this one, and now i can reset when this happens, but the main problem is still there. It mostly happens when im playing real graphic intensive games with decent settings
e,g:
Doom 3 on 1024x768 -High Quality/Ultra Quality
NFS U2: 1280x1024 -8x anti-aliasing, 8xantisoptric filtering
Unreal Tounament 2004 U: 1280x1024 -8x anti-aliasing, 8xantisoptric filtering

And occasionly with just normal games. Whenever I put my reso up so it looks good, and runs fast (settings above got me 20fps on Doom 3, 30 on U2,
and 40-50 on UT2004, these are perfect for me). The games work fine, until it locks up...what makes me even more insane is the fact that both of these probs, mixed with the anxious panic that it might lock-up, makes LAN gaming horribly boring and stupid. It usually takes around 10-15mins to lock-up, and sometimes 5min on hot days or Doom 3. Please help...i've thought it might either be an overheating problem...but ive checked temps:
40*C - System on average
58-60*C - CPU on average

, and also ive thought it might be my hard drive, but not sure, as ive had not had that much experience with these problems (btw, system build by hand, parts bought seperately) Sorry for this long post, ive tried to give all the information possible. It would be great to get some help so i can fix this.

PC specs:
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ 333FSB
512DDR-RAM generic
MSI NVidia GeForce FX 5700 256MB VT2DR256
Seagate 60GB H.D.D
Creative Sound Blaster Live! 5.1
Gigabyte Pro-2 NForce 2 mobo
Win XP SP1

i think that'll be all the info needed
Thanks,
Neo776

 

[Rolly]

Weird.

Hmm... Coincidental that the day I join the forum, I run across a problem that I've confronted before.

To me, even before you had suggested it, I felt that it sounded very much like an overheating problem. And even though I am no expert in computers, between me and my friends we have seen our fair share of problems. And the "big" problem as you described your graphics card trouble, sounds exactly the time my friends geforce 5200fx did the same thing. Crash, lag, twich, slow start ups ect. We also tried a reformat/spyware removal. And that failed. Eventually I suggested overheating, and we removed the side of the case, and used a housefan to cool the computer. lol. It seems to work a little better than before, but still not up to snuff.

Another potential diagnoses?:
About 3 months ago I spent my summers earnings on my dream computer (or as close as I could afford). I went to a shop in town that specializes in custom builds, and they would provide you with a tech support guy who would guide you through part picking, and then the computer would be done a couple days later. When I was picking my graphics card, I decided on the ATI Sapphire Radeon 9600 pro 256mb lite re card. The computer guy suggested that I then upgrade my power supply to avoid problems. I have a 480 watt power supply. Could the problem be that you dont have enough power to run your hardware?.

Like I said before, I am NOT a computer expert of any kind. But I thought that since my new system is very similar to yours, I would relay some of the hints and suggestions I recieved. Hopefully that can explain the seemingly pointless backround stories. Good-luck whatever you make of this!

 

[neo776]

Thanks heaps for the power supply idea..and i also have a house fan directed to the pc...and not just one house fan i have 2!! I'm seriously considering that it may be the power supply causing the drop-outs (i have a standard 350watt power supply) and even the slow windows performance. I will see if a more powerful one will do the trick, and will post back with whatever the results. Strange thing is that it has also crossed my mind about the power supply not being sufficient but, once again making the mistake that since my system 'qualifies' for the minimum system requirements, that I will be in the clear nd everything will be a dream. I will try out a 400-480watt PSU.

btw, the minimum power requirement for the graphics card is....

300watt

Thanks,
Neo776

 

[Rolly]

No problem man. How does the Geforce 5700FX run when its working? I cant remember for sure, but I contemplated buying it, and I think it turned out to be PCI Express.

Good luck again.

 

[neo776]

The 5700 runs great, the look of the graphics are nice, but clearly not designed for extreme performance. Its perfect for me, as I mainly use my comp for vand gaming. The best thing is the bundled package coming with a remote for the program MSI media centre. It also comes with an adaptor for 2 video-in plugs(composite and s-video) and 2 video-out plugs (composite and s-video as well), as well as the remote reciever, and a bunch of other stuff as well. It also comes with this thing called D.O.T (Dynamic Overclocking Technology) which you can set to 6 types of overclocking with safety features (preventing damage to hardware i think), and the levels being named Private, Commander, etc...for me its a card i will be using for quite a while. It makes it run a bit faster and look a bit nicer, but thats it.
Memory Clock: 500mhz
Core Clock: 3D- 425mhz
2D- 300mhz

Much faster compared to my old GF4 Mx440SE! :grinthumb

Regards,
Neo776

 

[Rolly]

Hmm, sounds like it came with some great bonuses. I just got a nice box with my Radeon 9600 pro.

 

[Zoidberg]

vt2dr256

Hey I came across your post as I was searching for info as I'm having exactly the same problem with the same card. I only brought it last week, and the last 3-4 days have been quite warm in Tassie. Anyway It's doing the same thing to me.

My guess is the same as the other person, that it's cooling. I've placed my old 5200 back in and that is working fine, so it dosen't seem to be anything else in the system, which is really wierd as it only has a pitiful little heatsink (admittedly the fan on the msi dosen't look that great, and does the heatsink on yours look like it's not real copper?). Anyway I'm either going to take it back and complain, as my system temp isn't that high (25C for mobo. about 48 for cpu), so the temp in my case isn't that high, or try it with another fan, and heatsink. From the use i have had from it, it's a pretty sweet cheap card!

 

[Dafriz]

Its the power supply

Hey its the power supply i can easily tell u that... when ur talking about minimum power supply requirement that really isnt something u want to go by.. cuz that actually would mean ud need to run the card on minimum requirements ... now if u run on high or ultra high u need 450 or above for those cards due to the fact they need the current.

I have experienced the problem while building a comp... all i did was go out and buy a 500w power supply and (bum..bum..bum..) it worked fine.. comps doing great to... brings a tear to my eye

 

[neo776]

well, thanks for all the help guys im going to be buying a new psu (500w - 600w) on saturday and some cooling devices...ill tell u all if it begins to work fine. im going to do some last minute testing to see what it is (a 350watt psu would definetely power a gf4 mx440) and a different hard drive. i would be done in around maybe 4-5-6 hours so ill post with whatever my results....