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Hi,

Every time I try to run a game with high (3D) graphics, the game runs very slowly and sometimes the pictures do not fully appear. Eventually the game freezes and a bleep noise indicated that the computer has frozen.

I have installed DirectX 9.0c and I have an up-to-date, modern computer with good specs. I have a 128MB video card - NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4400!

Some of my games include: The Sims 2, Max Payne and Mafia.

Can anyone suggest something to get these games working.

Thanks for your time and help!

P.S. Most high graphics internet games also create the same problem, as do a few screensavers.

Hello & Welcome to TechSpot

What you're describing sounds like either a big driver problem, or a card that is slowly dying.

You shouldn't have any problem running neither Max Payne nor Mafia with your system.

First some questions about your system:

After you installed DX9.0c, did you install the latest drivers for your video card?
And what OS are you running?
Are you running a lot of apps in the background?
(These can cause lock-ups and problems with games)
What settings are you using in your advanced nvidia control panel? (Are you using any AA or AF?)


I expect that this hasn't been going on since you got/built the system. If it just recently started, what changes have you done to your system lately? Installed SP2 for XP? If you can tell us what changes you've made, we might be able to tell which is the one causing all this...

Hey Mr Garibaldi,

Thanks for your reply.

I did install the latest drivers for the video card after Directx 9.0c and I am running Windows XP. I usually do run a lot of apps in the background, but I got rid of a lot when running the game.

I'm not sure whether I am using AA or AF in NVIDIA but for the global driver settings I am using Application controlled for most of them and the image settings set to performance. Do you need any other details?

I did upgrade to SP2 before I installed the game, but I was experiencing the same problems before I installed it.

Thanks for all your time and help

Actually I would suggest downgrading your drivers as the latest version of Direct X and Video drivers are not meant for your card. They are disigned for the latest GPU's and I have found from experience, as soon as your card gets a tad old, they stop producing quality drivers for it. Try reverting and you may find games run better, worked for me on ye olde GE F 4 MX.

Have you ran ad/spy ware checks on your computer recently. Friend of mine recently had problems of similar nature and it was all fine after a quick clean up with ad-aware.