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I've already seen numerous threads about this and know that y'all probably get sick and tired of this question but I've tried everything from all of the posts that I've found.

First off I'd like to say I have ATI and yes, vsync is turned off, even though from the description of this problem you'll probably notice that it isn't the problem anyways.

Well, normally when I play 1.6 I use to always get 99.9 or at least no lower then like 80fps, but as of lately it'll bob from 99-15, and depending on the server between 34ish-10 or lower.

The only things I can really think of would be my video card (but it's not that bad), or, I have had problems with leaving my computer on over night it storms and gets shut off all of a sudden or something. Now since my brother built this, the bios come up when I boot up and it says "Some of your BIOS were messed up due to whatever blah blah blah" or something like that due to the storms.

Now please keep in mind, I know practically nothing about computers as far as all of the more technical stuff goes.

System:
Microsoft Windows XP
Home Edition
Version 2002
Service Pack 2

Computer:
Intel(R)
Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz
2.42GHz, 512MB of RAM

Adapter Information;
Chip Type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor AGP (0x5E4B)
DAC Type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Memory Size: 256 MB
Adapter String: RADEON X700 Series


Now honestly, I don't know what most of that means, but I know y'all like to know what our computer specs are and not sure what to tell you or where to find out what the stuff is so I can tell you but there's that.

I appreciate any help.

*bump*

Anyone have any ideas?

A storm has never messed up any of my computers, but it sounds like something is wrong with your computer itself, and I don't know enough about that.

And what resolution are you playing at? CS 1.6 is not a very demanding game at all, the only reasons I've seen for it to run poorly are usually issues with the computer or graphics card/ settings.

Well like I said I use to get like 99.9 fps almost all the time, even around smoke was still close to 80.

I play at the lowest resolution (6480xwhatever) on my ViewSonic LCD monitor and all my graphics stuff is set to the lowest.

Catalyst Control Center:
3D:
Standard Settings:
Use custom settings unchecked - Set to Optimal Performance

Anti-Aliasing:
Use application settings checked - Moved to the far left

Adaptive Anti-Aliasing:
Enable Adaptive Anti-Aliasing checked - Performance

Anisotropic Filtering:
Use application setting - far left

Catalyst AI:
Enabled - Far right (Advanced)

Mipmap Detail Level:
High Performance

Wait for vertical refresh:
Performance (Always off)

Video > Basic Quality:
Use automatic deinterlacing checked.

Those are just some of the ATI settings, wasn't sure which all you would have needed.

Additionaly;

Something I forgot to mention earlier, if I'm just standing still or something in like an empty server or make a server for me and bots and I'm in there solo my fps will stay at its max, it mainly happens when there are more people in there with me. I know those are just regular things that effect it, but I still shouldn't be getting anywhere near as low as I do :\

how is your latency (ping) on the servers, is it high if yes when it is it high ie when there is lots of action happening?

Ping's fine, just fps.

Since the storm hit, have you went and check that all your BIOS settings are as they should be?
Most of those changable settings are self explainatary, but you can always hit F1 or ask for help in some. The safest way is to load Optimum settings/default settings, then work up from there after booting and testing.

What is the exact error message given? (it would probably be more usefull than "blah blah blah"

Also, its advisable to open up your PC and physicaly and visualy check for damage (in case your PC was effected by the storm).

Troubleshoot:
1. What have changed since you've noticed the difference? hardware/software etc
2. turn off/exit any extra programs running in windows/taskbar etc.
3. have you tested all your parts? (run memtest on ram - see guide below)
4. have a read of my other faq linked below..

btw, if i can run CS:CZ with a radeon 9800 128mb, your card is fine...

I don't know what the BIOS should be so I don't really know if they're set right or not, but I did set them to optimal a couple days ago to see if it helped. Since I did that I don't get the message anymore so don't remember exactly what it said.

To be completely honest with you, from a visual look of the hardware I doubt I could tell the difference if it's okay or not :\

To be honest, haven't changed any hardware/software, however I did recently go through and clean it out with Ad-Aware '07 and SpeedUpMyPC 3 then added some stuff to my CS 1.6's lauch options as well as turned down the brightness ( omeone told me that might help) and it seemed like it gave me now a steady 60-30, but I haven't really tested it too much yet :\

I haven't done a mem test but I'm reading http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic66073.html now so I'll see what's going no with all that.

optimum settings should be ok i guess.. but sometimes there are special settings needed to fully take advantage of certain hardware, and most of the time its usually the RAM like certain timing settings etc. (refer to your manufacturer's manual(s)). Download Everest Home (link in my guide) and you can find a whole bunch of info about your PC. Every PC build is different, so i don't know if it applies to you.

visual damage consists of burns, popped capacitors, stains on the IC and so on.. you can google for images to help you identify these things..

What motherboard do you have. I'll look up the manual and see what BIOS entrees you can make. Optimal BIOS settings usually just sets your memory timings a bit tighter than normal.

Alright, I'll see if I can notice anything, but like I said, I'm a complete newb with computer stuff

Cinders, where do I need to go to find that out? :x

Not really sure what's safe to give out/what y'all need from that EVEREST Report but here's the motherboard stuff.

I looked for the manual on the chaintech site and could not find one. Sorry

My friend was asking me about my comp and told me to look at that and I saw that it said Secondary settings under adapter string, could my graphics card be not be set to default somehow and it's not using it to the fullest or does that mean something completely different?

Again <--- newb

You probably have two video out ports on your card. One that connects to your monitor and one that connects to a tv. The secondary status of your card is just the tv out port and is nothing to worry about.

as above, if you have a dual out on your graphics card, then it will list one as Primary (usualy the left side) and secondary, regardless of whats plugged in..

How is the voltage and temps reading in everest?

Not sure which temps you were wanting but here's the ones I'm assuming..

same with volt, there were a lot but here are two that were closest together...

Everest: Computer > Sensors. Everythings there..

Field Value
Sensor Properties
Sensor Type HDD
GPU Sensor Type National LM63 (ATI-I2C 4Ch)

Temperatures
GPU 46 °C (115 °F)
GPU Ambient 43 °C (109 °F)
Hitachi HDS722580VLSA80 38 °C (100 °F)