Performance slowly declines

Stilles · 07-24-2008, 05:17 PM

I'm not sure if I should post this here, under WinXP, or under some hardware forum. If it's wrong could you kindly move it :P

Anyway, I have noticed lately that while playing a game, the performance will slowly decline until I can't stand it any longer and close it. After I close the game, I notice the "available" physical memory is very low and does not recover in time. I have checked the Processes list and nothing is on there that uses a considerable amount of memory or cpu cycles. The only thing I can do to recover said memory is to restart, and doing that every 30-60 minutes is really annoying. My games ran great in the past, and this just started happening about 2 weeks ago.

I have run multiple comprehensive spyware/virus/ect scans using different programs and found nothing of interest (cookies.. blah) Have a feeling it could be overheating.. but there isn't much I can do about it at the moment. I haven't recently upgraded or changed anything hardware wise in the past few months.

Screenshots:

Specs:
eMachines T2085
CPU: AMD Athlon™ XP 2000+ Processor (1.67GHz)
Operating System: Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Chipset: VIA KM 266
Memory: 768MB DDR (PC 2100)
Hard Drive: 80GB HDD
Graphics: Nvidia Geforce4 MX 4000

**koala** · 07-25-2008, 03:57 AM

Were your screenshots taken while running a game?

Adding more RAM would help. Your Task Manager screenshot shows that your peak memory usage is over 1gb, meaning that the hard drive is being used as memory due to low RAM.

The Processes tab shows that System Idle is at 86% CPU, and nearly all your RAM is being used. Take another screenshot during, not after, fullscreen gameplay (alt-tab back to to the desktop) so we can get a better idea of the system load.

Open the case and make sure all the fans are spinning, then switch off and blow a can of compressed air around the heatsink, fans and card slots to clean out any dust.

Check your temperatures and PSU voltages during gameplay with SpeedFan.

If you only have this problem with one game, is there a new patch for it? Which game is it?

How much free hard drive space is left? Have you defragged? What other programs are running during gameplay?

Stilles · 07-25-2008, 10:20 AM

The screenshots were after I played, the first just a few minutes after, and the next about 20 minutes later. As I was stating, my ram does not recover or "free up" like it should.

I have ordered another gig of ram, but this problem just recently started happening. I would never get that low on ram during a game. World of warcraft is the one it happens on the most. I have the latest patch 2.4.3, and it happened before this patch as well.

I just opened and cleaned all the fans/heatsinks very thoroughly and noticed a nice speed boost, but this still happens. (Cleaned off the ram sticks too)

I have checked with speedfan before and after, but the temperatures are just about the same, maybe 5-10° difference. I haven't paid much attention to the wattages, I'll check that out soon.

I have 35.4GBs/74.5GBs left, and have ran defrag so many times in the past weeks. I shut down everything except Xfire during gaming, as you can see by the processes tab. (I have closed that during, to see if it made a difference, and I noticed no change)

Thanks!

07-24-2008, 05:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
Stilles Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 7 OS: Windows Xp Home	Performance slowly declines I'm not sure if I should post this here, under WinXP, or under some hardware forum. If it's wrong could you kindly move it :P Anyway, I have noticed lately that while playing a game, the performance will slowly decline until I can't stand it any longer and close it. After I close the game, I notice the "available" physical memory is very low and does not recover in time. I have checked the Processes list and nothing is on there that uses a considerable amount of memory or cpu cycles. The only thing I can do to recover said memory is to restart, and doing that every 30-60 minutes is really annoying. My games ran great in the past, and this just started happening about 2 weeks ago. I have run multiple comprehensive spyware/virus/ect scans using different programs and found nothing of interest (cookies.. blah) Have a feeling it could be overheating.. but there isn't much I can do about it at the moment. I haven't recently upgraded or changed anything hardware wise in the past few months. Screenshots: Specs: eMachines T2085 CPU: AMD Athlon™ XP 2000+ Processor (1.67GHz) Operating System: Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition Chipset: VIA KM 266 Memory: 768MB DDR (PC 2100) Hard Drive: 80GB HDD Graphics: Nvidia Geforce4 MX 4000

07-25-2008, 03:57 AM	#2 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 8,807 OS: XP/UBUNTU My System	Re: Performance slowly declines Were your screenshots taken while running a game? Adding more RAM would help. Your Task Manager screenshot shows that your peak memory usage is over 1gb, meaning that the hard drive is being used as memory due to low RAM. The Processes tab shows that System Idle is at 86% CPU, and nearly all your RAM is being used. Take another screenshot during, not after, fullscreen gameplay (alt-tab back to to the desktop) so we can get a better idea of the system load. Open the case and make sure all the fans are spinning, then switch off and blow a can of compressed air around the heatsink, fans and card slots to clean out any dust. Check your temperatures and PSU voltages during gameplay with SpeedFan. If you only have this problem with one game, is there a new patch for it? Which game is it? How much free hard drive space is left? Have you defragged? What other programs are running during gameplay? __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

07-25-2008, 10:20 AM	#3 (permalink)
Stilles Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 7 OS: Windows Xp Home	Re: Performance slowly declines The screenshots were after I played, the first just a few minutes after, and the next about 20 minutes later. As I was stating, my ram does not recover or "free up" like it should. I have ordered another gig of ram, but this problem just recently started happening. I would never get that low on ram during a game. World of warcraft is the one it happens on the most. I have the latest patch 2.4.3, and it happened before this patch as well. I just opened and cleaned all the fans/heatsinks very thoroughly and noticed a nice speed boost, but this still happens. (Cleaned off the ram sticks too) I have checked with speedfan before and after, but the temperatures are just about the same, maybe 5-10° difference. I haven't paid much attention to the wattages, I'll check that out soon. I have 35.4GBs/74.5GBs left, and have ran defrag so many times in the past weeks. I shut down everything except Xfire during gaming, as you can see by the processes tab. (I have closed that during, to see if it made a difference, and I noticed no change) Thanks!