[SOLVED] Amazing FPS to Terrible FPS issue, Can't figure out :(

[theonlydubz]

Hi all. I have asked my real life friends, I have used my knowledge of computers, and I have looked all over the web trying to figure out what is up with my PC but I cannot figure out what went wrong.

Some PC specs as following -

ASUS P5N-D LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7300

EVGA 256-P2-N751-TR GeForce 8600 GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card X2 (Using SLI)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST380815AS 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

mushkin 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996603

OCZ SLI-Ready 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2N800SR2GK

So theres my PC. If at the end of this any other specs/info is needed that may be able to help you help me, I can provide whatever is needed.

So heres the deal. I play games on my pc, at any given time my pc used to run from 60-100 fps on top high graphics settings. I never lagged everything always loaded very well and in a fast manner.

Now the other day I tried hooking my tower up to my 50" Sanyo plasma screen Tv. After that day I have had problems with my computer since then and cannot seem to find out what happened. My fps has dropped to 8 fps at sometimes and is choppy all other times.

So what happened is I had my computer hooked up to my tv on single monitor display mode with my SLI focusing display on my tv. It was working fine but it almost acted like I had a horizontal setup and could drag stuff way off the right side of my screen. I looked all over trying to figure out why it would be doing this, i looked at settings everywhere but didn't change anything. I couldn't figure it out so I tried to disable SLI to see if it was something like that. Strange enough I had different settings available to me in the Nvidia Control Panel when SLI was off but this still did not solve my problem.

I restarted my computer to see if that would fix it. Nothing worked. So i eventually said F it and just tried to get my display back onto my regular monitor screen. When it transferred over it was fine...until like 7 seconds later it flickered and my whole screen suddenly became like the middle 4 inches of my desktop. I could see no icons, no start menu bar at the bottom of the screen. When moving my mouse around my cursor would come into screen and i could right click on the backround and it would give me the dropdown menu like regular. Any time I tried to click on "Properties" it kept opening up way off to the side of my screen.

I could however open the Nvidia Control Panel and it would open up in the screen showing. I noticed SLI was still disabled. So I tried to re-enable it thinking maybe that was the problem. My screen flickered black for a few moments like it usually does when you change resolution settings and when my screen came back it kept going to disabled SLI mode. Eventually when I kept trying to re-enable my SLI the screen went black and stayed black saying there was no cable connection (like my cable to the monitor was unplugged). The computer stayed and and my screen would not come back.

I restarted my computer a few times and finally somehow managed to get SLI to come back and my resolution was at like 400x600. This was really wierd since my resolution is usually 1920x1080. So i checked my display properties and apparently my computer could not go to a bigger resolution. I restarted my computer and when it came back on a little box came up saying it was missing some driver. I went to Nvidia.com and had it search my computer for drivers needed and it came up with my graphics cards. I updated them and then my resolution came back to normal. But when I started my game up i was only rolling 4-8 fps and my game was slow and all choppy and made me want to chop myself trying to play in it.

I got tired and decided to try and figure the problem. I shut off my pc and took out my 2nd graphics card. Turned the computer back on and strangely enough i was in 400x600 resolution in normal mode but my display looked as if it was in safe mode. You know half crappy colors and everything. At this point I thought I figured out the problem. I tested the 2nd graphics card and it said the same missing driver thing but the screen looked normal. I updated it and could go back to 1920x1080 like usually. Thinking I won the battle, I switched the graphics cards out and put the first one in to make sure that was the problem...but when started up it worked like normal.

A few days after that i still couldn't figure out what it was and my computer starting randomly shutting off. I got a program "Everest" that a friend told me about to try and see if there were any problems. But I don't know how to use it but it was showing that my CPU temp was getting up to anywhere from 116 - 126 degrees F. Today though I went into my BIOS and hit F5 to set all settings to default, and now it seems to be staying stable around 68-70 degrees F but I don't know if my FPS issue is fixed.

So I think that just about covers everything. My apologies if I posted in the wrong area. If ANYONE can help me...I am dying to fix my pc and play games how I should be playing them...like i used to...no lag or choppy-ness... :(

[5NIPER_WOLF]

Hello and welcome to TSF.
A few things could be wrong.
Your RAM could be corrupt, download Memtest86 and take 1 stick of RAM out and test it, when it's done test the other.
You could not have a sufficient PSU, what is your Make, Model and wattage of your PSU?
Your GPUs could be failing, try using a friends video card.
Your temperature could be too high, to whatever to lower it, try leaving the case open.
You could have a virus, do a system scan.
Try a system restore to before this problem happened.

[Aus_Karlos]

Hi theonlydubz and welcome to TSF,

First off your SLI problem could be due to mixing of RAM sticks. You have 2 RAM sticks that have a special feature for SLI (Uses any free RAM for your cards), and then two that are not. This feature might be disabled due to the mixing of RAM sticks but mixing RAM is not a good thing. Different RAM may require different voltages (DIMMS slots can only run at one particular voltage), different timing ect ect.

Second what PSU are you running that rig on. You need at least a high quality Thermaltake, Silverstone or Corsair 750W 12v@40a, 800W 12v@52a for headroom and if you have the money.

What i would also do is get driver sweeper and install it on your system.
http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/
Boot your system into SafeMode and run the Program. In the program select Nvidia drivers and PhysX drivers and hit clean/analyzes. Then shut down your PC and remove the card that is in the Secondary PCI-E slot.
Boot your system up as normal and install the drivers again, setup your screen resolution and play a game like normal. If it works then that card is fine.
Restart your PC in SafeMode and do the following steps again. This time use your second card in the Primary PCI-E slot, install the drivers and test that card. If it passes the that card isn't faulty.
Now, turn your PC off yet again and drop the current card that is in the system to your second PCI-E slot and boot up. Don't insert the other card only 1 card in PCI-E 2nd slot.
Boot up and the drivers should automatically install for that slot, It may take a while and might ask you to reboot. Once all that is over test by playing a game.
If it works then we have ruled out that its your graphics cards and your Motherboard.

edit - Been beaten...

[theonlydubz]

Aus_Karlos, thanks for your reply I will try your suggestion.
5NIPER WOLF, I actually did try a virus scan. It did come back with some results but my computer still ran like crap afterwards. And maybe I'm just stupid but I tried to DL that memtest thing and I would have to purchase it.

My PSU is: RAIDMAX AURORA 2 RX-600F 600W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready LED Power Supply

Also the day that I started having problems, I did a system restore point to 2 days before the incident and it still was having problems. And about the 2 different ram stick types, I never had a problem with it before until what happened after trying to hook up to my plasma tv.

[5NIPER_WOLF]

Can you do the RAM testing I suggested?

[BindShift]

I have the same card he does. I think it might be the drivers actually. I did a system restore to before I installed the new drivers from NVidia's website. It fixed it. Dunno if that's the real problem though.

[theonlydubz]

I would try and do that memtest stuff but I'm really not sure how to use it.

And my gpu's drivers are updated.

[5NIPER_WOLF]

Originally Posted by BindShift

I have the same card he does. I think it might be the drivers actually. I did a system restore to before I installed the new drivers from NVidia's website. It fixed it. Dunno if that's the real problem though.

How can you have the same video card when you have a Nvidia card and he has an AMD card?

Originally Posted by theonlydubz

I would try and do that memtest stuff but I'm really not sure how to use it.

And my gpu's drivers are updated.

To run Memtest 86, like I said, take one stick of RAM out, run the program, when it is finished testing, take that stick out and put the other one in, run the test again, when its finished put the other in and you're done.

[BindShift]

I have a EVGA 8600 GT. That is what he listed.

[Aus_Karlos]

To run Memtest 86 -

First you need the correct Memtest. This is a direct link to the file.
http://www.memtest86.com/memtest86-3.5.iso.zip
Once downloaded un-zip the contents there should be only one file. Place it on your desktop to easily find the file.

Second you need a burning program that can read ISO files.
http://www.deepburner.com/?r=download This is a free burning tool that is easy to use.
Open up DeepBurner a select CD Copy / Burn ISO Image, next select the big icon on the left with ISO written on it, under the main window you should see Image File, hit the browse button and go to your desktop to find the ISO file you have downloaded. Put in a blank CD and press Burn ISO at the bottom of the screen.

Once done leave the CD in your PC and switch off, remove all but one stick of RAM and test. After it has completed the test 30min-1hr it should display a pass or fail (fails can occur at any time this is noticeable by random errors on the screen or by the "Errors Found section"). Just after rebooting your PC will ask if you want to boot from CD, Press any key to say yes. After that memtest86 will load and you can begin testing your RAM.
Re-do all the steps above to how ever many RAM sticks you have. (Its also wise to test different RAMs in different slots to be sure its not the RAM slots themselves.

To select a test (all but 9 run by default so its best to leave it) Press C followed by 1 then you have the option to try different tests.

Individual Test Descriptions

Memtest86 executes a series of numbered test sections to check for errors. These test sections consist of a combination of test algorithm, data pattern and cache setting. The execution order for these tests were arranged so that errors will be detected as rapidly as possible. A description of each of the test sections follows:

Test 0 [Address test, walking ones, no cache]

    Tests all address bits in all memory banks by using a walking ones address pattern.

Test 1 [Address test, own address]

    Each address is written with its own address and then is checked for consistency. In theory previous tests should have caught any memory addressing problems. This test should catch any addressing errors that somehow were not previously detected. 

Test 2 [Moving inversions, ones&zeros]

    This test uses the moving inversions algorithm with patterns of all ones and zeros. Cache is enabled even though it interferes to some degree with the test algorithm. With cache enabled this test does not take long and should quickly find all "hard" errors and some more subtle errors. This test is only a quick check. 

Test 3 [Moving inversions, 8 bit pat]

    This is the same as test one but uses a 8 bit wide pattern of "walking" ones and zeros. This test will better detect subtle errors in "wide" memory chips. A total of 20 data patterns are used. 

Test 4 [Moving inversions, random pattern]

    Test 4 uses the same algorithm as test 1 but the data pattern is a random number and it's complement. This test is particularly effective in finding difficult to detect data sensitive errors. A total of 60 patterns are used. The random number sequence is different with each pass so multiple passes increase effectiveness. 

Test 5 [Block move, 64 moves]

    This test stresses memory by using block move (movsl) instructions and is based on Robert Redelmeier's burnBX test. Memory is initialized with shifting patterns that are inverted every 8 bytes. Then 4mb blocks of memory are moved around using the movsl instruction. After the moves are completed the data patterns are checked. Because the data is checked only after the memory moves are completed it is not possible to know where the error occurred. The addresses reported are only for where the bad pattern was found. Since the moves are constrained to a 8mb segment of memory the failing address will always be less than 8mb away from the reported address. Errors from this test are not used to calculate BadRAM patterns.

Test 6 [Moving inversions, 32 bit pat]

    This is a variation of the moving inversions algorithm that shifts the data pattern left one bit for each successive address. The starting bit position is shifted left for each pass. To use all possible data patterns 32 passes are required. This test is quite effective at detecting data sensitive errors but the execution time is long. 

Test 7 [Random number sequence]

    This test writes a series of random numbers into memory. By resetting the seed for the random number the same sequence of number can be created for a reference. The initial pattern is checked and then complemented and checked again on the next pass. However, unlike the moving inversions test writing and checking can only be done in the forward direction.

Test 8 [Modulo 20, ones&zeros]

    Using the Modulo-X algorithm should uncover errors that are not detected by moving inversions due to cache and buffering interference with the the algorithm. As with test one only ones and zeros are used for data patterns.

Test 9 [Bit fade test, 90 min, 2 patterns]

    The bit fade test initializes all of memory with a pattern and then sleeps for 90 minutes. Then memory is examined to see if any memory bits have changed. All ones and all zero patterns are used. This test takes 3 hours to complete. The Bit Fade test is not included in the normal test sequence and must be run manually via the runtime configuration menu.

Good luck.

[theonlydubz]

Funny story time.

I just had my friend from high school come over yesterday that is a computer tech for a school nearby. All he did was uninstall my gpu's and reinstall them, re-update the drivers and my fps seems to be tip top now =[. So there's the solution apparently...thanks for everyones help so very much :)

[Lord Sirian]

So he uninstalled the graphics card drivers then re-installed the latest ones?

If you're sure the problem is solved, mark the thread as solved under forum tools.

[theonlydubz]

Not just the drivers.

He completely uninstalled both cards itself. Then re-installed the graphics cards, then updated the drivers. :)