gamesfreak

[b]hey i hav got a prob please help.. recently i replaced my motherboard from a mercury 945
to gigabyte ga-g31m s2l motherboard i hav a nvidia geforce 8500gt 512mb graphic card and
pentium 4 processor running at 3.2 ghz. n i hav 2gb of ram.

Nw when i play games no matter if its a low end game or a high end game the game runs
fine for sumtime until sumthin big happens in the game like an explosion or sumthin..
or i mean nethin lyk a big fire or smoke....hope u got me...thats when the game
start hiccups.

when the hiccup start it lasts for around 4-5 seconds, it dramatically decreases the f p s
and then suddenly after 4-5 seconds the game runs fine with nice f p s and then again after
4-5 seconds the hiccup starts and this process continues till d time i quit the game.
this happens only while playing games not while using other prog. or files in windows and also
it happens with alllll of my games i mean it happens in a low end game like need for speed
underground2 and it also happens with crysis n call of duyt 4....

dunno wots the prob... please help me out ...its irritating!!

thanks!!!

koala

When you replaced the motherboard, did you do a repair install of Windows and reinstall your drivers?

gamesfreak

ofcourse yes i installed a new copy of windows and all the latest drivers. stil the same prob :(

do you hav ne idea wots goin on? can u help me out?

koala

Are you using the chipset drivers from your motherboard CD or have you downloaded the latest versions?

Anything overclocked in BIOS or using software?

Did you clean off the old thermal paste and replace with new?

Are all fans clean, spinning and unobstructed?

What are your temperatures and PSU voltages in BIOS and during gameplay?

Go to Start > Run > dxdiag > Display tab and run the 2 tests. Any problems listed in the Notes box?

gamesfreak

i downloaded the motherboard drivers from the motherboard cd. but the graphic card driver is downloaded.

nothin is overclocked neither the processor nor the gpu.

yea i replaced the thermal paste with a new one.

all fans are clean and working.

core temp of gpu is 44c, while playing games it increases to around 54c

the display test is successful no prob is listed.

gamesfreak

sorry i meant i installed the motherboard drivers from cd :)

gamesfreak

but the notes box says this "The file nv4_disp.dll is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer." what does this mean?

koala

When you installed Windows, did you format the drive first or did you leave all the program files and games on the drive?

What are your temperatures and PSU voltages in BIOS and during gameplay? Not just the GPU, all of them. And the voltages as well, especially the +12V which powers the graphics card.

Post back with the temps/volts in BIOS and the temps/volts during gameplay using a system monitor like SpeedFan, SensorsView, Everest, etc. so we can compare the idle and stressed values.

Have you tried an earlier graphics driver version? Quite often, the latest drivers causes more problems than they fix. Try an earlier, stable, non-beta driver. You need to uninstall your current graphics driver, reboot to VGA or Safe Mode, disable antivirus, install the stable driver and reboot to complete.

koala

It means try another graphics driver.

gamesfreak

i will try what all u hav told then will update you...thanx!!! and also tell you the temperatures and PSU voltages in BIOS and during gameplay!!! thank you soo much for replyin!!!

gamesfreak

fan1:1781 rpm

tick mark gpu: 44c

down arrow temp1: -55c

down arrow temp2: -2c

down arrow temp3: 33c

down arrow hd0: 30c

tick mark core:43c

down arrow ambient:0c

vcore1: 1.22v
vcore2:1.81v
+3.3v: 3.41v
+5v: 5.16v
+12v: 12.48v

-12v: -16.97v
-5v: -5.06v
+5v: 6.85v
vbat: 3.10v

this is before playing any game...

koala

Those readings look like they've been taken from a system monitor. You'll get more accurate readings by rebooting into BIOS.

The accepted range for the +12V line is 11.4 to 12.6V, but should be as close to 12.0V as possible, both at idle and under stress.

Your +12V reading is quite high, and might go even higher under stress from a fullscreen game. Alt-tab out of the game after a few minutes of heavy action, and quickly note the +12V value. It will revert to normal almost immediately after leaving fullscreen mode, so you'll have to be quick.


This could be important.

gamesfreak

after playing game- fan1: 1942 rpm

burning gpu: 60c
down arrow temp1: -55c
down arrow temp2: -2c
burning temp 3: 55c
down arrow hd0: 31c
burning core: 59c
down arrow ambient: 0c

gamesfreak

its givin me a reading like: +12v: last:12.35v , min:11.97v, max:12.48v , mean:12.30v

in full screen its get to a max of 12.48v

gamesfreak

wot do i do koala? i hav installed an earlier graphic driver...still the prob continues...

koala

18 months ago, the 8500GT would be seen as a mid-range card, suitable for casual gaming. These days, it's going to struggle with newer more demanding games, or the kind of heavy activity you describe (explosions, fire, smoke, wide open spaces, etc). It's just not powerful enough.

The graphics card (GPU) temperature rises from 44C at idle to 60C under stress. Over 70C is starting to get into the danger level, so you're not too bad there.

The +12V line on the PSU is high at 12.48V, but just about within range. It could still be a contributing factor to your problem though.

The hard drive temperature is constant at around 30C idle and stressed. No problems there.

The CPU (core) rises from 43C to 59C. This is quite high for a P4. Some people can run theirs at over 60C, but obviously it runs better when much cooler. Remove the heatsink, clean off the thermal paste or pad, replace with a tiny amount of Arctic Silver, and reseat the heatsink and fan, making sure the legs are firmly locked into the motherbaord. This should reduce the CPU temperature to a more acceptable level.

Arctic Silver 'How To' video: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RAhlgMz2www

If you don't feel comfortable doing this kind of work, take it to a PC repair store. Getting the thermal paste and heatsink wrong can lead to serious damage.

It's looking like a combination of minor problems that are causing your games to lag. If you can get the CPU temperature down and make sure the case has adequate cooling, then you should see an improvement, but don't expect too much from an 8500GT.

RockmasteR

those hiccups are definitely from the Geforce 8500 GT, smokes and big scenes like nuclear explosions or bombs in games will make games lag alot cause the GPU of the Geforce 8500 GT is not strong enough to handle the pixels and the shaders etc... you can play low end and high end games at a lower resolution, I have a Geforce 9400 GT I can play games at 800 x 600 and at high settings, maybe you should just lower the resolution and I don't think you can get rid of the hiccups with this card...

gamesfreak

my problem is solved i just took the cpu fan out cleaned it....cleaned the thermal paste on processor and applied a new 1....and nw m nt gettin those hiccups hopefully it will nt happen again...

thanx guys 4 takin interest....