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#1
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WTF - Simple Little Game Brings New P4 to its Knees?!?!
Just built a new P4 system approximately a month ago w/the following specs:
P4 - 2.6CGhz / 800FSB Gigabyte GA-8IPE1000 (865PE) 2x256MB Corsair XMS PC3200 DDR Chaintech GF4 TI4200 8X 64MB WD Raptor SATA HD Win XP Home Everything has been working primo with this computer since day one. The only strange thing I have encountered so far happened when I installed and tried to use one of those low end "freeware" games that I downloaded from someplace like TUCOWS or ZDNet a year or two ago (I tried looking for it to provide a link, but can't seem to locate the same version I have anymore......hmm). The game (try not to laugh) is a version of the old classic "Asteroids". The file is a whopping 1.5MB download. I have installed this same game from the very same downloaded file on about 20-30 computers of various configurations (440BX, 815, 845, 845PE, KT266A, KT400, nforce2, etc.) and versions of Windows (98SE/2K/XP) and have NEVER had a problem with it until now. It also plays fine on the A7N8X-D/Win2K machine sitting right next to it. The problem is that after playing this game for about 5-10 minutes things start to get funky. Game action slows down to an unplayable speed and the sound (RealTek onboard audio) starts to stutter and/or get caught in a loop. I have tried everything from running Memtest86 on the Corsair to installing a SoundBlaster Live 5.1 card, but the problem persists. It should also be noted that games like Unreal Tournament 2003 and the latest Rainbow Six game (demo) play smooth and without incident on this computer. After building approximately 25 computers over the past couple years (all still running well AFAIK), I like to think I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing by now. However, I certainly don't claim to be an expert, so maybe I'm overlooking something. Since it's the *ONLY* weird thing that has happened with this computer thus far, I REALLY, REALLY want to dismiss this issue as flaky software, but considering it's worked fine on many other Win 2K/XP machines of various configurations, I have a hard time doing that. Anybody have any thoughts on this one? TIA -- LiveWire |
#2
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"LiveWire" wrote in message news:KMwSa.91887$OZ2.18731@rwcrnsc54... Just built a new P4 system approximately a month ago w/the following specs: P4 - 2.6CGhz / 800FSB Gigabyte GA-8IPE1000 (865PE) 2x256MB Corsair XMS PC3200 DDR Chaintech GF4 TI4200 8X 64MB WD Raptor SATA HD Win XP Home Everything has been working primo with this computer since day one. The only strange thing I have encountered so far happened when I installed and tried to use one of those low end "freeware" games that I downloaded from someplace like TUCOWS or ZDNet a year or two ago (I tried looking for it to provide a link, but can't seem to locate the same version I have anymore......hmm). The game (try not to laugh) is a version of the old classic "Asteroids". The file is a whopping 1.5MB download. I have installed this same game from the very same downloaded file on about 20-30 computers of various configurations (440BX, 815, 845, 845PE, KT266A, KT400, nforce2, etc.) and versions of Windows (98SE/2K/XP) and have NEVER had a problem with it until now. It also plays fine on the A7N8X-D/Win2K machine sitting right next to it. The problem is that after playing this game for about 5-10 minutes things start to get funky. Game action slows down to an unplayable speed and the sound (RealTek onboard audio) starts to stutter and/or get caught in a loop. I have tried everything from running Memtest86 on the Corsair to installing a SoundBlaster Live 5.1 card, but the problem persists. It should also be noted that games like Unreal Tournament 2003 and the latest Rainbow Six game (demo) play smooth and without incident on this computer. After building approximately 25 computers over the past couple years (all still running well AFAIK), I like to think I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing by now. However, I certainly don't claim to be an expert, so maybe I'm overlooking something. Since it's the *ONLY* weird thing that has happened with this computer thus far, I REALLY, REALLY want to dismiss this issue as flaky software, but considering it's worked fine on many other Win 2K/XP machines of various configurations, I have a hard time doing that. Anybody have any thoughts on this one? your new machine probably has a faster cpu than your other ones many old apps will not work on extremely fast cpu's |
#3
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Anybody have any thoughts on this one?
your new machine probably has a faster cpu than your other ones many old apps will not work on extremely fast cpu's WHAT!?! That's a new one on me... I've heard of older games running too fast on older games but none that just refuse to work because the CPU is too fast (mostly they don't work because of software incompatibilities). LiveWire, check to see if you have any scheduled tasks going on in the background. Also disable any power mgmt. features and/or screen savers and turn off any Anti-virus software. Also try R-clicking on the executable for the game and running it in DOS or Win95 compatibility mode. Hope this helps!!! -- "I don't cheat to survive. I cheat to LIVE!!" - Alceryes (check out my modded/OC'd system at http://mywebpages.comcast.net/alceryes) "philo" wrote in message ... "LiveWire" wrote in message news:KMwSa.91887$OZ2.18731@rwcrnsc54... Just built a new P4 system approximately a month ago w/the following specs: P4 - 2.6CGhz / 800FSB Gigabyte GA-8IPE1000 (865PE) 2x256MB Corsair XMS PC3200 DDR Chaintech GF4 TI4200 8X 64MB WD Raptor SATA HD Win XP Home Everything has been working primo with this computer since day one. The only strange thing I have encountered so far happened when I installed and tried to use one of those low end "freeware" games that I downloaded from someplace like TUCOWS or ZDNet a year or two ago (I tried looking for it to provide a link, but can't seem to locate the same version I have anymore......hmm). The game (try not to laugh) is a version of the old classic "Asteroids". The file is a whopping 1.5MB download. I have installed this same game from the very same downloaded file on about 20-30 computers of various configurations (440BX, 815, 845, 845PE, KT266A, KT400, nforce2, etc.) and versions of Windows (98SE/2K/XP) and have NEVER had a problem with it until now. It also plays fine on the A7N8X-D/Win2K machine sitting right next to it. The problem is that after playing this game for about 5-10 minutes things start to get funky. Game action slows down to an unplayable speed and the sound (RealTek onboard audio) starts to stutter and/or get caught in a loop. I have tried everything from running Memtest86 on the Corsair to installing a SoundBlaster Live 5.1 card, but the problem persists. It should also be noted that games like Unreal Tournament 2003 and the latest Rainbow Six game (demo) play smooth and without incident on this computer. After building approximately 25 computers over the past couple years (all still running well AFAIK), I like to think I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing by now. However, I certainly don't claim to be an expert, so maybe I'm overlooking something. Since it's the *ONLY* weird thing that has happened with this computer thus far, I REALLY, REALLY want to dismiss this issue as flaky software, but considering it's worked fine on many other Win 2K/XP machines of various configurations, I have a hard time doing that. Anybody have any thoughts on this one? your new machine probably has a faster cpu than your other ones many old apps will not work on extremely fast cpu's |
#5
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Alceryes wrote:
Anybody have any thoughts on this one? your new machine probably has a faster cpu than your other ones many old apps will not work on extremely fast cpu's WHAT!?! That's a new one on me... I've heard of issue from this before LiveWire, check to see if you have any scheduled tasks going on in the background. Also disable any power mgmt. features and/or screen savers and turn off any Anti-virus software. I'd think if there were "background tasks" causing this that the newer games would be the ones that would suffer performance losses. -- Stacey |
#6
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DOS type games and VB games (if you dont have the correct runtime file) will
run funky in the XP/NT enviroment "LiveWire" wrote in message news:KMwSa.91887$OZ2.18731@rwcrnsc54... Just built a new P4 system approximately a month ago w/the following specs: P4 - 2.6CGhz / 800FSB Gigabyte GA-8IPE1000 (865PE) 2x256MB Corsair XMS PC3200 DDR Chaintech GF4 TI4200 8X 64MB WD Raptor SATA HD Win XP Home Everything has been working primo with this computer since day one. The only strange thing I have encountered so far happened when I installed and tried to use one of those low end "freeware" games that I downloaded from someplace like TUCOWS or ZDNet a year or two ago (I tried looking for it to provide a link, but can't seem to locate the same version I have anymore......hmm). The game (try not to laugh) is a version of the old classic "Asteroids". The file is a whopping 1.5MB download. I have installed this same game from the very same downloaded file on about 20-30 computers of various configurations (440BX, 815, 845, 845PE, KT266A, KT400, nforce2, etc.) and versions of Windows (98SE/2K/XP) and have NEVER had a problem with it until now. It also plays fine on the A7N8X-D/Win2K machine sitting right next to it. The problem is that after playing this game for about 5-10 minutes things start to get funky. Game action slows down to an unplayable speed and the sound (RealTek onboard audio) starts to stutter and/or get caught in a loop. I have tried everything from running Memtest86 on the Corsair to installing a SoundBlaster Live 5.1 card, but the problem persists. It should also be noted that games like Unreal Tournament 2003 and the latest Rainbow Six game (demo) play smooth and without incident on this computer. After building approximately 25 computers over the past couple years (all still running well AFAIK), I like to think I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing by now. However, I certainly don't claim to be an expert, so maybe I'm overlooking something. Since it's the *ONLY* weird thing that has happened with this computer thus far, I REALLY, REALLY want to dismiss this issue as flaky software, but considering it's worked fine on many other Win 2K/XP machines of various configurations, I have a hard time doing that. Anybody have any thoughts on this one? TIA -- LiveWire |
#7
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If it is a processor speed thing you could try disabling your L2 cache in
your BIOS (or L1 I forget which), although it'll run real slow (apparently - that's what my BIOS says, haven't tried running my machine with it off yet) |
#8
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I'd think if there were "background tasks" causing this that the newer
games would be the ones that would suffer performance losses. Just the opposite. These newer games know how to properly disable or (in the case of an AV software) work around these 'background tasks'. -- "I don't cheat to survive. I cheat to LIVE!!" - Alceryes (check out my modded/OC'd system at http://mywebpages.comcast.net/alceryes) "Stacey" wrote in message ... Alceryes wrote: Anybody have any thoughts on this one? your new machine probably has a faster cpu than your other ones many old apps will not work on extremely fast cpu's WHAT!?! That's a new one on me... I've heard of issue from this before LiveWire, check to see if you have any scheduled tasks going on in the background. Also disable any power mgmt. features and/or screen savers and turn off any Anti-virus software. I'd think if there were "background tasks" causing this that the newer games would be the ones that would suffer performance losses. -- Stacey |
#9
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Alceryes wrote:
I'd think if there were "background tasks" causing this that the newer games would be the ones that would suffer performance losses. Just the opposite. These newer games know how to properly disable or (in the case of an AV software) work around these 'background tasks'. So you think a 1.5meg game would stop a machine with 512 megs of ram without disabling any background tasks or AV software? If this was the case you damn sure couldn't open a single instance of MS word or IE 5 on this machine either. -- Stacey |
#10
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still having the problem? give the low down againnn OP is gone from my
server "LiveWire" wrote in message news:%czZa.115595$o%2.50912@sccrnsc02... Check your CPU temperature. Pentium 4s will throttle down to keep from frying themselves if they get too hot. (They also have a complete shutoff mechanism in case of extreme overheating, but the throttling mechanism is usually able to limit the temperature before it gets to this point.) The throttling mechanism basically works by skipping clock cycles until some heat can dissipate. Tom's Hardware Guide did a demonstration in which they had Quake or something like that playing on a Pentium 4 that they removed the heat sink from -- it got REALLY SLOW, but it didn't crash or freeze. Sounds like your CPU might have insufficient cooling, and 5 to 10 minutes is how long it takes to heat up enough for throttling to start. Thanks anyway, but heat is definitely not the problem. Using a retail HS/F and the temps (on average) are in the mid to high 30's. I can play much more graphic and CPU intensive games such as Unreal Tournament 2003 for hours with no problems at all. -- LiveWire |
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