I need halp !

[Jon]

I bought a 8800GTS 320mb a couple of months ago and installed. Got the newest drivers and all that good stuff. The problem is that I paid all this money for a card like that to only get ~30~40 fps in HL1. Not even HL2. I thought okay maybe its just the current drivers. After the next couple of updates...nothing happened.

Aux power on the Graphics card is connected.

I did the following to try and improve performance...

Upgraded from 1gb of ram to 2gb. Did nothing.

New HD after old one crashed with fresh install of XP. Did nothing.

I thinking a new Power Supply but I'm not sure.

Now I get like 5 fps in hl1.... this is getting retarded.

Current Specs...

2gb RAM
3.46 P4 CPU
8800GTS 320mb GPU
Abit AA8XE Mobo
Windows XP
17" CRT Montior ( I think lol )

 

[Thothie]

Bunk drivers or bunk card.

 

[Jon]

I really really hope its not the card. Is there any type of testing I could do?

I have a 460-480 watt PSU btw.

Im really hoping I can do a cheaper fix then a new video card ><

 

[Thothie]

Could also be lack of juice if yer PSU lacks those pretty 24 volt rails, or whatevah - but that card has gotta still be under warranty.

 

[Belmont]

PSU and the Proccesor are your problem here, get a 600W or 700W power supply and an E6420 if you can (E6420 = best price/quality dual core, and easily overclocked).

 

[Thothie]

The CPU wouldn't be a problem in HL1 games. (Not even NSC) It, in fact, may handle many of the modern games, which are more reliant on GPU than evah.

Still say it could be the PSU (until you hit 700w - it's more about the quality than quantity with vid cards - 500w will do if it's a very good PSU - but 480 is straight out). Still, although you likely need a new PSU, the behavior seems more indicitive of a problem with the card itself. Generally when those cards get short-changed power, they refuse to initialize video modes, rather than just slow down, to prevent damage.

Also, run driver cleaner in Safe Mode before installing the drivers.

I'd say to make sure you are not in software mode, but even in software mode, it should do better than 5fps.

 

[Blasto121]

right off I would have to ask whats your frame rate in HL2? HL1 depending on the mod will start slowing down because the game engine itself has hit the limits, like MS:C I may have an 8800GT however that doesn't change the fact I can find areas that drop me below 30 frames sometimes 20.

Other than that get a better PSU, when looking for a PSU the big thing to look for is the amperage on the 12 volt rails, I don't care if you have an 800 Watt PSU. Sure it may have the wattage to run the system but if it only has 24 amps on the 12 volt rails you just got ripped off.

Now the 8800GT needs about 400 watt PSU and at least 24 amps total on the 12 volt rails.

example my PSU

Total wattage = 500
12V rail1 = 20Amps
12v rail2 = 22Amps

combined amps on my 12 volt rails is 42 amps giving me all the power I will need for almost any video card and computer configuration.

or to make things simple, pick it up if it feels like a heavy brick its a good power supply.

 

[Jon]

Forgot to mention that my computer likes to turn itself off ALOT.

Lets say I have my computer turned off for a couple hours and then turn it back on, start ANY game or certain programs and start to play...After about 30seconds - 2 minutes of playing my computer....

Either..
1) Shuts the monitor off first and the tower 2 seconds later.
or
2) Shuts both off instantly.
or
3) Shuts the monitor off and the tower keeps power except it doesnt seem like its doing anything since no more sound comes through the headphones.

When I mean the monitor shuts off... I mean that the power to the monitor is still there, its literally on but no signal is being sent from the computer to the monitor. My monitor goes into stand by.

After the whole "computer exploding" ( Instant shutdown ) thing. Ill restart my computer. Everything is then slow. I mean EVERYTHING... HL1 now gets 4 fps

 

[HomestarR]

Get a new, more powerful, power supply.

 

[Blasto121]

yup thats lack of power, it can be damaging to your computer to run it with little power like that. Look at my previous post and go find yourself a power supply.

 

[Thothie]

I may have an 8800GT however that doesn't change the fact I can find areas that drop me below 30 frames sometimes

Hmm... I have a BFG 8800GT OC 512mb - but even my old EVGA 7950GT KO never went below 60fps in MSC (72 is the odd vsync cap I have set on this monitor). Maybe it isn't prioritizing right? The only time I've had MSC drop below that is when I've had a few other heavy processes (like the HLDS) set to high priority.

...and yeah, definitely PSU - and if your computer is turning itself off repeatedly, you shouldn't be switching it back on until you've some idea why! Usually when yer puter turns itself off it is to prevent damage from overheating, power problems, or shorts.

 

[Blasto121]

its always been that way for me, don't know. I always passed it off as the game engine itself reaching its limits.

Considering I can play crisis on this computer nearly maxed out and still get a semi decent frame rate.

 

[Jelly]

The 8800GTS 320 MB also killed two of my power supplies. :roll: Then I got a bigger one, with more juice in it.

 

[Jon]

Would this be overkill? Or can I go with something less uber...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817814013

 

[Sabre]

I'd say so, I'm running a system off a 500W version of this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817182017
and it's performing just fine. And, it's still has pretty lights

 

[Blasto121]

Would this be overkill? Or can I go with something less uber...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817814013

that power supply is so much overkill its not even funny, the fact its got over 80 amps on its 12 volt rails is just scary.

go with sabres at least its reasonable, I used to have one of those myself till it finally died.

 

[Jon]

I just installed a 600watt Quad rail PSU. I was wondering if there was any kind of tweaking or anything to make sure everything gets the needed power so nothing shuts down again.

 

[Thothie]

If yer motherboard includes health monitor software, it will usually let you see the voltage inputs, and have some alarm to yell at you should one of them fall out of a fixed range. Check the home page of your motherboard manufacturer.

 

[Jon]

awesome.... it still shuts itself off randomly.

 

[Blasto121]

can you point me to a link of what it is?

better yet look at the side of the power supply and read the printed lable, what does it say the 12 volt rails have on them?

 

[Thothie]

It maybe ye just didn't get a good PSU - but if ye did, and ye still have the problem - you can rest easy on the fact that you did indeed need a new PSU - just it may not be your only problem.

Things to check:
• Make sure stuff is not overheating
- CPU or North Bridge overheating will make your system shut down. Go get health monitors for your hardware/motherboard, or maybe speedfan will work for you, if you can't find em. You can likely also see your CPU heat in your CMOS under "PC Health" or some such.
• Virals
- Particularly if you've not been updating your Windows, there are several viruses that can shut down the computer, so ye old viral scan maybe in order (even if you've reinstalled windows recently, as some of the nastier and more prevalent worms do this too.)

 

[Jon]

Thermaltake Toughpower W0103 600-Watt Power Supply for ATX 12V 2.2 and EPS 12V

http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Tough ... B000FKQ5UY

Couldn't find it on newegg or tigerdirect.

 

[Jon]

I downloaded speedfan. It works, thus giving me the following information.

CPU Usage: <7% (yes 7)

Temp1: -18C
Temp2: -18C
Temp3: -18C
HD0: 36C
*Flame* CPU: 70-71C
SYS: 33C
*Flame sometimes* PWM2: 50C
PWM1: 46C
Temp1:20C

Bottom Box

VCOREA: 3.14V
VCOREB: 3.15V
+3.3V: 3.15V
+5V: 5.03V
+12V: 11.37V

-12V: .47V
-5V: 1.74V
+5VSB: 5.59V
VBAT: 0V
NB CORE: 1.51V

CPU CORE: 1.36V
DDRVDD: 1.85V
3.3V: 3.35V
5V: 5.12V
12V: 12.23V

 

[Blasto121]

alright well looking at your Power Supply it actually might be the issue.

According to your power supply manufacture the 12 volt rails each have a total of 18 amps each, so how many do you have plugged in?

also some quick googling shows that your video card likes to have about 26 amps on the 12 volt rails, and if you only have 2 plugged in then thats only a grand total of 36 amps 36 - 26 = 10 just enough to power your CPU, that is if its a single core... So either get more of those 12 volt rails plugged in or invest a real power supply with some serious amps on the 12 volt rails.

 

[Thothie]

*Flame* CPU: 70-71C

Ummmm... I can't think of any CPU where that's an acceptable temperature at idle (maybe some GPU's though)... What kinda CPU are you using?