Gaming Can someone help?

[DrYHeLL]

Alright here it goes,

About 2 weeks ago my computer started it's slow and painful death. On the the 20th I think it's hard-drive was finally finished and we were ready to upgrade so we bought a new computer. We bought *this one* and it is fast, dont get me wrong. However, when playing games (Hal life 2: Death Match, Portal, Gears of war) it seems to fail. By that I mean it either wont start up the application properly or crash to the desktop a few seconds after starting the program OR IN RARE OCCASIONS the computer would entirely freeze with no mouse, keyboard, or any other peripheral input (very random. could be seconds could be hours). This would require a hard reboot (hold for 3 sec input). I wonder to myself about the last issue "is there not enough power?"

What I'm wondering is how do I fix these issues?
graphics card: 8500gt (plan on upgrading to 9600gt in a few more days)

Power supply:300watt(stock)
(which the "eXtreme power calc" thing reports my com needing only 243 watts)
(wanting to upgrade to 500watts or similar)

Processorhenom X3 8450 triple core

RAM:4gb stock ram

OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

Please help!

Thanks,
DrY

 

[p1ngpong]

Could be the 64 bit Vista OS, was gona put that on a laptop I had but a friend of mine who has an IT degree says its incompatible and unstable with many many programs.

Maybe try installing a 32 bit version of XP and see how you fare?

 

[da_head]

Could be the 64 bit Vista OS, was gona put that on a laptop I had but a friend of mine who has an IT degree says its incompatible and unstable with many many programs.

Maybe try installing a 32 bit version of XP and see how you fare?

u mean 32 bit version of vista? xp is 16 bit

 

[science]

Could be the 64 bit Vista OS, was gona put that on a laptop I had but a friend of mine who has an IT degree says its incompatible and unstable with many many programs.

Maybe try installing a 32 bit version of XP and see how you fare?

u mean 32 bit version of vista? xp is 16 bit

What...? XP and Vista both come in 32 and 64bit versions...

 

[p1ngpong]

Yeah theres no 16 bit version of XP, there have been 32 bit versions of windows since windows 95.

I had a laptop with Vista 32 bit premium and Gears of war ran like crap, choppy as hell almost unplayable on the lowest setting! Since I installed XP (32 bit) It runs smooth as silk on the highest settings! So seriously give XP 32 bit a go!

 

[Mangofett]

Careful... 9600gt requires a 12 rail which most generic 300w don't have. Might want to lower down to 9500gt. Still good.

 

[DrYHeLL]

* sigh * First I realize the 9600 required the 12v. I was planning on buying a 500 watt or so power supply. Thanks but yeah ...I know. About the 64 bit causing the problem. I sincerely doubt it because others have reported playing such source games fine without lock-ups. But since my first post I uninstalled my 8500 and went with the 780g's(chipset) onboard video: Radeon HD 3200. for the next couple of weeks it does the job.... However since I took the card out there have been no crashes which leads me to believe my hypothesis about the card not receiving enough power or even the card itself has a problem. I'll be sure to keep you guys posted as long as you continue to provide advice.

P.S. does anyone have a 9600gt and the orange box? If so let me know how performance is with that game.

Thanks a bunch.
DrY (Luke)

 

[Lee79]

I have a BFG 8800 GTS OC 320mb and Source games (Portal, Team Fortress 2, Half Life 2) stutter on it. When i had a ATI X1950 XT Source games with the same settings ran really smooth I think it is because Source games are optimized to run on ATI hardware even though the 8800 GTS is a faster card in any other game. Yeah you will have to upgrade your PSU if you get a 9600 but i would get the 8800 GT 512mb and a better PSU if you have the cash.

I think what Linkiboy is trying to say you need at least 28A(Amps) on the +12V rail of the PSU as all PSU have a +12V rail but not all have high Amps (The higher the more power output) you need to power the graphics.

High end graphics cards use a standard 6 or 8-pin PCI-E power connector directly from the +12V rail of the PSU.

Like this 6-Pin connector.

 

[DrYHeLL]

Ok, Thanks for that info Lee. Now however I am considering a 9800gt because I saw one on Newegg for about $120 u.s. dollars. I am for sure getting a PSU because I now believe after taking my card out and using the HD3200 onboard there wasnt one crash during gameplay or problem starting up the portal demo. Hell the thing is almost as fast as an 8500gt.

About source being optimized to being run on ATI....Why the hell would they advertise everywhere on steam about nvidia cards if they sucked with source games?!?1/1?

Also can you direct me towards a good PSU that can handle the 9800nicely while still remaining cool?

 

[Lee79]

Source games do not suck with Nivida they look amazing it is just some times the FPS drop low when i am playing on my ATI that never happend could just be my PC.

Any PSU in this link will power a single 9800 gt.

 

[Minox]

Source games do not suck with Nivida they look amazing it is just some times the FPS drop low when i am playing on my ATI that never happend could just be my PC.

Must be your PC, I've no problems at all with my Geforce 8600GT which should be weaker than your graphics card.

 

[DrYHeLL]

So is this one suitable for the PC I put in the top post? I mean, is it compatible with all the components? Sorry I've never done power supplies before...

Also I worded the part about nvidia it wrong. I meant to say it wasn't optimized. I thought it was funny because Steam had that "nVidia card=games giveaway"
then again, they also did the same thing for ATI a few months earlier...

Anyways if you could check that supply's compatiblity with my PC that would be great

Thousands of thanks,
DrY (Luke)

 

[Lee79]

yeah that PSU should be fine. Just not sure if you PC has a 4 or 8 pin CPU power connector on the motherboard? If it is 8 pin you need a ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V PSU.
Like these ones
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...6817152031#spec
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817151039

 

[da_head]

Could be the 64 bit Vista OS, was gona put that on a laptop I had but a friend of mine who has an IT degree says its incompatible and unstable with many many programs.

Maybe try installing a 32 bit version of XP and see how you fare?

u mean 32 bit version of vista? xp is 16 bit

What...? XP and Vista both come in 32 and 64bit versions...

my bad. i was mistaken. 64bit xp? is that pro or something else?

 

[Lee79]

Could be the 64 bit Vista OS, was gona put that on a laptop I had but a friend of mine who has an IT degree says its incompatible and unstable with many many programs.

Maybe try installing a 32 bit version of XP and see how you fare?

u mean 32 bit version of vista? xp is 16 bit

What...? XP and Vista both come in 32 and 64bit versions...

my bad. i was mistaken. 64bit xp? is that pro or something else?

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition supports AMD64 processors and Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology (EM64T) processors.
Windows XP Wiki

 

[playallday]

Could be the 64 bit Vista OS, was gona put that on a laptop I had but a friend of mine who has an IT degree says its incompatible and unstable with many many programs.

Maybe try installing a 32 bit version of XP and see how you fare?

Really? I haven't had one error with 64 bit Vista.