Video card

[mthrockmor]

I have been playing around with my computer, which is scary for us non-computer types. I went to Skuzzy's 'hints' section and moved some programs to 'manual' from 'automatic,' which should help.

In reading other threads I have similar issues of momentary freezing and at times the screen going black (most of the crashes) or periodically white. My best guess is I need to get a more powerful video card. Before I go down to the local comp store and get sold a bill of goods can I get some help on this?

I THINK my video card is a NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT. Does this sound right? How do I check what kind of video card I have? What is a good video card to seek? What price range should I expect? I have two 256 RAM chips/cards, I think that is enough. Thoughts there?

I am about to do "Enemy Coast Ahead" and want to be full speed for this. Any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Boo

PS My CPU shows a constant 4% usage with 40 programs running on Windows XP. I know that is way high but with all of the odd names I am not sure which ones I can shut down. I am guessing this also limits game play and helps cause the problems I'm experiencing.

[gyrene81]

click on start > run - type in dxdiag then hit enter >
a popup will show asking if you want to check if your drivers are digitally signed, you can say no >
another box titled directx diagnostic tool will pop up, it will have several tabs in it...(system, display, sound 1, sound 2, input) >
click on "save all information" at the bottom right, next to the word exit >
you will be prompted to save the file somewhere, just save it to your desktop. then click on exit>
open the text file. >
using your mouse highlight all of the text from system information to sound capture devices. >
then copy and paste the highlighted text in a reply here on this discussion.

that will show pertinent information on your system and make it a little easier to recommend course of action...

[mthrockmor]

Thanks...

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 10/19/2011, 11:47:57
       Machine name: MATT
   Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.100216-1441)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: MSI
       System Model: MS-7309
               BIOS: Default System BIOS
          Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3800+,  MMX,  3DNow, ~2.4GHz
             Memory: 1536MB RAM
          Page File: 744MB used, 2687MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
  DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
          Music Tab: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.
        Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
     Manufacturer: NVIDIA
        Chip type: GeForce 9600 GT
         DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0622&SUBSYS_C8623842&REV_A1
   Display Memory: 512.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
          Monitor: Default Monitor
  Monitor Max Res:
      Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
   Driver Version: 6.14.0011.7813 (English)
      DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
 Driver Date/Size: 9/18/2008 00:55:00, 6057472 bytes
      WHQL Logo'd: n/a
  WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
              VDD: n/a
         Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
    Mini VDD Date: 9/18/2008 00:55:00, 6132576 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4562-11CF-7745-69E800C2CB35}
        Vendor ID: 0x10DE
        Device ID: 0x0622
        SubSys ID: 0xC8623842
      Revision ID: 0x00A1
      Revision ID: 0x00A1
      Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D ModeWMV9_B ModeWMV9_A
 Deinterlace Caps: {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalSt retch
                   {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalSt retch
                   {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalSt retch
                   {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
                   {335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalSt retch
         Registry: OK
     DDraw Status: Enabled
       D3D Status: Enabled
       AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: Not run
 D3D7 Test Result: Not run
 D3D8 Test Result: Not run
 D3D9 Test Result: Not run

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
            Description: Logitech USB Headset
 Default Sound Playback: Yes
 Default Voice Playback: Yes
            Hardware ID: USB\Vid_046d&Pid_0a0c&Rev_1013&MI_00
        Manufacturer ID: 65535
             Product ID: 65535
                   Type: WDM
            Driver Name: usbaudio.sys
         Driver Version: 5.01.2600.2180 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
            WHQL Logo'd: n/a
          Date and Size: 8/4/2004 00:07:56, 59264 bytes
            Other Files:
        Driver Provider: Microsoft
         HW Accel Level: Full
              Cap Flags: 0x0
    Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0
 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
              HW Memory: 0
       Voice Management: No
 EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
               Registry: OK
      Sound Test Result: Not run

---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
            Description: Logitech USB Headset
  Default Sound Capture: Yes
  Default Voice Capture: Yes
            Driver Name: usbaudio.sys
         Driver Version: 5.01.2600.2180 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
          Date and Size: 8/4/2004 00:07:56, 59264 bytes
              Cap Flags: 0x0
           Format Flags: 0x0

[gyrene81]

   okeedokee uh...if i remember correctly tequila chaser built a system out of used components very similar to yours, same graphics card for sure and he claims it was rock solid in ah at 60fps...no clue how he tweaked it.

you're using a usb headset (heavy cpu usage) so that begs the question, what joystick are you using?

does that video card have a 6 pin power connector on it?

what is the max power rating on your power supply?

that paging file is huge for the amount of physical memory the system has, was that off a fresh boot with anti-virus shutdown?

what are you ah graphics settings?

[Skuzzy]

The system memory size is wierd.  Not a power of two.  Yes, the page file usage is way too high.  On a fairly clean XP system it should be around 250MB, or so.

[guncrasher]

check out this site, will show you which processes you may not need.

http://www.blackviper.com/

semp