[jen147]

I've used Amazon.com downloads for games before and had no problems. My last download was in May for the game Little Shop Memories and it works just fine. Today I bought the game Gardenscapes from there. The Download and installation went just fine. Tried to launch the game... and when it comes on all I can see is a dark screen with lines/bands of fuzzy distorted pictures... the sounds/music works just fine, just can't see anything. And since I can't see anything it's impossible to use the games exit, so I have to use the Windows key on my keyboard to get out of the game, then use Task Manager to turn the game off.

I don't know much about the world of PC Games, Video Cards, RAM so this is all greek to me and I don't know what to do. The troubleshooting on Amazon was next to nothing if you ask me. I did check Windows Update like they suggested and I didn't need any relevant updates.

The only thing else I have to offer which may not mean anything... was one time when I was in Task Manager to turn the game off it was up past 200,000 k; that seems like a lot to me.

I have Avast for virus protection and Comodo for firewall. I answered allow for every flag that came up on Comodo during download/installation/launch of the game.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the game, with a run of CleanUp! to wipe the cache clean and a reboot in between.

Maybe this is a common problem, maybe you guys have never heard of it... hope I'm describing it right. Any help would be much appreciated.

[EDIT]: I forgot to mention... that I also encounter this problem (just started a couple months ago) when I try to go full screen on youtube videos. Don't know what happened to make it change, just one day we couldn't full screen those videos and we just kind of accepted it. Hadn't even thought more about it till today when my game did this.

I downloaded the Sysspec (although I am deleting my IP address, didn't want that public and I figure mods on this site can see it anyway) and here is that data:

Windows: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3
Internet Explorer: 8.0.6001.18702
Memory (RAM): 704 MB
CPU Info: AMD Sempron™ Processor 3100+
CPU Speed: 1807.0 MHz
Sound Card: Realtek AC97 Audio
Display Adapters: SiS 760 | NetMeeting driver | RDPDD Chained DD
Monitors: 1x; Dell E773mm |
Screen Resolution: 1024 X 768 - 32 bit
Network: Network Present
Network Adapters: SiS 900-Based PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter - Packet Scheduler Miniport
CD / DVD Drives: E: LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-1633S
Ports: COM3 | COM1 LPT1
Mouse: 3 Button Wheel Mouse Present
Hard Disks: C: 69.3GB | D: 5.3GB
Hard Disks - Free: C: 42.2GB | D: 787.0MB
USB Controllers: 4 host controllers.
Firewire (1394): 1 host controllers.
Manufacturer: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
Product Make: PP158AA-ABA SR1320NX NA510
AC Power Status: OnLine
BIOS Info: AT/AT COMPATIBLE | 10/29/04 | AWARD - 42302e31
Time Zone: Central Standard Time
Battery: No Battery
Motherboard: ASUSTek Computer INC. Salmon

:

Edited by jen147, 29 August 2010 - 07:17 PM.

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Well, I found the solution. I contacted playrix.com and I sent them some info they'd requested and the problem was with my video card. Mine only has 64 mb ram and the game requires 128.

I also did some digging and discovered that my kind of video card cannot be upgraded, w/o upgrading the whole motherboard.

So one final question... we are going to buy a new computer. Don't want to spend too much, but want better than we got obviously. I am not a big time gamer, just puzzle games like Gardenscapes, Luxor, Majong... etc. So most of the basic computers that I've been profiling say they have a NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE Video Card. Is that enough for my kind of gaming needs? Most of them also say they are built in, which unless I'm misunderstanding means you can't upgrade them... while I don't really like that, if that video card carries enough RAM for my kind of games, then I'm fine with it. I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars extra on a computer on the chance that "one day" I "might" upgrade my video card. Probably only to find out the system couldn't handle it anyway.

So what's the verdict? Is the NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE good enough for regular games (128mg & up)?

[jen147]

Well, I found the solution. I contacted playrix.com and I sent them some info they'd requested and the problem was with my video card. Mine only has 64 mb ram and the game requires 128.

I also did some digging and discovered that my kind of video card cannot be upgraded, w/o upgrading the whole motherboard.

So one final question... we are going to buy a new computer. Don't want to spend too much, but want better than we got obviously. I am not a big time gamer, just puzzle games like Gardenscapes, Luxor, Majong... etc. So most of the basic computers that I've been profiling say they have a NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE Video Card. Is that enough for my kind of gaming needs? Most of them also say they are built in, which unless I'm misunderstanding means you can't upgrade them... while I don't really like that, if that video card carries enough RAM for my kind of games, then I'm fine with it. I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars extra on a computer on the chance that "one day" I "might" upgrade my video card. Probably only to find out the system couldn't handle it anyway.

So what's the verdict? Is the NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE good enough for regular games (128mg & up)?