[Sk0rch]

Here is my post in the games section. I have found out that this is a hardware problem.



Here are some random specs of my computer:

Tell me if I forget anything.

Plug and Play Monitor on NVIDIA Geforce4 MX Integrated GPU
Processors : AMD Athlon™ XP 2400+
HP Pavilion
512 RAM

I have played Counterstrike 1.6 on this PC for years. It's been over three years. Before I go on I would like to tell you that I would say I am fairly knowledgable in cpu's software wise. However, hardware wise, I am completely illiterate. So try to dumb it down. Ok well, since November, I have not been able to play CS (Counter-Strike). I connect to a server, it runs normal for a minute. Then all of a sudden, 1 out of 2 things happen. Sometimes, it just freezes my CS application and closes it, or it shows a blue screen with an error somewhat like this "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL." I have went to the CS forums and people thought it was my video card. However, this other guy has the same video card as me and his CS works fine. I do not think my cpu can be this outdated that quickly, so outdated that it just freezes or restarts. I do not know what the problem is. Besides replacing my graphics card which I am not sure will even work, the only solution I can think of is formatting my C drive. Right now I have like about 13 GB free space out of like 60 GB. I doubt this will work either but I don't know what else I can do.

I right clicked desktop > Properties > Settings > Advanced > Adapter > Properties > Driver > Update Driver > I think I tried this before but it didnt work last time. However, this time the Wizard did find updates, My version was like 4.5.2.3 I think, there was an update for that version. However there was also a new one, 5.8.6.3 or something like that, I know it started with a 5. Anyways, I updated to that successfully, after restarting my comp it forced me to play 1.6 in software mode, this version did not support OpenGL I guess. So I updated it to the 2nd version of 4.5.2.3. And then it did support OpenGL.

So I connected to a server, and it didn't freeze me, my latency was around 40-50 on that server while before it was 60-70. So I played in that server for like 45 minutes without freezing. This was big because since November I could not stay in server more than 2 minutes without freezing. Then I tried to connect to a different server, but it froze me even before I joined a team. Then I joined another server, this was a Chicago server, and I live in Chicago, this gave me 15-20 latency, and it did not freeze me.

So after updating the driver I did see improvement, before the driver it would freeze me on any server, now it doesn't freeze me in some servers.

The thing is, although I did update the driver, it is still not completely fixed, because before this problem occured in November, my cpu could go into any server and usually have the best latency of all the players.

But I am still glad it is fixed somewhat now.

So then I played Need for Speed and Halo, and the same thing happened.

Yeah it's definitely not the servers. It is something to do with hardware. I just played Halo on this PC, and it works normal for a while, and then it shows the blue screen and automatically restarts the computer.

Okay, it's definitely not anything CS-related. I just played Need for Speed most wanted on my PC, and it does the same thing, after a few minutes it either blue screens and restarts the pc, or it just closes the program. It's definitely hardware. Maybe I should go to the hardware section?

So all this leads me to the hardware section.

I updated Directx to 9.0c but still the same problem.

I went to the Nvidia website and clicked download drivers. I am not sure I was downloading the right thing, it's something about forceware.

http://www.nvidia.co...p_2k_81.98.html

That's the download site. Application name is 81-1.98_forceware_winxp2k_english_whql.exe

That did not work also.




If there is nothing else I can do, please advise me on graphics cards; also remember I am hardware illiterate.


What kind of video card do you recommend for gaming? Show me the best one but also show me some that are good deals. I don't want to go all out because starting Sept, I will buy a labtop because I am going off to college and I will need one.

Thanks. alot.

Edited by Sk0rch, 27 February 2006 - 01:01 PM.

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Anybody?

[Sk0rch]

Anybody?

[operation ivy]

umm depending on where you live, go to a web site that sells computer parts such as tiger direct or canadacomputers and look for a ATi Radeon 9800. this is a pretty outdated card but it should tide you over until your laptop arrives.

[Sk0rch]

Is it AGP compatible? How old is it exactly? Would it support games such as Battlefield 2 and HL2? How much is it?

[GameMakerThomas]

It's about 2 years, it's AGP compatible, it's around one hunderd dollars, however for a PCI-Express card I recommend the 200 dollar X850.

[Sk0rch]

PCI-Express card? I don't think my pc supports that does it? All I know is that it is AGP, not PCI-E. I'll check out the one in post #3. Thanks.

[operation ivy]

yeah judging by your CPU im going to say you have an AGP slot. a 9800 in your system will run half life but on medium-low settings. if you are willing to dish out an extra 50-100 bucks you could get something like a ati radeon x700 which would run it on med settings for sure. but since your getting a new computer you might as well just stick with the 9800. i ran half life with a worse card on med-high settings. mind you my processor was a little better. not much though.

good luck

[jrm20]

Yeah your pc definately will not have pci express at all. Pci Express wasnt out yet when the amd athlon xp cpus were available to buy.


Either you have an agp slot or regular pci slots.


Let us know if you have agp as some manufacturers dont even put any expansion slots in a pc other than regular pci slots.

[Sk0rch]

I have an AGP.

How is this one? http://www.tigerdire...6&Sku=P450-8568

Is this a better deal than the ATi Radeon 9800? Which you guys said was a 100$. Can I have a link to that card?

Edited by Sk0rch, 02 March 2006 - 09:39 PM.

[operation ivy]

http://www.tigerdire...1239429&CatId=0

that card is what i used for the longest time and played DOOM 3 and HL2 with little issues on pretty decent quality. its a cheap card and will do better then the one you listed.

[Sk0rch]

How do you like this one? http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814127203

[Sk0rch]

Keep in mind that I don't want a state of the art card or whatever, I want something that is decent quality and a good deal and that is fair and will last me for a while without major problems. Like I said, I will be buying a labtop in August so I won't use this computer much, but I would still like to come home on the weekends sometimes and see that this pc is still function properly. So from these 3 cards, which one would YOU guys buy and recommend?

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814127203

http://www.tigerdire...p;Sku=P450-8568

http://www.tigerdire...t...429&CatId=0

How are those?

[jrm20]

Since your on a low budget this is the best card for your range.

Get an nvidia 6200 they have 8.0Gb/s memory bandwith (gigabytes per second) versus the ati 9550 it has only 6.4Gb/s memory bandwith.


The Nvidia 6200 is the fastest one.

Edited by jrm20, 04 March 2006 - 05:57 PM.

[Sk0rch]

Yeah, you're right, I found a 6200 on Newegg, compare it to the one on tigerdirect, I think newegg is safer.

[Sk0rch]

I am ordering the video card but I am not positive this will fix the problem.

Maybe this will help you guys know my problem a little better. When I am playing a game (in this case Need for Speed Most Wanted, but also Counter-Strike) I get a blue screen error. Here is the error

***BLUE SCREEN ERROR***

A Problem has been detected and your Windows has been shut down to prevent further damage.

The problem seems to be caused by the follows files: nv4_disp.dll

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NOPAGED_AREA

If this is the first time you’ve seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any Windows Update you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS Memory options such as caching and shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart computer with Safe Mode.

Technical Information:

*** STOP: 0x000000S0
(0XE3BEE0000x00000000
0xBF069175, 0x0000000)
*** nv4_disp.dll – Address
BF069175 base at BF012000, DateStamp 00000000

Beginning dumb of physical memory.

Physical Memory dumb complete.

Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.

***BLUE SCREEN ERROR***


The blue screen error for Counter-Strike is very similar to this; however, instead of PAGE_FAULT_IN_NOPAGED_AREA ….. it is "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL."