PC Questions

Siji · Post by **Siji** » December 20, 2004, 5:52 pm

Two questions:

1. Setup new PC and upon playing EQ I get short pauses every 5 seconds or so. e.g. If I'm running, the screen will freeze for half a second then continue on. My lag meter is low, I defragged my drive, I updated all Windows updates, I updated to newest ATI drivers (ATI 9800 Pro), I updated MB drivers, BIOS, etc.. Everything is up to date. Anyone have any ideas on things to try? (Note for EQ I've done the datarate update to 9 as it was on my other PC)

2. On this new PC that I put together, it's a p4 3.2 with 1 gig of ddr400 pc3200 memory. The memory is in DIMMs 1 and 3 to allow for dual channel mode. The FSB is 800 on the MB. The video card supports AGP 8x. With those stats in mind, this is what I get upon boot up (which doesn't look right to me):

(Dual Channel Mode Enabled)
Memory Frequency For DDR400 Specifications
Host/DRAM Frequency is 204/204 MHz
AGP/PCI Frequency is 66/33 MHz

Shouldn't that be 400 MHz on the DRAM frequency as it's DDR 400/PC3200 memory? I'm not sure about the AGP/PCI frequency at all, so perhaps that's correct. It just seemed low.

Also.. anyone have any links for any types of fans that will keep the PWM chip/thing cool? Using ABit's (AI7 board) uGuru/ABIT EQ thing, the temperature on that gets up to around 170 when playing EQ. The temp of the CPU itself stays around 150 - which I expected as I read that this chip (p2 3.2 prescott) runs hot.

Thanks in advance!

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Ed: By the way.. in CMOS this is what I have and can set:

CPU Operating Speed 3200(200)
x - Ext. Clock (CPU/AGP/PCI) 204/ 66/ 33MHz
x - Multiplier Factor 16 X
x - Estimated New CPU Clock 3264MHz
x - N/B Strap CPU As By CPU
x - DRAM Ratio (CPU:DRAM) By SPD
x - Fixed AGP/PCI Frequency 66/33MHz

(All the x sections are greyed out unless you change the CPU Op speed setting to user defined.. So comparing obviously, that looks like where I'd change it, but having not OC'd or messed with CPU settings since 486's came out.. I don't currently have the knowledge of knowing if what I see above in the 2nd question is correct and if not, what I need to set the above CMOS settings to for getting it to be optimized. I do NOT want to OC the chip, it already runs hot enough and my case doesn't allow more fans than I currently have. I just want everything to run as I purchased it thinking it should.

Damn I feel verbose today!

Lohrno · Post by **Lohrno** » December 20, 2004, 6:11 pm

I would check for these things:

Are you running P2P programs?
Is your system Adware/spyware/virus clean?
Is everything configured right? (Check your hard disk config)

I think 170 is an okay temp but I'm not sure.

Oh yeah, and about fans: Having more fans is great, but if they are not set up right it they can be useless. I think you should have the same number blowing out as blowing in.

-=Lohrno

Siji · Post by **Siji** » December 20, 2004, 6:29 pm

Lohrno wrote:I would check for these things:

Are you running P2P programs?
Is your system Adware/spyware/virus clean?
Is everything configured right? (Check your hard disk config)

Currently there's no programs running in the background other than the abit eq monitor thing. Haven't installed anything else other than program updates to system programs (video/windows/mb/etc)

Lohrno wrote:I think 170 is an okay temp but I'm not sure.

Oh yeah, and about fans: Having more fans is great, but if they are not set up right it they can be useless. I think you should have the same number blowing out as blowing in.

Can't seem to find much info about the PWM temp and what is acceptable.. google searches basically show other people asking the same question and stating that theirs runs hot also.. as for fans, there's a 120 blowing out the rear and a 120 blowing in that direction right behind the 3.5 drive bays (Antec Sonata case). The one thing it doesn't have is a fan on the bottom of the PS which I wish it did. I could add a PCI slot fan, but that's about it.

Fash · Post by **Fash** » December 20, 2004, 6:37 pm

from my google researching:

Well, I solved my problem. As some one in this forum suggested, I looked in the Admistrative tools in windows XP (Control panel\performance & maintenance\adminstrative tools\event viewer\system) and saw that each time my computer froze, my network card was involved. I took the card out and reinstalled it and now...ta da...no freezes. Hope this helps some one.

Siji · Post by **Siji** » December 20, 2004, 6:48 pm

Fash wrote:from my google researching:

Well, I solved my problem. As some one in this forum suggested, I looked in the Admistrative tools in windows XP (Control panel\performance & maintenance\adminstrative tools\event viewer\system) and saw that each time my computer froze, my network card was involved. I took the card out and reinstalled it and now...ta da...no freezes. Hope this helps some one.

My network "card" is on-board.. guess I could uninstall drivers and reinstall..

Fash · Post by **Fash** » December 20, 2004, 6:51 pm

onboard or not, you can still check the event viewer.

Kindo · Post by **Kindo** » December 20, 2004, 7:59 pm

In reference to item 1, turn of your journal in EQ and see if that helps.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » December 20, 2004, 8:02 pm

Siji wrote:
Currently there's no programs running in the background other than the abit eq monitor thing. Haven't installed anything else other than program updates to system programs (video/windows/mb/etc)

That eq monitor may very well be your problem. I recall it screwing up my EQ gameplay. I know you need the monitor the most when EQ is actually running but I'd suggest turning that thing off (exit the app completely) or look for an alternative. The Abit monitor app specifically was a problem for me.

Siji · Post by **Siji** » December 20, 2004, 8:10 pm

Kindo wrote:In reference to item 1, turn of your journal in EQ and see if that helps.

Will try that.. not sure the journal 'should' come into play while just running.. but ya never know.

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » December 20, 2004, 8:48 pm

Are you using a router? Might be some issues related to open ports and/or firmware revision levels if so.

Siji · Post by **Siji** » December 20, 2004, 11:01 pm

Tenuvil wrote:Are you using a router? Might be some issues related to open ports and/or firmware revision levels if so.

Yeah, but not experiencing this issue on my other PC in EQ. Nor was I experiencing it on the PC that the new one replaced.. So I'm pretty sure it's something to do with something on the new PC only. The new PC was given the IP of the PC it replaced so it's not an IP access issue.

Siji · Post by **Siji** » December 20, 2004, 11:25 pm

Winnow wrote:That eq monitor may very well be your problem. I recall it screwing up my EQ gameplay. I know you need the monitor the most when EQ is actually running but I'd suggest turning that thing off (exit the app completely) or look for an alternative. The Abit monitor app specifically was a problem for me.

Thanks Winnow! That's what it ended up being for delaying EQ. Strangely I don't have that problem with the ABIT EQ on my AMD board.. *shrug*

AquaMark3 rating: 47,572 - w00t!

Soreali · Post by **Soreali** » December 31, 2004, 4:26 am

Actually I have a similar problem to Siji's first issue..

When I'm playing a FPS online (Counter-strike etc.) I get the same little freezes that last about two seconds or so then resume to normal.. In a FPS as most of you know, two seconds could kill you. I dont currently use a network card for my wireless connection (usb) and have no spyware running on my computer.. Any ideas as to why?

Main specs are:

AMD Athalon 64 processor (2.21 ghz)
512 DDR400/PC3200 Ram
Asus K8N-E Motherboard

If anyone has ideas as to why this may be happening I'm all ears.. If you need any other information just let me know..

Thanks.

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » December 31, 2004, 1:26 pm

Soreali wrote:Actually I have a similar problem to Siji's first issue..

When I'm playing a FPS online (Counter-strike etc.) I get the same little freezes that last about two seconds or so then resume to normal.. In a FPS as most of you know, two seconds could kill you. I dont currently use a network card for my wireless connection (usb) and have no spyware running on my computer.. Any ideas as to why?

Main specs are:

AMD Athalon 64 processor (2.21 ghz)
512 DDR400/PC3200 Ram
Asus K8N-E Motherboard

If anyone has ideas as to why this may be happening I'm all ears.. If you need any other information just let me know..

Thanks.

Wireless may be your culprit. Quality of signal varies wildly by brand, and even by device within a given brand. In addition the 802.11x signal can be potentially disrupted by wireless phones, TV remotes or other household devices. Also if you live in an apartment building two WAPs can conflict with one another, the signals interacting cause interference that requires a brief reestablishemt of the signal handshake.

Most gamers I know rely on good old copper. Swap your 802.11x wireless for a NIC and see if the stutter lag goes away.

Soreali · Post by **Soreali** » December 31, 2004, 9:29 pm

I use Linksys wireless G.. Don't have any 2.4 ghz phones in the house so no disruptions there.. Signal is always excellent and hardwire networking would be too much of a bitch to setup (hence wireless)..In a house so no other WAPs here but my own.