Simple yet strange (performance) issue when gaming in XP

[Drakhir]

Hello all,

My computer recently bit the dust (corrupted system files) so I resurreted it via a Windows XP reinstall. I have two 110 GB SATA (RAID) hard disks, with a seperate Windows partition of about 10GB, and another partition (210 GB) for all games, media, apps etc. After this reinstall of Windows, I reinstalled a few of my games to play and have found that they all feature the same irritating hiccup in the frame rate, where everything runs smoothly for a few seconds then it will pause for a few seconds, then run smoothly again, etc.

These games used to run 100% silkly smooth a few weeks back on this very machine, and this frame rate issue isnt the usual "choppy" one we all encounter from time to time; with this pausing between smooth runs issue.

I defragmented both my hard disks last night with O&O Defrag, and have updated Windows entirely via Windows Update. I also use TuneUP Utilities, which scan for errors and optimise your disks/pc settings and this hasnt helped. My Windows environment runs fine, speedy and stable, it is just when I fire up those first person shooters I get trouble.

Some info:
CPU: AMD XP 2400+
Motherboard: Abit NF7-S
Graphics: Radeon 9700 Pro (128MB) - Driver: 6.14.0010.6635
Memory: 1GB RAM
Direct X 9.0C
ADSL Internet

The games I play are, for example, F.E.A.R, Call of Duty 2, Hitman Blood Money, Elder Scrolls Oblivion etc. Updated patches, and these all run well with my hardware.

Any suggestions on fixing this problem would be much appreciated, and if any further information is required just let me know.

Thanks in advance

 

[networkgeek]

is that the latest ATI driver that you are using? did you make sure that the latest version of directx is installed and that all drivers are updated?


newer drivers really help sometimes.. let us know

 

[FlashDude]

download and install all the latest drivers for your chipset first then do the latest drivers for your video card. (if its ati then follow all install instructions to a "T")

You should have a bigger windows partition and you should install your games to the c: drive. This is probably happening because you had them installed on the D drive before and the registry keys are now all wrong. Its a good Idea to have a seperate partition for storing large files like music/ movies/ pictures and other personal files but that's it. Programs will need to be reinstalled after a format of just the c drive anyway so it doesn't save you anything.

 

[networkgeek]

flashdude is right about the order of updating the drivers. I was just in a hurry at work when I replied heh.

dunno about the games being on the separate partition. I have mine that way and never had an issue.

I bet it is the drivers though, just as flashdude reiterated.

 

[Trotter]

I have my Windows on my C drive (partition) and my programs and games on my D drive (partition, same disk) with no problems.

As was said above, get the drivers for your motherbaord's chipset. And I will add that you need to download and install ALL of the drivers for ALL of the different parts of your motherboard.

Did you format, or just reinstall Windows? You would do better with a format and fresh install, but you'd have to reinstall your other programs as well.

 

[FlashDude]

I have my Windows on my C drive (partition) and my programs and games on my D drive (partition, same disk) with no problems.

As was said above, get the drivers for your motherbaord's chipset. And I will add that you need to download and install ALL of the drivers for ALL of the different parts of your motherboard.

Did you format, or just reinstall Windows? You would do better with a format and fresh install, but you'd have to reinstall your other programs as well.

after you format your c drive you have no issues with programs that were installed on the previous install of windows on the c drive? I have tryed this it just doesn't work for me, windows isn't smart enough to add the entry's in the registry.

 

[networkgeek]

I think trotter means that you backup any data you can and format C and reinstall the programs again. cause of course the registry entries wont be there until the programs are reinstalled again.

 

[Trotter]

You would do better with a format and fresh install, but you'd have to reinstall your other programs as well.

 

[pat2k5]

my computer did that and i have a very similar gfx card. the problem was... the ram was underclocked in the system bios (set to safe mode speed something like 200 or 266 mhz) and i definetely didn't set it as that so how it got that way is a mystery. worth a check.

 

[Drakhir]

I have tried the above suggestions with no success.

I have tired both the latest Catalyst drivers and the latest Omega Catalyst drivers (from fresh downloads) to no avail.

I have defragmented both of my partitions with O&O Defrag too.

My computer has always been of this set up (one partition for windows, another for games/media etc) and everything worked smoothly until this new windows install, which to address one question, was performed by formatting the windows partition and then installing Windows XP.

I have run microsoft windows update and downloaded all updates, as well as scanned for virus infections and spyware.

What is most strange about this problem is that the games all used to work well on this very same hardware/set up, and the style of lag I am experiencing is not the usual fare, but the interval pausing I described earlier; this even happens when navigating through menus of games etc. So I have refrained from suspected hardware or general lag issues, and feel there is a certain setting or aspect of the configuration which I must change in order to fix the problem.

Thanks for the replies, and more will be appreciated.