Computer Freezing... Is It Hardware ?

[ro88o]

I'm posting this question for a friend so I don't have the exact RAM speeds or make of GPU etc.

The system is running on an Athlon 1800XP, 512 Mb RAM, and a GeForce 4 GPU. The problem is that during games every so often the computer will lock up for a few seconds and then unfreezes and catches up with itself i.e. the character has run to the position he would have done had the computer not frozen. This makes the games completely unplayable.

I've tried formatting the hard drive and re-installing windows - that didn't work, and I also ran memtest86 to test the RAM, after 4 hours no errors had shown up. So I'm assuming it's some other hardware fault, could it be th GPU ?

Anybody got any ideas why it's happening and how this could be fixed ??

TIA, ro88o

 

[GageMW]

on high preformance games? it could just be that the hardware is inadequate, has it always done this?

 

[Codeine]

Ro88o, sorry but its pretty obvious your getting lagg because your system is out dated. I think your friend should think about getting a Athlon 64, or getting a good cooling system so he can OC his computer.

But its just your hardware, modern games and applications have higher demands.

 

[AND_YOU_ARE]

Have you tried new drivers for the hardware?

What prompted this to begin? If updated drives caused this, then you should roll back your drivers. Drivers for your video card that is.

 

[Apokalipse]

have you tried new drivers?

also you can download the latest DirectX (9.0c) from Microsoft's website

 

[ro88o]

It can't be outdated hardware...

Sorry probably should have mentioned this before - it isn't new games he's having the problem with, games which have worked for about a year on his computer suddenly started having this problem and now all games do it, this is what lead me to assume there's a hardware fault.
Also all the newest drivers and directX have been installed.
Any possibilities other than the age of the computer ?

TIA