Optimizing for a Quad Processor (Windows 7)

[Trobby]

Playgrounders with Computer knowledge, I require your help!

Okay, so until recently I have been playing online games on Steam with little to no trouble on my current computer. But within the last few months, things have gotten...strange.

Regularly, during gameplay, everything being rendered will slow down to a near-crawl, in the manner of a massive frame rate loss. It will last for about 3 to 4 minutes before going away, and happens in roughly 10-15 minute intervals.

Games that have caused this to happen are Team Fortress 2 and Half Life 2 Episode 2.

My graphics card is a NVIDIA Geforce 9100, so I think I'm good there. I have a 640 GB hard drive and 6 GB of system memory.

So, I suspect the issue is either with Windows 7 or with my processor.

My system runs Windows 7, the Home Premium 64 Bit edition. My processor is an AMD Athlon II 620 Quad-Core. And I just recently ran Microsoft Security Essentials to ensure that there are no virus issues.

So, what can I do? Is there a way for me to optimize my processor? Is there something I might be missing with my edition of Windows 7?

[thubby]

I use windows 7 and its given me no issues with either game. and i only have 1/2 the memory

you can check your cpu usage through task manager with the game running.

if the 9100 is the card i think it is, it's not much for gaming. you can check the manufacturer's site for better drivers, but there's a good chance you'll have to replace it.

[IonDragon]

It doesn't really sound like you have insufficient hardware.

You may have a virus, though it is hard to say.

One course of action that may help (read the whole thing before doing any of it): Open Task Manager
Right click Explorer -> End process tree -> Yes
File -> New Task -> Type "Explorer" -> OK

This will end most everything running on your computer. Get your game up and running.

[Don Julio Anejo]

Your processor is fine. Also, 9100 is by no means a high-end card, but for TF2 and Half-Life 2 it should be perfectly fine. And since it worked fine before, it's not the problem.

A few questions:

- have you updated your video card drivers recently (as in, around the time the problem started to occur)?
- how fresh is your Windows install?
- are you one of those people who absolutely must install every little insignificant useless piece of software and then never delete it? You know the ones. Who run IE and have half the screen taken up by "Super Search Engine" toolbars "bringing you the latest in news, games and multimedia"
- is it just the games

A few culprits:
- virus (duh)
- ironically, antivirus. Have you installed or changed settings on one recently? Have you tried disabling it's livescan/autoprotect feature? Also, does the problem persist if you play single player?
- new drivers which are incompatible with the game (although unlikely, I'm pretty sure Valve polishes their games, unlike, say Creative Labs)
- another software that runs in the background and does something that takes up all your CPU every so often.

Follow IonDragon's advice first, if it solves it, the problem is most likely redundant software running at the same time as the game. If it doesn't, it's most likely either a virus or a driver issue.

[IonDragon]

I'd hit Submit before finishing what I'd wanted to say :o

If that fixes your problem it is being caused by something running in the background. This could be a virus or some other piece of software.

If that is the case, a surefire way to fix the problem would be to reinstall Windows.

[Trobby]

Hmm...

At this point, it seems like other things might be slowing down too. Firefox seems a little sluggish. I didn't notice it before because it is far less pronounced for a web browser.

- have you updated your video card drivers recently (as in, around the time the problem started to occur)?

The video card and driver have never been altered. They are both about a year old (Last December, in fact), and came with the system.

- how fresh is your Windows install?

Same age as the rest of the system.

- are you one of those people who absolutely must install every little insignificant useless piece of software and then never delete it? You know the ones. Who run IE and have half the screen taken up by "Super Search Engine" toolbars "bringing you the latest in news, games and multimedia"

I never use IE, and I always turn my web browser off before starting a game. I also turn off all my background programs, save the virus protection that I use. Said virus protection is Windows Security Essentials, and I have already switched my protection twice: between AVG, Avast!, and the current one.

- is it just the games

As I said before, I THOUGHT it was just the games, but I think now that it might be more widespread than that, and that I only just noticed it in the games.



Now, before I post anything else, I'll try refreshing explorer.

*After doing so*

Nope, wasn't that.

Recently ran virus scan, and while it did bring up a few potential threat programs, it got rid of them all.


So....where do I stand now? I really hope it isn't the driver OR a virus, but those seem to be the only two possibilities staring at me right now.


Edit 2: Oh, and just to confirm, this DOES happen even when I am in offline mode.

Also, here are my typical processes with Firefox, AIM, and Steam open. Usually I close Firefox and AIM before starting a Steam game.

http://h1.ripway.com/Introbulus/TaskManager.png

[Rawhide]

Scan your system with a different virus scanner.
HouseCall is a free on-demand only scanner from Trend Micro
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Avast! and AVG are both good too. But if you're going to install more than one scanner, make sure that only one is performing on-access scanning. The others can be invoked for on-demand scanning when you need it.


Come to think of it, you mentioned you have used multiple scanners in the past. Make sure you have uninstalled all of them correctly and completely. Make sure than none of them are still trying to scan on-access.


Update your drivers..... Newer drivers will incorporate stability and speed improvements (almost all of the time, people asked because it is possible, though rare, to get a dud or install it incorrectly).


Have you kept your security updates up to date? Do that.


Firefox is an absolute memory hog, especially if you use tabs. Try not to keep it running for too long, close it completely and then reopen it when you can. Close as many tabs as possible and, try to keep it closed when playing games.


Open Task Manager, click on processes than click on CPU to sort by CPU usage (highest at the top). Make sure you can see processes from all users. Keep that running where you can see it while you use the computer. Does any program hog the CPU every 15 minutes?

[Trobby]

Scan your system with a different virus scanner.
HouseCall is a free on-demand only scanner from Trend Micro

Downloading HouseCall now...

Come to think of it, you mentioned you have used multiple scanners in the past. Make sure you have uninstalled all of them correctly and completely. Make sure than none of them are still trying to scan on-access.

Made sure all my old virus protection was deleted, went through all my programs to make sure.

Update your drivers

What would be involved with updating them?

Have you kept your security updates up to date? Do that.

After checking, it looks like they updated automatically no less than 2 days ago. Just updated it again today manually just in case.

Firefox is an absolute memory hog, especially if you use tabs.

Ouch. :( So tabs actually use up more memory than multiple windows?

Naturally I keep it closed entirely when playing games though. I've seen how much memory it takes up.

Open Task Manager, click on processes than click on CPU to sort by CPU usage (highest at the top). Make sure you can see processes from all users. Keep that running where you can see it while you use the computer. Does any program hog the CPU every 15 minutes?

This one is a little hard to do, because the top three or four CPU using programs change every second or so. Most of the time everything has zero or one for CPU, though occasionally a program at the top will have anywhere between 2 and 5. Firefox, Steam, DVDagent.exe *32, and task manager itself will switch around at the top, and occasionally explorer or "standby" will rise to the top as well. One thing I noticed is that CyberLink MediaService always seems to be near the top. But nothing stays right at the top for any longer than a few seconds. I will, however, try to create the problem I've been having in Steam games, and see if something suddenly skyrockets to the top.

-Doing it now-

Half Life 2 itself suddenly started taking up massive CPU space during the incident. Almost always being at the top. This makes some sense though. HL2, when running, takes up over 140,000 K for memory. Though when it suddenly starts to freeze, it takes up roughly 20,000 K more.

Strange...Steam is now taking up 25 CPU. o.o; And when I started running HL2, it also was taking up upwards of 25 CPU.

Only steam and steam games seem to do this though. No other program takes Steams place when I close it entirely.

Though...it seems like it uses exactly that much when being used normally.

Memory usage goes well beyond what full-screen requires when playing in a smaller screen too...in full screen it stays at 160 or so, but at a smaller screen, it's up to 220. Both resolutions have the same issue though, with no noticeable difference.

After trying something

Okay, so here's an interesting thing. I got the problem to occur again, and tried resetting explorer like before. It SEEMS to work just fine after an immediate reset in the manner described in the first reply.

Ran a Housecall Scan

Didn't find anything.

[kyoryu]

Sounds like heat to me. It works fine at the start, and then when it gets over a certain temperature, the GPU/CPU scale down to prevent damage.

If you can find a good temperature monitor, fire it up and check what happens.

A can of compressed air and 15 minutes will probably solve the problem.

[Trobby]

Way back when this problem first started to occur, we tried the compressed air. It helped with general computer running, but didn't fix this specific problem.

[kyoryu]

Way back when this problem first started to occur, we tried the compressed air. It helped with general computer running, but didn't fix this specific problem.

I'd still try to get a temperature monitor, though. It really sounds exactly like a heat problem - as in "every time I have seen these symptoms, a temperature monitor has shown there to be a heat problem". They key is "everything works right for a few minutes" followed by cycles of it slowing down, and then speeding back up to normal.

The cause is insufficient cooling. Since typical usage doesn't stress out the GPU (it's typically, but not always GPU), the heat is fine. Once you start running a game everything kicks into high gear, and then the heat climbs. Once it reaches a critical point, your system slows itself down (causing the slowdown you're describing). Once things have reached a low enough temperature, the system allows itself to start running faster again, which causes heat to build up... and thus the cycle.

Edit: GPU-Z and Realcore from techpowerup.com seem to be okay temp monitors that will work with Win7.

[Rawhide]

Come to think of it, you mentioned you have used multiple scanners in the past. Make sure you have uninstalled all of them correctly and completely. Make sure than none of them are still trying to scan on-access.

Made sure all my old virus protection was deleted, went through all my programs to make sure.
None of them are running in Task Manager?


Update your drivers

What would be involved with updating them?
For your nVidia video card: www.nvidia.com. look for the drivers option. Every other component will have a manufacturer specific website where you can find updated drivers. Video card is the main one.


Firefox is an absolute memory hog, especially if you use tabs.

Ouch. :( So tabs actually use up more memory than multiple windows?

In a sense, yes. Because when you close a tab, it does not free up the memory the tab was using. You need to close the entire Firefox program to be sure of flushing the memory.


---


As mentioned by others, it could be a heat issue. You can try checking the temperatures or using a program that checks the clock speed of your processor/video card. I don't know specifically which program you would use for that.


Alternatively, and I don't like to suggest this because the suggestion is far overused and often just overkill, like using TNT to eliminate a wasp nest, "back up all your data, reformat and reinstall" could work and will eliminate any software issues and many errors and slowdowns caused by installing/uninstalling applications. In your case though, it could be good to rebuild the system from scratch to get that experience.

[Eldpollard]

When you cleaned the inside of your PC, did you clean your graphics card as well? I don't know how big the 9100 is but if it has a large fan and cover that could get absolutely caked with dust as well. Give the fan blades a spray, or you're like me and leave huge gaps between cleaning get solid bits of dust and fluff out with tweezers.

[Trobby]

When you cleaned the inside of your PC, did you clean your graphics card as well? I don't know how big the 9100 is but if it has a large fan and cover that could get absolutely caked with dust as well. Give the fan blades a spray, or you're like me and leave huge gaps between cleaning get solid bits of dust and fluff out with tweezers.

This...actually worked. :smalleek: A full hour of Portal and not a single lag! My...my computer can play TF2 Again! I can finish HL2 Ep 2! I...I can download Minecraft! :smallbiggrin:

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! :biggrin:

I also reinstalled my device driver, but still got the same problem incidentally, and found something out about Firefox that I didn't know before. But most importantly, my computer is working fine! :smallbiggrin:

I...I'm really happy now...Thank you all. ^^

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b244/Introbulus/ApertureScienceGratitudeDevice.png