Whenever I run StarCraft II, WarCraft III, Command & Conquer 3, and any other 3D game, my computer will run it fine for a few minutes before lagging horrendously. The framerate and visually-displayed game speed is slowed to 1/6th the normal speed. No network lag happens, but it makes playing games impossible in single- or multi-player modes. The system will lag for a while (a good five minutes, usually) before it subsides and goes back to normal for another ten to fifteen minutes.
Note that the game itself is not the only thing that slows down - all computer processes slow down.
Specs:
Windows Vista Home Premium (SP 2)
64-bit OS
6 GB RAM
Intel(R) Core2 Quad CPU @ 2.66GHz
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GS
3D games have run perfectly fine with no problems for a long time. The problems only arose about three months ago. Rolling back NVIDIA updates didn't fix the issue, as far as I am concerned.
Any insight?
Check your CPU/GPU temperatures. If you have a busted fan or shitty cooling and the card is overheating, that can happen.
None.
Is there a way to digitally monitor that? CPU usage just randomly spikes (according to Task Manager) when the lag spike hits, and then goes down when the lag subsides. It's not a slow incline/decline or anything.
If CPU usage is spiking as suddenly as you say, then I'm tempted to say that there's a virus or at least something running in the background that's consuming CPU cycles.
None.
Generally I have nothing (or just Firefox) running in the background. Closing that doesn't help the matter.
Maybe Norton is the virus, lol
Won't install on my computer.
Sounds like it has to do with poor cooling as others stated. Take a look at your GPU and CPU heatsink and see if there is a buildup of dust. Also, while running a 3D game for a little bit, check to see if your GPU/CPU fan is working. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
If nothing looks suspicious, some temperature readings while running 3D games would be useful. Try realtemp and see if it works on your computer.
http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/
None.
GPU-Z/CPU-Z are good tools for checking out your temps, though the catalyst control center will also show your GPU temp if you're using an ATI card (not sure about the Nvidia control center).
Windows 7 (and likely vista as well iirc) has a performance monitor that can track stuff like cpu/memory/disk access and other things, which you can access via the Performance tab in task manager.
Show them your butt, and when you do, slap it so it creates a sound akin to a chorus of screaming spider monkeys flogging a chime with cacti. Only then can you find your destiny at the tip of the shaft.
It is probably lowering the CPU speed when it overheats. If it is doing so, of course the CPU usage percent would go up, since the CPU speed is going down.
None.
Won't install on my computer.
Clearly you are doing something wrong. How exactly is it not letting you "install"? It's a .zip, you open it and run HWMonitor.exe.
None.
Clearly you are doing something wrong. How exactly is it not letting you "install"? It's a .zip, you open it and run HWMonitor.exe.
I run the setup file and it creates four identical processes, a setup window that I can't visually see, and does nothing.
We can't explain the universe, just describe it; and we don't know whether our theories are true, we just know they're not wrong. >Harald Lesch
Won't install on my computer.
Download the .zip version. It doesnt need to be installed.
I've had a similar issue with an older computer. Whenever you plug in a PS/2 mouse it would slow down windows (DOS is fine). Try starting a game without mouse or using a USB mouse, if you're using a PS/2 mouse.
So turns out my CPU experiences no unusual spikes at all during the lag. Temps remain roughly the same as normal, too.
something is accessing the hard drive, or your memory is slow due to errors (unlikely). Check the hard drive's speed across all sectors with hdtach or hdtune.
"Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Chairman - do we have to call the Gentleman a gentleman if he's not one?"
Even with any results from those programmes, how would I go about fixing the issue? (I will check the speed, but that was just a quick question)
If it were a hard drive slowdown problem, most likely you'd need to buy a new hard drive. Similarly if it were a ram problem.
Frankly this seems unlikely; I think a hard drive slow down problem (or ram) would be indicative of bad sectors and error correction going on and if that were the case I'd have expected to see crashes and corruption by now.
None.
Yeah, nothing of that sort at all has happened.
We can't explain the universe, just describe it; and we don't know whether our theories are true, we just know they're not wrong. >Harald Lesch
So did you check if the problem persists if you play without a PS/2 mouse?
Yeah it was a shot it the dark.
Make sure all your drivers are updated. If worst comes to worst, a backup>reformat>reinstall may be in order.
"Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Chairman - do we have to call the Gentleman a gentleman if he's not one?"
