Well qualified computer cuts to 3fps every 5 or so minutes, help?

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nicclow

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Hello, I have a very specific problem that I've tried to fix before in the past.

My computer can run games fine for about 5 minutes, but that's about it. Then
it will experience extreme lag, to the point where my FPS drops to 1-5. Usually I would think my video card is bad, but I don't believe so because it has played games fine in the past.

I used to play WoW. Guild Wars, and other games fairly frequently with absolutely no problems, and everything was running smoothly on high settings. However, just recently my computer has been having this lag problem on games that I should be able to run without a problem, such as Minecraft or League of Legends (not to mention other high setting games). This is extremely frustrating because I think my computer has the capacity and should be running these without a problem.

I'm not really great with computers, although I do know some stuff. I've tried malware and virus checks, no luck. I've looked into many threads of users experiencing similar issues, did what they did to fix their problems. No luck. I even tried making calls to HP, but of course, still no luck.

Here are some computer specs. I don't know if I'm leaving anything crucial out, If I am let me know.
I have an HP Pavillion p6210f
AMD Athlon II X4 620 processor 2.60 GHz
6gb RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 9100
Running Windows 7 64bit

This problem is beyond frustrating to me, I'm almost to the point of buying a new CPU. This is somewhat of a last-ditch effort, but hopefully it works out.

It would be great if someone could help someone not so tech-savvy out with my problem, I've came to Tom's Hardware many times as a guest, and you guys seem very helpful.

Thank you,
- Nic
 
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kajabla
It's possible, and it would explain the throttling. You've got a card with a serious cooling problem, and you need to replace it.
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skaz

skaz

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Here's another good tool to monitor your temps. http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

There is a no installation version you can download and run. Start your game and play. X out and check the temps on not only your gpu but other parts of your system with hwmonitor. It will mark the high points.

EDIT: If your not sure what kind of temps you should be looking for take a picture using the snipping tool in windows and post it on the thread for us to take a look. You can host it on imageshack and they will give you a forum html code to paste into your post.
 
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nicclow

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Okay thank you both for your help. I did what you suggested skaz, and here's what I got.

Before I ran my game these were my temps.



It went fine for about 10 minutes, when it then started having major problems, and I also noticed that my CPU was getting louder. Here are the temps at that time.




Some more information: I have cleaned and dusted my CPU before, but it has been probably 4 or 5 months. I'm also wondering if this turns out to be a overheating problem, why is it only when I run games? Thank you again for your help.

- Nic
 
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vitornob

vitornob

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At the moment that you alt+TAB to check the temperatures the temps falls a lot.
It would be better to get some on-screen monitor.

As mentioned get the EVGA monitor or MSI Afterburner to check on-screen GPU temps.
Sadly I don't know which software could monitor the CPU temperatures.

Just an experience of mine: my brother notebook had the SAME problem, it was caused by his GPU. Everytime it gets to 105C the game slowed down to 1~5 fps for a moment, to lower the temps. Then it was going fine... till happen again, it was repeating cycle.
Did checked if your GPU/CPU fans are working?
 
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skaz

skaz

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My bad I was mainly looking for your GPU temperature as well. My HWmonitor list my Nvidia card as well and shows me all the goods including temperature for my GPU. Not sure why yours isnt listed. Go with what kajabala said and try that other tool.



Just to clarify to as someone had mentioned about alt-tabing. That is true that temperatures would drop after alt-tabing out of the game but HWmonitor will list the Max temperatures hit so it doesn't matter. The goal is to find out what Max temperatures the card is hitting.
 
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vitornob

vitornob

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I see, so it's delivering the max temp!
Just be sure to know the temperature threadline. My brother's card slowed down at 105C, but yours? Which temperature it takes to slowdown?

If you don't know how to get this info I stand to my suggestion, a 'live' on-screen monitor, it's all easier to see what's happening!
 
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skaz

skaz

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That's what assuming gets me, you are correct that is an integrated gpu. Although I believe it is a desktop.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=4006017


 
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13thmonkey

13thmonkey

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on crappy connection away from home, so couldn't check model. But its integrated, i'm not sure how he's been playing jack.

the max temp at 57 has to be cool enough, hell my 470 and my 8800GTX I couldn't get to idle below 50, never mind at load. Nvidias are generally happy to 95-105.


 
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skaz

skaz

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You don't have a video card installed on that system brother =). High setting games aren't going to run very smooth on integrated graphics. Especially because they're sharing system memory. You might want to think about upgrading to a dedicated graphics card.
 
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nicclow

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Okay, that's funny I got this CPU as a gift and was under the impression it was dedicated. Anyways, I'm just somewhat confused at how my computer was able to run games with somewhat high settings such as Guild Wars or WoW a year ago, but now it's unable to run such a simple game like Minecraft.

Here are the GPU temps that I got using EVGA Precision.

This was before I ran my game, temps seem good, but I don't know too much about this.



And thi9s is after my PFS dropped. My computer was running fine for a couple minutes, even with the temp at 115ish. Then it jumped up to 122.



122 degrees Celsius seems ridiculousy high to me, but again, I don't know any information on GPU temps.

On a side note, I'm hesitant to buy a dedicated video card because I feel like it will not solve my problem, seeing as my integrated was running games fine before.

Thanks,
- Nic
 
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JasonAkkerman

JasonAkkerman

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There is no way it is running at 122C. It must not be reading the number correctly.

Try another app. Try MSI Afterburner. It will graph the temps and when you alt-tab out you can look at the temps a few seconds previous.
 
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nicclow

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I ran MSI Afterburner, got the same results. I would post images, but I think you guys get the point.

It sounds like we have the problem figured out, thank you guys so much for your help. However, I have no idea how to choose a good card, or how to fix my existing one.

I would like to get a dedicated card, at least that sounds like it would be my best option, but I do have some questions. Why is my GPU just suddenly having this issue now, when it was fine before? Do I need to get a fan or additional cooling for my CPU? If I have a somewhat tight budget can I still get a good video card?

If you guys can help me with some of these questions that would be great.

- Nic
 
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kajabla

kajabla

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You can get a discrete GPU, but you'll have to stay pretty small. Your no-name "300W" PSU won't handle any good cards. The 6670's probably your best bet, as it doesn't need any PCI power plugs (you have none). $65: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102952

Maybe your case has clogged up with dust. Is it summer where you are/has the ambient temperature gone up for reason? Have you moved the case into a less-well-ventilated area?
 
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nicclow

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Hmmmm, okay. I have a budget of $150-$200 for a card. If I get one in that price range, will I need a new PSW as well?

I guess what I'm asking is with my price range, what will I need for everything to work? For a card and everything else needed, while staying under $200.

I clean my case fairly frequently, and I don't think dust is the cause this time around. I'm pretty certain it comes down to my card.

- Nic
 
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