Stuttering

[Stupid Username]

I upgraded my 2nd pc from geforce 6150se intergated to my old geforce 8400gs. I know the card works..But it stutters like craxzy.
After about 3 mins of gameplay it starts. Its so bad I cant even play some online flash games. Its really pathetic.
Athlon 5800x2 2.8ghz
3.5gb ram
windows 7 ultiamte 64bit
geforce 8400gs

 

[randomkid]

I know the 8400 is a weak card but online flash game should not be a problem.

When was the last time you cleaned your PC?
Check your processor & GPU temperatures as one or both of them might be overheating.

 

[geekapproved]

What are the temperatures of the gpu and cpu when this occurs? Use Hardware Monitor (google it). Download that and have it open while you play, it will record the highest (and lowest) temps of all your components during the session it's open.

 

[Stupid Username]

Im using openhardware monitor.
This is idle screenshot-http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/84/ssaas.png/

Gameplay is same besides cpu a little higher gpu is same.

 

[mjsharma]

Check the temps and also do a clean install of drivers, use driversweeper(google it) and clean existing driver, download the latest driver from nvidia site and install it..

 

[mjsharma]

oops saw your sccreenshot now only
Your GPU temps are way too high
Clean the heatsink fan of your GPU if that doesn't help change the thermal paste and see

 

[Stupid Username]

Allright I'll try that when I get home. Would leaving it run for 2 days while that gpu is that hot ruin it? Also any stores I can find thermal paste at?

 

[DM186]

Those temps are way to high. It is a wonder your GPU is still alive. I will link you to a program to monitor your temps on screen as you play games and some other temps monitoring programs.

But yeah do a major clean out your rig all of it and make sure you have good air flow in side your case. Any if you need more help let us all know what it is we can help with. Good luck to you.

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

user manual
http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/images/Afterburner%20User%20Manual.pdf

http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

 

[mjsharma]

Here is a good thermal compound:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186038
Don't run it at those temps as it is going to kill the card. I can't believe that your card is still running.

 

[Stupid Username]

Im confused as to what the heatsink is on a video card. I know what it is on a processor. Also does the fan come off?

 

[randomkid]

I would imagine the 8400 as having very small fan or even a fanless type. What is the exact model of your 8400 and if you can take a picture, of the front showing the heatsink & the back of the pcb so we can see how it is attached.

 

[DM186]

If you know what is it on the processor then it is the same on your GPU. It is the big metal thing on one side of your card. What games are you trying to play with the 8400 gs? It might be the game is too big for the GPU.

 

[Stupid Username]

Allright here is the exact model stuff-GF 8400GS 256MB on board supporting 512mb ddr2

And heres 4 pictures of it-
http://postimage.org/gallery/aw04p4c/acf841ca/



Sorry for bad quality but a cheap webcam takes bad pictures.

 

[DM186]

Well it looks like you don't have a heat sink on it unless it is under the fan. That could explain why you are getting high temps. I look very hard and cleaned up some of your pics and I didn't see any heat sink.

Now we know that back to what games are you trying to play? One more question what is your power supply (PSU)? How many watts is it?

 

[Stupid Username]

Well Im not a major gamer at all. I only play pre 2010 games mainly-Stronghold 2 ,Mount and blade warband,Call of duty 4 and Combat arms. All ran on low/medium on my intergated so I know they arent very demanding. Also my psu is 350 watts. It doesnt say the brand so its probably generic crap. So if it doesnt have a heatsink is it worthless or can I add one on?

 

[DM186]

I don't know the pics are still to messy even after I clean them up a bit. But if you can see the GPU chip under the fan then I don't know if for sure if you can add a heat sink or not.

Your 350w PSU should be enough power but if it is going out on you then it would tend to give you the same problems. The only way to check is with a volt meter or swap it out with another one.

Your card may be to small to add another 3rd market cooler. I will look to see if you can. But personally I would be thinking about another card. If you decide to go that way let us know and we will work on a card for you.

 

[Stupid Username]

I can see the chip under it. I looked around on google and found out the pny geforce 8400gs doesnt have a heatsink. So I guess thats mine. Im only 15 so I got hardly any money to spare.

 

[DM186]

I can see the chip under it. I looked around on google and found out the pny geforce 8400gs doesnt have a heatsink. So I guess thats mine. Im only 15 so I got hardly any money to spare.

Well now you know for sure. My youngest boy is 15 so I know that money is a problem. You did good by reserching your card and found out that card just uses a fan to cool it.

If you are trying to play any of the top games of today like BF3 or even the games just before the new releases with that card you are going to have those issues. You could try this.

When you want to play the games open up the side of your case and put house of desk fan to it to blow the air at your card and CPU. That should help for now untill you can get a xmas gift or bday or some day gift.

Other than that there isn't to much more left to do if anything left with out costing money. I have seen my son not be able to do stuff when he was really counting on doing it. So I do feel for you.

I wish I could have done more for you. You know you have tried everything to fix the problem. The next thing is money to fix it. Good luck and I hope you can get it going sone how some way.