Curse

Damp Sponge · Feb 23, 2010, 02:13 AM // 02:13

Windows XP SP3
AMD Athlon 64 (x2) Dual Core 3800+
1.99GHz, 2.00 GB RAM
NVidia Geforce 6600 GT

I need some diagnostic help. Here's the story so far:

I return home after a week or so and promptly turn on Guild Wars. Immediately I notice that the frame rate is holding steady at 30, whereas it was normally always at 60. I fiddled with the graphical settings and was able to increase FPS only by decreasing resolution. A red flag shot up based on previous experience with a computer abruptly reverting to lower resolutions (the card literally melted). It was time to run some hardware/driver tests, so I restarted the computer and then tried GW again and got a blue screen stating that "nv4_disp.dll" had failed. This is a system32 Nvidia file, so I uninstalled+reinstalled the video card drivers. Now GW will start without crashing but the FPS is still half of what it should be.

So far I've meticulously ruled out driver, hard drive, RAM, cable connection, dust, and heat problems.

Here are some facts that may or may not turn out to be relevant:

About two weeks ago the computer crashed while playing Guild Wars for the first time, strongly resembling a brownout. I dismissed it as a unique event.
The computer had been in use by housemates the whole time I was gone, but they claim to have changed nothing.
All applications take unusually long to start and the computer itself is noticeable louder.
A system restore to last month did nothing.
Multiple virus scanners turned up nothing.
I can play other, equally graphically-intense games like City of Heroes and Starcraft II Beta with absolutely no problem.
This is the very first BSOD this computer has ever seen.
Last Christmas I upgraded from a 16" to a 22" monitor.

Please help! Thanks.

tsupert · Feb 23, 2010, 02:33 AM // 02:33

had this problem a long time ago,
Short story: uninstall then reinstall your drivers for your gpu.

Long story, had problem, had to wipe comp, problem went away, came back after a little more then a year, then found fix online. Reinstalled drivers and works till this very day.

Damp Sponge · Feb 23, 2010, 02:41 AM // 02:41

Already did so, didn't work.

Hey_homies · Feb 23, 2010, 03:29 AM // 03:29

Check the temps on the card. It is probably overheating.

Damp Sponge · Feb 23, 2010, 03:41 AM // 03:41

Just checked, holding steady at 47 degrees C. Doesn't seem to be the problem.

jonnieboi05 · Feb 23, 2010, 03:43 AM // 03:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsupert

had this problem a long time ago,
Short story: uninstall then reinstall your drivers for your gpu.

Long story, had problem, had to wipe comp, problem went away, came back after a little more then a year, then found fix online. Reinstalled drivers and works till this very day.

.....Uhh.... The OP clearly stated he reinstalled his drivers. :\

On-topic: No idea what the issue could be. I've personally never experienced such an issue so I won't be much help. Sorry, though. <_<

But... I will watch this thread closely so that if an answer is found I can educate myself with it and give advice to someone else if they should ever experience this also.

)

Damp Sponge · Feb 23, 2010, 03:49 AM // 03:49

UPDATE: After some obscure research I decided to reinstall Java, which worked for about thirty seconds. FPS shot up to 60 before settling back down to 20, which is even lower than the original number.

Tarun · Feb 23, 2010, 04:15 AM // 04:15

Post the crash dump. Located in C:\Windows\Minidump

Damp Sponge · Feb 23, 2010, 04:27 AM // 04:27

The folder is empty.

KZaske · Feb 23, 2010, 05:41 AM // 05:41

I had a simular problem, as time went by the computer got slower, louder and more and more unstable. A few months ago a ticking sound started; I tracked the ticking sound down to the power supply. I started having trouble with several different applications (including guild wars), most were graphicly or computationaly heavy. After replacing the power supply the computer speed has picked up, it is once again very quiet and rock stable. Have you had the power supply checked?

Damp Sponge · Feb 23, 2010, 07:08 AM // 07:08

It's a good idea, I think I'll get a friend over to run some tests. I wonder what could suddenly cause the power supply to flub?

Killamus · Feb 23, 2010, 08:38 AM // 08:38

Video card and/or mobo could be going bad. Try replacing the video card, if possible, and see if it still happens.

The Bard · Feb 23, 2010, 11:06 AM // 11:06

...computer is dusty?

Elder III · Feb 23, 2010, 12:15 PM // 12:15

if you can get your hands on a power supply tester that has a numbers read out on it you can quickly find out if the PSU is failing or not.

Gift3d · Feb 23, 2010, 01:07 PM // 13:07

i used to have this problem. i used google. it worked. try it.

Quaker · Feb 23, 2010, 03:48 PM // 15:48

I know you said you re-installed "the" driver, but have you install the "latest" nVidia drivers? I've seen many instances where old drivers will act up after Windows does one of it's many, many updates.

Damp Sponge · Feb 23, 2010, 03:56 PM // 15:56

I completely uninstalled the video card and then got the latest driver package from the Nvidia site. It stopped the crashes (for now) but the performance is still half of what it's been for the last six years.

And no, no dust. xD

Update: Ruled out hard drive failure, though all of a sudden random applications (Digsby, Game Booster, Control Panel > System Properties) will not activate.

Gift3d · Feb 23, 2010, 04:51 PM // 16:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damp Sponge

I completely uninstalled the video card and then got the latest driver package from the Nvidia site. It stopped the crashes (for now) but the performance is still half of what it's been for the last six years.

And no, no dust. xD

Update: Ruled out hard drive failure, though all of a sudden random applications (Digsby, Game Booster, Control Panel > System Properties) will not activate.

... would you just google it already? ffs. it's seriously that easy and if i could post the link on here i would.

tsupert · Feb 23, 2010, 09:55 PM // 21:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonnieBoi05

.....Uhh.... The OP clearly stated he reinstalled his drivers. :\

On-topic: No idea what the issue could be. I've personally never experienced such an issue so I won't be much help. Sorry, though. <_<

But... I will watch this thread closely so that if an answer is found I can educate myself with it and give advice to someone else if they should ever experience this also.

)

OP clearly said he reinstalled his video card when i read it, he edited his post. Your post has not helped this thread at all and only pissed the person with a very possible solution off. Now please get out, your post was worthless.

Try this, didn't see you had a 6xxx card, has this bookmarked from a while ago when my friend had a similar problem
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=4432

Sorry about the driver misconception, when you said you reinstalled your video card, i thought you took it out and put it back in.

If that doesn't work, try getting dust out of your case, and also try using a driver sweeping program, to make your all traces of your old driver are gone.