weird lag/loss after 25-30 minutes

[electronicsfreak]

Ok, ive had a mysterious problem that has been happening for about 3 weeks now. I have not been able to figure out whats causing it.

I will be playing games online, mainly half life 2, about 25-30 minutes into the game I start showing loss of about 50 and start lagging. I have did just about everything I can think of. I will list everything that I have done.

First thing I did was check for viruses and worms on the computer. Also looked for any problems with the os. Could not find any, so just in case, I formatted the computer and reinstalled xp pro. Problem still persisted. So I switched network cards. Also switched cables, tried internet at another persons house. Did not help.

At this point I was thinking it was the isp. Had a friend come over, play his computer with the game on my internet, worked perfectly, had no problems. Ive also checked temps of both video card and processor at the time of Lag. Also checked for memory leaks and other things. I disabled power management in bios just in case it was cutting it down. Still does it.

When I run the game in offline mode. like release the ip, it works just fine. Im posting this as a last resort, before I send the motherboard in. That is the only thing left I can think of to do as im about out of ideas. I have even used older versions of drivers for the video card, used new and old versions of chipset drivers.

I know the video card is fine, as every now and then I give it a stress test from 3d mark to ensure its working fine. I usually use 3d mark 03. Ran 3dmark 06 a few times but not that often.

Anyway, anyone have any suggestions as im crying HELP!!?

My system configuration is as follows:
intel pentium 4 3.2GHz 800MHz bus
2 512 sticks of corsair pc3200 Memory running dual channel
1 pci e 16x nvidia geforce 7950 video card
1 40GB seagate 7200 rpm 2MB buffer hard drive (main drive)
1 120GB seagate 7200 rpm 8MB buffer hard drive (secondary/backup)
rosewill 500 watt 26 amps on +12 single rail
Windows xp pro

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[wahnula]

electronicsfreak

Seat of the pants...PSU and/or thermal issues. First try with case open and fan blowing in. If you have a spare/different PSU try it. After being around here a while I've seen the PSU as the cause of many strange problems like this, especially house brands like Rosewill.

Another thought is to have a look at the caps on the MB

http://www.badcaps.net

 

[electronicsfreak]

Yeah I checked for bad caps before actually posting this. As for power supply, that is a good idea. Dont have an extra for trying but I have an idea I am going to try. I am going to unhook everything except the very bare essentials. See how it runs then.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[wahnula]

The thing is it is hard to replicate the problem unless you are in full-on Internet combat...no doubt stretching both the heat creation potential and the power demand. I feel one of these is dogging your machine.

As for the "extra" PSU, you already have it...it's called a Rosewill. Get a name-brand,

http://www.pcpower.com

is highly regarded, as is Sparkle or Seasonic. Try and stay away from modular, they offer another failure point. I am sure others will offer other views also.

Tony

 

[kmcferrin]

You say that this happens "mainly when playing HalfLife 2." Has it been only HL2, or are there other games that it does this during? If there are, then are those games also Steam games? If you shut down Steam while playing them, are they OK (obviously can't do this with HL2)?

I'm wondering if Steam is downloading something large in the background that it's up cycles and bandwidth.

 

[electronicsfreak]

It started the other day happening with other games as well. I know for a fact the computers not overheating as ive checked the temps immediately after the lag started. I think it is the power supply , so im about to order a new one from newegg.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[felixc]

It is hard for me to figure how a power supply may cause a system to slow down. Crash yes, but not slow down.

Among other things, have you tried another NIC card?

 

[electronicsfreak]

Yeah I have. I used different network cards, different cables. Ive used another connection, ive formatted the computer. I disabled power management in bios. I have seen things like this happen before because of a power supply though.

A friend of mine had a weak power supply and his video card lagged due to not getting enough power. Im not saying thats what my problem is yet, that we will find out after I get the power supply I ordered. Either way im willing to try it as ive spent 3 weeks on this and im busy in college most of the time. Taking 16 hours this semester.


There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[electronicsfreak]

I just installed a new power supply and tested it out. It was not the problem. Problem still persist. Any other ideas?

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[wahnula]

What are you using to connect to the 'Net? Perhaps the connection throttles back after X amount of data transferred? We have another thread going on where the router was responsible for choking the signal after a while, sometimes to the point of losing connectivity. Have you tried connecting from another location away from the current network?

We have eliminated PSU, NIC, cabling, so the only internal parts that could be going are CPU, GPU, MB or RAM, and, unless you have known-working probes that you can insert into the RAM, CPU, N&S bridges, and GPU, heat is still a suspect if you eliminate the network variable. Most MB temp-reporters are not that accurate and just measure a few spots on the board.

That's all I've got...

Tony

 

[electronicsfreak]

Well heat is not an issue, unless the ram itself is getting too hot which it should not since it is not overclocked. Which bridge controls the network card? That I know for sure. Also its not the router as I had a friend run his computer on my connection and it ran perfectly. I also have used the internet at my uncles house, did it there as well.

As for ram, ill be testing that later today when I get a chance. Same with graphics card, going to put it through a test with 3dmark again.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[electronicsfreak]

Just realized forgot to remove something on that when I was typing it. Ignore the "that I know for sure" part as I thought of some things as I was typing it. The only things that could be overheating if they are would be either northbridge/southbridge or ram. They shouldnt be though. Anyway thought id fix that as it didnt look right with that there lol.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[electronicsfreak]

Well I tried each memory module seperately and they both passed memtest. Ran 3dmark03 and it ran fine. Put a fan directly beside my computer and the lag still started at its normal time. Any other suggestions? Thinking somethings wrong with my motherboard. Think ill reset the bios and see if that helps.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[gbaughma]

Is there any way that you can reproduce the lag, but have the Task Manager running, so you can see memory/cpu load?

Could be that you just need to patch something because of a memory leak....

A memory leak would cause your system to slow down and lag; and goodness knows that Video Games are usually the worst for that type of situation.

I would also make sure that my drivers were up to date; video, sound, network. If it's not hardware (sounds like it may not be), it's probably a memory leak.



Just my 2¢
-There once was a man from Peru
Who wanted to write a Haiku
but...

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[electronicsfreak]

Well actually the lag is now spreading on to other games and from all my test ive narrowed it down to either video card or motherboard. I have taken pics and stuff when it happened and my memory showed fine, so I dont think its a memory leak. Not saying there wasnt one but from what I could see dont think it was. Tommorow im going to a friends house and running my card in his system and his in mine, seeing if it does it.

To be honest, I could be wrong, but im starting to think something on my motherboard is going bad. When I first had everything it ran fine, it just recently started. It does it on steam games and also fear multiplayer.

Another reason I dont think its a memory leak is when its in offline mode, it does not do it. Ive been doing many test lately narrowing the problem down as in the begginning I honestly did not think it was my hardware. I figured it was either my isp or something to do with the game. From all my test ive narrowed things down to either video card or motherboard.

I really do appreciate all of you helping. This may turn out not to be hardware but I think it will. I will know for sure by sunday. Anyway ill post the updates then.

Once again thanks to all who have been helping so far!!

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[herktech]

electonicsfreak, so what was the outcome? I've been having the exact same issues with about three computers I work on. Very awkward.

 

[electronicsfreak]

The outcome turned out to be the cable modem. I replaced it with a brand new one and everything runs smoothly now. Sorry for not updating sooner. Anyway I replaced my old modem with a new Dlink and all lag went away and speeds increased by 50-75KB/s. So if your having the same problem ive been having , id try a new modem.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[electronicsfreak]

Also forgot to add, the motherboard itself had a defect. So I replaced it with another one. Between that and the cable modem, it fixed the problem.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[herktech]

Great. I'll try that and let you know what happens. Thanks

 

[electronicsfreak]

n/p , do post when you have tried as im curious to see what happens. Glad to know I was not the only one with this weird problem lol.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon