So a couple weeks ago, my PC became slow, but in no specific way I can track down.
Applications seem to run okay.
Games run a lot worse. BFBC2 & Dead Island have dropped down by about 20fps.
BFBC2 takes longer to load and stutters badly for the first 20 seconds of a game ([I]can a GPU even effect loading times?[/I])
Minecraft is pretty much unplayable ([I]does MC use more CPU/GPU than normal games?[/I])
CPU is a fairly new Phenom ii.
GPU is an old 9800GTX+ that I've baked in the over 2 times to fix.
You might think that this means it's the obvious culprit here, but I'm getting no graphical artifacts. I can run BFBC2 in highest somedays but it will suffer massive FPS drops on other days.
Is there anyway to test the separate components and get results that mean something to me?
Only thing i can think is that the Graphics card memory is failing.
[B]PROBLEM POSSIBLY IDENTIFIED, see post 14 [/B]
[QUOTE]GPU is an old 9800GTX+ that I've [B]baked in the over 2 times[/B] to fix. [/QUOTE]
That probably really [I]is[/I] the culprit because baking it, from what I've heard, doesn't reach high-enough temperatures to melt the solder.
[QUOTE=cyanidem;32495825]GPU is an old 9800GTX+ that I've baked in the over 2 times to fix.[/quote]
I don't believe baking will solve anything, it'll just boil all the capacitors on the board making it useless. So yeah OP, I too think you need to buy a new GPU.
It did fix it, twice.
I know it weakens the solder, but it brought it back from the dead without any side effects.
Is there any way to thoroughly test components?
I just ran Hot CPU Tester which said my CPU was fine.
Sounds like your GPU like everyone else said you baked it not once but twice.
It's about time for a new GPU anyways. I got the same card as you and I got no problems in
BFBC2 and Minecraft.
[QUOTE=Mandalore777;32502128]Sounds like your GPU like everyone else said you baked it not once but twice.
It's about time for a new GPU anyways. I got the same card as you and I got no problems in
BFBC2 and Minecraft.[/QUOTE]
Yea nor did I last week, was hoping it was just an Nvidia update or something that had broke it. :(
Ordered a 580.
So the 580 is amazing, but the problem remains.
Ill be on BFBC2 and running at something like 200fps in highest, then it will drop to 30 for about half the time im playing. Minecraft still runs like shit.
Also Ive noticed that when I save a project on After Effects, it will return back to the program fine, but then pause for 10 seconds or so.
Any ideas? :(
Sounds like your RAM is having poor performance. Care to tell what model/configuration they are in?
2x2gb and 2x1gb, all the same Corsair DDR2.
[img]http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg594/scaled.php?server=594&filename=unled2zv.jpg&res=medium[/img]
However, was just in game and noticed this.
[img]http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4982/unledubj.jpg[/img]
All cores were at 100% pretty much constantly whilst in BFBC2. What the hell?
[QUOTE=cyanidem;32501484]It did fix it, twice.
I know it weakens the solder, but it brought it back from the dead without any side effects.
Is there any way to thoroughly test components?
I just ran Hot CPU Tester which said my CPU was fine.[/QUOTE]
Baking destroys cards, it doesn't fix them. The card working again is a temporary side effect to thermal expansion of the heat, as you have seen. The card will fail again.
First, a conventional cooking oven cannot get anywhere near the temperature to melt solder used on video cards. Almost all modern electronics use ROHS solder, which is extremely difficult to melt even with a soldering iron. ROHS solder melts between 650-700F, and an oven on the extreme end can maybe do 500F, if you want to risk burning your house down.
Second, components used on a video card (especially the capacitors and resistors) are extremely sensitive to heat. They're designed to be used on a reflow station where their leads (not the entire component) are exposed to solder temperatures for 1-3 seconds, not 10-20 minutes in an oven. The capacitors are basically boiling inside their shells, and resistors are changing values (resistors are made by baking carbon, further heating them changes them more.)
And finally, what causes the video card to fail is the GPU BGA mounts cracking under thermal stress. When a GPU is in use, the entire chip doesn't heat evenly, resulting in the solder balls on the bottom being pushed in different directions, and like bending a paperclip back and forth, some will eventually have a microscopic fracture causing the GPU to not function properly.
The SAFEST way to attempt to fix a cracked BGA joint on a video card is to remove the heatsink/fan, and cover the entire card in foil to protect it from heat, except a square on the back of the board directly behind the GPU. Lay the card face down and use a heatgun to first heat up the area around the GPU evenly, then go in concentric circles around directly behind the GPU with the heatgun about 2" from the board for 30 seconds to a minute. Let it cool without moving it for about 15 minutes, and attempt to test it.
A more expensive way is to send it to one of those shops that fix Xbox 360 RRODs since they have an actual BGA rework station and can do it the proper way.
Full system specs please.
bring up temps in hw monitor as well and post it here
[QUOTE=Mandalore777;32531568]Full system specs please.
bring up temps in hw monitor as well and post it here[/QUOTE]
Informative Bohb, but it worked fine twice and wasnt the problem here, Ive swapped the GPU and have the same issue.
Temps are all fine.
Specs:
Win7 64x
Asus M3N72T Deluxe mobo
6 gig Corsair ram 2x2, 2x1
650w PSU
580GTX 3gb
AMD Phenom ii x4 965 (3.4ghz)
300 gb Sata HDD
300 gb IDE HDD
Coolermaster Cavalier Case
[img]http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/2644/unled3ec.jpg[/img]
Like you said temps and voltages are fine.
Could be a program causing the spikes in CPU usage.
Have you installed any new hardware or programs around the time this started to happen.
We already ruled out a GPU which is good.
But as of now it could be multiple things. I'm leaning towards the RAM/ Mobo.
DDR2 RAM might cause things to slow down.
And in order to get DDR3 you need to upgrade your mobo.
What frequency is the RAM running at? As of now thats what Im leaning towards.
Anyone else got insight?
Well I formatted, so its got to be hardware related.
I noticed that when apps hang or games go from 100fps down to 25ish, the CPU usage is hitting 100%, so I'm thinking its that or the mobo.
Ill run memtest86+ tonight, ran it last night for about 7 hours but had to abort, at that point there were no errors though.
[B]Edit:[/B]
When im in game, as soon as the CPU hits 90-100% usage, it wont return back to a lower usage level, and whatever game is running will run like crap.
Any ideas?
Yeah im leaning towards that too.
If you have pc doctor run that too its great at finding hardware issues.
Also while playing, open the "resource monitor". (Via task manager -> performance)
Look at the CPU area, and tell us if the frequency drops when you lag.
[QUOTE=SuperDuperScoot;32545046]Also while playing, open the "resource monitor". (Via task manager -> performance)
Look at the CPU area, and tell us if the frequency drops when you lag.[/QUOTE]
Nope, though Im sure I have seen it drop to 33% at one point recently.
[img]http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/475/unleddpg.jpg[/img]
reset bios settings to default, my x6 onetime went to a clock of 783mhz per core and slowed down a bit of my games. Reset bios settings to default and it was good to go
[QUOTE=JohnFisher89;32555239]reset bios settings to default, my x6 onetime went to a clock of 783mhz per core and slowed down a bit of my games. Reset bios settings to default and it was good to go[/QUOTE]
Will give it a go.
So I take it the memtest results came back clean?
You can try resetting bios but I don't see why you would have too if you didn't touch anything in there.
Problem is either with the cpu or mobo. Most likely the cpu but its hard to tell.
I think this is solved. It was one of two things...
I also cleaned all the dust outta my CPU fan but the temps were ok before anyway, with the side on my PC I've had the slowdown again though, so that might be that, maybe a busted sensor though.
Thanks peeps!
(could have been that the SATA cable to my primary HDD is loose, it kinda moves up and down, so i pushed it upwards after cleaning the dust out)
[B]Edit:[/B] It's neither of those things. Must be the HDD itself, the CPU or the mobo :(
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