Nvidia GTS 250 1GB Driver & Performance Issues

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Yep £110 later (sneaked in a new 320GB HD, shh don't tell the Mrs) and I am finally back on my own computer.

As I had a new hard drive that is probably faster than the one I already and Windows Vista doesn't usually like changes of hardware which include the mother board (past experience), I have re-installed Vista.

First stop, I've checked the Nvidia automatic driver detection tool on their site and it reads......CORRECT!

Second stop, I've downloaded Speedfan again to check the CPU temp, the bigger fan I originally tried to install is attached using the same processor, temperature read is........42C!!!

Only downside is GRU is now running at 55C although I think I just need to increase fan speeds to bring that down a bit using the ASUS software that comes with it.

I haven't tested any games yet but will update once I have dragged all my save games and required info across from the old drive...

Once again, thank you to everyone who helped...
 
Okay, re-installed a nice clean installation of Prototype.

Things are even worse. 🙁

Now, during even cut-scenes, the sound goes fuzzy (audible but fuzzy/distorted/staticy) and the graphics slow down. This happens within the first few seconds rather the first few minutes. I have freshly installed DX10, the new HD, a clean Windows and plenty of HD space and still the same issue.

The really annoying thing is that for those first 10 seconds, the game is smoother than a Cuban Cigar and prettier than a dream. So, I know it's capable, but somethings happening during play.

I haven't tried out any other games yet so I'll see what happens with them over the next couple of days.
 
Hmm, not sure about that.

Surely if the game is playing fine at first and then something is kicking in to hamper performance, it's not likely to be Windows, especially on a clean installation.

There's always the possibility that the game may be a bit buggy, being a new release and there may be a patch to help it at some point. The only thing that made me think otherwise was that Sims 3 was a bit low on framerate whenever I moved the screen about but on further consideration, this could also be a bug/incompatibility issue.

I'll fire up Empire: Total War as well as see whether there's any issues with that.
 
Right, just let's get this straight.
You have:
Changed the PSU for a 580W unit-no change.
Replaced the MB installing the correct drivers-no change.
Done a totally clean install of the OS, patched and updated it fully along with Direct X and Media Player-no change.
Fitted a replacement CPU/cooler-running at lower temperatures now?
Have I missed anything?

Which sound system are you using-Onboard or a dedicated card?
What is the memory configuration and what does Windows say you have available?

BTW: By now I'd be in a padded cell, writing 'kill PCs' in crayon on the walls with my feet.
 


All correct.

The cooler is helping to keep the CPU at a respectable 39-52 Celsius depending on how hard it's working.

Sound is Onboard and drivers fully installed for it.

I have two 2GB sticks of DDR2 RAM installed but my version of Vista (being 32-bit) is reading 3583MB. I have set the speed at 800Mhz rather than 633Mhz via the BIOS and not noticed any change.

All I keep telling myself is that at least my CPU isn't attempting to burn my home down now :)
 
Which only leaves the memory or card.
Unless you're being attacked by someone from the 'net.
I forget, did you check the card temperatures using Rivatuner, or not?
And also running with only one stick of memory in at at time? Do n't bother with memtest, I've seen too many posts where it has given the memory a pass, only to find out it WAS the memory after all.
 
hi coozie7 thanks for helping me out with my problem......yes i used to have this type of problem in my old sytem (witch is running on assus motherbord and a intel pentium 4 2.8 ghz prososer ,assus geforce 7600gs) its not the card i can say it 100% its the dame motherboard or the ram i simply changed my motherbord and ram so it worked fine but after reading your post its sems like u have changed the MB did u change the ram aloso?
 
i did thees things to cheek wither its my VGA (with stalker shadow of Chernobyl)
*i changed the prososer (no use)
*i changed the RAM (no use)
*i changed the HD (no use)
after that i changed my VGA (no use)

after that i cahnge my MB (it worked fime with no problme)

i presonaly drelay dont know what is the problem is but i tryed to understand wht is ti some how as far as i know its someting POWER REQUREMNET PROBLEM i feel like that yor mothe rbord is not gating enfough power to supply may be its power conceters ar melfunctaning and cosing this problem correct me if iam wrong
 
DONT WORRY BORTGHER THIS form is the best form in the world i had a crazy problem in my new VGA CRAD geforce gts 250 1gb gys from this form helped me out to fix the problem soo no worries we can FIX it
 


Okay, have tried the RAM, interestingly this had a couple of strange outcomes.

First was that when I checked the Windows Rating Experience, the RAM moved from 4.1 to 4.5 when each 2GB stick is used independently. As soon as they were both put back in, the experience went back down to 4.1.

Second was that when I ran Prototype with the case open, half the time the game was smooth, the rest of the time back to normal, with low fps. It kept switching back and fourth usually spending about 20 seconds in each mode. Surely this points in the direction of a heat issue?

And now I know the CPU is okay, it must be the GPU?

Highest I've seen it go up to though is 54C since the new Windows installation, even just after playing Protoype.

I have used Smartdoctor to try a range of settings, none of which seem to make any difference, including underclocking.

I'm not sure how else to increase cooling, I have a massive front fan on the case, a little one on the rear just below the PSU, the PSU has some sort of ultra cool fan in it as well as the CPU having a better than stock fan...

Wish I'd have stayed with Ati...
 
Use Rivatuner to check the card clockspped while you are playing: Run Rivatuner and leave it running in the background, no need to minimise, play for a minuet or so, come out of the game and see if the card clocks down at any point.
As for the memory: strange, have you configued it for dual channel? Check the MB manual to be certain, if you have not already done so that is.
 
Just to make sure, I do this by clicking 'Customise' and then 'Hardware Monitoring'.

If I've done that correct then I can report that the three lines stayed completely straight and the clock speeds didn't vary at any point.

That isn't very helpful is it 🙁
 
If your cpu and gpu clock speeds aren't throttling (for heat or any other reason), and if you have cyclical slowdowns, given all you have done, what are the remaining possibilities:

- Periodic high cpu utilization. Check cpu utilization during slowdowns for the cause.
- Some background internet access lockup with Low cpu utilization during lockups. Temporarily disable internet.
- Disk errors periodically slowing access. Likely culprit at this point if there is still extremely LOW cpu utilization during slowdowns.
 


Okay, any idea how to address the above issues?
 
Strange, you got Rivatuner working properly but it should have shown changes in clockspeeds like this:

https://sg2vkq.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pSGjfrFL9dIKUDkOd0mT__A8nmJh36tOa_Njbdzf2IuANnX23Lq6AyvL1VFSO6VRS7mVhuBzIeYKeQjR0J4f-doNvzH-1r-KM/untitled.bmp

Did you leave it running while you ran a game?

As for the internet question: I'd just pull the plug before you boot next time. If there is something using the 'net heavily maybe it'll complain with a nice dialogue box.

Also, coming back to an earlier suggestion, did you run a game on the system with only one stick of memory in, or just Windows?

 
I know what you mean but straight lines all the way through unfortunately.

Just disconnected the net and loaded up but problem is exactly the same.

Yeah, I tried every configuration of the memory possible. 1 stick, both sticks swapped over, 1 stick swapped over, all the same performance.
 


Sorry, thought I was clear.

- Make sure Task Manager (Process list, sorted by cpu utilization from high to low (click on the column heading twice)) is up.
- When you get into a slowdown, check cpu utilization.
- If it is High, what Processes are using the cpu? (If you didn't know you were using them, or if they appear non-essential, kill them.) Does the slowdown go away?
- If it is low, what processes are using *any* cpu, even if they only pop to the top of the list periodically. (If you kill them, does the slowdown disappear?)

The point is to identify if a process you didn't expect to interfere *is* interfering.

If its not one of those, given all you have done, you're seemingly left with some kind of I/O error recovery causing the slowdown.
 
I thought you might be onto something for a second there but unfortunately, when I switched out of the game during a slow down there were only three programs using the CPU. Prototype, Windows Task Manager and csrss.exe which is an important Windows program apparently.

The only other thing I noticed on one of them was dwm.exe witch is the Window Management to switch between programs apparently.

During smooth gaming, the programs are exactly the same.

In all instances, the CPU was dedicating around 3% to the other programs and once switched between 33-56% to Prototype.
 
Interesting. You might go to the "View" tab and set the update interval to high. It might catch something else.

So, during slowdowns, your cpu appears to be doing "nothing" (until it switches back to Prototype). The cpu is not locked up, so its waiting for something. Whatever it is clears up, gets you back to Prototype, rinse and repeat.

i suppose it could be BIOS (you have reset it I believe - lost track lol), waiting for disk I/O, waiting for the graphics card to report its finished (but 2 different graphics cards if I recall correctly) . . . dunno what else.

Is your HD thrashing or accessed during these slowdowns? Is it *not* thrashing/accessed during smooth game play?
 
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