Hi Guys, About 2 and a half years ago I decided to build my own system.

My Current Rig is the following:

Field Value
Computer
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name N/A
User Name My Name

Motherboard
CPU Type AMD Athlon 64, 2200 MHz (11 x 200) 3500+
Motherboard Name Asus A8N-SLI Premium (3 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x4, 2 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR DIMM, Audio, Dual Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394)
Motherboard Chipset nVIDIA nForce4 SLI, AMD Hammer
System Memory 2048 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award (08/10/06)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS (512 MB)

Multimedia
Audio Adapter Creative SB Live! Value (CT4831) Sound Card
Audio Adapter nVIDIA MCP04 - Audio Codec Interface

Storage
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce4 Parallel ATA Controller
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA Controller
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce4 Serial ATA Controller
SCSI/RAID Controller Silicon Image SiI 3114 SoftRaid 5 Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive GENERIC USB Storage-SMC USB Device
Disk Drive GENERIC USB Storage-SDC USB Device
Disk Drive GENERIC USB Storage-MSC USB Device
Disk Drive GENERIC USB Storage-CFC USB Device
Disk Drive ST3100011A (93 GB, IDE)
Optical Drive _NEC DVD_RW ND-3550A
Optical Drive LITE-ON DVDRW SHW-160P6S
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions
I: (NTFS) 95385 MB (77350 MB free)

Input
Keyboard HID Keyboard Device
Mouse HID-compliant mouse
Mouse PS/2 Compatible Mouse

Network
Network Adapter Marvell Yukon 88E8001/8003/8010 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Network Adapter NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller - Packet Scheduler Miniport

Peripherals
Printer Microsoft XPS Document Writer
USB1 Controller nVIDIA MCP04 - OHCI USB Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB1 Controller VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB2 Controller nVIDIA MCP04 - EHCI USB 2.0 Controller
USB2 Controller VIA USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Device USB Composite Device
USB Device USB Human Interface Device
USB Device USB Human Interface Device
USB Device USB Mass Storage Device

Here is my question. Before i installed the NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS (512 MB), I had a Geforce 6600 LE ( 256 MB Ram).. and up until about 3 months ago, Everything ran Smoothly and Beautifully. All the sudden One day I start loosing Framerate on every game i play. ( Ut 2004, Red Faction, SOF2), Now mind you, Red faction is a game that was made a VERY LONG time ago, and does not need all that much to play. But here is what is happening.

Whenever i go to play Red Faction it will start up fine and i will enter a game just fine.. ( Heres the kicker) about 3 minutes into the game i will all of the sudden drop like 25-30 frames for about 5 seconds.. then after that it will play fine for another 3 minutes and then the same thing will happen.. and it does not stop.. Its almost like its times perfectly to Loose framerate Everytime.

Well i thought that maybe i would buy a new video card (hence why the NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS) is now showing in my report. But before i installed it, I zero filled my hardrive. ( Low level format) so i know that nothing would stand in the way of a fresh Instalation. Well I installed Windows and Then put the new video card in and its still doing the same EXACT thing as it was before i replaced the card. This is for every single game i play Not just Red Faction. I tried it wil the drivers on the disk, and i tried with the updated ones with the same results.

If anyone has any suggestions. i would really appreciate it!

Randy

Check your temps, speedfan can help you with that, could be your processor is getting too hot and is throttling down. Get some canned air, a can will set you back about 5 bucks at walmart. Take the side off the case and blow out the heatsink on your cpu, clean off all your fans with it, try that first. Also, use a utility to test your memory, see if you have a stick going bad but I'd say heating issue, try the cleaning first, and maybe add a fan, especially by the graphics card.

Hey Bud.. I always take any computer that i work on and take them to my neighbors house and Blow them out with his air compressor.. Mine is totally clean and free of dust.. Which Leads me to think that your right about over-heating on the processor or something else.. My Graphics card is Brand new with a fan that works.

I also, Stuck 1 gig of ram in in.. ( Brand new from newegg) and thats why i got 2 gigs now. I know if i run mem test its gonna take forever. Do you know of any other program that might work?

Or any other suggestions?

Thanks
Randy

OK i just ran MEMtest.. with no errors if that helps!

Randy

what about your psu ???
all your connections of course are secure ??

psu?

Power supply?

is your cpu heatsink attached good? take it off and remount it... don't forget to use thermal paste

It Could Also be Your GPU Throttling As Well

Well i am not real comfortable doing that, and i am out of that paste stuff. any other suggestions?

You think it might help it i load the setup defaults from the bios?

I have never changed them though!

GPU????

GPU... You Know The Graphics Processor AKA: The Video Card

NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS (512 MB) thats mine is has a working fan on it.. what does Throttling mean?

Randy

Throttling is when stuff gets too hot, it will do what we call throttle, or intentionally slow down it's performance to reduce heat so it won't damage itself.

What kind of PSU(Power supply) do you have? Could possibly be that it's starting to die on you as well. There's a program called speedfan you can download online for free, if you install that, it should tell you what your temperatures are on your chip and in your case, as well as tell you voltages from your PSU. Try downloading that, and post your results here.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download337.html

There is one setting you won't want to mess with, there is a tab in the program called clock, if you don't know what your messing with there, don't mess with it. But the version of speedfan I'm running brings up a warning box if you click on that tab.

OK here it is!



Sender :
SpeedFan version : SpeedFan 4.33
Motherboard model : Asus A8N-Sli Premium

*****************************

BIOS CopyRight : Nvidia - 42302e31Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
BIOS Date : 08/10/06
BIOS Extended Info :
BIOS Name : AT/AT COMPATIBLE

Windows NT Uniprocessor Free version 5.1.2600

1 processor(s)
Advanced Micro Devices AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+ family 15 model 17 stepping 2 brand 0 2211 MHz (128.0 Kb level 1 - 512.0 Kb level 2 - 0 bytes level 3)
Running at 2211 MHz
I Agree to receive beta versions : ON

*****************************

IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Temp1 : 33.0 min=33.0 max=34.0 mean=33.0
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Temp2 : 32.0 min=31.0 max=32.0 mean=31.3
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Temp3 : 27.0 min=26.0 max=31.0 mean=27.0
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Fan1 : 3309 min=3309 max=3375 mean=3335
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Fan2 : 0 min=0 max=0 mean=0
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Fan3 : 0 min=0 max=0 mean=0
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Fan4 : 0 min=0 max=0 mean=0
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Fan5 : 0 min=0 max=0 mean=0
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Pwm1 : 0% min=0% max=0% mean=0%
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Pwm2 : 0% min=0% max=0% mean=0%
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Pwm3 : 0% min=0% max=0% mean=0%
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Pwm4 : 50% min=50% max=50% mean=50%
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Pwm5 : 50% min=50% max=50% mean=50%
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Vcore1 : 1.41 min=1.39 max=1.42 mean=1.41
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Vcore2 : 0.00 min=0.00 max=0.00 mean=0.00
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 +3.3V : 3.26 min=3.26 max=3.26 mean=3.26
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 +5V : 4.92 min=4.92 max=4.92 mean=4.92
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 +12V : 11.97 min=11.97 max=11.97 mean=11.97
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 -12V : -1.75 min=-1.83 max=-1.75 mean=-1.75
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 -5V : -8.78 min=-8.78 max=-8.78 mean=-8.78
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 +5V : 4.92 min=4.92 max=4.92 mean=4.92
IT8712F-I on ISA at $290 Vbat : 3.06 min=3.06 max=3.06 mean=3.06
[$13]=$70 [$14]=$00 [$15]=$40 [$16]=$40
[$17]=$40 [$20]=$58 [$21]=$00 [$22]=$CC
[$23]=$B7 [$24]=$BB [$25]=$B9 [$26]=$00
[$27]=$B7 [$28]=$BF
LM75 on nForce2 SMBus at $48 Temp : 127.0 min=127.0 max=127.0 mean=127.0
LM75 on nForce2 SMBus at $49 Temp : 127.0 min=127.0 max=127.0 mean=127.0
LM75 on nForce2 SMBus at $4F Temp : 61.0 min=60.0 max=61.0 mean=61.0
HD0 (100.0GB) on SMART at $0 HD0 : 22.0 min=22.0 max=22.0 mean=22.0
ST3100011A (drive 0) : fitness=96% performance=96%
ACPI on ISA at $0 Temp1 : 40.0 min=40.0 max=40.0 mean=40.0
AMD K8 on PCI at $0 Core : 31.0 min=28.0 max=36.0 mean=30.9
NVidia Video Card on NVCPL at $0 Core : 61.0 min=60.0 max=61.0 mean=61.0
NVidia Video Card on NVCPL at $0 Ambient : 0.0 min=0.0 max=0.0 mean=0.0

*****************************

Temp1 --> active=ON chip=0 index=1 wanted=40 warning=50 offset=0 InTray=ON Used pwms=1 2 3 4 5
Temp2 --> active=ON chip=0 index=2 wanted=40 warning=50 offset=0 InTray=OFF Used pwms=1 2 3 4 5
Temp3 --> active=ON chip=0 index=3 wanted=40 warning=50 offset=0 InTray=OFF Used pwms=1 2 3 4 5
Temp --> active=ON chip=1 index=1 wanted=40 warning=50 offset=0 InTray=OFF Used pwms=1 2 3 4 5
Temp --> active=ON chip=2 index=1 wanted=40 warning=50 offset=0 InTray=OFF Used pwms=1 2 3 4 5
Temp --> active=ON chip=3 index=1 wanted=40 warning=50 offset=0 InTray=OFF Used pwms=1 2 3 4 5
HD0 --> active=ON chip=4 index=1 wanted=40 warning=50 offset=0 InTray=OFF Used pwms=1 2 3 4 5
Temp1 --> active=ON chip=5 index=1 wanted=40 warning=50 offset=0 InTray=OFF Used pwms=1 2 3 4 5
Core --> active=ON chip=6 index=1 wanted=40 warning=50 offset=0 InTray=OFF Used pwms=1 2 3 4 5
Core --> active=ON chip=7 index=1 wanted=40 warning=50 offset=0 InTray=OFF Used pwms=1 2 3 4 5
Ambient --> active=ON chip=7 index=2 wanted=40 warning=50 offset=0 InTray=OFF Used pwms=1 2 3 4 5
Fan1 --> active=ON chip=0 index=1
Fan2 --> active=ON chip=0 index=2
Fan3 --> active=ON chip=0 index=3
Fan4 --> active=ON chip=0 index=4
Fan5 --> active=ON chip=0 index=5
Speed01 --> active=ON chip=0 index=1 min=0 max=100 variate=OFF
Speed02 --> active=ON chip=0 index=2 min=0 max=100 variate=OFF
Speed03 --> active=ON chip=0 index=3 min=0 max=100 variate=OFF
Speed04 --> active=ON chip=0 index=4 min=0 max=100 variate=OFF
Speed05 --> active=ON chip=0 index=5 min=0 max=100 variate=OFF
Vcore1 --> active=ON chip=0 index=1
Vcore2 --> active=ON chip=0 index=2
+3.3V --> active=ON chip=0 index=3
+5V --> active=ON chip=0 index=4
+12V --> active=ON chip=0 index=5
-12V --> active=ON chip=0 index=6
-5V --> active=ON chip=0 index=7
+5V --> active=ON chip=0 index=8
Vbat --> active=ON chip=0 index=9
Set Fans to 100% on exit : OFF
Debug Mode : ON
Use ISA : ON
Use SMB : ON
Scan PCI : ON
Scan SMB : ON
Slow SMB detection : OFF
Detect SuperIO : ON
ASUS Card Detect : ON
DELL Support : OFF
Command line : "I:\Program Files\SpeedFan\speedfan.exe"
Delta Fan Speed : 10

*****************************

Chipset : nVidia nForce4
SMBus Base Address : $4C40
SMBus Revision : A2
SMBus I/O Enabled : ON

*****************************

Bus : 00 Device: 00 Function : 00 --> 005E10DE Vendor : 10DE Device : 005E (rev A3) - <Unknown device>
00: 10DE 005E 0006 00B0 00A3 0580 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
20: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1043 815A 0000 0000 0044 0000 0000 0000 00FF 0000
40: 1043 815A E008 01E0 0022 1111 00D0 0000 0623 807F 0003 0000 0000 0003 0000 0000
60: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 3606 0000 4444 0000 09D0 0000 0000 0000 0088 0000
80: FF13 0088 00FA 0000 0003 0000 0061 0000 100E 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
A0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0101 0101 0000 0000 0000 0000
C0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0003 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
E0: 0008 A801 0000 FEE0 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000

Bus : 00 Device: 01 Function : 00 --> 005010DE Vendor : 10DE Device : 0050 (rev F3) - <Unknown device>
00: 10DE 0050 000F 00A0 00F3 0601 0000 0080 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
20: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1043 815A 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
40: 1043 815A F000 FEFF 3EFA 00FF 3EFA 00FF 3EFA 00FF 5A00 0262 0000 0100 0000 FFFF
60: 4001 0000 4401 0000 4801 0000 0000 FFF9 0010 FFFF 00C5 0000 0000 1944 D218 08D0
80: 8009 8D00 0101 000D 00C0 0100 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 6421 A987 BCDE 0000
A0: 8000 C110 0002 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0290 02EF 0800 085F 0000 0000 0000 0000
C0: 8235 0080 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
E0: 1414 0000 0000 00D0 2080 2000 4461 1144 FF5A BF5F 0000 C000 FF10 FFFF 0000 0730

Bus : 00 Device: 01 Function : 01 --> 005210DE Vendor : 10DE Device : 0052 (rev A2) - <Unknown device>
00: 10DE 0052 0001 00B0 00A2 0C05 0000 0080 E401 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
20: 4C01 0000 4C41 0000 0000 0000 1043 815A 0000 0000 0044 0000 0000 0000 0105 0103
40: 1043 815A 0001 C002 0000 0000 0000 0000 4C01 0000 4C41 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
60: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
80: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
A0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
C0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
E0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000

Bus : 00 Device: 02 Function : 00 --> 005A10DE Vendor : 10DE Device : 005A (rev A2) - <Unknown device>
00: 10DE 005A 0007 00B0 10A2 0C03 0000 0080 4000 D600 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
20: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1043 815A 0000 0000 0044 0000 0000 0000 0117 0103
40: 1043 815A 0001 FE02 0000 0000 0000 0000 0002 0000 471D 0040 0000 0000 0000 0000
60: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
80: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
A0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
C0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
E0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 FF00 FFFF 1603 0730

Bus : 00 Device: 02 Function : 01 --> 005B10DE Vendor : 10DE Device : 005B (rev A3) - <Unknown device>
00: 10DE 005B 0006 00B0 20A3 0C03 0000 0080 0000 FEB0 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
20: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1043 815A 0000 0000 0044 0000 0000 0000 0214 0103
40: 1043 815A 800A 2098 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
60: 2020 0001 6000 8518 3C03 013F 0000 0000 0000 0508 1000 8020 3D89 22B6 2577 0004
80: 0001 FE02 0000 0000 0000 0000 1615 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
A0: 0001 0000 0000 C000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0033 2211 0044 0000 03FF 0000 0000 0000
C0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
E0: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 FF10 FFFF 0000 0730

Bus : 00 Device: 04 Function : 00 --> 005910DE Vendor : 10DE Device : 0059 (rev A2) - NVIDIA Corporation