15 réponses à ce sujet

[Snoozems7]

Hey all,

So recently my hard drive failed and I purchased a new WD Caviar Black 1TB to replace it. ME1 always worked fine on my old drive, but now with everything up and running on the new one, I'm encounter serious lag issues. Here are my specs before I go into details:

Vista SP2
Intel Q9650
ASUS Striker II Extreme
nVidia GTX 295
Creative X-Fi Titanium
WD Caviar Black 1TB

As a note, the only piece of hardware I changed was the HDD, everything else in the comp now was there before and worked fine with ME1. Vista is also up to date, and I'm using the latest drivers for my video card, sound card etc.. I'm also using the Steam version of ME1 (I tried validating the game cache to no avail).


Okay, so after about... 10 or 15 minutes of playing, mild lag starts to set in. This becomes increasingly worse, and the sound begins to crackle. Eventually it gets so bad that it must go down to about 2 or 3 frames per second. Totally unplayable. No actual crash, no error message.

Given that ME1 was working probably a mere two weeks before my old hard drive failed, I'm not inclined to believe this is hardware failure of some kind.

Is this a known issue? Please someone help, this is driving me batty. I'm trying desperately to get a character ready for ME3 releasing in the UK, and this is severely hampering my attempts.

Thanks a lot.

[jakenou]

Questions: Was it a fresh OS install? Is the new HDD 5400 RPM vs the old one being 7200 (this shouldn't really create much of a lag problem and since its caviar black I'm gonna guess it's 7200 with an 8 or 16mb cache?)?

I think the Steam version should already be updated to v1.02, but you might want to check that again as well as playing with the configuration. Also the latest drivers don't necc. mean the best drivers for ME1. It would be nice if you could match up what drivers you had before the HDD died, but that might not be possible. Looking around the web to see what the best ME drivers for your sound and GPU could help (there should be discussions about this in this forum). Also making sure net frameworks and divx is up to date might help, but the installers should check for that too.

Modifié par jkthunder, 05 mars 2012 - 05:53 .

[Snoozems7]

Thanks a lot for replying.

It was a fresh install. Unfortunately, I only have the upgrade version of Vista, so I had to put XP on first.

The old HDD I had was a Seagate, it was 7200RPM as well. I couldn't be sure about the cache size of it, but the two are largely comparable.

I tried to patch ME manually since I had seen people advising others to do so regardless of Steam. The first thing I did when Vista was running was to update it; every update available I got, which included a few .net frameworks. I also downloaded the June 2010 Direct X 9 runtimes and installed those, which has actually caused an additional problem: nvd3dum.dll crashes. I can't be sure it was downloading those old runtimes that did it though, it could be the graphics driver because I can't remember the order in which I installed them.

I'm so close to just wiping the hard drive, which I've already had to do once, and so I'm hesitant to do it again unless I'm confident it will work.

I'm in contact with EA support about it as well, so I'm going to wait and see what happens for the time being.

I will try and find out what the best graphics driver is for ME1 and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks again.

[Snoozems7]

Just to update people who might find this issue relevant, I have, since the last post, reformatted the HDD again and installed only XP this time.

Downloaded all the XP updates, drivers for GPU, Direct X, sound card etc.. Still no joy. Precisely the same lag problem, which leads me to one conclusion; it is hardware.

So far I haven't tested anything, but I'm about to reformat a drive that had the same specs as my original drive that failed (Samsung 7200 RPM, 32MB cache, 3 GB/s transfer) from another comp, install either Vista or XP and see what happens with that.

I came across an article with someone describing a similar sort of issue that they fixed through disabling some type of controls in the firmware of WD drives through a program called quietHDD. This may have done something - the game still lags but it doesn't quite reach the critical level where I have to restart the comp. Further evidence to support the HDD being the issue.

It could be ram but I have no way to test this fully because my mobo only supports DDR3 and all my other comps run DDR2. I suspect if it was the PSU or mobo that nothing would work. As for the CPU, if it was overheating (which I doubt, recently installed a brand new heat sink and fan with arctic mx-2 thermal paste (no silver)) I think everything would slow down. For instance, when ME1 is running and I alt-tab out and run other programs or fiddle with things, nothing else is slow. Also, if I shut the game down and immediately restart it, the lag is gone for about 15 minutes. The components overheating wouldn't cool sufficiently in what? 15 seconds or less? No chance.

I know the 'progressive' aspect to the lag might indicate overheating, and it could still be, I can't prove otherwise, but I doubt it in my case, no pun intended.

I do have another GFX card I can test with should the new HDD present with the same issue. I also have another CPU I can test with as well, but I want to avoid this if at all possible; a last resort. I'm not sure about the sound card. I should have another one that came with the mobo (no integrated sound) so I'll have a look for it.

Another thing I can test is Steam. It's possible the files I am downloading from them are screwed up, so I can download ME on another comp and see what happens.

As for EA Support, they haven't contacted me once since the initial instruction from one of their techs, in which they asked for my dxdiag. Fair enough, it has only been two days, but they were quick enough to answer my query initially.

So I should have the other HDD up and running today, I'll keep this updated.

Modifié par Snoozems7, 08 mars 2012 - 07:14 .

[Snoozems7]

The HDD is now running Vista, which has been updated along with gpu drivers and such. I decided to go with Vista because I'd be more able to accurately gauge the performance of ME on it since that is the only OS I have played it on before.

It's downloading now, but really, the only way I'll be satisfied is to leave ME running overnight. If it hasn't gone down the pan during the wee hours of the morning, then I'll believe that it's fixed. Wouldn't that cause it to go funny? No, I used to do that before and it made absolutely no difference to the performance. You had to move the mouse around a bit to let it re-render some things, but it took seconds.

Still, even if I ran it for an hour, I should be able to tell whether it's in order. So, that will be the next update.

[Snoozems7]

After further tests the lag appeared again with the new HDD. All I can surmise at this point is either a failing gfx card, ram or cpu. I tested the gfx and cpu for overheating but the result was negative.

At the present time all I can test is the graphics card by using one from my other comps. If that turns out to be negative, then I'll run memtest and check for errors there. If negative still, then I'll try replacing the cpu.

[jakenou]

Hey Snoozems. If it is a hardware issue I would say that the GPU would be the prime suspect for whats happening to you. All your other hardware shouldn't really contribute to a lag problem in ME, especially if other apps on your computer run as smoothly as they did before. It certainly can't hurt to check if all your memory is firing, and if the mobo bus is handling it, but still... you would likely see a slew of errors and perhaps light and beep codes from your computer if any of those were faulty. I think you should play with your graphics card drivers a bit more before going out and buying a new one. I know there are some threads in this forum about Nvidia cards in particular. Also, since it's a fresh install, try and play with configuration settings for ME - for example; not using windowed mode, making sure vsync is off and maybe turning down some of the other settings (basically anything that gives you fps loss). Sorry it's been so rough for you.

[Snoozems7]

Thanks Thunder

I did try a few different nvidia drivers to no avail, and I did plenty of fiddling with the graphics options in ME. I'd never run a game in windowed mode or v-sync.

I've been testing the RAM over the past five hours and found some strange results. If I use either stick in DIMM1, ME eventually freezes (ran for 100 minutes with one stick and 130 with the other). Not really any lag this time, just a total lock-up, entirely unresponsive.

I tried another graphics card (8800GTX) but my PSU didn't have the correct cables for it exactly. I had to use a 6-pin PCI-e and an 8-pin (only contained 6 pins, I guess if you lost the other 6-pin, which I have), but I was getting green pixels on the desktop so I shut it down. I was too scared the power was inadequate and the card got damaged.

As for other programs running as they once did, I tried Far Cry 2 and to be honest, I think it was beginning to lag as well. I can test it again and see.

Come to think of it, I have been hearing beeps but I thought I was just imagining it. Plus my speakers were also failing so I assumed it was coming from them, but they have been disconnected and replaced with crappy (but working) Dell ones, hmm. I actually thought I heard one about thirty minutes ago...

I did check my mobo for any failure lights and couldn't see anything. Most of them relate to overclocking though, which I wouldn't go near with a barge pole. The ones I saw were green though.

Even if I found out that some piece of kit had failed, I couldn't afford to replace it right now any way so don't worry, I won't be over-eager.

Thanks a lot for replying again Thunder, I'll keep pushing on and see what I can find.

[Snoozems7]

Encouraging news!

COD: MW3 crashed as well, but even more severely! A little bit of lag after about 2 - 3 hours of playing and crack! The screen went black (monitor said it found no signal), the graphics card had a red flashing light, all the fans slowed down and it didn't respond to restarting. I had to cut power to it fully before it would boot again.

I don't think this is a cpu problem now.. It looks like the psu or graphics card! Finally! I can rule out a software problem! Haha!

Even although I can't fix this right away, at least I have a much more specific idea of what is happening. I might be able to test with another psu depending on its specs.

The psu does seem suspect though. My processor is running at 2.33 GHz instead of 3 GHz (nothing to do with me), graphics card had a red light (supposed to indicate a power issue). All of the components in the comp now are at least three years old, and I know that psu's produce less than rated power as they age, so this may very well be the issue.

I have HWmonitor running along with ME1 now to see what happens to the voltages and such as it begins to lag. I'll update this in about two hours with the results! Hehe!

Modifié par Snoozems7, 11 mars 2012 - 08:54 .

[jakenou]

Haha! Encouraging indeed!

I'm being snarky, but I know how it is to test everything and not being able to find where the error is, then striking gold. I hope it really is the GPU so it gives you an excuse to get a fancy new one, but a busted PSU wouldn't be so bad either, as long as it didn't kill the other components along with it.

[Snoozems7]

Hehe yeah!

Well I tested the cpu yesterday with one that is definitely working, and the lag appeared once again. I'm about to test the gpu again because I found some other cables so hopefully it should be okay this time.

I couldn't see anything on the HWmonitor, but yesterday when the other cpu was in, I looked on the resource monitor on the task manager and found that at one point, there were 100 hard faults on the memory.

I did a bit of reading and apparently this has to do with page file/virtual memory. I should have plenty available. When ME1 was running, it was using about 1800 - 2200 MB out of a total of 5000 MB. HDD space isn't an issue either, I have about 400GB free.

So what I'm thinking is maybe the RAM or motherboard is screwy now. I don't know if it's possible for some of the chips on the RAM to be broken and others still work, but it's like there isn't enough memory if it is having to use so much page file and lagging with it. Or again, if the psu is screwed and the mobo isn't getting enough power... Ugh, I don't know lol.

I know a bit about computers but not enough to really diagnose things through information like that, so I still plan to test the hardware systematically. Either way, I'm getting close now.

The problem is testing the motherboard and RAM because it only supports DDR3, so if I use another in my house which is DDR2, then it excludes using both the original mobo and RAM, which of course doesn't give me much specificity. Even if it worked without my mobo and DDR3 ram, I still don't know what has failed.

I might just have to guess if it comes to it and return whatever items are unnecessary.

I'm hoping it is just the gpu though so as you said, I have an excuse to get a newer one I'll update this again later with the results of the gpu test.

Modifié par Snoozems7, 12 mars 2012 - 07:08 .

[Snoozems7]

Well, it's not the gpu. Tested it today with an 8800 GTX, and once again, the lag appeared.

Another psu is installed and ready for testing tomorrow morning, so I'll just have to wait and see. If that doesn't work, I'm just going to have to guess at the problem out of either the mobo or the ram. The ram is much cheaper so I think that's probably what I'll do if it comes to it.

I'll post the results of the psu tomorrow.

[jakenou]

Snoozems7 wrote...

I did a bit of reading and apparently this has to do with page file/virtual memory. I should have plenty available. When ME1 was running, it was using about 1800 - 2200 MB out of a total of 5000 MB. HDD space isn't an issue either, I have about 400GB free..

Have you reset your VRAM since you reinstalled the OS? That could be a more simple fix, but if your mobo usues dual channel RAM it could be a bad sign for the mobo too (BIOS might be able to tell you more). While you are running all these hardware tests - did you try each stick of RAM in slot 1 with no other RAM?

[Snoozems7]

I tested the RAM (it is dual channel) after I concluded the HDD wasn't the problem. I tested each stick in DIMM1 with no other sticks in and I got severe instability. With just one stick in (I tried both sticks), the comp was freezing even on the desktop. When I ran both in dual channel again that stopped.

I did set a custom size for the VRAM after reading the recommended values on Microsoft's site for my RAM;

initial minimum: 4300
maximum: 12000

Note that I did that way after I first encountered the lag. Whether that's precisely what you meant by resetting it or not, I'm not sure. What has also convinced me somewhat that the page file isn't a problem is that I even ran XP and still encountered the lag. I thought really that if it wasn't even working with a different OS that would probably have used different settings and systems that it was fine.

During each hardware test though, I kept both sticks in running in dual channel. Admittedly, I probably shouldn't have done that, but you get so deep in the problems that at some point you don't think quite as clearly as you might. Especially since it takes about three hours to reproduce the lag.

If the psu test comes back negative, which I'll know in about two and a half hours, I'll try screwing around the with page file settings again and see if I can ellicit a response.

Thanks again for replying Thunder.

Modifié par Snoozems7, 13 mars 2012 - 10:27 .

[Snoozems7]

PSU is not the issue.

So if it is indeed hardware, we're down to RAM and the mobo itself.

On the software front which is far from quiet, I've been tinkering with things in the nvidia control panel which hasn't yielded results. Downloaded a driver for my monitor, no result. Disabled my sound card, no result. Flashed my bios, no result. Tried different settings for the VRAM, which included disabling it, setting a static page file and allowing windows to manage the size; no result.

I might be crazy, but I have noticed that after changing the page file on different occassions, it seems to have altered the time it takes to lag, from two and a half hours originally, and sometimes as long as four hours.

This again is pointing me towards a possible RAM (or what the mobo is doing with it) problem since it is intimately connected with the paging file. Apart from that, if there is nothing wrong with the RAM, why would trying both sticks in single channel cause the comp to freeze? That's just not right at all.

Of course that could be the mobo causing that and not actually the RAM itself, but still, that desktop freezing should never have occurred with a working mobo and RAM.

So I'm in last software resort mode now because without being a total comp whiz, I'm at the limit of what I can do in that regard. If what I'm currently testing doesn't work, I'll download AVG and do a full comp scan. If I get zip from that, I'll be ordering new RAM immediately.

As Garrus would say, "It's not a perfect plan, but it's a plan."

EDIT: I didn't want to post another reply so soon, but the last battery of tests I ran after installing additional C++ libraries was negative. I hadn't done this before thinking they were part of Windows Update. Obviously I realised they weren't today and installed them and nothing.

I really am at the limit now of software fixes, and I'm not prepared to do anything else (assuming I can think of anything else) until I can rule out other hardware problems. To that end, I'm installing AVG to carry on with my plan and order new RAM tomorrow.  I'll post the results of the anti-virus scan tomorrow and if that is negative, the results of the new RAM at a later date.

Modifié par Snoozems7, 14 mars 2012 - 10:17 .

[Snoozems7]

Success!

After changing the motherboard and RAM, the issue has disappeared. I'm having to run XP now since after all the reformats and hard drive changes my Vista key has no more licences remaining. Still, it works so I'm not complaining.

Well, that was a gruelling two weeks; I've never had computer problems that difficult to fix and I've been using and building them for years. So, just incase anyone happens to be unfortunate enough to encounter the same problems, I hope this thread will help.

P.S - Thanks for all of your support Thunder, much appreciated!