Computer issues

[xaechireon]

I'm not sure which forum is the best to post this in, so if its in the wrong place, my apologies.

 

My computer has taken to being extremely disagreeable with video games recently, and I'm not sure why. It started happening after my PSU blew up (as in, there was a flash, and a smell of something burning. My power cable was also rendered useless), and I had to revert to a very old backup. I just bought a new PSU, better than the dead one, but the problems persist. In fact, they're worse.

 

I believe they're something to do with memory because my OrangeBox Source games specifically point to lack of memory causing them to crash, and whenplaying them, they always have the 'OS Paged Pool Memory Low' warning at the top right corner of the screen.

I also can no longer run Oblivion without something breaking, like the lockpicking tumblers not showing up, missiles only visible by the light they give off, NPCs sometimes failing to move their mouths or play audio when conversing.

 

This is my computer specs:

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3166/dxdiag.th.png

[Halororor]

Well, seeing as your PSU had such horrible problems, check the connections on your motherboard. Mine did the same once, and I had to replace the motherboard because the PSU burnt the mobo when it broke.

 

Also, remove your RAM and check that they aren't fried either. But usually your PC wouldn't even start up if once of your sticks of RAM is broken, or it might start up and just make a beeping sound, then crash.

[jaosals42]

I'm not sure which forum is the best to post this in, so if its in the wrong place, my apologies.

 

My computer has taken to being extremely disagreeable with video games recently, and I'm not sure why. It started happening after my PSU blew up (as in, there was a flash, and a smell of something burning. My power cable was also rendered useless), and I had to revert to a very old backup. I just bought a new PSU, better than the dead one, but the problems persist. In fact, they're worse.

 

I believe they're something to do with memory because my OrangeBox Source games specifically point to lack of memory causing them to crash, and whenplaying them, they always have the 'OS Paged Pool Memory Low' warning at the top right corner of the screen.

I also can no longer run Oblivion without something breaking, like the lockpicking tumblers not showing up, missiles only visible by the light they give off, NPCs sometimes failing to move their mouths or play audio when conversing.

 

This is my computer specs:

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/3166/dxdiag.th.png

 

 

You aren't using any high-demand graphical mods for the Orange Box, right? I know Fakefactory's CM requires a lot of memory and a good video card (btw, your GPU isn't on the list :mellow: )

 

Said mod could cause your memory and other stuff to overwork and cause issues.

 

Oh yeah, and make sure your CPU has it's heatsink properly glued on too.

[xaechireon]

Well, seeing as your PSU had such horrible problems, check the connections on your motherboard. Mine did the same once, and I had to replace the motherboard because the PSU burnt the mobo when it broke.

 

Also, remove your RAM and check that they aren't fried either. But usually your PC wouldn't even start up if once of your sticks of RAM is broken, or it might start up and just make a beeping sound, then crash.

 

How do I check my connections, and whether my RAM is broken?

 

Prior to PSU replacement it'd always have the beep-and-crash problem, though the reset button always worked. After installing the new one there'd still be that problem, but it went away after I made sure the wires were all plugged in properly.

 

You aren't using any high-demand graphical mods for the Orange Box, right? I know Fakefactory's CM requires a lot of memory and a good video card (btw, your GPU isn't on the list :mellow: )

 

Said mod could cause your memory and other stuff to overwork and cause issues.

 

Oh yeah, and make sure your CPU has it's heatsink properly glued on too.

No, I don't run mods for my OB games.

 

My GPU is ATI Radeon HD 4650 (I was using an old NVIDIA card before that, my friend said there's the possibility I'd need to reformat for the new card to work right, but that hasn't been a problem before)

[Illiad86]

http://www.memtest.org/

 

read here and download the utility to check your RAM.

[xaechireon]

I tried using that, but I couldn't get it to work, so I used this [http://www.memtest86.com/] instead, which registered nothing out of the norm.

[Halororor]

To check the connections from your PSU, just unplug all cables from the PSU that is currently plugged into the mobo and check that they don't have any signs of wear. Then just check that the places where they were plugged in also looks fine and doesn't show signs of rust, burns or any other signs that shouldn't be there.

[Illiad86]

I tried using that, but I couldn't get it to work, so I used this [http://www.memtest86.com/] instead, which registered nothing out of the norm.

 

ya that one too lol forgot :P Well, that's good...I hope you didn't just run it for 5 minutes lol. Good to run for about an hour to see what's going on.

 

Check all the connections on the PSU and motherboard...you possibly could of fried one of the pins on the mobo when the last PSU went poof. Like the last poster said, look for any signs of damage...burns, discoloration.

 

Are you getting any BSOD before you crash? Does it crash while you are not gaming?

 

How are the temperatures on the graphics card? Are you getting little "red triangles" (artifacts) while you are playing the game?

 

edit: Your error there

 

OS Paged Pool Memory Low

 

Basically the game is telling you that too much of the game's memory is being run from your paging file [which is on your hard drive] instead of your RAM, which is a more direct approach that saves your hard drive some trouble. If you're running on high settings or a slow drive, this can be problematic and cause skipping or freezes because the disk can't work fast enough to load game files [textures, etc] AND use the memory business at the same time.

 

I see you only have 2GB of RAM which is making the Orange Box use your paging file. Oh boy, bringing back horrid horrid memories lol.

 

Now...I do not recommend screwing around with your paging file unless you are confident

 

Optimizing your page file when you're running low on RAM is always a good idea. When all physical RAM in a computer is in use, Windows starts using the hard disk as if it were additional RAM. This is why we have a Pagefile (also called the swap file). Because RAM memory is a lot more faster than the hard disk, whenever the computer begins to use the Pagefile to relieve memory pressure, we begin to experience a drastic performance degradation.

 

One of the most effective things you can do to improve performance is ensure that there is enough RAM available to avoid frequent paging (swapping) of memory contents between disk and RAM.

 

This means that the actual limit on the memory used by all applications is the amount of RAM installed plus the maximum size of the Pagefile.

 

How much swap space do you need? That depends the amount of RAM you have and the programs you use. The rule of the thumb is 1.5 times the amount of system memory, unless you have too much load on your system. Make the initial size 1.5 times the size of your RAM and make the maximum the same size as the initial.

 

I don't know if that will be your fix...but it really seems like you need some RAM buddy lol 2GB isn't enough these days it seems. If your motherboard takes DDR2 800....that's ultra cheap now :)

[xaechireon]

Ugh. I used to play TF2 on a 6-year old mobo, with 1GB RAM, and a NVIDIA Geforce 6600. It never crashed, although during pyro duels it'd become a slideshow. The thing is, it never crashed. Now, almost immediately upon joining a server I get the memory warning.

 

No, I don't get BSODs outside of gaming. What I get is occasionally some message from my Linksys WUSB54G wireless adapter, like "Error 87: Bitmap image is not valid."

 

I had changed my paging file minimum from 2046 to 3070 after getting the new PSU, 3070 being the recommended value. That didn't really change anything.

[Illiad86]

hmmm...well your best bet for the TF2 error is to search that error on the steam forums or google. The paging file is one fix...there's another fix for it but it involves going into the registry editor. I've never had that issue with TF2 :mellow:

 

How is your HDD? Have you run a diagnostic on that?

 

Out of all things it could be your graphics drivers too. I guess you could try re-installing those.