what the hell is wrong?!

[lichy123]

i'm not sure what the problem is, i really don't :\ i play the game on ultra and it runs SMOOTHLY for a while, so therefor i conduct that my pc can run this game on ultra.

 

the problem starts after a while, and i suspect the trigger is right after a loading screen, meaning moving a cell., or loading one.. the game starts to slow down. REALLY slow down. to the point i freak out and press the F5 to quick save and it takes like 5-10 sec till i see the quick save spear slowly.

 

so you would assume the problem is the cpu overheating or something, right? i thought so too! but heres the kicker. if i alt tab to desktop then alt tab back to the game, everything is ok. no slow downs no nothing.

i continue playing and again after a while everything slows down. i alt tab, alt tab back and everything is fine. now, i wouldn't mind doing this routine, but after 2-3 times i do this all the fires in the game become invisible but still emit lights. and the water becomes cristal clear. not invisible, coz they are still there.. i can even see ripples when i jump in the water and stuff.. but it looks like it is invisible. and then the slow downs become more frequent (i think) and i give up and shut the game down.

 

more info:

 

when i start the game the memory it takes is about 200k, and i guess it builds up after a while. when the slow down happen its at 1,200,000. so 1million more then it started.

 

cpu: QuadCore Intel Core i5-750, 2800 MHz (21 x 133)

motherboard: MSI P55-CD53 (MS-7586)

ram: 4gb

Power supply: aps -650c

graphic card:GeForce GTX 560 Ti

 

 

perhaps its a problem with the vram? i dunno.. wish i possesed some computer knowledge :(

 

 

please help me, the game is really unplayable.. good thing i finished most of it but still!

[BarefootWarrior]

Just going by your specs, I would appear that you should be able to run the game alright, although I think your PSU is borderline (my opinion) but even so, if it was a power issue the system would simply shut down. You don't mention what settings you are playing at. Have you turned down the settings ( Ultra, low, etc) to see if you can play the game at a lower setting. I am not familiar with your mother board, so I can't say anything there other then maybe it can't handle the processing. Some one who knows that family of mother boards may be able to say something.

 

Also, what OS are you using, XP, Win 7? might be an issue there too. If you are using Win 7, 4 gig of RAM may not be adequate, but I could be wrong. But going by what I am reading in your post, It sounds like a memory issue to me and not your video. There may not be enough memory to process the data fast enough, hence..the slowing down. I'm guessing, but that is what it sounds like to me.

 

Asus Crossfire IV Formula motherboard

Phenom II T1055 six core AMD

Coolit ECO R-120 liquid cooling for CPU

Vengeance DDR3 1600 RAM / 16 Gig

Zotac GeForce GTX 560 TI / 1 GB 290.36 / Beta drivers

Corsair 850 power supply

Creative Labs Supreme FX XFI audio

Cooler Master Sniper Case / black edition

28 wide screen i_Inc monitor, not the best but works nicely.

Win 7 64 Ulitmate

 

We are using the same video card so I don't think your video is the problem, there is a bottle neck there somewhere.

Edited December 2, 2011 by BarefootWarrior

[lichy123]

windows 7. when i first upgraded my computer to a gaming pc i had to cut the edges at some points. so i didn't buy all the fans i needed to cool the pc, and i didn't buy enough ram coz i thought i'd just buy them later when i'd have the money. so at first i started with only 2gb ram. and it was ok for games but then came the witcher 2 and i needed more ram :P so i got 2more thinking 4 is enough. hearing that 4 might not be enough surprises me but i would be glad if that was the problem, its the cheapest part of the pc XD

 

i run the game on ultra, i even got some mods to increase that like the tweak one that made no real difference other than adding some shadows when i am indoors and the hd textures mods.

and i run the game with solid fps even with all the tweaks i made to make the game even more eye candy.

 

if the trigger is the loading screen then it means its something to do with the cpu, ain't it... and i refuse to run the game on lower settings! got me a new video card just so i won't have to lower my graphics from ultra for the next year or so..

[elderiii]

A few thoughts.

 

Defrag your Hard Drive, it wouldn't hurt to defrag your Steam folder separately as well.

Monitor your temperatures whilst gaming, HWMonitor is a nice little program for that.

Monitor your GPU and CPU useage while gaming, Afterburner should work well for that with a NVIDIA GPU.

 

You could aslo try overclocking your CPU more, I have the same one at 3.6... which is a big help in a CPU hungry game like this. :thumbsup:

[lichy123]

i don't know how to overclock tho i wish to, same for my graphics card. since you have the same as me it would be easier for you to explain.. and i am sure its safe (unless i over-do it)

 

 

took a pic of b4 and after, b4 is when the game just starts the after is when the bugging starts.

 

b4: http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/2642/befor.jpg

 

after: http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/8890/afterr.jpg

Edited December 2, 2011 by lichy123

[lichy123]

sorry for the bump but im getting rdy to buy something to fix this issue and since im limited on my cash (since the army doesn't pay very well coz i am forced to serve not want to serve) i need to buy the thing that will solve the problem for sure.

 

what i found out was that my cpu is overheating, but i don't know if that is the true cause of the issue.

 

ram? cpu overheating? who can tell?

[elderiii]

My i5 750 Overclocked at 3.6 doesn't even hit 60C under load this time of year. Are you using a stock heatsink? I would suggest taking off the side panel and using a can of compressed air to blow out any dust that may be blocking your airflow; also make sure that all the fans are actually running when you turn it on. If the temperature still hits 80C+ then you may need to remove the heatsink and either clean it off and reapply the thermal compound (paste or TIM) or buy a new heatsink. If all the fans etc are working, and blowing dust out doesn't help with the overheating then I would say it's probably dried out thermal compound. A new heatsink would be best, but a tube of thermal compound is about 10-20% of the cost (at least it is in the USA).

 

Skyrim is very demanding on the CPU, so I'm not surprised that it overheats with this particular game.

[lichy123]

i took the pc out of it's place (theres a cubic hole in my desk just for it, it has place to move but not much room ot breath.)

 

din't help that much. so i took a fan and stuck it on the top of my pc so it would blow cold air towards the inside of my pc (there are holes there for a built in fan that isn't there coz i didn't buy one)

 

well, my cpu still reaches sometimes to 40 when i'm only surfing with chrome on the web, and after playing a bit on skyrim it reached about 60 or more but it didn't go above 70 if i recall.

 

so its an improvment, but i'm not sure what to buy to permanently fix it. a hydro cooling thingy or more ram or what ever

 

if the problem is heating, but i don't know if its another problem or THE PROBLEM, i'll save some money (coz the army doesn't pay me muchT_T) and buy a cooling thing, doubt a fan will suffice. if its a ram problem i can buy more ram.

[mindinavoid]

There's more to computer cooling than just having a fan/water pipes/hyperventilated chicken blowing cold air into it. If your computer case is small and cramped inside, you won't get much airflow to begin with.

 

I'm only eyeballing off of my tower, but it's about 20 inches tall and 16 long (front-to-back), and it runs significantly cooler with the same parts in it that I had in another case I was using that's about 16 inches tall and 12 inches long. (Again, this is eyeballing, I'm probably wildly off on my guesstimations.) Extra space does wonders for airflow, because it allows air to flow. Making certain you have a proper path for the air to move helps too (mine has an intake fan on the front and an outlet fan on the back, for example-- don't have all your air going in or you're just stirring heat around).

 

Then there's the fact that some equipment runs hotter than others; certain processors will hit higher temperatures because that's the way they're built. You'd have to look up average temperatures for your processor and graphics card (which, mind, has its' own Graphics Processing Unit onboard, and puts out heat as well). I had an older ATI card that ran a good ten degrees hotter than most newer cards for some time. It ran fine, just hot.

[lichy123]

nah its pretty roomy.. think i can stick a headset there :P and its quite big.. one of those realtek headset that cover your whole ear and what not. maybe 2 if i get a better look at the inside of my pc (im just looking from the window on the side and the holes on the top)

 

sigh, i just don't know what to do anymore.. more ram, more room, more cooling. acording to the intel website my cpu is either maximum 75 ish or average 75 i'm not sure.. but with the fan above the pc it doesn't reach that temperature... yet.

 

i'll have to make a game session to see how effective sticking a huge fan above my pc is.

 

 

 

edit: ITS NOT THE HEATING!!! happened again, the pc is actually cool. didn't even reach 50. the slowing down began once more. think its the ram.. looking now the skyrim memory reached near 1.5mil and the pc is using 2.95 memory and i only have 4. would doubling the ram amount solve it? who knows. strange but it also says my cpu usage is 2%.. maybe because i minimized skyrim? doubt it...

Edited December 4, 2011 by lichy123