random skipping in games

[speedyink]

I am having some weird skipping problem when I play any game. The whole game will just stop for about 20 seconds, then resume normally. It will do this about every 5-10 minutes. The computer isn't loading anything, and it even does it on some older games where it shouldn't skip at all. I have a athlon 2600+ 512mb Ram, 120gb HDD, and 128 GeForce video card. It is a Compaq Presario S4220NX. Does anyone know how to fix this?

 

[computerdude2004]

It is having difficulty refreshing the game. Why, I am not sure. Do you have a lot of programs running in the background? Check and see if you have spyware that is taking up system resources or something. This shouldn't be happening. How old is the old game? You video card is a bit out of date so games made within the last year and a half may lag a bit.

 

[speedyink]

It did while playing these games:
midtown madness 2 <--it should NOT do it with this one
need for speed underground 1 and 2
roller coaster tycoon 3
sims 2 (stops for only about 5 seconds or so)

I dont really play much other games on my computer, so it will probly do it with others. There aren't any other programs running in the background, I'll run some spyware scanners. When it freezes though, it'll just stop with the sound frozen in one spot, then the sound will cut out for about 4 seconds, then the sound comes back and after a random amount of time it will start going normal again. Its very annoying, especially when playing racing games.

 

[computerdude2004]

Weird. Do you have the latest drivers for your video card. It shouldn't do that on RCT2 or something. I run that on a 1.8Ghz machine at times and it works fine.

 

[speedyink]

oops, thats supposed to be Roller Coaster tycoon 3. But ya, Midtown Madness 2? It didn't even do that on my old comp with 566mhz, 64mb of ram and a 4 mb graphics card. My video card drivers have been recently updated. Are they're any other drivers that should be updated?

 

[Pesmerga]

Are you sure your computer isn't overheating? When I play Half-Life mods such as DoD/Cstrike on OpenGL, my computer experiences similar freezes, except with the addition of some weird video issue where a bunch of tiny squares pop up on my screen...just make sure your computer isn't overheating.

 

[speedyink]

I'm pretty sure it isn't, but it did overheat quite a bit once before, it didn't turn itself off or anything though. Would that screw it up?

 

[Pesmerga]

Some machines just pause all activity to give the proc/videocard a rest, I think, so I would open up your case, stick your hand in and feel if it's warm ; especially around the PSU.

 

[computerdude2004]

You could have wrecked something when it overheated previously. Feel if it is hot around your video card, PSU, and CPU, sometime while your machine is running. You can also try lowering the quality settings on the game to see if it will help.

 

[Praetor]

I am having some weird skipping problem when I play any game. The whole game will just stop for about 20 seconds, then resume normally. It will do this about every 5-10 minutes. The computer isn't loading anything, and it even does it on some older games where it shouldn't skip at all. I have a athlon 2600+ 512mb Ram, 120gb HDD, and 128 GeForce video card. It is a Compaq Presario S4220NX. Does anyone know how to fix this?

1. What game?
2. Whats the video card?

need for speed underground 1 and 2

What's the video card? (and what quality settings do you play at)

I'm pretty sure it isn't, but it did overheat quite a bit once before, it didn't turn itself off or anything though. Would that screw it up?

1. Grab Motherboard Monitor (google MBM5) to check and log the temps
2. It'll screw up your game by turning the comp off but thats about it

You could have wrecked something when it overheated previously. Feel if it is hot around your video card, PSU, and CPU, sometime while your machine is running

Possible but its highly likely that if that were the case [1] you'd see mass artifacting or [2] it would just overheat faster

 

[speedyink]

my video card is a 128mb G-Force 5200 FX with the anti-aliasing off, the quality meter at quality. In game graphics (for need for speed 1) graphics at full except for motion blur with a resolution of 1072 x 768. Mind you it wil still do it if I turn down the graphics.

Why would they need a break that often though?

 

[Praetor]

Check your PIO/DMA settings

To ensure your drives are operating in DMA mode: (1) Control Panel, (2) System, (3) Goto the Hardware Tab, (4) Device Manager, (5) IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers, (6) Right Click on Primary IDE Channel --> Properties, (7) Goto the Advanced Settings Tab, Make sure both drop down boxes say 'DMA if Available', Click OK,(8) Right Click on Seconady IDE Channel --> Properties, (9) Goto the Advanced Settings Tab, Make sure both drop down boxes say 'DMA if Available', Click OK, (10) Reboot.

Why would they need a break that often though?

I didnt say anything about break

 

[speedyink]

no, but Pesmerga did. Thanks for the help though, I'm gonna try that

 

[speedyink]

well, they are both already set to that

 

[Beasman]

I also have a 128mb G-Force 5200 FX card and have the same problem. MY comp will also restart from time to time but my temps are fine when I check them. I think it has to be drivers but I cant figure it out

 

[speedyink]

yours does the same thing? the game stops for about 10 seconds withe the sound on, the the sound goes away for about 3 or 4 seconds, then the sound will come back then after a little while longer it starts going again? Hmm, I hope my warrenty is still good...