Static lag. *WARNING* noob question

[Savage_Swede]

Hello, i'll try and be quick as i dont have much time.

First of all, my PC specs are top-notch. It runs pretty much every game i have on max. But i just recently borrowed Neverwinter Nights 2 from a friend, and i keep getting this wierd static lag. You know, one moment it is lagging like hell, then after a few seconds it runs perfectly smooth again, then repeat.

The question is probably simple, but why does it act like that? And what can i do to stop it?

And before you ask, I have tried to lower graphics, freed about 20GB of games, music and movies and now have 70Gb+ free.

Halp!

[Incinerate_IV]

Neverwinter Nights 2 is known for being buggy, have you downloaded the latest patch of the game?

Updating your graphics card driver won't hurt either.

[Savage_Swede]

Neverwinter Nights 2 is known for being buggy, have you downloaded the latest patch of the game?

Updating your graphics card driver won't hurt either.

Yup, patched to final. And yes i am a noob, but how do i update my graphics card? Or do you mean buying a new one?

[Shaun]

Yup, patched to final. And yes i am a noob, but how do i update my graphics card? Or do you mean buying a new one?

No, he meant updating your graphic card driver software.

[Savage_Swede]

No, he meant updating your graphic card driver software.

And how do i do that?

[spartan_phalanx]

What graphics card do you have, we can then help you from there?

[Incinerate_IV]

I mean updating the graphics card driver, basically a software that allows your operating system to interact with your hardware.

You have to find what graphics card you have first.

Right click on the desktop, go to properties, settings tab, and your graphics card name should be under "Display:".

[Savage_Swede]

NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX

I was atleast told it was good

Next step?

[Incinerate_IV]

Here's the driver page.

http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

Select Graphics Driver -> Geforce 7 Series -> your operating system.

[Savage_Swede]

Damn.. i am getting surprised over my own noobishness. But does the patch require that i install in the NVIDIA folder? Because i can't seem to find any one folder that contains anything about NVIDIA or graphic cards at all.

The default install is C:\NVIDIA\WinXP64\93.71

But there is no NVIDIA folder in the C-drive and thus it will create its own. So won't it work if i just let it create its own folder?

Thanks for everything so far

[Incinerate_IV]

Damn.. i am getting surprised over my own noobishness. But does the patch require that i install in the NVIDIA folder? Because i can't seem to find any one folder that contains anything about NVIDIA or graphic cards at all.

The default install is C:\NVIDIA\WinXP64\93.71

But there is no NVIDIA folder in the C-drive and thus it will create its own. So won't it work if i just let it create its own folder?

Thanks for everything so far

What do you mean by that? It will automatically create its own folder if it doesn't exist.

Before installing your driver, make sure to uninstall your old driver first. Go to add/remove programs and delete the old nVIDIA display driver entry.

Then once you done that, restart, and install your new driver.

Erik's got a good point too, does this happen on only this game or on all the games?

[Erik]

cudakite had a similar problem a few weeks ago.
We discussed it in this thread starting at post #12 (the first 11 posts were about something else).

Turned out his CPU heat sink wasn't properly connected, so the CPU was overheating when he played CPU intensive games.
That's probably also where your problem comes from.

[Savage_Swede]

Maybe it is a heat issue then, because my problem is almost identical to what cudakite is describing. Only that the intervals are a little longer. Extreme lag at first, then extremely smooth. And actually, when i just put my hand on the computer it was unusually warm when i was playing. Could someone direct me to the place where i can see the different temps?

And even if it is a heat issue, it will probably do some good to get the latest drivers as well.

Sorry but i dont have more time right now.

Thanks for everything.

[King Edward I]

im using the 94.XX beta drivers and they seem to be pretty good actually

[Savage_Swede]

Nope, the lag is probably not a heat isssue. After i came home and turned the pc on and then fired up Neverwinter, i played for 10 minutes before the static lag began again.

This have happened before, but only very temporary with other games. And the last time i borrowed Neverwinter nights it worked like a charm.

And back to the driver update, i should go into the add/remove thingy and uninstall the 'NIVIDIA Drivers' and then install the new one? Correct?

[Incinerate_IV]

Yep.

Here's a program that can check the temperature of your processor:
http://www.thecoolest.zerobrains.com/CoreTemp/

[Savage_Swede]

"This is not an Intel Core Processor. This program will not continue."



Anyways, i am now pretty much 100% sure it is a heating issue. It is my CPU which gets flaming hot when i play the game. It works well for a minute or two at first before it begins with the static lag again. So i opened the side panel just to check if the CPU fan was even working when i was playing, and it is.

About that thread you posted Erik, where you talked about some 'pins' popping out, did you mean that it caused the fan to not work at all or just not at 100%?

Because as far as i can see, that little microwave is shut down tightly and the fan is still spinning. What can i do to cool it down? Throw in a pack of ice-cubes?

Rep will be coming ^^

[Erik]

"
About that thread you posted Erik, where you talked about some 'pins' popping out, did you mean that it caused the fan to not work at all or just not at 100%?

No, I meant the "pins" that attach the heatsink to the mother board.
There are four of them, and they need to be pressed all the way trough the mother board so little grippers at the end grip the back side of the motherboard.
If only three are pushed all the way trough the heatsink appears to be attached properly, but it doesn't push down on the CPU tight enough.

In this picture you can see two of the four "pins" at the bottom-left and bottom-right corners of the picture.
They have plastic tops so you can operate them with your fingers (push down to attach, turn 90 degrees to release)

[OTZ]

Is the problem only associated with NWN2? Have you tried running other games - or maybe even some stress-test software?

[Incinerate_IV]

Ok, this program should support the processor you have:
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

You could also check the idle temperature of your processor in the BIOS too.