Ok so for the past few months I have had some problems with my performance. Every TWO or THREE minutes my computer slows down drastically. It is really only noticeable when I'm playing games (Half-life 2/mods, Guild Wars), which were working perfectly before.

I am running on a...
Athlon 64 3000+ (1.8ghz)
512 RAM
Mobility Radeon 9600 (64 mem)

If anyone could give me some insight or some way to find out the cause of this I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

Hi and welcome to D-A-L

I think you're on the min spec for RAM for it to run

I got this from here. http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=56017


Taking time out to post on HL2Fallout's forums last week, Newell said that the minimum spec would be a 1.2GHz powered PC with 256MB RAM, Win 98/ME/2000/XP and a DirectX 7 compatible graphics card.

But for those who want to see the game running in all its glory, be prepared to spec up to around a 2.4 GHz machine, with 512MB RAM, Windows 2000/XP and a DirectX 9 capable graphics card.

Thanks brain_damage

I don't think the problem is that I lack the min-requirements, since I was able to run HL2/CS: Source before with decent fps. Even with much older games (Starsiege Tribes 1998), I get tremendous slow downs every few minutes.

I ran a virus scan with AVG and didn't pick up anything so I am pretty much stumped on what is causing this.

Heat?

Have you opened the case and cleaned?

Have you tried running with the case open?

Check the fan on the graphics card as well. Feel around (without touching) for excessive heat.

Oh sorry I guess I didnt mention I am running this on a laptop. I never though of heat though. Is there a way to check the temp?

Not sure if it's relevant but it constantly "sounds" like it is running something. Does that make sense?

If it is on your lap ... Sorry

You can get the old (free) version of Everest Home Edition here:

http://www.oldversion.com/

Under Utilities.

In the program click Computer then Sensor. The type of readings you get will depend on what sensors are available on your board.

But all kidding aside feel the bottom of the laptop for hot spots and variations.

You can also check your CPU usage via the Task Manager. (right click an empty area of the task bar and choose Task Manager > Performance)

To view this during game play you will probably have to turn off full screen for the game or else it will visually over ride the Task Manager.

If you're hearing the hard drive it may be starting to fail. Do you know the make of the hard drive?

What is the exact make and model of the laptop?

Is it old?

I am using an eMachines M6805, and yes the hard drive is constantly spinning I think. The hard drive is a HITACHI_DK23FA-60. It is running at 57 C (136 F).

Also it looks like during gameplay, even with some I KNOW doesn't demand it, it's using 100%.

Oh and I have had it for about 20 months.

You will find an Hitachi Diagnostic here:

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287

As it appears that you do not have a floppy drive you would need to burn the ISO to CD.

There is a free ISO burner here if you need it:

http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm

This will test your hard drive for any issues.

The CPU running at 100% is going to cause heat and performance problems.

How to troubleshoot it?

Are you using the battery or AC adapter? When you reboot does it restart at 100%?

Can you test startup applications that might spike the CPU Usage?

On another front: do you run an AV and Firewall? Virus scans? etc.

Is this sound or constant hard drive activity a new issue?

I don't have any blank cd's so I can't do that right now.

I am using AC adapter. I really don't know how I can test startup applications. I run virus scans with AVG and I haven't picked up on anything, so I don't think that is the issue. Also, I have just recently noticed the constant hard drive spinning.