Vista - High-Requirement Games Used To Work

This is going to be a lengthy post, as I'm going to explain everything I possibly can in detail. I'll summarize it all in short sweet sentences at the end.

I apologize if anything is amiss; I checked the "how to ask for Help" thread and read it three times so any goofs are my own.

First the basic stats:

Hewlett-Packard Windows Vista Home Premium
HP Pavillion dv3 Notebook PC
System Type 32bit

Processor AMD Turion(tm) X2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-72 2.10 GHz

Memory (RAM): 3.00 GB

This problem is complicated, and while I know computers quite a bit, I'm no expert.

I had F.E.A.R. and Sims 3 for quite a while and they always ran smoothly; never caused the CPU to overheat (I even use a laptop cooler). It started one day with Sims 3. I was playing it and suddenly the screen went blank but all the lights on my laptop stayed on. I tried a hard reboot and, and it started doing that but then the screen went blank and the lights turned off.

I kept trying to reboot; once or twice it even gave me told me that it (the computer) had an message while starting up and tried to locate and fix it but could not. I actually ended up waiting about 5 minutes, leaving it alone, and then tried rebooting and it finally did so successfully. (I'm 99% sure there were never any error codes during any of this.)

From then on, I could only play Sims 3 for an hour, literally. Not 30 minutes, not 90 minutes. Sixty minutes. As soon as an hour was up, the screen went dark and I have to do a hard reboot (though now it can just reboot without a problem). Full uninstall and reinstall of the game didn't do any good.

I waited a day and tried again, and I was able to play Sims 3 for hours on end without any problem. But then the very next day it happened again, 60 minutes on the dot.

(I'm not sure about the other games, but I know for a fact that when playing Sims 3, the CPU works at 60%, with a browser window open and MSN messenger up and running.)

Recently, I've been playing F.E.A.R. (which I've had even longer than Sims 3 and has NEVER had problems) and now it's doing the same thing.

But the difference with F.E.A.R. is that it first did it (screen going black) after I exited the program after trying it on max settings, leading me to believe it's either my graphics card, memory, or both. (And now F.E.A.R. is doing the "blank my screen in 60 minutes" thing.)

However, remember that one time with Sims 3 where it kept blanking out when I was trying to reboot my computer? That was a one time only thing. Ever since that time, when this problem happens, I just hard power off, wait 5 seconds, reboot, it does it fine.

But the odd thing is I've not done anything to my graphics card or my memory recently, so I don't see why these games, which worked beautifully in the past, can't last longer than an hour.

Note: this might not be an issue, but then again it might. I also have Age Of Mythology, and it can only run for so long. However, it quits the program and tells me I'm low on memory. It doesn't turn my screen off. The time it does this can very, depending on how many games I play and how many "civilizations" are in the game. One game 12 civilizations mean memory out in 2 hours. Games of just a few civilizations can be about 5 hours.

Last thing of all, I've never had all three games loaded onto my computer simultaneously. F.E.A.R. has been on my computer alongside either Age Of Mythology or Sims 3. Neither Sims nor Mythology have been on my computer at the same time.




Wrap up:
F.E.A.R. and Sims 3 used to work great, but now quit in 60 minutes.

Possibly-related problem: Age of Mythology can only play for so long before it has to quit and tells me my memory is low.

Tried:
Uninstall/reinstall: might give me a day or two of problem-free play, but ultimately didn't work.
Seeing if running online messengers at the same time was the problem (wasn't in the past): didn't work.
Lowering the settings on both games: didn't work.
CPU Overheating?: No. I use a laptop fan, and if anything: the CPU has even worked hotter while playing the games and was still fine.

Cause:
Might be the memory card, graphics card or both. (Age Of Mythology game seems to point to it.)

gpu overheating maybe?

if it is overheating, you will need a program to monitor the temperatures ( i don't know any so anyone feel free to make a suggestion) and if they are above 60 - 70 degrees, you will need to open up the case so you can see the graphics card, and put any fan beside it to cool it down. tell us the results.



Dom

Hello Mkyruvesta,
If you need a temp monitor try this one.

Download SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer

Hope this helps, post your results,thanks.

i have tried speedfan before - - it is a cpu temp monitor isn't it?

Well spotted, i was waiting to see who would get that first, GPUz will fit the bill for GPU temps.

me? spot something? WOW!

yes, imissedvista try out gpu-z and tell us the temps.

speedfan is great tho!