Why is my video choppy and crash my computer when gaming?

I have several computer games that keep crashing. I have always been able to play these games before. They take quite a bit of power to run. Some of the suggestions i have had are that my video card is shot, my video card is over heating(I have a fan on it), and that I need to load new drivers. I would appreciate your help. Thanks....

P.S - I can still play some games that aren't as detailed. I am not sure what type of video card I have or where to find what i do have.

This question was answered on February 27, 2001. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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Hi--You haven't given me much to go on here You said that you have always been able to play these games before, and I am assuming that you are talking about the current machine that you have You didn't say anything about hardware or software changes, so I am in the dark here as well I will assume no changes here.

A couple of thoughts Did you change your screen display resolution recently? A higher resolution will strain your video card and your processor At higher resolutions, the video card may be overloaded and asking for help from the processor If this is happening, it may be that the processor is trying to be utilized 100% (You can check for memory usage with a tool called SysMem, found in the Accessories, System Tools folder of your start file).

If you think this is the problem, or even if you don't, try running your video at a lower resolution to see if it makes a difference You can change your resolution by opening control Panel, Display You'll see a slider that you can move left or right with your mouse Also, try running at 256 colors, instead of 64000 or more These changes will make your video card have to work less, but things may not be as pretty (Since you can play other less detailed games, my gut says that this will do the trick).

Another thing to try is close all other programs before playing your game, if you are not doing so already This will allow Windows to have more RAM to work with.

My last thought, one of the games or another program may have corrupted your video driver file You would have to reinstall the driver, or, better yet, try and locate an updated driver for it An updated driver is ALWAYS a good thing if you can find it It swats the "bugs" that users uncover while they are using one of thousands of software programs that are out there, and the manufacturer did not discover or could not test because they didn't exist when he produced the card

You said you don't know what kind of card you have If it came with your Compaq machine, give Compaq your serial number and they should be able to tell you what card it is, and may be able to provide the most current driver, as well as instructions for installing it Look on the back of your machine or your sales receipt for this number.

Good luck and happy gaming.

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Posted by Robert of Chandler-Gilbert Community College on February 27, 2001

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