EQ Problems at the character select screen

[militarebear]

Greetings, This problem is NOT an MMO problem but an EQ problem. For over a week I have not been able to log into EQ (either using MMO or Sony loader).It started with not being able to log into the login server, just received an error saying it was not able to connect. After a day, this passed and I was able to load up to the Character Select (CS) screen.
At the CS I was (and still am) able to choose different characters with my mouse but no other button would work. They would show the key being depressed but nothing would happen. I had/have to exit the program using the task manager.
I was hoping someone would have access to a utility program that would shut down the unnecessary background programs and services/processes leaving me with a bare minimum windows 7 x64 Ultimate box capable of running EQ. Then when gaming is done I could 'turn back on' what ever was turned off. I have been waiting for almost a week to hear back from Sony techs but . . . who knows how long this will take.
I even did a system restore to an earlier date but this didn't 'fix' anything. Oh, also, my character at CS appears to be highly accelerated, jerking around very quickly. Can't say how they would look in game as I am not able to log in. I have a stock system, nothing turbo'd or oc'd. The only thing I did was install a new CPU fan that I had to remove the motherboard to attach and this is single speed fan. I had noted that I was running up to 65c and had received several warnings as I hit that thresh hold. But I can't imagine adding that fan would give me problems in this game. I only have one other game that I sometimes play (Ultima Online) but that game plays normally.
Which brings me back to a hope someone has a utility for paring down automatically the services/processes/programs running in the background.
System info

Processor : AMD FX(tm)-8350 Eight-Core Processor           
Memory : 32666MB(1066)
Mother Board : SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0
Windows Version : Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Service Pack 1
Installation Date : 2014-04-27
Monitor : Dell 2407WFP (Digital)
Video Adapter : AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series
Mouse : Microsoft Hardware USB Mouse
Keyboard : HID Keyboard Device
Disk Drive : Samsung SSD 840 PRO Seri SATA Disk Device(476GB,IDE)
DVD/CD-ROM Drive : HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GH70N SATA CdRom Device

So any sage advice folks can throw at me would be appreciated.
Respectfully,
militarebear

 

[400bhp4tw]

Id just delete eq and re install, maybe something is corrupt?

 

[evilbarney]

go into your bios and do everything here

Bios Setting - Power Saving
Advanced Bios Setting > AI Tweaker > Ai Overclock Tuner = D.O.C.P
Auto changed settings :
CPU Ratio = 20
AMD Turbo Core Technology = Auto
CPU Bus Frequency = 200 <<this should be the FSB
PCIE Frequency = 100
DRAM O.C Profile = DDR3-1600Mhz
Memory Frequency = DDR3-1600Mhz
Prior settings and all the above were set to "AUTO"”

eq cant handle a variable speed cpu because reasons

 

[aspire2008]

I would check your CPU fan again, 65 degrees sounds like your heatsink is not secure or something wrong with the thermal paste. I'm not sure what AMD cpu temps run at but Intel ones run around 45 degrees (on air), so 65 degrees is going to hit the thermal threshold to cause those jerky behaviors your experiencing.

I've had a similar issue when I've run stock heatsinks from Intel, now I just stick with Corsair water coolers the H60 is pretty cheap if you can get that and does a wonderful job of keeping temps down to 30 degrees.


You wouldn't notice this in regular use such as browsing the web or other 2D apps, that don't utilize the CPU that much. A quick test would be to run another game and see if the problem is occurring with jerkiness and lag.


EDIT: Probably gonna have to look for an old game to test. The newer games are less CPU intensive these days.

 

[dewey2461]

Good catch aspire2008 - I missed the part about him changing the fan and having temp problems in the wall of text.

Assumption is CPU over heats - drops clock speed to lower temps and gets into a thermal limit cycle.

 

[Copperhead]

A quick test would be to run another game and see if the problem is occurring with jerkiness and lag.


EDIT: Probably gonna have to look for an old game to test. The newer games are less CPU intensive these days.

He did mention that Ultima Online plays fine.

 

[Nightmare327]

Another thing to look at is the AMD video card drivers, I know of at least 2 people that AMD installed a utility called 'Gaming Evolved', which as long as it is running, would cause crashes on my PC, or just EQ not starting at all on some others. So I would try disabling that, if it is running. It puts a tool tray icon, and after I had played a while, it would pop up with 'You have earned points for playing EQ for so many hours, etc.'

 

[militarebear]

Can't get a hand on this. Did a restore to beginning of month and still unable to click on buttons at character select (also still very accelerated avatars as well). It was running fine (hot but fine) when I turned it off to change out the fcpu heatsink and fan. Since then unable to log into EQ. Even did a brand new download of EQ but still have the same problem. I tried messing with the msconfig but all I did was manage to lose the net!! haha put it back the way it was.
This was why I was hoping someone could direct me to a utility that would turn off all but bare essentials in windows to allow me to game some. I used to use Gboost aways back but I can't even get that installed on my system now ((. I tried RazerGameBooster but that didn't help either.
Has to be a utility that will turn off the right crap then I could play and reboot back to windows. Anyone of you gurus know of such?
thanx for the comebacks by the way. ))

 

[evilbarney]

did you do the bios changes i posted because i have 100 % had the same issues you did

 

[militarebear]

Thanx eb, I never o/c anything ever but when I checked the bios the AI Overclock tuner was set to manual. I changed it to DOCP and bamm! things look right. Never o/c I read through your post and didn't take the time to double check my settings. This might even fix my heating problem. But it was strange that I never had this problem until I swapped the cpu heatsink and fan. Must have jumbled something to cause the setting to change...if they did change. Thanx a ton, Amigo. )))

 

[evilbarney]

depends on what kind of heat sink that you use if its the pos default amd one get rid of it and at least get a 212 evo at minimum

 

[JimJohnson]

I know this is silly but just re install old heat sink and see if problem still happens. It is a hassle but it at least shows you if its the heat sink even causing the issue.

 

[aspire2008]

65 degree's is pretty hot. You are hitting pretty close to the threshold temp before your comp shuts down due to overheating I bet. This still seems like a thermal paste or heatsink issue then a bios issue, if that setting you changed was already the default one previously. Will be pretty easy to tell after you've had your comp on for awhile playing a game for awhile that is cpu intensive.

 

[JimJohnson]

I agree with the heat issue, most likely just bad paste or cpu not flat.

 

[militarebear]

Well, hmmmmm and hawwww, I have to take the motherboard out to replace the old sink and fan. I guarantee that it would be far easier taking the god awful new one off but I guess I'll have to plan on putting it back on. The one that I replaced was stock and put a new Cool Master Hyper N520 in its place. Had to remove the board as I had to attach a new back plate for it. If I knew what a terrible time I'd have doing it, I never would have done it. Not gonna recommend this cooler. ))

 

[dewey2461]

I've got a 212 evo and the temps are rock solid. Make sure you watch a video to see how the plates attach.

I've got to admit you've got an interesting problem. Never heard anything quite like it.

 

[aspire2008]

1) Also, something that occurred to me just now. Did you plug in the cable for the heatsink fan to the motherboard. I know that sounds like a no brainer but with so many lego parts its easy to forget.

2) Next, I'd double check that the heatsink is pressed well against the CPU (press down hard on the heatsink when securing, but not to hard that you will break the motherboard) too. (this is 95% of the issue for me, with the symptoms you've described). I've had to go back and press harder on the plates, so there is no pocket air between the cpu and heatsink.

3) and that you didn't apply to much thermal paste either. You only need a pea size amt of thermal paste between the cpu and the bottom of the heatsink. Some heatsinks come default with it already applied.

4) Check to see if the fan is actually showing the RPM in bios

5) Did you create a uni-direction air flow through your case, you want air coming in 1 way and leaving out the other end. Don't bidirectional your fans that are parallel to your heatsink fan direction. i.e. if the front fan is blowing air in , the heat sink fan should be the same direction as the front show its blows the air coming in from the front to the back.

 

[militarebear]

Well I let it run for a couple days and the temps have come down to below 50 running six avatars, web browser and a couple other programs. I think the old sink and fan would have been ok if I'd have just read eb's message slower and better. )) Thanx all.