TerraShock

I run a similar system, but with a GTX460, and while I didn't have this issue with COH, I did have a similar one with with World of Tanks, and LOTR. There doesn't seem to be any one good fix that applies to all.

Nvidia HD audio drivers, cheap memory, Adobe flash, and full moons, etc., have all been accused as culprits. I fixed mine by down clocking my memory and setting the nvidia global settings, to "prefer maximum performance". I also disabled Hardware Acceleration for "flash", as there were documented problems with it, and the newer drivers.

With the 295.73 drivers, I've been able to upclock my memory to normal settings again, but have left the other changes in place and still getting good results/no crashes. You might want to try some of these and see if you get any results.

I haven't tried the latest driver your running, and I think there is a just released driver, newer than yours, out now. I head over to guru3d.com for driver update information. I think the last best driver for most were the 275.33 or older, as nvidia changed something in how TDR is managed after that driver.

There are more suggestions on the 107 page long thread on nvidia's forum at, http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=187401

I would certainly turn off, ambient occlusion, as that will tax your fps pretty hard on that card and can't be helping the issue, and change the nvidia performance global setting. Also make sure your card isn't getting to hot. If your still getting a crash, try downclocking your memory if your able.

The latest Nvidia drivers helped me with a similiar issue. Install those if you havn't already. Older 275.33 drivers are reported to be better if you still have issues with the newest ones and want to try an older driver.

Also, you can try changing settings in nvidia control panel. Go to, manage global settings, power management mode and set it to "Prefer maximum performance".

If you still have issues post in the tech help board area. http://boards.cityofheroes.com/forumdisplay.php?f=578 and follow the sticky guide for asking for help. GL

Sounds like it may be a hardware conflict? The manual says a led indicator of, yellow/green/yellow/green is a vid problem? Did you see that sequence and follow the trouble shooting steps? Maybe someone else will chime in with suggestions too.

I'd like some feedback too, so hope ya get some,
I like having a hold, (fire) on mine, but Ball Lightning is a nice power, and I'd prob go with that, unless you got a buff you could slot in a hold that would work out better.

I'm not sure how much memory Comodo uses, and I would hesitate turning off my antivirus, but check if it has a "gaming" mode. See if you can change a setting in Comodo to exclude the game, most antivirus programs have that ability. Malwarebytes, and super anti-spyware need not be on at all. Update those, then run once, and shut down, repeat once a week or so.

If you really want to get to the nitty gritty about freeing up resources, until you can upgrade the system, take some time and go through Blackvipers guides at, http://www.blackviper.com/category/guides/windows-7/

Virtual memory settings as per Wanderingaries suggestion, adding more can start to hurt performance.

Popups then crash? What are the popups? You mentioned you rolled back the drivers? Is the game working on the older drivers? Did you use a driver cleaner when you did, or a clean install?

I think the 275.33 were pretty good drivers, then nvidia changed some things after that. I'm using the new 295.73 in my gtx 460 with good results here. Even helped with my TDR issues on another game, World of Tanks.

Were there any event errors listed in windows? Make sure the card is firmly seated and not getting hot.

You might want to poke around at, http://forums.guru3d.com/ for more info on some newer/older drivers.

Looks like you may be running 2 antivirus programs? Bitdefender and Mcafee, only use one, uninstall the other.

Have you checked for a new video driver? I'm not an AMD/laptop guy, but you might check the list here? http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...=278655&page=3

Does runnin the game in "safe mode" work. Turn down/off all the eye candy you can stand to go without. Shadows, texture levels, world detail, etc. Ambient Occlusion completly off.

As Microc mentioned, more ram would help, but you can shut down all programs you can, skype, etc., anything running in the background that isn't OS related or required, and that might help until you can add some. That would include all the extras that Windows 7 brings. Aero, desktop shadows, etc. I think Windows would like 2 GB ram just for itself, so your really tasking the memory to do to much, when running the game on top of that.

Check the Amd card, driver list thread, http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...=278655&page=3 I think that the 12.1 driver has been stable for most, but not sure.

I wouldn't revert back to XP myself.

You might have a look at this card, $109 after rebate. Just check that it will fit in the case. Less processing cores, but for your needs might be fine. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121435

The GTX 460 MSI cyclone, I run has been good for most games, but if you can get a more recent card, for about the same cash or less, why not?

Also consider if the card will exhaust out the back or not. That is one regret of my choice.

This should help, http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-7...ointer-trails/

Providing some info on the system might get you some replies to check into.

Thanks for the heads up Healix, I'll check 'em out. Been waiting to see when they released these.

Seems like a video card/driver issue to me. Have you tried rolling back to an older driver. I think the 275.33's were pretty good before nvidia changed some things in their drivers.

Do the problems persist if you run in safe mode? Also, try turning down some of the eye candy, Ambient Occlusion really saps the frames, and there have been issues with reflections before, water scenes mostly, so crank that down and/or turn it off. See if there is any difference after those changes.

World Texture Level: Very High (lower this)
Character Texture Level: Very High (lower this)
Shadow Map Shader: High quality (lower this)
Environmental Reflections: High quality (lower this)
Ambient Occlusion: High quality (turn this off)

Also, run a program that will let you check to see if your video card is getting to hot. I've used gpuz and hwmonitor.
If the problem goes away, then turn each back on/up, one at a time checking for the issue as you go.

You might want to see if there is an update to your Realtek sound drivers, 1/13/2006.

Might be related to Vista if your using that, or turning off "mouse trails", Also see,
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?p=2572105

Hyperstrike has a good guide for asking about new upgrades here, that you may wanna submit. http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=253272

Looks like that board is ddr2 memory which I think will make the ram a little more pricey? Depending if your using xp, vista, win 7 makes it hard to determine what you should try to add. Windows 7, I'd try to have at least 6 GB at least with 8 being better. Faster loads etc.

That micro atx mb might have little room for a larger video card, so you'll need to check and make sure the space is available. Then determine which cards can fit and start looking at a power supply that can run it and see it a new power supply fits inside easily.

Don't buy a cheap power supply, stick with name brands that get good reviews. GL with what you decide.

Like Hyperstrike said, your pretty limited in what that system can do. There are several programs that are loading that you may be able to disable to help improve the performance.

C:\Program Files\Ask.com\GenericAskToolbar.dll
C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Companion\Installs\cpn\yt.dll
C:\Program Files\Pogo Games\iWinGamesHookIE.dll
C:\Program Files\Google\Google Toolbar\GoogleToolbar_32.dll
C:\Program Files\Skype\Toolbars\Internet Explorer\skypeieplugin.dll
C:\Program Files\Microsoft\BingBar\BingExt.dll
C:\Program Files\AWS\WeatherBug\Weather.exe
C:\Program Files\Intuit\QuickBooks 2008\HelpAsyncPluggableProtocol.dll

Skype is pretty resource intensive. After a quick look at some others, you might wanna consider disabling those listed, and I think depending on your Mcafee version, you want to disable Defender. [Windows Defender] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe -hide

But do some research on that option before you do. Better safe than sorry. Shutting down all unnecessary programs will help, but not sure it will be enough to get you running w/o "ANY" lag.

I suppose your using a driver cleaner on changes? Did you try running in safe mode, and or, turning down all the eye candy? Did you get any error messages in the windows "event viewer" that might help you isolate the issue?

Nvidia guy myself, but you might wanna start here,
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...=278655&page=3

Radeon safe driver list thread.

Setting to not "autostart" with windows has helped some, as well as run as "administrator". Some have mentioned that shutting the process down in task manager, then restarting helps as well. Some links that might help.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=254442
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...=270215&page=2

and the google,

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=ac...w=1271&bih=889

Agree with Mr Xmas. The i5 2500k is good bang for the buck, with unlocked multiplier for easy overclocking, and worth the price imho. newegg reviews if you want some feedback.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115072

One more suggestion, you might try adjusting the nvidia control panel, "global settings" and select "prefer maximum performance".

This is suppose to keep the video card from "down clocking" avoiding the delay (TDR) the card experiences from going from 2D to 3D content. That has helped some people. GL

Spybot S+D is good, but I'd run another program, in case it misses some. Make sure their both updated too before the scan. Most say running a scan with spybot and then again with, http://www.malwarebytes.org/ should catch most everything.

Did you check the "task manager" and look for anything that looked like it didn't belong in the process trees? Maybe a program was updating itself at the time?

Without any specs, its hard to know what you should be seeing however, in terms of performance.

I think, the 270ish drivers, for desktop nvidia cards, have been better for others with similiar issues. Here is a great site/forum for drivers and gpus. It may help you. http://forums.guru3d.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21

gl