My PC is screwed over after upgrade

What the hell. I upgraded to an extra 512 mb of RAM, and got an sweet new monitor, but my games play more terribly than they did before. For the most part, I speak of Stalker, okay well this is a 1440 x 900 monitor, so I put that as my setting for Stalker and I leave the settings the same (static lighting, stats on max.) But it is so choppy, I nearly have a heart failure. I only have 1 gig or RAM see, but I could still actually run it on max for static lighting before. But now I can't do s***. Same kind of problem for FEAR, and I refuse to speak of the problems for CoH. I've got an Intel Pentium 4 if that helps.Wolf7040

This issue is due to your new monitor. I believe your video card can't handle the new resolution.

I think you could be right, but that brings up another thing. See, I used to have a Geforce 6800gs (still do) but it's put away now. It fried my comp or something like that awhile ago, and geeksquad put in a 6200 instead. They told me it was "completely burnt up" but whenever I look at it I think their lying. It looks perfectly fine, but I don't want to put it in the comp because I don't want another accident. I don't know why it happened, but is there a way I can make my computer stronger, as to handle the heat it gives off? Or is their a way I can get it checked, to see if it still functions good?Wolf7040

[QUOTE="Wolf7040"]I think you could be right, but that brings up another thing. See, I used to have a Geforce 6800gs (still do) but it's put away now. It fried my comp or something like that awhile ago, and geeksquad put in a 6200 instead. They told me it was "completely burnt up" but whenever I look at it I think their lying. It looks perfectly fine, but I don't want to put it in the comp because I don't want another accident. I don't know why it happened, but is there a way I can make my computer stronger, as to handle the heat it gives off? Or is their a way I can get it checked, to see if it still functions good?Phantsy16

You may be correct, but there is still that concern of what happened last time with just the 6800gs. My PC had to be repaired and all, I think because of overheating issues. If just the 6800gs did that, then maybe a 7600gt would do more harm. But I really don't know. I'm just concerned at that issue really, is there a way I can prevent this (like are their ways to keep a card cooled off better), because I think that might have been the problem.

Sounds like your graphics card is the thing you should have upgraded. If I were you I would go to the PC Hardware forums and ask for help there.Peter_Darkstar

But I still have the 6800gs with me, if I get that checked, and it's fine, I'm still good to go performance wise, right?

that 6200 is the culprit. dont even try to game with that thing if you want decent settingsMiguel16

Too late. I've already journeyed through hell with it. Can you believe I've been playing Company of Heroes with it? It's actually decent, if your very patient like I'am. But I've began to lose that patience. I really need someone to help me with the issue I'm faced with upgrading graphics cards. Is there a way to have it better cooled or something, or clocking (whats that?) because if I put like a 7600GT in my comp, it might cause it to break like last time.

I think you could be right, but that brings up another thing. See, I used to have a Geforce 6800gs (still do) but it's put away now. It fried my comp or something like that awhile ago, and geeksquad put in a 6200 instead. They told me it was "completely burnt up" but whenever I look at it I think their lying. It looks perfectly fine, but I don't want to put it in the comp because I don't want another accident. I don't know why it happened, but is there a way I can make my computer stronger, as to handle the heat it gives off? Or is their a way I can get it checked, to see if it still functions good?Wolf7040

1. the geforce 6200 suks don't use to play video games

2. its most likely your powersupplys fault if you still have the one that comes with the computer than thats bad thats probaly why its overheating so just buy a new powersupply and your 6800gs will work fine

[QUOTE="Wolf7040"]I think you could be right, but that brings up another thing. See, I used to have a Geforce 6800gs (still do) but it's put away now. It fried my comp or something like that awhile ago, and geeksquad put in a 6200 instead. They told me it was "completely burnt up" but whenever I look at it I think their lying. It looks perfectly fine, but I don't want to put it in the comp because I don't want another accident. I don't know why it happened, but is there a way I can make my computer stronger, as to handle the heat it gives off? Or is their a way I can get it checked, to see if it still functions good?mastershake575

1. the geforce 6200 suks don't use to play video games

2. its most likely your powersupplys fault if you still have the one that comes with the computer than thats bad thats probaly why its overheating so just buy a new powersupply and your 6800gs will work fine

Alright, thank you, because I've never changed it since I got this PC, years ago.

Also if you just added another 512mb stick of Ram it's possible that the mhz for your ram was lowered and you need to set it back to its real value from Bios. Happened at least to me when I added an extra gig, the Ram speed for safety reasons I think was automatically dropped to 333Mhz from 400Mhz. I know it's not the reason your performance suffered since the amount of Ram was increased at the same time(reason is the higher res as said) , but still worth checking.EntwineX

Well, I've actually been having problems right now with that blue stop screen. My BIOS has never been updated(not that I know of), I can't find the right thing to update it. That's another problem I would be happy if someone helped me with.

[QUOTE="EntwineX"]Also if you just added another 512mb stick of Ram it's possible that the mhz for your ram was lowered and you need to set it back to its real value from Bios. Happened at least to me when I added an extra gig, the Ram speed for safety reasons I think was automatically dropped to 333Mhz from 400Mhz. I know it's not the reason your performance suffered since the amount of Ram was increased at the same time(reason is the higher res as said) , but still worth checking.Wolf7040

Well, I've actually been having problems right now with that blue stop screen. My BIOS has never been updated(not that I know of), I can't find the right thing to update it. That's another problem I would be happy if someone helped me with.

Google up some PC help forums. Maybe have some pics taken of Graphics Cards and show them.

Research on a good power supply as well. A good case also helps with cooling. 

You said you are having overheating issues. Is the over heating with the graphics card, or the CPU? If it's the CPU, the fan might not be working properly, you can get that changed easily.

As for the graphics card, 6800GS isn't excelty top of the line, but you can play most of the games released until now with it. So I don't think buying a new graphics card right now is a good idea. You could wait until 8600 is out and buy that instead.

As for your computer getting BSOD, it could well be because of the RAM. 

The video card should be able to handle widescreen resolutions, I don't think that's a problem. But since you started having problems after adding RAM, you better check the frequencies of the RAM chips. If they are mismatched, you might be having weird problems.

1. The Geforce 6200 is a budget card that's not really meant for intense gaming, and it's certainly not going to be able to drive the resolution of your new monitor. I could use choice expletives to tell you how awful that card is, but I'll spare you. The 6800GS is pretty decent, so you might want to try getting it to work again. Is the fan bad? Because you can buy aftermarket GPU heatsinks/fans, although that might be more money than it's worth. You might also have an inadequate power supply for the 6800GS.

2. Never trust places like GeekSquad, KompUSSR, etc. Generally speaking, they have no idea what they're talking about, or they're out to rip you off, or both. Just because someone works for Geeksquad doens't mean they know jack about computers. The fact that they replaced a 6800 with a 6200 as equivalent is evidence enough of that. Quality tech support is rare these days. Your best bet is to do a little reading and learn how to do things for yourself.

If you are really experiencing a blue screen, and especially if you received that problem AFTER the RAM upgrade, then I would bet my money on a RAM issue. It's difficult to get a Ram that is not compatible with another stick or your mobo as long as they are both the same type(SDRAM, DDR, DDR2) and I doubt you can get that wrong, still it's possible there's something wrong with it, are you sure it's all the way down, some slots/sticks are a bit tight and take some force to get on place, timings make a difference too tho on default they should be correct, also I'm not sure if it can happen but if your new Ram is of a slower speed than the old one and your mobos speed it could be running on a too high Mhz or something. You could try taking one out and see if the BSOD still appears.

What kind of Ram did you add, what ram did you hae previously, what ram does your mobo support and did you get blue screen even before the upgrade are important questions. 

Dude...change your font...

Dude...change your font...

dnuggs40

[QUOTE="dnuggs40"]

Dude...change your font...

EntwineX

The guy before you typing in that huge font.

[QUOTE="EntwineX"][QUOTE="dnuggs40"]

Dude...change your font...

dnuggs40

The guy before you typing in that huge font.

[QUOTE="dnuggs40"][QUOTE="EntwineX"][QUOTE="dnuggs40"]

Dude...change your font...

EntwineX

The guy before you typing in that huge font.

?

[QUOTE="EntwineX"][QUOTE="dnuggs40"][QUOTE="EntwineX"][QUOTE="dnuggs40"]

Dude...change your font...

dnuggs40

The guy before you typing in that huge font.

?

I know that...I just dont get it lol...

I dunno...it's monday and near the end of the day...my brain might not be functioning properly...

My thoughts are with the others when saying your BSOD is most likely a RAM issue. It's highly highly recommended that you match your sticks, not only speed wise, but timings as well. Search and Download "CPU Z" , run the little application, go over to the memory tab, and look what you have installed in each slot(See if they match). If you get confused as to what slot each particular stick is in, Take out the stick you just installed. If they don't match, return the stick from wherever you got it, and order one that matches. 99% of the time, the BSOD is related to bad/corrupted/mismatched RAM, or problems with the Virtual Page File, which I don't think is the culprit here.

Also, as said earlier, I would also replace your Power Supply, as said earlier, they are cheap and very simple to install, if your not comfortable with any of this, go to a local mom and pop shop in your area, and have them take care of this issue, and make sure you tell them your concerns and what happend to your rig previously. You can buy PSU(Power Supply) tester that checks the power coming out of them, but again, if you aren't comfortable with doing that, have someone take care of it for you. Now, if you can't find a local shop(You should with Yellow Pages!), worst case scenario is to head over to the Geek Squad or Comp USA, but I would highly reccomend that you find a local shop instead.

Also, you should try heading over to anandtech.com or daniweb.com , they have some extremely bright people over there, that will be able to walk you through many of your issues. You aren't likely going to get the same service here at GS, even though the Hardware Forums are reliable.

I know that...I just dont get it lol...

I dunno...it's monday and near the end of the day...my brain might not be functioning properly...

dnuggs40