I'm not sure if this feature already exists, but I'd like to sort games lists based on user score. I know I can do that with the reviewer scores, but this would be pretty useful too.

It works fabulously well on older machines compared to Vista (SP2). On really high end machines, I'm not sure yet, bacause I haven't had a chance to try it on one.

A couple more observations that may help diagnose the problem:

a) My ethernet card has given me a few problems once in a while. When I run simple checks like ping, enable/disable etc, it doesn't work. Un-installing and re-installing the driver also doesn't work. Restarting the system doesn't work. But turning the system off and turning it on (immediately or later) brings the card back to life.

So, is there any free tool out there that can tell me if my NIC is to blame?

b) The system also has a habit of freezing - all fans running etc, but nothing moves/no state changes. This too happens randomly. What is a possible reason for this too?

you could play crysis for few hours and maybe some other resource intensive game or app and see if the power used running them causes it to reboot or freeze.

jamesfffan

I've played crysis for hours on end without issues (at times, admittedly, the system had a reboot). On other occasions, I've launched my browser to check e-mails and had the system reboot. But I understand your point about having all units pulling maximum power.

Other than that i think you can buy a psu meter/monitor.

jamesfffan

Noted. With the power supply to my residence being this unreliable, this should prove very useful.

Problem with PSU maybe? allthough that usually results in completly shut down.Chris_53

The PSU is actually pretty new (two-three months). Is there any way I can diagnose its working? My voltages all seem fine.

To be honest i think its RAM. how long did you run memtest for?Chris_53

5 passes - around two hours. I've also run Prime95 for 6 hours with a focus on testing the RAM. It's passed with absolutely no errors.

What about testing memory modules individualy (excuse spelling)Chris_53

Is it likely to make a difference if they're tested individually?

I had bad sectors on a hard drive once, even though I re-installed the OS it would persist to raise its ugly head and really screw my system, tbh if you have a separate drive create a partition on that and see if the restarts continue after installing XP on it, the bad sectors on that hdd ur using would worry me about it crapping out soon.

jamesfffan

The bad sectors were actually a result of an older, faulty PSU - which in turn was the result of a bad UPS (talk about cascading problems). This had actually hit some system files - but a re-install solved the problem. There are only a couple of faulty sectors, and the Windows installation (post format) avoided these, I believe.

Random restarts will mostly likely though be a power supply going wrong or not enough power to ur components.

jamesfffan

It's very likely you're right with respect to this one. The SMPS/PSU has a wattage that considerably exceeds my total power consumption, but the problem is more frequesnt since a recent, improper poweroff. If it is a power supply problem, is there any way I can diagnose this?

Tried some different gpu drivers too?

jamesfffan

Yes. My GPU drivers are the latest - so are the chipset drivers/motherboard BIOS etc.

I'm hoping there's someone on this forum with the experience to help me diagnose the issue. To put it very simply, my PC reboots at seemingly random points of time - usually when I'm surfing the internet. My system has had a few reliability issues down the years - my intent now is to nail the culprits responsible for that. I've got a shortlist of suspects below:

• The Processor
• The Motherboard
• RAM Sticks
• Graphics card
• Ethernet add-on card
• The SMPS
• Hard Disks (internal/external)
• CD/DVD Drive and Floppy Drive
• Everything else is on-board.

I haven't bothered describing my specs in detail unless necessary - I'm looking for good software diagnostic tools for each of the hardware elements above. What do you folks normally use if you get into trouble?

So far, I've run diagnostics for

• My hard disk using the HD Tune Pro trial (found some bad sectors, but a re-install of XP sorted that out).
• The RAM using memtest.
• The processor using Prime95.

No issues detected so far. I know of some decent hardware geeks I can take my system to, but I'd really like to investigate/learn something on my side before proceeding.

I loved it. One of the few recent games that have been able to keep me riveted...

just check the official *error* message list, a very long one, those are bugs and glitches encountered by legit gamers. This game is like a beta, and all gamers are testers, finding out bugs along the way.

teardropmina

Indeed. Just look at the range of issues listed down on the Rockstar Support page and you begin to get a feel for the sheer number of issues people have been facing.

So very often gamers crash during saving the game in the safe house, and that's after a long and laborious car chasing quest! that's just killling the whole gaming experience~~:

teardropmina

The first time that happens, I break something that's unfortunate enough to be lying around. The second time, I just stop playing. I play to de-stress, for God sake!

Anyone have any ideas where the next one will be set?bangell99

********* POSSIBLE SPOILERS ***********************

Well, the "spectacled one" asks our character : "Are you ready for Snow?". Paratroopers + Snow + Popular WW2 scenario almost definitely implies Bastogne and the Battle of the Bulge. The game didn't sell all that well though, so I'm not sure there may be a next part. Hoping for one...