Random freezing? I don't get this.....

Ok, so I have an issue, and I am completely baffled by it..

I have been running Guild Wars at MAX settings, 4xAA, 1920x1200, and it ran @ 60-70+ FPS.

Now, since Nightfall, my performance has been doing something very strange...

First, my FPS has dropped to between 17-40. Now, I am not concerned so much with FPS being between 30-40... but 17 is pushing it....

BUT! The MAIN issue isn't that FPS drop, its the random freezing. The game every 10 secs or so will Hang.... by hang I mean, the graphics will freeze, FPS drops to 1-2 according to -perf, and then will come unstuck after about 1/2 sec and I will be in a different location if I was running forward.


My specs are:

AMD 4000+ AM2
4GBs DDR2-800 RAM in Dual Channel
Seagate Perpendicular HDD 320GB SATA 3.0Gbps
Dual 7900GTs in SLi
Abit Fatality AM2 Mobo


Internet Connection: T3 Network @ my apartment via Outercom.


I have no firewalls on anymore, nothing. This is really frustrating. I built this PC from scratch, worked hard, and it's my baby.... any ideas?

I get this same problem occasionally. My PC isn't as "beasty" as yours but certainly should have enough grunt to run GW no worries, and I have a similar problem where I get like a "lock-up", everything freezes from camera, cursor, sound etc etc. This goes for 10-20 seconds, then a warp all over the place until it catches up...

Are you sure this isn't plain old lag due in your case to high packet loss?

Well, I am not 100% sure, but when I try and minimize, it is slow as can be...

But, on another note... sometimes when I am loading a map, it will sit at 0% and never try and load, and my whole internet seems to crash when that happens. Example: I will minimize and go to guru, and guru will never load, or google, or anything. I have to disable and restart my network adapter or try and repair it. Sometimes takes me doing that 3 times and restarting Guild Wars a few times. I just don't get it...

Bump? Anyone have ANY ideas? I welcome them.

i'm freezing and then i have to reboot.... rly weird, its not lag (i'm laggin alot so i know) - the whole screen just freezes, if my char was running, she just freezes mid-step, f12 dosnt work 2

how can i fix it?

compare the system req on the gwf or gwp box to the nf box. oh look the req increased. theres your answer.

Excuse me, but did you actually read the OP's post? If you did then you'd notice that he states quite clearly what system he's running. The system he posted should run Nightfall with no problem whatsoever!

To the Op,

My guess would be it's nothing more than the dreaded lag causing the problem. It certainly sounds like it by what you describe.

Here is another update to my issue. When I minimize Guild wars, my internet won't load either..... I am not too sure why this might be... Port forward issue maybe? A lot of ports on my T3 are closed because it is free. I am thinking about paying fee to open them. Think that may have something to do with this?

To Mesmer in Need: Yeh, I did check box. I think my system can handle big mean Guild Wars, lol.

hate to be able to only add "me too" but me Too...

ive got the same stuff going on..

After your hardware check outs to be in working order and the drivers are updated, the next things I would suspect are overclocking (stability) and overheating issues. Give your entire machine a good dusting, it can only bring good. But because you said your internet crashes, I have a hunch that your problem lies with your connection. Adapter working properly? Wireless? Many people sharing your connection? Sadly, free internet could very well be your problem =\

The screen hanging is usually caused by small amounts of ram witch is not the case as i see or by some program hogging all the cpu. I'd suggest you run some antivirus/spyware programs to see if it could be a one them that's causing the problems other than that I'm not sure, maybe gw.dat is corrupted or your pc is overheating (i doubt it actually but cleaning pc from dust is never a bad idea )
The problem can't be the connection because that would just make you unable to move or use any skills but you would be able to look around your charecter freely. The screen freezing is caused but hardware or in your case ( i believe ) software ( viruses, spyware )
One other thing, maybe what happened was that an antivirus program started running and it hogged all resources. I had a similar problem with Windows defender a lil' while back ( one of it's processes started hogging cpu for no reason, it wasn't doing a scan )but now it's all ok

darn I don't know how could I have missed your post I read the other thread soon after I made my post and this lag thingy seems pretty strange

Just ignore my previous post

After reading both threads it seems more and more logical that the problem lies in GW clients faulty or just not very well optimized coding because i still don't think that this could be caused by connection lag. I don't have Nightfall myself so I can't test it but I think that we just have to wait and hope that a-net will find the source of this screen freezing big fps losses.

That makes it sound like you connection is the problem, especially if youre losing all internet, not just GW. Have you tried a new adapter? What adapter are you using now? Im not sure what port GW is on(dont recall right now), but that could be it as well. I THINK its port 80.

While Nightfall has raised the bar on the technical side of things, there are a couple of things that could be causing the problem. It looks as though your PC and connection needs a health check.

My first suggestion, since you first described a graphics hang up style problem rather than net connection, would be to check the background processes of your PC. So many programs install updaters or quickstart programs that run on start up and take up resources without you necessarily being aware of it. The extra strain from Nightfall may be enough to make your PC slow. Doing a Google search on "msconfig" will tell you how to disable the unnecessary programs.

Your net connection also sounds like it needs a tune up as others here have suggested. Search for an internet speed tester, which will tell you how fast your connection is. A similar site will tell you what ports it can access. After that, if all looks ok, look at getting different hardware especially if you share your connection.

On a side note I bought a system with similar stats to yours recently and I'm really pleased with it too ^^ Hope you get this resolved soon

Disable DirectSong if you have that. Installed the NF CE bonus pak and my fps was <10 when I was in an NF area and >20 when in a non-NF area. Once I disabled DirectSong I am now >20 in all areas.

omfg... he has 2 vid cards along with 4 gb ram... no prob running GW maxed out. that machine is powerful.

however, ever since NF the FPS has decreased dramatically. me, its random. there are days where ill be getting 10-15 and day where ill go up to around 30-40 its a common prob. as for the random freezing... i really cant help u with that(maybe try reinstalling then running -image ?)

wow just for GW? lol why go through all that trouble...
ill just wait for them to fix it (if they ever do...)

Ok, this is getting ridiculous..... I just got my upgrade parts in today.

I installed my Electro Thermal cooling and new graphics cards and PhysX Card along with some other tweaks. I have NOT overclocked yet either.

System stats are now:

AM2 4000+ Dual Core CPU
4GBs DDR2-800 RAM
Abit Fatality AM2 590 SLi Mobo
Dual 8800GTXs in SLi
320GB Seagate Perpendicular HDD
2TBs HDD Sata 3.0Gbs storage
Sound Blaster X-Fi Pro Soundcard
ASUS PhysX Physics Processing Card
DangerDen Liquid/ElectroThermal Cooling

So guess what happened? Guild Wars is doing it MORE. My frame rate has dropped to a constant 20-25fps...... WTF?!?!? FIX IT ANET!

NOTE: I get 160 FPS in HL2: Ep1 with 1920x1200 on and 4xAA and 16x Anthro. Guild Wars < HL2. @_@

does this happen to all three games or just NF?
if its just NF ill wait a bit then get it later...

It is happening in all three continents, even HA etc. It is very hard for me to get a glad pt...

I have also been experiencing some slight freezing of the game from time to time and although I know the cause, I do not know of a way to fix it and keep things as they are.... my problem may not be related to yours though.

Ever since the update for Nightfall, a few days before it was released, DirectSong takes anywhere from 0.5 - 5 seconds to start playing songs. This happens everytime it loads a new one.

I haven't yet approached GuildWars support or DirectSong support regarding this because I've been mostly running around Elona, where DirectSong does not play any music. If you've been elsewhere, and have the Battle Pack and/or The Prophecies Special Edition music, you might be having the same problem.

A couple of things you can try:

- perform a clean boot before playing the game:

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310353

Follow the procedures in the "How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP" section and reboot the system (keep in mind that this will probably disable firewall and antivirus software). Now try to run the game again and see if the problem still occurs. Afterwards you can read the "How to return from a clean boot state" section to set everything back to normal.

- install the AMD X2 Dual Core Optimizer:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/...1_9706,00.html

- Check the event viewer for possible errors at the time you were playing: Start -> run... -> type "Eventvwr.msc" (without the quotation marks) and enter. Now go to System logs and Application logs and see if there's any entry about an error at that time.

- Disable SLI and run the game using only one 8800GTX.

Okay, I've been having this same problem and have come up with my own theory, with a possible solution.

First off, I can't speak for everyone elses PC here, but I am 100% sure that it has nothing to do with my PCs specs, or possible malicious software. I have been playing GuildWars on this same computer at maxed graphic settings for over a year and never had any problems until Nightfall launched. The only conclusion I came up with to explain the loss is an incompatibility between the Tyrian/Canthan/Elonian content. I've installed Nightfall, download the necessary files in-game, and played fine at 60+FPS for weeks without experiencing any lag or fps-loss; however as soon as I download the files for a Canthan map the problem arises again, it does not seem to occur after loading Tyrian maps, though.

I have tested this two times, and both times the fps drop didn't start until I loaded the Canthan content. This is, of course, no easy fix. It does require alot of patience, a fast connection and downloading more then 2gb's of files before you can call it "normal" again, but it has fixed it for me.

I am not having these problems on my machine which is a Dual core 1.6 ghz X2 with 1gb or ram and a Geforce 6100.

While I have no doubt that the cause involves more then one issue, I would like to make a note here and remind users about system requirements. The minimum requirements are what an application needs to run, that does not mean it will work well or work at all but it may very well work ok. Recommended requirements are just that, recommendations on hardware configurations that can provide better playability and performance. Just because you meet or exceed the requirements of a title's listed requirements does not guarantee your ability to play the game at its maximum settings.

There are more factors in system performance then simply having hardware that meets a level or requirements. Different vendors create components under different construction requirements. Not all makes and models of hardware will play nicely together to provide optimal performance in all situations.

This is not to say that the issue is not with a selected data center or with code optimization for that matter. This is just a reminder. Keep in mind that in order to eliminate Internet issues from a list of potential causes that you need to obtain an accurate trace route that also contains accurate packet lose and latency information. In many cases your routes are determined by your local Central office, Guild wars itself does not allow you to pick the optimal server or data center. Guild wars relies on a set of code that reads information about you and your party members regional locations. It then selects the data center it thinks is the best choice based on an average regional mean. This does not allow you to choose a data center or server that provides you with optimal performance. You do not have a choice in selecting a data center with lower latency and packet lose in route over one that is simply horrible or has a major kink in the path from your house to it.

Even with all the available cooling system out there, you must ensure your system has good airflow, If you can check the cfm and ensure that all your fans and cooling devices are actually working as you expect them to.

I think my system eats Guild Wars for lunch. But it seems the food chain has turned on me. I have done some tweaking. This must be game bound... I have pushed by FPS up to 30-50, but... I should be getting 150-300 fps, not 30-50. I am sorry, but if I can run FEAR @ 1920x1200 maxed settings @ 95 FPS, I can run GWs higher. The airflow in my case is phenomenal, and the phase change cooling keeps everything below 15F at FULL LOAD. This is not my computer, it is something to do with Guild Wars, specifically Nightfall.... Arenanet needs to do some checking on their code and optimize it a bit... and by a bit, i mean a lot.

Right now ..its been 3-4 days i'm facing the same problem with you guys...me & some people are unable to play the game at the moment( What...contig? defrag? uninstall? format hd? reinstall gw? safe mode? ip reset from isp? safeware removal tools? antivirus scan? ccleaner? etc etc? bleh...done all the above )

All i can say is, My experience with my past mmorpg was ( not guildwar...)...their entire network team and my isp were clueless answering my complaints for months...then i found out by myself that

1) we need to do port forwarding provided they tell us what ports that need to be unblocked-Maybe the old ports were blocked/removed or a new port was introduced without us knowing it..

2)upgrading the latest firmware for our modem

3)sometimes their server "Dont like" dynamic ips...thats what a router is needed to switch dynamic ips to static ips( WAN ips from the router )...WAN ips from the router is better accepted than any dynamic ips given from our isp ( may need to do extra port forwarding configuration within the router )

4)www.playNC.com ==> http://support.plaync.com/cgi-bin/pl...&p_lva=2440 # nice diagnostic tool. It contain the lists of softwares/hardwares/ping replies/traceroute etc ...try to post this log files to the suppport team..i, myself is waiting for a reply from them




Feel free to flame my 2cent

I dont have a modem, I have a static T3 IP. I am beginning to think it is ports. I will calling to open ALL my ports today, so hopefully, that solves the issues. I will update you guys if indeed it was a port issue.

I kinda skimmed over the posts, so I could have missed it... but have you tried checking your power supply?

I was having my entire computer freeze up on me when playing GW (or any game for that matter). I tried swapping out everything -- video card, sound card, got a new CPU heat sink and fan, etc. Nothing helped... until I threw in another power supply. Now my PC is working great.

i discovered what my problem was: I had a small program running in the background that optimizes my ram memory everytime it gets below a specific level. When GW loads a new zone, it uses a lot of ram so the program (free ram xp pro) starts to optimize my ram slowing down the computer.

When i disabled the program everything was back to normal

Possibly... I will look into that with my roomate and see if he has the same issue. Haven't really asked him to be honest.