Whats is the problem? Running L4D

[ffximmortal]

Okay I recently purchased a bare bones kit and bought what I thought was some decent hardware to put into it. Right now I am @ a 2.71 Dual Core Processor 4 gigs of Ram (only running below 3 due to XP) with a Nvidia Geforce 8400GT Video Card, I definitely have enough HD space (400+gigs) but when I load L4D I can only run at lowest settings and barely that. I went to the Can You Run It site and it says I pass both minimum and recommended requirements for the game. I tried to update my drivers but I keep getting a blue error screen message everytime I update my video drivers. Any suggestions or is there something I should be doing?

Thank you

[l4dfan]

your gpu is probably holding you back, the 8400 is pretty ancient these days.

[ffximmortal]

darn it seriously lol Any suggestions on what I should buy that is cost efficient. I know you get what you pay for but I am not in the position to spend wads of cash on such luxuries.

[Xsng]

Goldkills will probably come by and recommend something.

Just estimate how much you think you'll be willing to spend.

[ffximmortal]

100-200...One thing I do not understand though is if my video card is well...bad why do I pass the recommended requirements on the Can You Run It site instead of just the minimum

[darkmessiah]

100-200...One thing I do not understand though is if my video card is well...bad why do I pass the recommended requirements on the Can You Run It site instead of just the minimum
9600 GT

[l4dfan]

it could be a number of reasons. those websites are worthless, for the most part, but you're correct in that you should be running it a little better than you are. if you're getting a blue screen then there's obviously something wrong on a software or hardware level.

for new drivers, here's what i do...
- download latest beta drivers (guru3d.com)
- do a regular uninstall of nvidia display drivers
- reboot into safe mode
- run driver sweeper (important - guru3d.com)
- run ccleaner (optional - ccleaner.com)
- run glary's registry repair (optional - google?)
- reboot into normal or safe mode, decline any prompts to search for drivers to replace your now missing display drivers
- install new drivers
- reboot again

it's a long process, but it's worth it. it ensures there's no files or registry keys left over from your older drivers.

[darkmessiah]

I can't believe you've been pretending to be a girl, l4dfan, lol.

[l4dfan]

I can't believe you've been pretending to be a girl, l4dfan, lol.
...what? how? i'm pretty sure my first or second post on this forum said i was a guy.

[darkmessiah]

...what? how? i'm pretty sure my first or second post on this forum said i was a guy.

Did you used to have a picture of Zoey when you first came?

FUCK, you're right, I'm getting you confused with someone else.

Disregard that, I suck cocks.

[l4dfan]

Did you used to have a picture of Zoey when you first came?
...so? try applying that logic to some of the other avatars here. it's just silly.

[darkmessiah]

...so? try applying that logic to some of the other avatars here. it's just silly.

Well, my friend, I'm a silly sad man, I'm sorry.

[ffximmortal]

wow what a rant lol j/k also even though it is a bit of a topic change but I bought a 22" flat screen as well, I don't know if it is the screen but videos seem to lock up while full screened but the audio is fine any ideas? btw you guys are prompt I appreciate it

[Goldkills]

Goldkills will probably come by and recommend something.
you rang...

anyway a 8400GT should be running the game well on med its got to be a driver problem try to use driver sweeper in safe mode (google driver sweeper) to remove your old drivers and reinstall the lastest drivers from Nvidia's site (get them before your clean out the old ones) try that and post back with what happends.

as for the display thing make sure u are running the game at the resolution that the display supports .

[ffximmortal]

Okay first off thank you Godkills for the help but sadly I tried all of that and so did my grandfather on his PC and we have the same result. He told me it is NOT the blue screen of death but an error message that occurs when you install bad drivers or a piece of hardware is malfunctioning. He is pretty knowledgeable about pc's (though self taught) but he knows enough about these things. Could it possibly be that Nvidia has released bad drivers? I tried those steps that you and L4DFan gave me but results in the same thing. Unless I am doing something completely wrong it must be the drivers. Here is what I did

Downloaded (did not install) the updated drivers from guru3d
Uninstalled original drivers and rebooted in safe mode
Ran Driver Sweeper
Did not allow my onboard VGA card to install. (The onboard is geforce as well could that be an issue here?)
Installed new Drivers (182.06 I believe)
Rebooted PC
After Startup Pc goes to Blue Error Screen

[l4dfan]

try booting into safe mode, does it still blue screen? if not, do this: control panel > system icon > advanced tab. under system failure, disable/uncheck where it says automatically reboot. then, make the blue screen happen again so you can read what the error says. write down some things that look important and report back...

[ffximmortal]

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you have seen this Stop error screen restart your computer. If it appears again follow these steps:

Check to be sure that you have adequate disk space. If a driver is identified in the Stop message disable the driver or check the manufacturer for updates. Try changing video adapters.

Check with your vendor for Bios updates, Disable Bios memory options such as caching or shadowing.

***STOP:0x0000007E (0xc0000005, 0xB5FFD223, 0xF78D9E0, 0xF78D92DC)

*** nv4_mini.sys-Adress B5FFD223 base at B5E0B000,Date Stamp 499c9be8

[l4dfan]

unfortunately that could mean a number of things, from bad drivers to bad hardware. you could try reinstalling your chipset drivers (nforce?) for starters, then trying a few different versions of beta display drivers... googling around could help too, but i wouldn't expect any solid answer. maybe someone else can help more...

[imbullgod]

I had a simular problem, and it was 1 stick of my ram. I went for 2 + weeks trying to figure it out, what a pain in tha ass it was. Especially for something as simple as that. Try removing your ram 1 stick at a time and see what happens. Make sure to swap them around to test them all individually. But start there, also may be your power supply going bad. Strat with your ram first, it's the easiest.

[Goldkills]

Try a older driver like the 179.xxx driver they seem to be still the best drivers for L4D and also see if u have every thing seated in your computer corectly.

[Jackel]

It could very well be a confliction between your onbaord card and your 8400GT. Try disabling your onboard card via BIOS, then reinstall the drivers for your 8400GT.

I highly recommend using drivers from the official nvidia site.

[Antman]

Okay first off thank you Godkills for the help but sadly I tried all of that and so did my grandfather on his PC and we have the same result.

wait, so you are getting this error on 2 different computers with different hardware?

[ffximmortal]

My grandfather has the same video card as I do and he tried to download the update and got the same error message. His PC is very similar to mine but my processor is slightly faster than his and I have more RAM and different motherboard I believe.

[Shleeb]

My 9800 gt can run GTA IV pretty good if you want a new graphics card.