VGN-FS215B Graphics Adapter Compatibility re Games Software

[dap_synch]

My son is attempting to run Gulid Wars PC Software game on my Vaio which has Intel 915GM PCI Express graphics adapter with 128MB RAM (I assume as the Intel spec says this is the minimum memory size despite the label on the Vaio saying ' with up to 128MB".)

The game randomly crashes my Vaio with a 'Blue screen of death' and immediately restarts. There is no obvious pattern to the crashes ie they are not repeatable.

Guild Wars requires a minimum spec of:

• Pentium III 800MHz (Vaio processor is 1.73GHz)
  
• 512Meg Memory (I have expanded the memory to 1Gig)
  
• ATI Radeon 8500 or GeForce 3 or 4MX with 32MB video memory
  

The video adapter requirement seems to be the only mismatch - can you tell me if the Intel 915GM is compatible with the minimum requirement if not are there any drivers which can be loaded to provide the necessary compatibility?

Many thanks

[tonybeard]

The machine is likely suffering from lossy or latency so get it running sweetly so the processor doesn't go unhandled exception and BSOD. Get this program Tune Up Utilities and do all it recommends especially the registry defragmentation and the free up as much space as possible using the Clean disk utility (not the tune up one!). Then once everything is corrected defragment over and over till it defragments in about 30 seconds and then once a week. The game will crash no more and the system will only need defragmentation once a week ( it is very wearing on the hard drive)

[rich912]

Hi DAP_Synch and welcome to the forum.

You may find this of interest.....

[dap_synch]

Tony,

Many thanks for the tips. You are very liikely hitting the mark as my Vaio is very heavily loaded - my hard disk is pretty full (C: drive 6% free and 😧 drive 21% free - why did Sony preformat with 2 logical drives, it's such a pain?). Defragging is a problem on the C; drive because the defragger reports that it needs 15% to do hte job properly. I've already defragged twice but I will follow your advice and repeat the process until it finishes quickly.

I already use a utility to clean the registry. I have used System Mechanic in the past to carry out these types of processes but I found it intruded too much on the machine to be a any use - System Mechanic took up so much time reanalysing and optimising that I I didn't et much a look in to do some actual work myself!! (So I removed it....)

Many thanks again for your advice - I'll post my results

Dave:smileyhappy:

[dap_synch]

Hi Rich,

Thanks for the welcome.

I had already ventured onto the INtel site but didn't think of checking for info on Guild Wars and the graphics adapter! Thanks pointing me at the info!

I had already seen the possibility of upgrading the Adapter driver on the Intel site and have already downloaded the software. However, I was a bit wary of updating the driver just in case Sony had done some 'jiggery pokery' of their own and has an OEM driver version.

Also Intel refers to 14.20 as the latest driver and if I check the driver version on my machine is shows as 6.14.10.4267
- I guess I have version 14.10 as per Intel version so it is worth an upgrade - I thought the Vaio update process would have kept this aspect updated for me.....

The driver details show that it is an Intel driver so I guess I's be OK to upgrade - if it goes wrong I'll be able to rol back - assuming I'll be able to see a screen, of course!!

Thanks again

Dave

[dap_synch]

Thanks Guys, The tips did the trick - we now have a fullying stable Guild Wars so my son is delighted!!

I defragged my drive repeatedly plus deleted the files from C:\Windows\Internet Logs (see next para) and I upgraded the Video driver via the Intel support website - despite being described as 14.20 Device Manager reports the version as being 6.14.10.xxxx. Something different has been loaded in that I now have a system tray icon which allows me to set properties for the adapter including being able to use dual display (with an external monitor connected).

I found that there is a folder C:\Windows\Internet Logs which contained over 3000 files and was taking up a whopping 4Gigs of disk space. Before deleting the files (not all can be deleted but most can be) I copied the contents to an external 300Gig USB drive I'm using with the Vaio (I can strongly recommend this drive - it's an ATMT 300 Gig USB external which cost £99.99 from Amazon - very good value and virtually essential). The only adverse effect has been that Internet Explorer has lost the option to open new browser sessions on a tab - no big deal but I did find the feature quite useful...

Thanks again

Dave :smileygrin: