I have a problem with an old Vectra

Hi guys,
I have tried asking about this in a couple of other computer forums but nobody seems to know the answers.
Some basic facts first.

The CPU is stated in "System Info" as being, x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9 GenuineIntel ~2789 Mhz
The BIOS version is American Megatrends Inc. JA.01.07US, 19/07/2001
It runs XP Pro Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
Total Physical RAM is 1,536.00 MB with (currently) 972.06 available
The RAM itself is in 3 absolutely identical RAM sticks from the same manufacturer.
They are all Non-ECC Unbuffered PC133 SDRAM, 133 MHz, DIMM 168-pin
The graphics is run by a NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 with 256 mb of Adapter RAM
I get on the internet using Broadband with a speed of 54 Mbps
All drivers are bang up to date, or should I say as bang up to date as possible for an old clunker like this.

OK, now to the nitty-gritty.
Check out this Youtube video .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxhUe6xZhk8
That video was taken by me and it shows an episode of a TV programme we get in England called Top Gear, a motoring show. Watching the show on a different computer of less spec than the one in question gives an almost television quality video.
Just to make myself clear about this, it isn't JUST this one clip that plays like this. It is ALL video content. Annoyingly, the only video streaming that ISN'T as shown in the Youtube video, is the advertising video for a camera that I get when opening Youtube. THAT is perfect.
This PC is used mailny for text based stuff so really, the specs are overkill for what it needs day to day. I only use it to watch BBCi Player for TV shows when work is done.

Do any of you experts have a clue what is wrong or a suggestion of what I can try to make my problems go away?
OK, yeah. The obvious solution is to junk the PC and go buy a new one. I'm guessing that 'er indoors wouldn't fall for that one, lol

Thanks for any help.

 

That's a Pentium 4 i guess? It could be throttling, Pentium 4s don't crash when they get too hot, they just get very very very slow. Try cleaning the heatsink and see if it gets any better.

Also update the video driver ( www.nvidia.com). It looks more like a malfunctioning video driver than anything else.

 

Hi there,
Good try but no cigar, lol
Yes, it is a Pentium 4.
I will try Google to find a temp measure and report back.
The inside of the PC is clean as a whistle and I only installed the video card this week as one of my possible ways to cure the problem. I installed the drivers that came with it and then went to the Nvidia site for their latest drivers which I installed on Thursday.
The old graphics card was a GeForce Ti200
Cheers,
Steve

 

I downloaded and ran Speedfan and here are the results.

 

No CPU temp sensor, that kinda worries me. Download and run ThrottleWatch, it'll tell you 100% whether the CPU is throttling.

 

Hi again, Th3_uN1Qu3.
I think you may have hit the nail on the head with this "Throttling" thing.
The two sceenshots below were done in the last half hour.
The first one shows what happened when I disconnected from the internet and left my PC totally alone. I didn't even move the mouse and there were no background Anti-Virus checks being done.
The second one shows what happened when I connected to the internet and streamed a video from the BBCi website. Just in case you can't see it clearly, the useage line is up at the very top all the way across.

My next obvious question is, "How do I go about curing this issue?"
I'll search the web for info myself and see what I can come up with.
Just in case it makes any difference, I'll throw in a screenshot of Task Manager/ Processes.

Thanks very much for taking the time to try to help. You have no idea how much people like you are appreciated by numbskulls like me. Some folk say that when you retire, your brain sharpens up a lot because you don't have to spend any brain power dealing with everyday "Work" stuff. I've found the opposite to be true. I retired 15 years ago and I know goldfish with a better grasp of how a PC works than me,

 

Well, what's even more interesting is that in your case ThrottleWatch does not actually report throttling, it should have appeared in red besides the green usage graph. It's the first P4 that i see which doesn't appear to support throttling... Or it has been disabled.

The 100% load is another thing, i was expecting it. It indicates that the video is maxing out the CPU, which it shouldn't. Try this: Open a video, and open Task Manager besides it. Is it Firefox taking 100% CPU or is there another program that starts gobbling up cycles?

Please download CPUMSR, and check the section on TM1 Throttling. If it reports disabled, enable it, and then run ThrottleWatch again. Now, regarding your task manager, the one thing striking my eye is the ridiculous number of processes with AVG in the name. I wasn't aware it had become THAT bloated. Uninstall it and try watching video again. If it works then, try Avira antivirus. www.free-av.com