So lately I've been playing some MMOs and been having some very serious issues with them. I will get these crashes at random points of playing that bring my computer to a halt for a few seconds, and then the computer reboots. This occurs pretty much randomly with no reason for it doing so. Currently running an iMac with: Windows XP Pro ATI Radeon X1600 - 256mb graphics card (I think this may be my problem) intel p4 dual core 2.5 ghz processor 2gb ram I surpass the recommended for Everquest 2, and meet the recommended for Warhammer Online. The problem with my crashes is that they don't come coupled with an error message, the game just freezes, stutters, and I have to reboot my computer. These crashes are also very random. I can play for hours on end before it happens, it could not happen at all, or I could crash within minutes of logging in.

Yesterday I only crashed once, and today I didn't crash for several hours, crashed, logged back in and crashed within 5 minutes. I could be sitting in town and I crash, or doing intense PvP and I crash. Likewise I could do PvP with many players and spell effects on screen for hours and not crash, go away for a few minutes afterward in town to make a sandwich, come back, and be back in OS:X! There's no consistency to these crashes so identifying a cause is pretty much impossible. Things I've tried -disabling autoreboot on system failure (apparently not a system failure) -underclocking my graphics card (using ATItool) -increasing fan speeds (it's not overheating) -lowering settings in the game (nothing still) -updating my drivers (nope) The list goes on, but I've tried pretty much everything I can think of, and still get these horrid crashes. One thing to note is that I only crash when playing MMOs, specifically Warhammer and Everquest 2. On the same exact computer I've played Oblivion and Spore, non MMOs that have much higher requirements than the WAR and EQ2, but I never encountered any problems.

I've played: Gothic 2 Black And White 2 Oblivion Team Fortress 2 Guild Wars Spore and none of these ever gave me the problem I'm having now. A few people I've seen post say they upgraded to Vista from XP and their crashes stopped, but after they posted about it once I didn't hear from them again so I don't have enough evidence to say this is the case for sure.

I'd buy Vista to be able to play again but I need to know for sure it's the problem. The one problem I pointed out in the beginning was my graphics card. I heard that EQ2 and WAR are optimized for nVidia cards, but I don't think it should really matter as long as it as the proper amount of memory in it. Even so, there is no way to change a graphics card with an iMac is there? Click to expand.If you bought Applecare and your graphics card goes bad, they will replace the whole board.

If you have no warranty, then you are out of luck. Unless you are talking about buying RAM (not graphics) from a third party who gives you RAM that goes bad for some reason, then yes they will replace it for you. Though usually bad RAM is bad RAM from the beginning. How do you know the heat isn't causing a problem?

Are you tracking it during game use? Are you seeing any graphics artifacts before it restarts on its own? If you bought Applecare and your graphics card goes bad, they will replace the whole board. If you have no warranty, then you are out of luck. Unless you are talking about buying RAM (not graphics) from a third party who gives you RAM that goes bad for some reason, then yes they will replace it for you. Though usually bad RAM is bad RAM from the beginning. How do you know the heat isn't causing a problem?

Are you tracking it during game use? Are you seeing any graphics artifacts before it restarts on its own? I've played WoW for over a year using a Mac, never once have I crashed in any way playing it. I could multi task too, check email, IM, and everything with no issue.

WoW isn't resource heavy either. I've compared other games I have to EQ2 and WAR, and a lot (except for Team Fortress 2, which is 1g recommended too, but never crashes) require 512mb ram, which is what WoW has too. So I assume I just don't have enough RAM to run the games. Idrive for mac. But is it true macs need to use more memory to run games than a PC?

Or should it not matter? I don't mean to keep double posting but I'm trying to keep this as close to the top as possible because I only have 6 days in my EQ2 trial so if that runs out I won't be able to test possibilities at all so I'm trying to get a cause before then: Earlier I was playing EQ2 and no crashing, all was well.

I played for about an hour and a half or so. I went afk and left the game on, and was gone for about 2 hours. I return and start moving and 10 seconds after that I crashed out. This to me sounds like I was storing up memory, but it wasn't really being utilized. I was in a mostly still area with maybe 1 or 2 things moving on screen. I'd have to assume that moving after storing all that memory made it register a lot more and then caused my crash. I doubt it was a coincidence that I'm there that whole time and no problem, and then the moment I return it crashes.

Another question: How many slots for RAM does an iMac have? It's a model iMac5,1. Not sure what else I need to say for anyone to know. Click to expand.First of all, you have a Core Duo or a Core 2 Duo processor, not a Pentium 4 processor. Core Duo/Core 2 Duo is the actual branding. You said it's not breaking 60 C. 60 C for what?

The case temperature, the CPU, the GPU? If it's the CPU, how do you know that the GPU isn't overheating. If it's the GPU, how do you know the CPU isn't overheating? Do you play those other games hours on end. Generally people play MMOs for longer periods of time than they do those other games, because for many people MMOs, are addicting. You probably have a heavy collection of dust in the case of your iMac that resulted over time. If you could get in there, you could try removing the dust and seeing if that helped at all.

And you brought up memory. That Apple logo doesn't change how the computer functions in Windows. In Windows, it's no different than a PC. If you want to see your your CPU temperatures, there's a neat utility called Core Temp. In the options, there should be an option to log your temperatures, so you can play until it crashes and when you restart, you can check the log to see how hot the CPU was when it crashed. I know of nothing similar for the GPU.

Click to expand.Wtf have you done to rule out overheating? Everything you describe is a result of overheating! The fact that one component may not be overheating, doesn't mean that the others aren't either! You still didn't tell me what that temperature is a reading of? The GPU, the CPU, the case temperature? Is this 60 C the temperature before crashing, or just some random reading?

If you think it's RAM, go run memtest, but RAM problems yields a IRQL Less than or equal error, not just a random freeze and restart with no BSOD. It's possible that it can happen, but generally what you're describing is overheating or a bad Power Supply Unit, which I doubt it's the latter of the two. The overall design of the iMac lends it being very prone to overheating. Click to expand.Which reading are you looking at? There are 2 readings. There's one that says 'Processor Temperature' with one reading and then there should be 2 readings under 'Processor.'

Those 2 readings are the readings from your processor's diode, not from a diode placed near the CPU. What's your GPU temperature before crashing. Are you actively watching all of your temperatures before the crash?

I would get the dust out of your iMac. All it costs is the cost of a can of compressed air.

It's a lot less hassle free and costs less money than replacing your memory. Also, is this 60C when the computer is idle and when you're not playing a game OR, is it right before the crash? You need to be specific with this stuff. I can't read your mind. I'm sorry, I've just been so flustered by this it's making me crazy.

When I minimize PC Wizard it pops up another window, and all it says for temps is, for example: Core 1: 58c Core 2: 60c It doesn't say anything other than that, but I'm fairly sure its the processor. As for the temps, when my computer is sitting there, with no input or any games running it runs at around 40-45c. When playing a game, it jacks up at 55 to 60c normally and tends to stay there. The other day I was playing EQ2 and it was staying at 63-65c and no crash for a while, but then later it crashed at 60c and 58c Also, if I spray air into my computer, would I just do it in the slot where the ram goes?

Only opening I see there. So if it is overheating, is it fixable? In PC Wizard 08, in the actual program itself, you should see an icon, under 'Hardware' that looks like a meter with a + and - sign. When you hover over it, a pop-up should say that it's the voltage, temperature and fans page. If you click it, you should see a bunch of readings. You should see a GPU temperature reading. What is that reading when gaming for a while or before the game crashes?

If it's not there, then I can't think of any other program that can measure ATi video cards' temperatures. What you need to do is get the dust out of the case. That means you need to open up your iMac and blow the dust out. If you have a memory problem, and you need to replace the memory, then you would need to open up the iMac anyway. If you don't know how to (I don't, since I don't have one, but I read it's pretty tough), then, you need to find someone who can and will do it for you. I can't help you out there.

I had a bit of a run in with another MMO, Perfect World International, and had a problem with alt-tabbing out of the game. It wouldn't work well and I posted on the forums for a fix for it. Apparently, installing the East Asian Language pack from the Windows XP disc allows me to alt tab out of the game. Now Perfect World is a korean made game, but a simple language pack shouldn't fix a technical problem like that, right? Well it seems to, and I was playing Everquest 2 earlier today for 2 hours and did not have a single crash. It's still too soon to say that the pack fixed my problem, or it simply the problem fixed itself, but can someone confirm what exactly the language pack does?

It seems to do more than install fonts that make the characters readable if it can fix alttabbing issues.

I recently have gotten bored with all the single player stuff I've been playing and need an MMO to even out my gaming life. I want a 'Pay 2 Play' mmo because I know I'm getting a good quality game.

I've tried WoW and liked it, but I need to open up my options. Any thoughts? Here are my thoughts. City of Heroes/Villians Warhammer Online Star Wars: Galaxies (SOE gave me a free month because of my 1 year leave of the game) Pirates of The Burning Sea Please do not suggest LOTRO because I have tried it and have disliked it! I played LOTRO for a long, long time, but due to living in a time zone 7 hours ahead of the one the players are in (I moved after already had started playing), I had to quit due to inability to play - my point being, this is probably the best MMO on the market and that you not liking it is a shame.

Stay away from WoW - it's popular for a reason - that being it's absurdly easy. Then again, if you are drunk frequently, this is the game for you being your skill won't be hampered by your intoxication. EQ2 is a great game from what I've heard, and has come a long way since it's rough launch. WAR is a broken game and I'd stay away from it if I were you. I enjoyed the first 2-3 months of play, but then the issues of the game (broken RVR mechanics, etc.) are just game breaking. My friend loves CoH - I personally can't understand why he even plays it.

But you could give it a shot. SWG is a terrible game as of now to my understanding thanks to SOE. AoC started miserably, but I've heard it's actually shaped up pretty decently, and with the recent server merges, population is very high. Basically, no good p2p MMOs on the market as far as I'm concerned other than LOTRO, which you didn't like.

I've played alot of MMos heres my take. City of heroes/villain game is a bit dated but can still amuse you for 1 or 2 months. Lord of the rings online i tried really hard to like it but the combat and quests are very lacking but does have some of the best scenery i've ever seen in an mmo. I'm doing 2 week trial for Vanguard now and find this game lacking also. No attention to detail and crappy spell effects, ect. And have a good machine and had to ton down some of the graphics or game pauses to load too much.

Don't think i'll be buying this one. Eq2 is actually not that bad but if want to level pass 40 have to buy addons and they also nickle and dime you to death to tiny addon packs. Conan pretty good at first but got bored of it after 2 months. I'd suggest waiting till it cost 20 bucks, really not worth 40-50 for this. Anyway hate to say it but World of warcraft is still top dog and by far.

Might also want to consider Tabula Rasa company is going belly up and game is totally free right now even to download it. Forget when it ends might still have a couple of months.

Any Korean Mmos For Mac

I would say hold off on Warhammer for at least another six months. There are still several balance and stability issues that need to be addressed but if they fix them it will be an outstanding MMO. I enjoyed Everquest 2 and CoH but I think it really depends on the people you play with. I hate saying WoW is still the best MMO out there, but it is.

I don't play anymore because I'm bored with it after 4 years, but it has the largest community of people to play with. I have to say I also enjoyed Pirates of the Burning Sea and it has a free 2 week trial going on so it couldn't hurt. Its pretty simple as far as MMO's go but it can be fun. Well, I've tried or played seriously all of the games you've mentioned.

I didn't like Warhammer Online at all, but then again I tried it when I was pretty burned out on MMOs. City of Heroes / Villians was a lot of fun for a while but eventually got old.

Star Wars: Galaxies was a great game until SOE released their combat upgrade (downgrade) that nerfed the game into it's current miserable existence. A couple of older pay 2 play games that are worth note are Anarchy Online and Asheron's Call both are great games and still have a decent player base.

Asheron's Call is vary dated but the gameplay is still solid and Turbine still releases regular updates to the storyline and content. Anarchy Online is still very good and a fairly recent expansion has added even more content to an already very large game world. I recently have gotten bored with all the single player stuff I've been playing and need an MMO to even out my gaming life. I want a 'Pay 2 Play' mmo because I know I'm getting a good quality game. I've tried WoW and liked it, but I need to open up my options. Any thoughts? Here are my thoughts.

City of Heroes/Villians Warhammer Online Star Wars: Galaxies (SOE gave me a free month because of my 1 year leave of the game) Pirates of The Burning Sea Please do not suggest LOTRO because I have tried it and have disliked it! Steameffekt I'll give everyone a suggestion by not trying out SWG since that game is practically dead. I have also heard how bad the game has been doing now since the release of the NGE patch. Well, you could just play something else for a while, but here are the best P2P imo.

City of Heroes / Villians Eve Online Atlantica Online Warhammer Age Of Reckoning EverQuest 2 Ryzom Age Of Conan Final Fantasy XI If you have the patience, you could wait for some of these, since they have a lot of potential and promises!! Games that are in development that you should watch: Aion Huxley Darkfall Jumpgate Evolution Star Wars: The Old Republic Papitar Nice list, Darkfall got my interest. Signed up for beta.