Dota 2 keeps crashing. Is it my PC?

[KnightmareWS6]

Ok, so first off just to set the record, I'm a noob. I'm a big console guy and this is really my first big foray into PC gaming. So just be forewarned that some of my questions may seem pretty stupid, but that's why I'm asking them.

So, I just got my beta key for Dota 2 and got it downloaded and all. I went to play it and every time I would try and get into a match, it would get to the character selection screen and start glitching. I would freeze for ten seconds on a frame and the change to a new frame and freeze on that for ten seconds. After the time limit ran out and the match actually started, it would minimize itself and then completely close out without any error messages or anything. I'm wondering if this is just because I have a crappy old computer. I'm using a Dell XPS 600 tower with an NVIDIA GeForce 7800GTX graphics card, Pentium D 840 3.2GHz processor, 2GBs of RAM and Windows 7 Professional 32-bit with Service Pack 1. I'm using a 20" Dell flatscreen monitor and was running the game at 1020x960 I believe. According to game-debate.com, my PC should be able to run it, but for some reason, it wont. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

[NE-Firebird]

If needed, you can upgrade the CPU and the graphics card.

Upgrade Info:
For the CPU, first make sure you do a BIOS upgrade.
Then, get an Q8400s CPU (~$200 on ebay). That' will be ~4x faster than your P4/PD.

You can upgrade to a Kepler GPU ( NVIDIA 600 series). That will be 10-100X faster depending on the card.Just be careful of what your power supply can handle.

You can go up to 8G with 4x2G of DIMMS.


Performance Debug Info:
Before you launch the program, do CTRL-SHIFT-ESC to bring up the Windows task manager. See the CPU load (on all of the CPUs, not just the summary), and your memory usage. See how the CPU usage changes for each CPU and how the memory usages changes.

Reap the benefits of Windows 7's Task Manager | TechRepublic




I'm in the process of upgrading some DELL PCs that I got cheap on flea-bay to Windows 8 for my niece and her son. I'm hoping that the Xeon CPU (server class CPU) will run so that I can have my niece run Hyper-V (virtual machine - requires "SLAT/EPT"). Otherwise, I'll install VirtualBox. That way, if her son ever needs to use her PC, he can use a virtual machine, and not risk screwing up/infecting my niece's install. I'm guessing my niece's son will eventually download a virus or screw up his machine somehow. And, it'll likely stay that way until I walk them through the disk clone procedure from the USB stick that will have the base system image on it.

So, I've been seeing what the Dells with the LGA775 CPU sockets can do.


FWIW: The P4/PD runs win8 64-bit great! I have it running on a P4 Dual@ 3.0 GHz. Microsoft will offer a $40 to upgrade to Win8 in Nov -> ~Jan.
Note: Max 5 licenses under the special offer. %#^%#^&#%!

Good Luck!

[NE-Firebird]

BTW, the E7300 CPU is about 2X as fast as yours. And, it's under $50 on ebay.
It's easy to replace the CPU.

The video below is something I quickly found:



Note: You must use new thermal paste on the top of the CPU.
Clean any old stuff off the bottom of the heat sink and the top of the replacement CPU (I just use Kleenex ). I use latex gloves to put the thermal paste to to give it a good smear. You don't have to use gloves. But, it beats having to clean that stuff off.

For thermal paste, use a good one like Arctic Silver 5:

Amazon.com: Arctic Silver 5 Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound Paste 3.5g: Computers & Accessories
Arctic Silver 5 Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound Paste 3.5g
Price: $8.45

Newegg.com - Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G - Thermal Compound / Grease
Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G
Now: $9.99
Made With 99.9% Pure Silver
High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound
Controlled Triple-Phase Viscosity



BTW, starting with the P4 and on, the "GHz" speed is semi-meaningless. The only time to look at it is when you're comparing exactly the same family of CPUs.


Info from Intel on the E7300:
ARK | Intel® Core - E7300


Benchmarks:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php
Intel Pentium D 3.20GHz
Average CPU Mark: 887


PassMark - Intel Core2 Duo E7300 @ 2.66GHz - Price performance comparison
Intel Core2 Duo E7300 @ 2.66GHz
Average CPU Mark: 1,810


http://cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=...00+%40+2.66GHz
Intel Core2 Quad Q8400 @ 2.66GHz
Average CPU Mark: 3,698



For reference, one of the latest and best Intel CPUs:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?...0K+%40+3.20GHz
Intel Core i7-3930K @ 3.20GHz
Average CPU Mark: 13,594


Most fast commercial desktops today (like DELL) will use the i7-2600 (Sandy Bridge). That's the CPU that I have.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?...00+%40+3.40GHz
Intel Core i7-2600 @ 3.40GHz
Average CPU Mark: 8,882

Some of the newest ones may have an Ivy Bridge:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?...70+%40+3.40GHz
Intel Core i7-3770 @ 3.40GHz
Average CPU Mark: 10,355