Update:  Looks like its not an overheating issue at all.  I just took a friend's advice and ran memtest.  Seems as though I have bad RAMz. 

Now I get to do the "Swap out each RAM chip and boot computer to see which one is the culprit" dance.  Such fun!

Update 2:  And bad RAMz stick has been rooted out.  Down from four gigs to three gigs.  I guess that means fewer twinz. 

I started having issues with my games crashing a day or two ago.  And today it's getting noticeably worse.

It all started out with WoW crashing to the desktop.  I soon got fed up with it and started playing TS2.  That's when I noticed some weird red splotches in the neighborhood loading screen.  After a few more minutes of play the game crashed.  After I loaded it up again it crashed a second time and made the computer reboot.  So this has me suspecting the video card is overheating.

The video card in question is an ATI Sapphire X1950 Pro 512mb.  It's a year old and has the factory fan and heat sink.  No after market cooling.  I haven't had the case off in a while so I'm about to take it off and go in with a can of compressed air.  I imagine it looks pretty nasty in there since I smoke around the computer.  I'll leave the case off and see if things work better.

As far as system details go I'm running Windows XP SP2 with 4 gigs of RAM.  The PSU is 700W.  And it's as old at the video card because I bought both of them at the same time.

Are there any easy ways to single out an overheating video card and the culprit?  And are there any other hardware or software problems that could cause this?

I look at pictures of myself when I was 5 6 and am shocked by how much of a carrot top I was then.  It's faded out over the years to somewhere in between blond and red. Some people call me blond.  Others call me red.  I still call it red because it very noticeably there.  And because it says so on my drivers licenses.     Poor sim Trepie didn't get that option.  Eaxis didn't see fit to have any in between hair colors.

The genetics thing is interesting though.  Both of my parents are black haired and brown eyed.  I'm sure a lot of people looked twice when they saw them carrying a toddler around with fire red hair and blue eyes.  Both of my grandfathers had the same fire red hair and blue eyes though.  I guess it decided to skip a generation and single me out.  All of my cousins are dark haired with brown eyes.

Funny how the hair on my head decided to fade out while my facial hair didn't.  The "other" hair didn't fade out either.  ifyaknowwhatimean   

It was the first EP.  I'd be surprised if it wasn't one of the highest selling EP's.

I'm not sure if even Chapstick can save those lips.  It might be too late.

Update your video driver.  My ATI did that when it was shiney and new and freshly installed.  Updating it's driver fixed it.  Somehow missed that you updated it already.

Also agree on needing MOAR power out of your power supply.  350W is laughably pathetic in this day and age.

ETA:  Sound drivers.  You might not think it, but sometimes updating your sound card/onboard sound drivers can help graphics related issues.

I honestly can't see myself shaving off Red Goatee anytime soon.  Or putting up with anyone that demanded its removal.  There are few activities I loath more than wasting 15-30 minutes in front of a mirror, losing about a pint of blood, and then slapping aftershave on and dance around screaming obscenities for about 10 or so seconds because the acidic liquid is raping every pour in my face.  (which is a necessary evil btw.  because even though pour raping sucks, having a chapped face sucks more)

No, I think I'll just keep Red Goatee instead.  And if anyone is going to go to strike over something as silly as that, well, they will just have to picket by themselves somewhere else.

It was close to $25k, IIRC.

BUY will make sims redress after getting out of the shower.  Anywhere else they're free to prance around in the buff.

I needed a house for a family of four on the cheap.  ($20k or under)  And at the same time wanted it to conform to the now widely popular Awesomespec.  From this was born...

Trepie's Awesomesauce Starter





Trepie's Awesomesauce Starter features the anti-ZOMGPETZ!!!11one fence.  Designed to keep out furry critters and keep your yard free of pot holes.



Lockable kitchen prevents raids by house guests.  The downstairs bathroom allows guests to relieve and cleanse themselves should the need arise.



Access to second floor by guests is restricted by lockable door.



Second floor is the sleeping deck.  Enough bed space for parents and their snot nosed brats.  Also has two more bathrooms for a total of three bathrooms.  Emma would be proud. 



The back yard.  Perhaps you could build a green house of a pond here.  The possibilities are limitless!

You get all of this on a 2x2 lot for the low price of $19,570!!!  Thanks in no small part to Pescado's Magic Wand hack.  Don't think of it as cheating, think of it as a trip to the thrift store.  Used, but good as new!

Download your Trepie Awesomesauce Starter HERE today!



ETA:  I have all EP's and SP's installed.  Dark Trepie Inc. is not responsible for missing merchandise because you are too lazy to ARRR!!!

So I've started playing again for a bit and threw in pcgeekri's updated version.  Noticed immediately that sims don't do the nude check anymore and wonder around homes, dorms, hotels, and community lots in the buff.  Even the shy sims.  Guess I didn't notice it before because the one house I was playing had BUY.  And it forces them to dress.

It wouldn't be too big of a problem, but Twikki Island has become a nudist colony now...

I still wonder though how being an Economics major prepares you for a life as a secret agent.

Well, I guess you could give scholarships for reaching max enthusiasm in any hobby.  Though I think the payout for that should be small, since that's pretty easy to do.  Maybe you could do one for getting a certain number of vacation mementos as well.

Do werewolves get scholarships?

I'm downloading it because it got on my nerves when they were sleeping.

If there's strange noises and lights coming from the bed, I fully expect the sims in it to be woohooing.

Cuz someone in #grah asked.

Art  - Architecture
Drama - Entertainment, Dance
Psychology - Intelligence
Literature - Entertainment
Political Science - Intelligence
Mathematics - Architecture
Economics - Intelligence
Biology - Oceanography

Two Goopies cuddling in a hot tub...

My brain...it has stopped working.

In the span of this entire thread you people have managed to insult my mother and quite a few of my friends and/or acquaintances.  All of whom are otherwise intelligent people.

So, fuck the whole lot of you. 

This has been the case ever since laptops were an "Extremely portable 42 pounds".

Gah!  Kill it with fire!

Geez.  Corpso before the accident still looks a bit mutated/mangled.

I've only seen the Charlatan once.  And that was in a test hood before I updated and installed all of my hacks.  I haven't patched BV though.

So I have this couple that I sent on a honeymoon to Twikki Island, and they both got a tan while they where there.  The husband's tan faded away normally after a while.  But the wife's tan has not.  She was a townie, so she got the tan when she was 29 days away from being an elder.  Now she's only 10 days away and its still there.

Not that this is really a problem.  She looks really good with a tan.  But I could see this happening to sims I wouldn't want to have a permanent tan.  So is there any way to fix this?

I know adults have two distinctive voice tracks each for the males and females (four in all).  All other ages groups share the same one.

It's kind of weird sometimes when I play my remixed Pleasantview (which I'll soon be getting back to now that I have BV).  Nina has Dina's voice and Dina has Nina's voice.  It takes some getting used too.  Especially when I'm back and forth between the remixed Pleasantview and a stock Pleasantview.

Those of you with sim-Trepies in your game should download this.



Because its what Real Trepies drive.