Something doesn't feel right about my current build

johnkx

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Jun 8, 2009
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http://i.imgur.com/oA4pbqV.png

I've been gaming for a few years now and I've upgraded my GPU twice (From GTX 260 -> ATi 6950 -> ATI 7950)

but something feels like something is not right. I lag/stutter most of the time even with this new GPU. CPU wise I couldn't OC it above 3.3GHZ no matter what I do, I decided to keep it to stock at the moment because I bought new rams (from 6GB to 16GB) and the clocks had to reset.

Although even though the time that my CPU is OC'ed to 3.3GHZ it feels like I still stutter from newer games even though I lower graphics settings to the point that quality is not affected but some effects are missing.

Is there something that bottlenecks my rig? I bought most of the parts from 2009. The newer ones are the GPU and the RAM only, the rest are old.

Games like Dota 2, LoL or some of the games that are DX9-10 are fine, but newer ones that uses DX11 like Bioshock infinite (on very high settings) and so on feels like its heavy or the FPS is not enough and/or random fps drops occur from time to time.

Is it time to change my CPU/mobo? or is it time to invest for some SSD?
 
G

Guest

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I've had bad luck with Radeon Cards in the past, I ordered a HD5770, it came in with bad ram, so I filed an RMA and they sent me another that would stutter really bad, no matter how low I put the settings. I gave up and bought another card. IMO The only problem I had with an Nvidia was a 6200 that caught on fire.
 
Triple to dual will not make that big of a difference for gaming. Do you have a cpu cooler? That cpu should go well beyond 3.3GHz. (no guarantee) but you can do some tests that will spotlight your problem. Turn down the settings for you gpu and see if that helps. If this doesn't help the cpu is likely the culprit. A fresh install of windows can also make a system work much better.
-Bruce
BTW if you want to OC that cpu - make sure you have a decent cooler.
 

johnkx

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CPU is i7 bloomfield (the first i7 released)
Motherboard is gigabyte EX58-UD4P stock (i haven't flashed this baby for years since I had no problems with it anyway)

We need more information about your hardware, I bet you have a bad graphics card, since it is a radeon and radeons do have the shutter effect sometimes.

I wouldn't know if its my card that's bad or something else. When I was using 6950 I had that same feeling when playing games. I guess its just mainly ATI? or maybe its something else, I don't know. I have a feeling its my CPU but knowing that its i7 I think it should be capable of running those games (or I might be wrong because the chip is as almost 4 years old).



I've gotten a reply about that as well, some people say it doesn't matter but if it could help optimizing my rig, I guess dropping another 80 bucks wouldn't hurt anyone except my wallet.



My heatsink is dark knight zigmatec the first one made for i7 nehalem/bloomfield) it runs pretty good, but I think I have to dust it out a little bit. I've tried OC'ing my CPU a lot of time, and I haven't flashed my bios yet so I have to do it manually. The highest stable clock I've had was 3GHZ, I could go up to 3.3ghz but I haven't stressed test it

MY GPU is the ATI Radeon HD 7950 Vapor-x, I try to OC it a little bit since I'm not very sure about the voltage needed, I'm not currently at home so I'll check the clocks later and post it here. I try to test stock to OC clocks on my GPU and I notice about a 10-15 FPS bump on my games - still doesn't get rid of the random stutters however it does improve my FPS from time to time.
 

ddbtkd456

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I bet its the shutter effect you are getting from radeon cards? Thats why i always usually try to match Intel with GTX and AMD with Radeon. I would suggest getting an GTX card and trying to RMA the Radeon card, unless someone else has a better idea? I'm open to learning as well.
 

henkbas

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Are these temps at idle? Cause 51degr. on the CPU at idle is too high... try to reseat the heatsink with just a rice grain size amount of thermal paste.
With that heatsink it should idle at around 35, not 50!
 
51C at idle is high - that's why I asked if he had a stock cooler. The windows re-install is still a good idea because it will let you start from a point with the registry a small as possible and not bloated and full of errors/extra crap.
-Bruce
 

johnkx

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Idle yes, i guess its because my room is hot and there's no airflow on my PC aside from having the side of the case open.



come to think of it, The last time I reinstalled windows was 2010 or 2009 I think. I never had any troubles with the OS so I didn't touch it, I don't even update it anymore.


I've never thought that 50C is high for my CPU. In winter I get about 35-45ish, spring/summer I get about 50+ or so. It's been like this for a long time now
 

ddbtkd456

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The update could be part of the reason you are running so weird, windows update will update drivers for custom build computers automatically. Try reinstalling it and updating with the latest drivers on everything. Your fan problem is why you are running way too hot, put some fans in the case! Your lucky that you haven't overheated your processor yet.