What is bottlenecking my system?

M4TS

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Oct 30, 2013
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My components are:

MSI 7758 Motherboard
Intel i5 3,4 Ghz
7200 RPM HDD (250 GB)
8 GB Kingston DDR 3 RAM (1066 mhz)
Nvidia 770 GTX 2 MB GPU

Operating system: Windows XP 32 bit

I know XP is bottlenecking my RAM to 3-4 GB (but in System Information it seems the unused RAM is used for Page File Memory), and I've ordered W 8.1 and an SSD.

My intention is to play Starcraft 2 and DotA 2 on ultra settings as well as being able to ALT+Tab and have for instance youtube or a web-based newspaper on in the background (Chrome).

What should I upgrade, and would it be compatible with my MOBO?
 
Solution
For SC2 and DOTA2 your system specs are pretty good already. The upgrade to SSD and Windows 8.1 is a good step in the right direction, that alone will give you a good boost in performance for overall daily usage. I wouldnt mess with upgrading anything else at this time, your processor and RAM is more than capable of running the games in question and be able to multitask doing web browsing in the background. Your video card is top notch as well.

ssoussana

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Sep 24, 2013
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For SC2 and DOTA2 your system specs are pretty good already. The upgrade to SSD and Windows 8.1 is a good step in the right direction, that alone will give you a good boost in performance for overall daily usage. I wouldnt mess with upgrading anything else at this time, your processor and RAM is more than capable of running the games in question and be able to multitask doing web browsing in the background. Your video card is top notch as well.
 
Solution

M4TS

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Oct 30, 2013
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Thank you for your speedy reply. I'm pretty sure the RAM is what hinders me most, as DOTA 2 will crash if I alt tab.

Weird thing though: If I alt tab to a news article, it works, and if I alt tab with a youtube video playing in the background, it works, but if I bring up the youtube video and watch it, then try to alt tab back to DOTA 2, it crashes.

Also, having Spotify in the background can also crash DOTA 2. Starcraft works on Ultra settings, but my problem with it is that starting the game takes 2 full minutes.

Is it the HDD disc slowing things down or the RAM/processor?
 

ssoussana

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Sep 24, 2013
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Definitely the HDD and OS. I also play SC2 a lot and chose not to put it on my SSD because I mostly play multiplayer and I still load faster than most everyone on my hybrid drive. Put it on your SSD and watch it load way faster. The Dota2 crash seems to be an issue with Dota2. See if there's an option to play in windowed mode vs fullscreen. It might help.
 

2x4b

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Oct 28, 2013
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Keep in mind that a 32 bit OS can only address (see) about 3.07GB of RAM.
You will need a 64bit OS to make use of all of your 8GB.
And unfortunately, there is no upgrade path from any 32 to 64 bit windows. Only a new install.