Bottleneck in my gaming PC

Tidasa

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Jul 21, 2014
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My PC specs are as follows

CPU = Core i7-920 Quad 2.67GHz (Not OC, stock cooler)
GPU = Radeon R9 280X Gigabyte 3GB OC Edition
RAM = 12 GB DDR3 1600MHz
PSU = SeaSonic M12 SS-700HM 700W Modular PSU
Motherboard = Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P


I'm new to the PC gaming scene. The system was prebuilt, the original GPU was a HD7870, i upgraded it recently to a R9 280X.

Is my CPU a Bottleneck?

I've seen gameplay videos of Tomb Raider where the FPS is over 40. I've finished the game, but i got FPS as low as 30 fps around mountain village, and the shipwreck beach area. The settings were on games stock Ultra mode.

All drivers are up to date. The GPU is on the latest beta build.

Can anyone find anything wrong with my PC build or is this normal for these sort of specs.

And while gaming, the CPU's temps go up to around 80-90 C while it stays around 60C on idle. Is this normal, i've recently cleaned the CPU cooler and applied fresh thermal paste. I've re seated the cooler firmly.

Should any component be upgraded, eg- CPU, HD?

Detailed responses would be highly appreciated. Thank you.

EDIT: HDD are regular Hard drives, one 1TB and 2 500Gb on RAID. I know what RAID does but not sure which mode it's on, i'm pretty much a noob when it comes to these technical stuff :p . So in my PC it comes up as two 1 TB hard drives. Windows 8.1 is installed on the HD's on RAID.


 
Solution
ok, that temps are a lot better. very good actually.! you can try overclocking but you better wait a couple of days. keep playing, doing what you do every day, in order to ensure you get the most accurate readings! since you have just installed that cooler. also stress testing with prime 95 or occt will help greatly. this way you will be sure about the results you get and have a better and more accurate comparison of your cpu 's thermal performance when you will be overclocking! cheers!
your temps are extremely high for idle and under load. you should always be able to sustain temps of 70c under any condition for 24/7 use, since you havent been overclocking and running with stock cooler. obviously you havent done things the right way. reapply and re install the cpu cooler. you arent facing a bottleneck issue however compered with the latests i7 you fall behing in performance. overclocking can be recommended since you have very nice parts. you only need an aftermarker cooler like this and you are good to go!also a bit of a studying wont hurt too. finally ensure you have pleny of airflow in your tower!
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermal-paste-heat-sink-heat-spreader,3600-6.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-core-i7,2268-2.html

http://www.overclock.net/t/538439/guide-to-overclocking-the-core-i7-920-or-930-to-4-0ghz/30

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9RwYcf/by_merchant/
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $29.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

Tidasa

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Jul 21, 2014
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Thanks fro the reply

I just ran AC4 on most setting on very high, and my CPU temperatures were around 95C, Used HWMonitor to get temps.

I understand that these temperatures are abnormal. I wii soon install the cooler you mentioned and see if there is a difference.
By the way, my pc only has one case fan, one of those small square ones (not sure about the dimensions) poor airflow might be the main cause?

Should i buy a couple more case fans?
 
for airflow to be present you need at least one as an intake in the front bottom and one rear top. sufficient airflow may require even more fans, depending tower and installed components of course. also cable management plays an important role too, so make sure you deal with these issues, will help greatly. 120mm fans or even bigger ones would be ideal. good aiflow or not 212 evo will be a worthy upgrade. i would defenately try overclocking with such machine! by the way whate case do you have?
 

Tidasa

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Jul 21, 2014
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I have a Thermaltake V9, it has a inbuilt, big fan on top. My fan wasn't working but got it to work couple of mins ago. The temperatures have dropped about 5-8 degrees. I have two intakes, one front bottom and another rear top. The top fan is a outflow.

I tried playing AC4 again and the temperatures now max at around 85C, where as earlier it was around 95C, but the idle temps are still around 60C. I don't think the cables in my PC pose a problem as they are very nicely placed and bundled.

What should be the normal temperatures of this particular i7 card? Do you think installing a new cooler will bring the temps down to normal levels? Thanks
 


ideal and safe under load is below 70c. you are still far from that. at 95c you are throttling, hazardous temps really. dont use the cpu extensively till you drop the temps.!idle temps should be below 40c. Real Temp
 

Tidasa

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Jul 21, 2014
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Installed a coolermaster 212 Evo today and the temp readings have reduced drastically. Idle temps are now around 40C and the max temps i could get while playing AC4 this time was 53C !! That's a drop of 40C (from a previous max of 95C) !!

Really happy with the purchase and thank you very much for the help. Really appreciate it. Is it okay to over-clock the CPU now? or should i just leave it as it is? Thanks again
 
ok, that temps are a lot better. very good actually.! you can try overclocking but you better wait a couple of days. keep playing, doing what you do every day, in order to ensure you get the most accurate readings! since you have just installed that cooler. also stress testing with prime 95 or occt will help greatly. this way you will be sure about the results you get and have a better and more accurate comparison of your cpu 's thermal performance when you will be overclocking! cheers!
 
Solution