Updated system: stability and performance help

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EpicMe

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Sep 10, 2014
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Hi guys, I just bought an Sapphire Radeon 7850 2G OC to replace my old 9400gt. But I have some questions. First, how can I be certain that the GPU works normally? The temps I'm getting are pretty good 32-35 Celsius in idle and max 55/60 in load, but I want to be certain that my PSU can handle everything. How can I see how much power is used? Also the system overall also stays within this 30-55/60 range, the CPU even lower.
Second, I have tested some games and I get pretty unstable results in some:
Battlefield 4: 15-50fps on high/ultra with low aa
Battlefield 3: 15-60fps on high/ultra with low aa
WarThunder: 30-80 fps everything maxed out (this was the only "stable" game)
SW The old Republic: everything high unplayable 5-40fps on high and on low it was still unplayable 5-70 fps
The thing is, I know that my RAM memory is the weak link, for example on hardware monitor in TOR it was always 99% used while the CPU was about 69-70% and the gpu 30-40% but I expected more stable results.
System:
Gigabyte GA-M720-US3 motherboard
Amd Athlon II X3 435 CPU
Sapphire Radeon 7850 2GB OC
250HD Seagate HDD 7200
2gb RAM DDR2 400Mhz
420W Spire Jewel PSU

Also everything was tested on my highest resolution available: 1440x900. And putting everything on low doesn't change almost anything. And the thing that annoys me the most is that I don't get gradually lower FPS, it's like 3 sec everyting ok then bam 10 fps no matter what I do...I f I can't play yet on high/ultra because of the RAM I understand, but at least I should be able to play on med/low with stable fps, right?
 
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http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-Gigabyte/GA-M720-US3%28rev._1.0%29.html

A page showing what processors are supported by that motherboard. You "could" go to say, a 965 BE, and 4 to 8 GB of ram, which would make a huge difference. In the mean time you "may" be able to overclock your current cpu, most importantly the Northbridge, and get some gains there..
This is the cheapest option, since it costs nothing.

Since buying the best cpu you can get will be a bit of a chore because there aren't that many left, and finding DDR2 1066 ram, especially a 4 GB or 8 GB kit would be expensive to say the least, if you could even find it, a more cost effective option would be to plan a new, upgradeable build that uses the video card you just bought...
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exroofer

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CPU bottleneck combined with ram issue. The fps spikes are likely related to the gpu waiting on a result from cpu.
How did those games perform with the old card?
Also, turning the graphic settings up can shift load from the cpu to the gpu depending on the game. If the card is only running at 30 or 40%, it is not working very hard. But it should be. I would turn one setting up at a time in a given game and test it until you get a more stable result.
Most of those games will use more than 2 GB of ram. Which makes me think that things are being pushed on to a hard drive page file. If the game needs to read an asset that is on the page file rather than the ram, this will cause a very significant amount of lag. Can you keep an eye on ram use/page file use while in game using a second monitor or so?

The PSU is probably being pushed fairly hard, but "should" handle it. I am not familiar with that brand.
 
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EpicMe

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I couldn't get more than 15 fps with the old card on BF3 so, I'm pretty sure that the GPU does it's job. I also just installed Planetside 2 and it was unplayable. And yes, I saw that the RAM memory is almost 100% used and the HDD was also 100% used while the CPU and especially the GPU remained somewhat idle. Can I do something to ensure at least some stability until I'll buy more RAM?
 
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exroofer

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http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-Gigabyte/GA-M720-US3%28rev._1.0%29.html

A page showing what processors are supported by that motherboard. You "could" go to say, a 965 BE, and 4 to 8 GB of ram, which would make a huge difference. In the mean time you "may" be able to overclock your current cpu, most importantly the Northbridge, and get some gains there..
This is the cheapest option, since it costs nothing.

Since buying the best cpu you can get will be a bit of a chore because there aren't that many left, and finding DDR2 1066 ram, especially a 4 GB or 8 GB kit would be expensive to say the least, if you could even find it, a more cost effective option would be to plan a new, upgradeable build that uses the video card you just bought, which is a pretty decent card.

That isn't really what you want to hear I'm sure. However, putting large amounts in to that system is not a good use of funds. If you need to do small upgrades every so often as you can afford them, do what I did. Buy a 965 BE, put it in that mobo. It will not perform miracles, but you will notice. It will probably need a better cpu cooler. See if you can find some more ram that is compatible from a junked system, this will take looking on your part. Do not spend a lot of money here. Like $20 is acceptable. $100 plus is not.

Then as your next upgrade, buy a decent AM3+ mobo, which the 965 WILL fit in and work. Now buy 8GB of DDR3 ram, 1600 speed.
Try to squeak a psu upgrade in with this, and a budget case with good airflow. You do not have to buy this all at once.
Now put it all together, and wind up with a modern mobo, a solid quad core, that can be upgraded to the new 6 or 8 core chips later, and have a decent mid range gaming rig, with upgrade options.


Or plan a new rig, either Intel or AMD as you wish, using the vid card you just bought. Which will need a new OS key, so budget for that.
You can make a solid rig up for $600-$700 all in using your card, mouse, keyboard etc. This is really option A for you to get the most value for your money. The upgrade path above winds up in the same place, but take longer with more work on your part, and keeps you on a AMD system, which you may not want to do. However you need less money at one time, and can keep using your PC the entire time with steady improvements in performance.

If you can find some compatible ram for a price you are good with, that plus a small Northbridge OC will help you the most without doing anything expensive. Do not try to match your old ram, find 4 GB or so of the fastest supported. Preferably used and cheap to buy.

 
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EpicMe

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Thanks for the lenghty reply. I think that in the long run I'll update my pc gradually. But I heard that it is possible to unlock my cpu to a Phenom II and I also made a thread about this but what was suggested there didn't work. I was told to press Ctrl+F1 in BIOS and a menu would appear but nothing happened. Any ideas? Also I'll look for at least 4gb of ram but until then and without a CPU overclock( perhaps an unlock rather) can anything be done? Like a BIOS update or so?...
 
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exroofer

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The "unlock" I think you are referring to is unlocking the 4th core. Which would help, if possible, but would also create more heat. And it may not be possible with your current mobo/bios, or with that particular chip. I seem to remember it having some luck involved as to each chip back at the time people were doing this.
Bios flashing can be a risky proposition. I cannot really recommend it, since any gains would not be great, and there is a risk of borking your PC.
You would need to see what is possible with what you have. Opening up the Northbridge gives you the biggest gain without increasing voltage much, if at all, combining that with more ram is your best bet for a budget upgrade for now.

I started with a X2 250 dual core, 4 GB of 1366 ram, a craptastic budget board, and a 6450 card I think? In a blah case.
And went to my current set up one or two steps at a time, only once exceeding $200 per step, except for this most recent step, where I kind of went all in.. :) (975 BE and 7870 OC to 8350 and R290x)

I took me almost two years. Since you already have a decent card, you could get to FX 6300 plus $100 ish AM3+ mobo and ram in a few steps, keeping your purchases controllable. However there would be a gap where you just accumulated parts. The same can be done with an Intel based system of similar performance.

With more steps, ( Ram first. Then cpu/cooler if it fits, then mobo/case/new ram) you wind up with....
965 BE, that fits the current mobo. Some ram. Improvements, less cpu bottleneck lag, dont expect miracles.
Then, AM3+ mobo/case , new ram. Same cpu. Now you have the cooling to support a decent OC.
Which gives you a fairly balanced midrange rig. Next step after that, if you chose to, would be a quality 650-750 watt psu, giving you the watts to jump a couple tiers of video card. This is purely optional and in the more distant future of course. While still using the same cpu that you "could" put in to your current pc. Then movng it forward to the new stuff.

This is the path I followed. What you do is up to you, and dependant on budget over time.

Sorry but there is really no fast and easy way to get a big jump for you in the games you play. At least not that I know of, that does not involve buying $500-$700 worth of parts in one shot.

Keep in mind that a long term upgrade can be obsoleted by new technology. I am very happy with what I wound up with, but I had this goal in mind from day one basically, and bought parts accordingly.
 
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EpicMe

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Good advice. I was thinking at something like this from quite some time now. I have one more question though, can you tell me exactly what to do in order to unlock the 4th core if possible? And also specifically how to try to overclock it?(where in bios, and what to mess with) Thanks
 
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exroofer

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Sorry you would have to do some searching for that. It has been quite a while.
http://www.overclock.net/ That is a good place to ask about OC'ing pretty much anything. Between there, here at Tom's and Google, somewhere on the net exists the answer. It will not be simple, and I do not have enough experience with that exact chip and bios to give you proper answers.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261868-29-overclocking-club AMD overclocking thread here at Tom's.

As always with adventures in overclocking, don't do anything until you feel confident that you understand what you are doing, and why. And only adjust ONE thing at a time in small steps after you have done your research. Take notes. You won't be able to look at the web page while in the bios, unless you have another computer in the room showing the info. Back up your stuff before getting carried away.

It has been a few years since people did this regularly, so give yourself some time to find answers.
 
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EpicMe

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I did what you said, and searched a little bit, then I enterd the bios, enabled ACC, set it to auto and reset. First there was a black screen,and it wouldn't even show the bios. Then I killed the power from the button behind the PSU and restarted. Everything went normally, it booted into windows and now open hardware monitor and CPUZ show that I have an Phenom II X4 B35. The problem is that the temp for cpu is 0 C. Everything else is normal, and the mobo is between 35-40 idle. How can I test the stabillity now?(also, how do I check if the PSU can handle 4 cores)

On CPUZ I can see 4 cores but no L3 cache.(codename Propus) Also, the core voltage, as seen in CPUZ, is usually in idle at 1,168 but ocassionaly jumps to 1,296 or 1,392.(I saw that once it jumped to 1,692)
I restarted again and remained in bios where it says that the cpu temp is 38 C. Why can't I see this in Open hardware monitor?
 
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exroofer

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Well that's kind of awesome you could unlock a core. I simply am not familiar enough with that particular thing to give correct answers.
I do not know if you need more voltage to support that 4th core. Sorry but you are kind of on your own now...:)

I'm guessing unlocking it made a sensor read oddly.
 
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