New Graphics Card Sapphire AMD Radeon R7 240 GDDR5 lagging or slowing down games for a second.

ericbana19 · Mar 12, 2015

Hi Guys, I am new to the forum, hope to get a solution.

I have bought the Sapphire AMD Radeon R7 240 GDDR5, which is installed and has updated drivers.

My PC Specs are Intel i5 2310, Windows 8.1 Pro WMC, 4GB DDR3 Kingston RAM, 500 GB HDD,
Gigabyte Motherboard, and the week old AMD Radeon R7 240 1GB GDDR5 with a normally used PSU (SMPS) compatible with the older i5.

I know its a relatively low end card, however, I had the AMD Radeon HD 5450, which ran Dark Souls 2 and Far Cry 3, MW 3 and AC Brotherhood, on medium settings without any hiccups.

But the R7 240 is lagging or slowing down the games for a second and then it comes to normal, it happens every 5 to 10 seconds and if I bring down the settings it gets slower and more nervous, I reset the PC to eliminate any system issues, cleaned it, checked for any fan issues, checked with GPUz but the memory clock and temp shows optimal readings when playing games, however, there is no surge in anything during lags and freezes.

Its frustrating, I know, the R7 240 can handle modern games on low settings, but the HD 5450 outperforming it is concerning and too much!

Please help, anyone.

JimF_35 · Mar 12, 2015

This might be a Power supply issue. What is the make and model of your PSU and what wattage is it?

Andrew Murdoch · Mar 12, 2015

r7 240 should be twice as fast as the 5450 and at only 30w it shouldn't be a psu issue, I would hope.

Have you fully inspected the card? the socket? Tried re-seating it? Can you try it in another pc?

JimF_35 · Mar 12, 2015

I noticed the 400 watt requirement and with the symptoms this seemed to be the problem. But, I stand corrected. I noticed that others have been able to get away with 250-300 watt power supplies with no problem.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121799

The symptoms still point to a an unclean power issue which could be the motherboard not delivering enough power to the PCIe connector. It could also be a seating problem as mentioned by Andrew. Do as he said which is remove the card and reseat it.

ericbana19 · Mar 13, 2015

Andrew Murdoch :

Yes Andrew, I have tried resetting it, unfortunately, I don't have another PC.

ericbana19 · Mar 13, 2015

JimF_35 :

Thanks Jim, I have a 500+ watt PSU, and have tried resetting the card. Do you think its a motherboard problem? Its unsettling.

ericbana19 · Mar 13, 2015

JimF_35 :

Hi Andrew! Its a 500+ watt PSU.

Andrew Murdoch · Mar 13, 2015

Actual make and model would be handy please, or a serial number from the side of it so we can identify.

JimF_35 · Mar 13, 2015

What is the make and model of your motherboard too?

ericbana19 · Mar 16, 2015

Andrew Murdoch :

Its an Xtech P550 550 Watt PSU

ericbana19 · Mar 16, 2015

JimF_35 :

Gigabyte H61M-S2P

Andrew Murdoch · Mar 16, 2015

ericbana19 :

First page of google results for the PSU is unrelated. In other words google doesn't know what it is immediately and neither do I so would advise replacement immediately, regardless if it is the troublesome component which it probably is.

ericbana19 · Mar 17, 2015

Andrew Murdoch :

ericbana19 :

First page of google results for the PSU is unrelated. In other words google doesn't know what it is immediately and neither do I so would advise replacement immediately, regardless if it is the troublesome component which it probably is.

Will do. Could you please give any suggestions?

Andrew Murdoch · Mar 17, 2015

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

I just picked up the Antec TruePowerClassic 650w, which is a Tier Two Class A, for £60.

ericbana19 · Mar 17, 2015

Andrew Murdoch :

Seems a bit out of my budget, as you can see my build is fairly old and entry level, how 'bout the Cooler Master Thunder 600 Watts? And still if the problem persists?

JimF_35 · Mar 17, 2015

ericbana19 :

Well there is your problem. This motherboard can only handle PCI Express 2 cards. The R7 240 is a PCI Express 3 card. You will either need to get an older graphics card or upgrade your motherboard.

I would upgrade your motherboard because that one has a really cheap VRM.

Andrew Murdoch · Mar 17, 2015

JimF_35 :

My motherboard is pci-ex 2 but my GPU is pci-ex 3. It is backward compatible, the card will only operate at 2.0 not 3.0.

ericbana19 · Mar 18, 2015

Andrew Murdoch :

JimF_35 :

My motherboard is pci-ex 2 but my GPU is pci-ex 3. It is backward compatible, the card will only operate at 2.0 not 3.0.

So, if I am not wrong, the R7 240 GDDR5 should be backwards compatible, and if still the problem persists, I guess I will have to do with an upgraded Motherboard?

ericbana19 · Mar 18, 2015

Andrew Murdoch :

JimF_35 :

My motherboard is pci-ex 2 but my GPU is pci-ex 3. It is backward compatible, the card will only operate at 2.0 not 3.0.

So, if I am not wrong, the R7 240 GDDR5 should be backwards compatible, and if still the problem persists, I guess I will have to do with an upgraded Motherboard?

New Graphics Card Sapphire AMD Radeon R7 240 GDDR5 lagging or slowing down games for a second.

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