New gaming PC and new GTX 950 - FPS Problems?

Desidrius · Jan 21, 2016

Hey there! I am new to this whole thing - so bear with me. I just recently bought a new gaming PC to replace my decade old one. I am stoked, and a lot of improvements are noticeable. But, I feel like I should be able to run a lot of games that I simply cannot because of low FPS. TERA is what sent me over the edge today. The recommended specs say I should run it fine - yet it runs horrid. GeForce experience updated my drivers, but it recommends that I run everything on the bare minimum settings. Help!

Here's the spec I know how to grab - if you need more, let me know how to get them and I shall!
OS: Windows 10 64 bit
Processor - AMD A6-6400K APU Dual Core overclocked to 4.2 GHZ
16 gigs of Ram
GPU: Brand new GTX 950

Thanks in advance!

Killer MO · Jan 21, 2016

Try some single player games
AMD cpus are not optimised for games that uses little cores for example multiplayer one. Also run msi afterburner and see if the cpu won't bottleneck the gpu. If it's more than 80% with high temperatures and low fps than you might think to change the mobo and the cpu. As I see that cpu has integrated graphics so change the gpu the game use

Desidrius · Jan 21, 2016

Killer MO :

I installed MSI Afterburner, but am not sure what I am supposed to be looking at. It defaults to my integrated graphics - which I have disabled in my device manager.

Killer MO · Jan 21, 2016

Mark cpu usage, temp and gpu usage and then run the game.

maxalge · Jan 21, 2016

Desidrius :

im sorry to say that dual cores are not meant for online gaming at all, especially considering the low powered apu cores you have

tera is very cpu intensive

you need a quad core minimum, overclocked preferably since it is an amd

Yogi2367 · Jan 21, 2016

Desidrius :

I think, but not absolutely 110%, that you have to disable integrated graphics in the BIOS, and set the PCIe x16 slot as primary. Then you probably have to set up the PCIe x16 slot.

Desidrius · Jan 21, 2016

Yogi2367 :

Desidrius :

I think, but not absolutely 110%, that you have to disable integrated graphics in the BIOS, and set the PCIe x16 slot as primary. Then you probably have to set up the PCIe x16 slot.

I went into the BIOS, and my Integrated Graphics were set to "Forced", which I switched to "Disabled", and made sure my PCIe slot was selected.

Desidrius · Jan 21, 2016

maxalge :

Desidrius :

im sorry to say that dual cores are not meant for online gaming at all, especially considering the low powered apu cores you have

tera is very cpu intensive

you need a quad core minimum, overclocked preferably since it is an amd

I just woke up, and accidentally picked "select as best answer" instead of "reply". Sorry. But, from what you are saying, am I just kind of screwed until I buy a new processor?

king3pj · Jan 21, 2016

His PC should be able to handle this game easily. I have never heard of the game before but I just looked up the system requirements.

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/requirements/tera/11264/?p=a

It asks for an Athlon64 3200+ which is a single core 2.0GHz CPU. The required GPUs are also very old.

Have you actually tried running the game at maximum settings to see what happens. GeForce Experience can be useful but it doesn't always pick the best settings. What I do is start with all my games maxed. Then if I am not getting smooth framerates I will check GeForce Experience to see what settings it recommends turning down to fix the problem.

Make sure you have your monitor plugged into the GPU and not the motherboard. If you have it plugged into the motherboard you are running off the integrated graphics instead of your 950.

Desidrius · Jan 21, 2016

king3pj :

I turned it up to Max settings, then low settings, and the FPS I'm getting is pretty terrible in both cases. And I just quadruple checked - My monitor is plugged into my GPU. Made the mistake of not plugging it into my GPU roughly 8 years ago when I bought my first graphics card.

king3pj · Jan 21, 2016

Do you have AMD graphics drivers installed on your PC? Your APU comes with a built in GPU so when you downloaded drivers for it they might have also installed graphics drivers.

If you have both AMD and Nvidia graphics drivers installed on your PC it can create conflicts and cause performance problems.

I would look at your installed programs in control panel and make sure that no AMD Catalyst or Crimson software is installed.

Desidrius · Jan 21, 2016

king3pj :

I uninstalled Catalyst as well as all AMD drivers, as well as disabling the integrated graphics in the BIOS and in Windows.

king3pj · Jan 21, 2016

In that case I'm not sure what to tell you. Your CPU isn't the greatest but it is well above the required specs for that game. Your GPU is also better than the required specs.

Desidrius · Jan 21, 2016

king3pj :

No problem, I'll keep messing around. Thank you though!

king3pj · Jan 21, 2016

Actually download a free program called HWInfo and run it while you are playing the game. It will give you minimum, maximum, and average usage and temperatures for all of your hardware components.

Let us know what your CPU core usage and temperature averages are. Also let us know what the GPU core usage and temperature averages are.

I'm wondering if your CPU overclock is causing high temperatures and making the CPU throttle itself down. Did you do the overclock yourself or did you buy it that way? Do you have an aftermarket cooler or stock cooler?

Desidrius · Jan 21, 2016

king3pj :

I purchased it overclocked, since I'm unfamiliar how to do it. The cooler in it is stock.

king3pj · Jan 21, 2016

Desidrius :

I'm thinking this must be the problem. Stock coolers are not designed for overclocking. Let us know the temperature results you get in HWInfo while gaming. If this is the problem you would want to go into the BIOS and change the multiplier and Vcore settings to Auto to remove the overclock.

Desidrius · Jan 21, 2016

king3pj :

Desidrius :

I'm thinking this must be the problem. Stock coolers are not designed for overclocking. Let us know the temperature results you get in HWInfo while gaming. If this is the problem you would want to go into the BIOS and change the multiplier and Vcore settings to Auto to remove the overclock.

Alright, I launched up TERA with HWInfo, and my CPU temp is fluctuating between about 38 degrees C to 45 degrees C, and the usage is at about 85%.

king3pj · Jan 21, 2016

Hmm... those temperatures are not bad. The usage is pretty high, indicating that it could be the CPU holding you back though. That is surprising to me considering that your CPU should be better than the recommended specs even though it isn't a strong gaming CPU.

Did you happen to check the usage and temperature numbers for your 950?

Desidrius · Jan 21, 2016

king3pj :

Usage for the 950 is at about 25, with temps at 47-50 C.

king3pj · Jan 21, 2016

The usage numbers for your CPU at 85% and your GPU only at 25% indicate that you are probably getting a CPU bottleneck. When you are getting a poor framerate and seeing that the GPU isn't being maxed out that means the CPU is probably holding it back.

Unfortunately the person further up who said you would need a new CPU is probably right.

This Athlon 860k Quad Core 3.7 GHz CPU is the best available processor for your current motherboard.

http://smile.amazon.com/AMD-Athlon-Black-3700Mhz-AD860KXBJABOX/dp/B00MU00IOQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453399781&sr=8-1&keywords=amd+athlon+x4+860k

It is available on Amazon for $70. It's still not as good as an i3 or i5 but it's the best you can do unless you are willing to buy a new motherboard. It's also overclockable so if you get an aftermarket cooler like the Hyper 212 EVO you should be able to squeeze a little more performance out of it.

Desidrius · Jan 21, 2016

king3pj :

Oh boy. Well, thank you for the help. I would get a new motherboard and get an i7, yet someone like me isn't knowledgeable enough to install something like that. I really do appreciate it though, and thank you.

king3pj · Jan 21, 2016

Desidrius :

A new motherboard and CPU is basically the same amount of work as building a new PC since you have to disconnect every single part and reattach it to the new motherboard.

Switching CPUs is a simple process though. All you have to do is unclip the CPU cooler and pull out the old CPU. You then put in the new CPU which only goes in one way. Put a dab of thermal paste in the middle and reattach the CPU cooler.

None of the other motherboard connections should need to be touched. I'm not sure if it would keep your current overclock settings in the BIOS and try to apply them to the new CPU though. Before removing your old CPU I would go into the BIOS and set the core multiplier and Vcore to auto to remove the overclock just to be safe.

The Athlon 860k should be a substantial upgrade. It is a quad core versus your current dual core.

Desidrius · Jan 21, 2016

king3pj :

Desidrius :

A new motherboard and CPU is basically the same amount of work as building a new PC since you have to disconnect every single part and reattach it to the new motherboard.

Switching CPUs is a simple process though. All you have to do is unclip the CPU cooler and pull out the old CPU. You then put in the new CPU which only goes in one way. Put a dab of thermal paste in the middle and reattach the CPU cooler.

None of the other motherboard connections should need to be touched. I'm not sure if it would keep your current overclock settings in the BIOS and try to apply them to the new CPU though. Before removing your old CPU I would go into the BIOS and set the core multiplier and Vcore to auto to remove the overclock just to be safe.

The Athlon 860k should be a substantial upgrade. It is a quad core versus your current dual core.

I'll look into getting that in the near future.

king3pj · Jan 21, 2016

I'm actually not even sure you need to worry about the thermal paste. I think a lot of stock coolers come with it pre-applied these days. Just make sure you attach the cooler that comes with the 860k instead of your old one.

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