Cpu killing FPS, win7 x64, GTX460

[Guest]

when the desktop was new it had Vista x86, E6600 2.4GHz Core2Duo, 2gigs DDR2 RAM, and a stock 7000 series integrated level graphics card, and ran Vista x86 at somewhat high-medium performance. my nana bought it on QVC, really wish i had chosen the computer, i would not have bought a Dell XPS 410, i would have built a custom rig with a better CPU, power supply, mo-bo, etc.

upgraded to Win7 x64 and off the bat it was slow, updated with newest drivers, researched each individually. had to upgrade the ram to 6gigs [with a G-Skill 2x 2gig] to get it to function properly at medium-high performance. added an MSI GTX460 for gaming at same time as RAM upgrade. after RAM upgrade the CPU idles at 0-1% with google chrome it idles at 1-2%, before RAM upgrade CPU idled at 34%. i also applied IC Diamond 7 thermal compound to CPU with stock heat sink. Dell BIOS is locked so it cant be OCed, maybe with software OC on FSB [havent looked that up yet]. recently installed a 1TB drive and thinking about replacing other drive with another 1TB for RAID-0, does that have a noticeable performance increase in Win7?

my problem is that when gaming on crysis 2, fallout new vegas, fallout 3, etc. my CPU is running at 100% and its killing my FPS to the point were games freeze up or are unplayable, fallout runs a bit more smoothly than crysis 2. my macbook running Win7 with 4gigs DDR2, 2GHz core 2 duo, and nvidia 9400m, 7200RPM HDD runs win7 WAY more efficiently than the XPS 410, and is getting better frame rates.

GPU, from what i have read, is supposed to handle these games brilliantly and even handle metro 2033 at ultra settings [using that as an example of capability], MSI afterburner says the GPU is running just fine even when slightly over clocked and gets 7.4 on both GPU benchmarks on Win7

i am thinking its because the CPU is not optimized for x64. any help would be great

 

[Guest]

also worth noting, im only playing on a 1440x900 screen.

 

[Gman450]

Your CPU is bottlenecking the GTX 460. That may be your problem. You need a good and decent quad core to eliminate the bottleneck.

 

[Guest]

i have decided to gut the xps and take anything usable out [which is only 4 things] and build an i5-2500k gaming rig

 

[Gman450]

Good luck on building the 2500k rig bro. Need any advice ?

 

[Guest]

not really. make sure everything is compatible, PCU has enough power for what you want, read reviews for everything you put into the system, get a mo-bo that is best suited for you CPU, make sure CPU is unlocked. its really, most complications are in the first week when your getting the drivers just right and making the hardware all play nice.

 

[13thmonkey]

no hardware reason you should have problems, E6600 should manage well enough.

You seem to know what you are talking about. But are GPU drivers up to date, is the monitor plugged into the gpu (sorry to have to ask), is power plugged into the gpu.

Can you look up cpu-z and see how many pci-e lanes are being used? if you are limited to x4 you might have issues. download msi afterburner and look at cpu and gpu utilisation whilst gaming.

You might not have to spend money.

 

[Guest]

think i found the problem, i added another HDD a little while ago and before that i was running somewhat fine, so its the PSU thats the weak link. its only 375W [maybe 350 cant remember]. said on the graphics card box to have a minimum PSU of 450W i believe. thanks 13thmonkey you inadvertently made me find the problem by saying 'is the power plugeed into the gpu'. reguardless, i have been searching for an excuse to upgrade to i5, now i have one. the gaming rig i am configuring on new egg right now has a 750W PSU

 

[13thmonkey]

Must admit I'm hunting for reason to upgrade, but can't quite find it at the moment, Q9550 + GTX470.

Get a new PSU and plug it in and try it anyway, might allow you to put if off until the cheaper z68 boards come along.

 

[Guest]

you can get a decent board for around $160. with the stuff i already have i can build a complete i5 for $800 and i have $1300 saved up so im well under budget. might get a 480 or a 570 or SLI another 460

 

[Guest]

do you think switching to x86 would make my current system run better since it originally had x86 vista?

 

[13thmonkey]

No, I ran Visa x64 on an E6600 and run win7 x64 on a Q9550 (fundamentally the same architecture). C2D and newer (and older) are perfectly happy with x64.

Make sure you get Z68, so you can OC and utilise quicksynch.

 

[Guest]

okay. quick sync is for transferring files to things like ipods right? dont really need it but is this a good choice for it?

Gigabyte z68

i was thinking about getting this P67
ABRock P67

 

[13thmonkey]

quicksync is for video conversion, cpu quality and gpu speed.

the asrock boards let you use a socket 775 cooler on them, which given that sandy has a better thermal output than conroe means that a good 775 cooler willbe fine.

 

[13thmonkey]

I can't recall if H or P lets you overclock, but I know that Z does. Tweaktown have done some reviews recently.

 

[Guest]

P is for CPU related over clocking, H is pointed more towards using the integrated graphics in sandybridge chips which is not needed and pointess if you have a dedicated graphics card. P is the better option by far especially when paired with a 'k' or unlocked CPU.

 

[Guest]

i guess ill go with the gigabyte z68 board instead. read a review about bad audio quality on it, but thats not very important. should i spend the extra $80 to get an i7-2600k or stick with an i5-2500k? its a large performance gap for $80 and the i7 supports hyper threading.

 

[13thmonkey]

Well the tests generally show that hyperthreading doesn't do a lot from the gaming point of view. I'm at the same point, I want a 2600K but I only need a 2500K, well actually a 2400. I'd suggest a 2500K and good cooler.

 

[Guest]

ordered it, went with an i5 and 8gigs of ram

 

[13thmonkey]

thats the sweet spot for a dual channel system, i'm running 6Gb 2x2+2x1 and rarely get above 4 unless i'm gigapixel image creating.

 

[cbrunnem]

ordered it, went with an i5 and 8gigs of ram

if you havent ordered 8 gigs is kinda over kill for gaming but great to see in wei lol

 

[Guest]

DDR3 is dirt cheap right now, so why not

 

[13thmonkey]

4Gb is not quite enough, and its dual channel so 8 is the next step up really.

 

[Guest]

thats what i thought. i added rush processing so everything but the case and fans will be here in a few hours, because the newegg wear house is only about 200 miles away

 

[Guest]

anybody else use their pentium 4's as a footrest?