Better Video Card

[jessterman21]

Quick question. I'm pretty happy with my budget build I completed in January, and all my games run well. The only thing that annoys me is when I'm playing Crysis, Prince of Persia, and Just Cause 2, if I look out on a big open area (with a view in the distance) my framerate drops like 50%. It's especially noticeable on PoP... Also in Crysis (which I know is too intense a title to be playing on my machine), when I turn around and there's a decent view behind me (lots of things to render), the frames drop to 0 for a short period while I pan around. Then when I turn around again, it's fine. It's like my computer has to stop to render and save the 360 view. So I'm pretty sure this is a VRAM or CPU cache issue.

Anyways, I am planning on getting a new vid card next year and I'm wondering if I should focus on more core processors, more VRAM, more VRAM bandwidth, or a CPU with L3 cache to eliminate these problems. I'll be shopping in the $120-$150 range.

Specs:
Sapphire HD 5670 512MB (OC'd 15%)
Athlon II X2 250 (stock clocks)
2GB DDR2 800
1440x900 LED monitor

 

[nocturnal7x]

I recommend adding 2 gigs of memory. 4 gigs is really the minimum I would run if you want smoother gameplay.

 

[jessterman21]

I'm not sure how much bearing that has on my problem tho - BTW I forgot to mention I'm running a 32-bit version of Vista, and I always leave plenty of headroom for a game. Idle RAM usage varies between 600 and 850MB - Crysis is the only game that pushes me to the limit.

Tho I don't know - I planned on picking up another 2 gigs just in case I'm being limited at all.

 

[jessterman21]

Anyone know what hardware is causing my issue? I'd love for it to just be my amount of RAM, cuz that's super cheap, comparatively.

 

[nocturnal7x]

when I had my 8800gt if was a 512mb card, so im not totally convinced its your vram. More vram cant hurt, but I think even an extra gig of memory would do it. Unless your card is really slow.

which looking at other 5670's does not look like much of a gaming card.

 

[jeremy1183]

get a hd 6850 or higher
gtx 460 or higher
2 GB more ram
Better CPU...AMD if you wanna stay on the cheaper side...like a Phenom IIx4 955 BE or intel i5 2500k just to be on the safe side of the fence for cpu performance which would mean you would also need a new mobo though.

 

[Zylen92]

starting with graphic card i would suggest renewing your whole computer even your monitor. you should have a full hd at least.

 

[jessterman21]

Haha - well thanks guys. I am looking for a new video card - most likely an HD 5770/6770 or GTX 550Ti to max my framerate, and I'm also eventually going to get a phenom II X4 945, but that's not in my budget right now... I'm ordering 2 more gigs of RAM right now - hopefully this will do the trick, if not, I know a new card will do it. Just wanted to know if anyone knew the cause of my specific problem.

Zylen92, thanks - that's a lot of help...

Anyway, hopefully Newegg will have an awesome sale for Black Friday.

 

[jessterman21]

Best answer selected by jessterman21.

 

[Zylen92]

Haha - well thanks guys. I am looking for a new video card - most likely an HD 5770/6770 or GTX 550Ti to max my framerate, and I'm also eventually going to get a phenom II X4 945, but that's not in my budget right now... I'm ordering 2 more gigs of RAM right now - hopefully this will do the trick, if not, I know a new card will do it. Just wanted to know if anyone knew the cause of my specific problem.

Zylen92, thanks - that's a lot of help...

Anyway, hopefully Newegg will have an awesome sale for Black Friday.

mate people have already written things that i was going to. I just meant that i agree with them.

 

[jessterman21]

Well, 4GB of RAM solved my Crysis stutter - I can now run it on High at 30fps. That game sure likes to suck up some RAM! Prince of Persia just requires a bit better card I guess. Too much to render at one time - I'll be getting an HD 6850 when the price drops to $150.

 

[jessterman21]

Well, I got an HD 6870, and it runs Crysis like a dream, but I still have stutters in PoP... Read some threads online and it looks like that game is more CPU-intensive than you'd think. My video card load is never above 50%, but the CPU is always 85-95% maxed. I guess it wants another core or some L3 cache.