Low FPS When I SHOULD Be Getting Higher

RoxxaH

Distinguished
Dec 6, 2011
7
0
18,510
So I'm getting really low FPS on my games, and I know I should get better because I "recently" built a new PC with the almost exact same/better specs than my old one.

OLD PC:
Nvidia 8800GTX
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0Ghz
4Gb DDR2 PC2-8500 (Dragged down to 800mhz because one faulty stick needed to be replaced)
EVGA 680i SLI Mainboard
250GB HDD
Windows 7 Ultimate x64

NEW PC:
Nvidia 260GTX
AMD Phenom x3 Tri-Core 2.3Ghz (Overclocked to 2.76Ghz)
4GB DDR2 PC2-8500 1066Mhz
AsRock 770DE+
320GB HDD
Windows XP x64 (Reformatted to Win7 x64 yesterday)


Now on my old rig I was getting 80-92 FPS on Black Ops running Windows 7. Ever since I put together this new PC my FPS on Black Ops was around 50-75 with a lot of random FPS drops(XP x64)

Still using my AMD PC after reformatting to Win7 x64 my FPS in Black Ops does not go above 45. I have been playing MW2 lately and my FPS is in the 50-60s and spikes up to 100-120 when I go inside of a building.

Can anyone out there give me a clue as too why this is happening? My specs are nearly the same, if not better, as my OLD PC so it would only make sense to be getting more FPS. I know the operating has something to do with it due to the fact that Win7 uses more resources to power Aero and all the other fancy sh*t. I'm hopefully getting an x6 1100T for Christmas so I'm not too worried about it...but seriously any help is much appreciated. I haven't looked into the processor cache differences between my Intel and AMD CPU's or the FSB speed on the motherboards, maybe my new mobo is shi*tier than my old one? Anyone my OLD mobo died and it's past warranty so I can RMA... :(


Thank you x1000,
RoxxaH
 

Toxxyc

Distinguished
Jan 6, 2011
969
0
19,160
First off, you need to let us know what resolution you're gaming at, as well as what setting you're using and if they are EXACTLY the same in both games. I'd recommend setting the game to native resolution (your screen's resolution), with all settings to "Medium" with BOTH graphics cards to check FPS with something like Fraps.

Also ensure all drivers are up to date (Nvidia 285 drivers installed). Win 7 shouldn't make a difference from XP so much, due to the fact that it caters pretty well to games. You can switch off the Aero functionality if you would so prefer though.

What I would do -

1. Get newest drivers, and check to see if it solves anything. If not ->
2. Reinstall the old 8800GTX (still a good card) and see what FPS you get then. If it improves, then your GTX260 may be faulty.

EDIT: Also, please post temperatures of your CPU, motherboard and graphics card. Something like HWMonitor can be used very accurately to determine this.
 

RoxxaH

Distinguished
Dec 6, 2011
7
0
18,510
HW Monitor- http://i43.tinypic.com/2usedqq.png
AMD OverDrive- http://i44.tinypic.com/6r62p4.png

I have the newest Nvidia drivers installed (285.62)
I turned off Win7 and saw an improvement in FPS only slightly...could have been the map though.

As for gameplay settings, AA is off and Shadows, Specular Map, Smoke Edges is on as well as texture set to High(I prefer quality).

As for replacing the 260GTX with the 8800GTX, I cannot do that beacause I lent it to my friend so he can try and SLI config....

I'm going to benchmark with FurMark from now on to see if I have an increase/decrease in FPS since an online game isn't the best for that..
 

RoxxaH

Distinguished
Dec 6, 2011
7
0
18,510
Now I noticed that the Intel E8400 surpasses the AMD x3 8600B in benchmars according to this site. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/mid_range_cpus.html

Also, the E8400 has a 6MB L2 Cache while the AMD x3 has a smaller L2 Cache but utilizes and L3 Cache(Newegg)...I read that L2 Caches are faster than L3 because they come later in the cache heirarchy...ALSO that HyperTransport on an AMD cpu is basically Intel's FSB...I doubt these two bits of info are reliable but here is my source for that. (L2vsL3- http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/60038-28-cache) (FSBvsHT- http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247739-28-intel)

Thank you for your patience...I am lost when it comes to FSB/Northbridge/Southbridge/Cache
 

Toxxyc

Distinguished
Jan 6, 2011
969
0
19,160
Temps are fine. Cache sizes aren't to be worried about in this stage, but I find it interesting that the AMD CPU may actually be the culprit. I've just thought of this - Black Ops is running with a pretty old engine, same engine as CoD 4 actually. This engine wouldn't have been optimized for a multi-core setup as much as newer games would have, thus the faster core speed on the twin-core Intel CPU may very well have given it an edge over the AMD CPU. This can be tested by overclocking the AMD a little higher to see if you can't up the framerate a little more.
 

joedastudd

Distinguished
Feb 19, 2007
433
0
18,810
If I remember rightly The E8400 will still outpace a original gen Phenom in most games.

I'm taking it as the X3 you have is the x3 8650 right?
If so thats your issue.

See these bench marks/reviews
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2510/8
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2008/04/23/amd_phenom_x3_8750/5

Even when overclocked it still doesn't really go toe to toe witht he E8400
 

RoxxaH

Distinguished
Dec 6, 2011
7
0
18,510
Oh well, thanks you guys for quick answering. I got most of my parts from trading with my friend...about how much improvement will I see if I replace my first gen x3 with an x6 1100T?
 

Toxxyc

Distinguished
Jan 6, 2011
969
0
19,160

It will make stuff load faster, but won't make your PC the monster you're expecting. I wouldn't go that far, I'd much rather go for something like a Phenom II X4 955 and save the rest of the $$ toward a better GPU in the near future. Something like a GTX460 (even the 768MB versions) or an HD5770 will do you good at this time, but it all depends on your budget.