Is PSU my problem here?

[StellariuS]

I've just gone out and bought a 9800gt to upgrade gaming performance.

I'm running a Pentium D 2.8ghz processor and the minimum req for GTA IV is 1.8ghz. I should be able to run graphics close to high shouldn't I? medium at least. Having everything on low and res down to 800x620 I'm sadly getting 10-12fps. only link to the problem i can think of is too low power. My PSU puts out 300w, could i be choking the setup?

My motherboard : http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00864946&lc=en&cc=us

any help would be great

 

[Henry Chinaski]

A low quality PSU explains some stability problems as computer freezing or computer rebooting by itself even when the computer isn’t pulling all its power. It can be caused by a bad work in the filtering stage. Wattage is not everything. You must pay attention on how clean the outputs are.
You are in the very limit, anyway, your problem doesn't come from the PSU. A Psu doesn't make a computer faster or slower. It just alow it to work. So you must look for an answer about that bad performance elsewhere.
I would update the drivers of the graphic card (download them form the website of the manufacturer)

 

[StellariuS]

what about update in the device manager. I have windows 7 and I've updated all my drivers through device manager

 

[exela]

These are the GTA IV recommended requirements :
Processor: Dual core processor (Intel Pentium D or better)
RAM: 2GB
Hard Drive: 18GB free hard disk space
Video Card: 512MB Direct3D 10 compatible video card or Direct3D 9 card compatible with Shader

So a Dual core processor is recommended , that means you with that intel at 2.8Mhz should have the details lower then medium imo...

 

[exela]

Well you should get the latest driver for your video-card from Nvidia....but i think those low fps are caused by the processor.

 

[amnotanoobie]

GTA IV is extremely CPU bound. Most people needed a decent quad-core to get the game running on its high settings.

Your Pentium D 2.8 GHz is comparable to a Core 2 at 1.4~1.6GHz; so you see your CPU is at the bare minimum for GTA IV.

Don't worry, only GTA IV is a really crappy port, most other games today would work well with your current setup.

 

[StellariuS]

These are the GTA IV recommended requirements :
Processor: Dual core processor (Intel Pentium D or better)
RAM: 2GB
Hard Drive: 18GB free hard disk space
Video Card: 512MB Direct3D 10 compatible video card or Direct3D 9 card compatible with Shader

So a Dual core processor is recommended , that means you with that intel at 2.8Mhz should have the details lower then medium imo...

i have a dual core.. at 2.8ghz, minimum requirements are 1.8ghz dual core. its more so game performance then then graphics.

 

[StellariuS]

GTA IV is extremely CPU bound. Most people needed a decent quad-core to get the game running on its high settings.

Your Pentium D 2.8 GHz is comparable to a Core 2 at 1.4~1.6GHz; so you see your CPU is at the bare minimum for GTA IV.

Don't worry, only GTA IV is a really crappy port, most other games today would work well with your current setup.

i see now

 

[StellariuS]

Are there 2 types of dual cores?

 

[amnotanoobie]

Are there 2 types of dual cores?

There aren't any other "type" of dual-cores. There are just processor made by different manufacturers and different generations.


The Pentium D was constructed just differently than the Core 2. Putting it simply, the Core 2 was made to be more efficient per clock (GHz, MHz, Hz), making a Core 2 do more work given the same amount of time compared to a Pentium D. That's why a Pentium D 3.4GHz is comparable to a Core 2 1.8GHz.

 

[silvernova0]

I personally use a pentium D 2.8ghz proc currently, it is the big bottleneck in my system when I try to play games like Unreal tournament 2007 even, running 3GBS of ram, 7900GT. I was running a 320watt psu, and now running a 430 watt psu but the only difference is the fan in the power supply isn't blaring all the time, but performance didn't change.