Bottlenecking Performance?

chewey56

Distinguished
Apr 9, 2010
10
0
18,510
Hey guys,
I built a computer last June, and after awhile i believe that there is something bottlenecking the performance of my system. Here are the specs:
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 7750BE 2.7ghz
Motherboard: Asrock A780GXE/128M
Video Card: XFX ATI Radeon 4850 with 1GB of DDR3
RAM: Patriot Viper series 2x2GB DDR2 1066
Case: NZXT Guardian 921
HDD: WD Caviar Blue 640GB SATA

I am running windows 7, and it runs fine and everything, but the motherboard i have is not listed as Windows 7 supported, so i think that could be reason numero uno.

On the other hand, here are my windows experience index numbers:
CPU:6.2
Memory:7.1
Graphics:7.1
Gaming Graphics:7.1
Hard Disk:5.9

So i think that shows the CPU is the cause, but i think the motherboard is another thing.

Should i upgrade my CPU, or Motherboard, or both? and if either of the two, which brand should i get? thanks!
 

Griffolion

Distinguished
May 28, 2009
1,806
0
19,960
First of all, bottlenecking performance in what, games?

Could possibly be the CPU considering its only a dual core and not particularly fast at that. If it is games you're on about, what res/settings are you playing particular games at. Oh and in which DX mode?
 

chewey56

Distinguished
Apr 9, 2010
10
0
18,510
Just All-around performance. mostly with opening programs, some games take some time to boot up, and iTunes, which i use very often, takes about 7 seconds to start. and turning on the computer in the morning, when the operating system goes to the desktop it's slow opening up programs. my cousins have two homebuilt PC's, and once the operating system starts they can open up the web and anything without delay.
 

tecmo34

Administrator
Moderator
In my opinion, I would recommend upgrading your hard drive to a Samsung Spinpoint F3 or Seagate 7200.12 (500GB or 1TB). This will be your biggest performance increase in load times outside of a SSD. Your CPU and motherboard are good enough to be open programs without issues. Your current hard drive is a low hard drive meant for backup storage, versus running an OS.

Your WE score won't change but your performance will (unless you get a SSD). Standard hard drives will not go over 5.9 no matter how fast they are.
 

Griffolion

Distinguished
May 28, 2009
1,806
0
19,960
For me, Itunes takes a little while to open, maybe about 4 or 5 seconds, don't know why but it runs like a dream after first open.

I have a spinpoint F3 and it takes about 20 - 25 seconds from power on to desktop ready to go.
 

chewey56

Distinguished
Apr 9, 2010
10
0
18,510
also, when playing some games on high enough settings that my pc can support, the graphics just look choppy when fast moving instances happen. in BFBC2 i played the first mission and before you get into a sub-pen there's a huge explosion and it just looked terrible.