Intel I5-2400 gaming lag

[UnevenPieces]

Hi,

A while ago I've 'upgraded' my pc with a I5-2400 + DH67CLB3 cpu/motherboard. In some games I've noticed some kind of lag not related to the game fps. Even though the fps is stable, the game moves as if something is forcing the cpu in the background. I mean, I thought that a quad core at 3Ghz would pretty much handle the load all the time. I've tried disabling processes, I've tried changing some bios settings and nothing.

I've also tested numerous video cards so I can rule out that possibility. It's like the game works fine for a while and then, the lag reappers, periodically. And I also notice some kind of frame skipping, vsync on/off. It usually happens when there is some activity in the game, lots of units and so on. If I pause the game the lag is gone.

For example, in Company of Heroes in a 4v4 cpu game, at some point I the lag appears, even though FRAPS is showing me 60~ fps. At this point the map scroll gets a little choppy. Something similar is happening in Men of War also. The games are playable if one can ignore this problem, but I don't know, something is not right in my opinion.

Also, BIOS and all drivers are up to date so far.

Anyone else had this problem or anything similar ?
Thanks in advance

CPU: Intel i5-2400 3.1 Ghz
RAM: 4GB
PSU: Corsair 550vx
GPU: Gigabyte 550Ti Gtx
OS: XP SP3

 

[myowaiwin]

if u have any issue other than games.
i mean daily usage like internet, word processing?

if not, u can also try prime95, furmark to ensure the stability of ur system.
and make sure ur system is clean from virus.

from hardware aspect, please check all ur system components like RAM, CPU thermal paste and cooler and all power and data sockets are firm and in proper lock. also, if u have spare sata cable, change and test again.

 

[geekapproved]

Sounds like a slow internet connection to me.

speedtest.net

 

[UnevenPieces]

if u have any issue other than games.
i mean daily usage like internet, word processing?

if not, u can also try prime95, furmark to ensure the stability of ur system.
and make sure ur system is clean from virus.

from hardware aspect, please check all ur system components like RAM, CPU thermal paste and cooler and all power and data sockets are firm and in proper lock. also, if u have spare sata cable, change and test again.

No, this issue appears only in games. I've ran tests with Prime95 and Furmark and I had no problems, the system is fine. The temperatures are normal at 100% usage, no dust inside the case also.

 

[UnevenPieces]

PS: I should mention that not all games behave the way I said. Although, it happened in many enough so that I recognize a pattern.

 

[geekapproved]

A slow internet connection in a multiplayer game would cause all the symptoms you mentioned.

 

[UnevenPieces]

A slow internet connection in a multiplayer game would cause all the symptoms you mentioned.

I have this issue when I play it in single player - training mode.

 

[mdd1963]

4 gb of RAM might not be enough to play seamlessly in all games today....

 

[iam2thecrowe]

^ i agree, maybe not enough ram. oh, and i just realised you running windows XP. So your really only getting 3.25gb useable ram. Upgrade to 64bit win7 to be able to use more ram. Running winXP for a new build like that is pretty silly. I doubt companies put any time or effort to develop good drivers for xp now anyway.

 

[abdussamad]

It's quite likely your hard disk needs some TLC. Defragment it and do a bad sector/bad block scan.

 

[anxiousinfusion]

It's quite likely your hard disk needs some TLC. Defragment it and do a bad sector/bad block scan.

Agreed, it may the HDD. Could you please provide your hard disc specifications?

 

[geekapproved]

Did you do a fresh Windows install when you replaced your motherboard??

 

[geekapproved]

Houston, I think we found the problem.

 

[UnevenPieces]

Did you do a fresh Windows install when you replaced your motherboard??

Yes, of course I reinstalled the os. Also, I have 2 hdd's: 1xWD Blue Caviar 500Gb and one WD 160Gb.

 

[blackhawk1928]

4 gb of RAM might not be enough to play seamlessly in all games today....

If you are on a fresh reboot and have no extra applications or useless processes running in the background, 4GB is enough for practically all games. I am a user of Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit and on fresh boot, It uses exactly around 1GB of ram. I've played Company of Heroes and Crysis which are extremely intensive...especially company of heroes on high graphics, it can bring just about any GPU down to its crawl if you are in a huge battle/map. At most I don't think it used much more then 2-2.5GB if it was even that. I'll have to check myself again in case I forgot.

However, probably like most people, I like to run Windows Live Mail, Itunes, Web-browser with like 10-15tabs, skype, steam, and a bunch of background programs that eventually hogs up lots of memory. So 4GB is still a great choice. I you are major multi-tasker, then 6GB-8GB if better.