Gaming issue with my system

[Cevyn]

Firstly I imagine I should clear up why I felt this title was most fitting in this area of the forum. According to the benchmarking tool 3DMark all of my components are apparently running just fine except for my CPU, Of course if, despite that, this problem needs to be in a different section, I apologize.

Now, Onto the problem I'm having.

I've had my system setup for quite some time the only change I've had of late is the switch from vista32 to 7 32. I've had issues with my system slowing down in games for some time now but lately it has become beyond a joke. I wouldn't say I'm completely oblivious to computers but I've definitely hit a wall my knowledge will overcome with this one.

I can play a game (Arkham City, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Diablo 3...even League of legends) for somewhere in the area of ten minutes before my framerate will dip, anywhere from 40-60 per second to 10-20 per second. Many of these games are ones I was perfectly capable of playing just a couple of months ago on the same setup even with less memory and on vista, which leads me to believe one of two things. Either the switch to 7 has caused some issue or my CPU, according to 3DMark, has encountered a problem/deteriorated for some reason which I believe to be the more likely of the two but I'm no expert.

The specifics of my system follow. (Please tell me if I'm missing anything and what/how to let you know)

Intel Core Quad Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4CPUs)
7gb RAM (DDR2 I believe)
Nvidia GeForce GT440

I'm almost 100% sure you're going to need more information than that, (Log files of some kind maybe? and what my motherboard is which I'm not sure how to determine) I'm more than happy to divulge just as soon as I know what and how.

 

[mcnumpty23]

7gb of ram is rather unusual how many memory modules are you using?

and thats a low end graphics card--cant see how you would get decent fps on those games unless at a

really low resolution and lowest settings

 

[opteron1983]

There may be a biso update available for your motherboard since your now using windows 7.

Windows 7 64 bit would have probably been a better bet in order to better use the 7 gigs of ram available.

Check for updated graphics card drivers

a drop in framerate might be attributed to heat buildup in the cpu or gpu make sure that all the fans and heatsinks are clean and dustless.

 

[larkspur]

I agree with both posters above:

-7gb of ram is an odd amount and Win7 32-bit won't be using all of it anyway. What exact mix of modules are you using?
-Since the games seem to work normal for the first 10 minutes, maybe your problem is heat build-up. Monitor your temperatures using a utility like HWMonitor or CoreTemp, RealTemp, GPU-Z, etc. to make sure you aren't overheating. It's always a good idea to clean your heatsinks: Shut down the machine, unplug it from the wall, open it up and use some pressurized air (there are cans of electronics 'duster' that you can buy) to blow the dust out of your heatsinks including the video card.

 

[Cevyn]

Ok, I opened her up and checked for dust....I'm not going to say it immensely bad in there but it could be a hell of a lot better. Would I be right in thinking canned air would be a good course of action? I've not heard of an electronic duster, where might I be able to pick one of these up?

On the RAM side of things I appear to have 3 sticks of DDR2 and one that I can only assume was (I've taken it out for now) was 1gb though there was no information on it that would clarify that.

I'm almost certain I heard at some point that 7 could be switched between 64 and 32, When I upgraded I figured it just naturally went from Vista32 to 7 32 and I never looked into it again from there. In retrospect it seems a little farfetched but I don't know.

Also, I'm aware the GPU is not the best I could have been but I am pretty sure it's not what's causing my problem here and will be upgraded in due time. What I do now believe it to be is the dust, There is quite a bit. Any advice on something I can do between now and when I can find some canned air? Assuming that's a good course of action?

Your responses are deeply appreciated.

 

[smorizio]

walmart or any place that sell camera will also some radio smacks will. one thing to check to is all your mb/sound/network drivers are all up to date. if your chipset drivers are old or out of date...they can cause issues. also look in nvidia control pannel with there newer drivers there are some setting that can be changed that help if your using one monitor.
fxaa..try turning it down or off...on slower cards can be a performance hit.
muilt-display/mixed gpu acceleration...use signal display performance mode.
power management mode....max performence.
in the games look to se if aa is on or off if it set to 8x aa try turning it down to 4x or off.
if the gpu is heating up near it max temp the bios and drivers are going to clock down the gpu and the gpu memory so the card wont over heat and lock up.

 

[NESHO]

Erm, are you apsolutely sure you have 7 gigs of ram? Because it doesn't make much sense. You said you had 3 sticks and that one had 1 GB, so that means the other two are 4 GB and 2 GB, but why would someone upgrade a rig with 6 GB with a stick of 1 GB?! You should re-check that info, download a program like CPU-z or Everest and do the re-checking there!

 

[Cevyn]

Perhaps I worded that badly.

3 @ 2gb + 1 @1gb = 7gb. I didn't upgrade 6gb to 7gb by putting an extra gb in there, I upgraded from 2gb (My computer had 2 1gb's in it originally) to 7gb, I took one out freeing up 3 slots and put the 3 new 2gbs in them figuring that leaving the 1gb in the remaining slot would do no great deal of harm. Of course I could be wrong.

I'll be sure to check the Nvidia control panel out for these options Smorizio, Thank you very much but sadly I'm not in the states so walmart and I figure you meant Radio Shack are not available to me. I know of their british equivalents though. Again, Thank you.

 

[mcnumpty23]

cheapest place for can of compressed air isnt pc world etc

go to your local poundland they sell it

 

[mrdoublet123]

Erm, are you apsolutely sure you have 7 gigs of ram? Because it doesn't make much sense. You said you had 3 sticks and that one had 1 GB, so that means the other two are 4 GB and 2 GB, but why would someone upgrade a rig with 6 GB with a stick of 1 GB?! You should re-check that info, download a program like CPU-z or Everest and do the re-checking there!

1x 4gb 1x2gb 1x1gb

Simple.

or 3x2gb 1x 1gb

 

[mojito0]

I will agree with larkspur, I don't think your graphics card is the problem since I have one similar to yours and I am fine, what you should do is install one of the programs he mentioned and play a game, while playing check the CPU temperature every 1-2 minutes and see if it goes extremely high. As for your dust me personaly i use my Vacum not compresed air or anything, well it might not be the most clean way but yeah

 

[mojito0]

Ah and as for the ram don't even bother it doesn't affect your gaming since you have more than 3-4 gb

 

[mrdoublet123]

I will agree with larkspur, I don't think your graphics card is the problem since I have one similar to yours and I am fine, what you should do is install one of the programs he mentioned and play a game, while playing check the CPU temperature every 1-2 minutes and see if it goes extremely high. As for your dust me personaly i use my Vacum not compresed air or anything, well it might not be the most clean way but yeah

Vacum bad. Causes static electricity and possible to ruin your components. Use compressed air instead