Monitor vs cpu vs graphics

elvisruns

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Feb 16, 2011
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Hey guys and gals-
I've got a roughly 2yr old homebuilt system that has served me quite well for general purposes and some light gaming....until now. Play mostly sport games - FIFA, PES, and one online (powersoccer) and have noticed a dramatic change to the rendering quality of the games since updating my monitor a week ago. I went from a 19" wide to a 21.5". I'll comment most on powersoccer since there's a feature that lets you see fps and ping during games. With my old monitor I was almost constantly seeing the max of 60fps, and with the new one I'm only seeing 30-40fps (although when a match starts, it opens in a reduced window and will show 60fps). First, I'm wondering if there is a screen resolution setting I should have it set to (right now, I've got it at 1920x1080). If there's no question there, I'd like some recommendation on what I might change to improve the quality of the games.

Here's the build I have:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 840
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H
RAM: Crucial DDR3-1333 (8GB)
PSU: Coolermaster eXtreme 500W
I do not have a graphics card as I wasn't really doing any gaming when I built the system.

As for the in-game settings on powersoccer, here's what is available:

Graphics quality
High
Medium
Low
Very Low


Renderer
Direct X
Open GL


Resolution
There are about 20 different screen resolutions, none of which match my monitor's 1920x1080

Bit Depth
32
16

I have tried setting the graphics quality on High and Medium and the difference in fps is negligible. Just makes the crispness of the game less. I've tried both the Direct X and Open GL rendering and I see no difference. Have tried setting the resolution at 800x600 on the low end, and 1680x1260 on the high end, and a smattering of intermediate ones, and it doesn't seem make a difference.

Sooo, is it really the monitor that has changed the way these games are displayed? If so, what am I better doing if there doesn't seem to be an in-game setting or monitor resolution that makes it any better - get a graphics card or upgrade my CPU? Would like to do it on a budget if possible. If I upgrade the CPU, I'd have to do the mobo as well, and a decent combo would likely push me above $200.

Thanks, in advance.




 
Changing the monitor would have lowered performance. The resolution in layman's terms is how many pixels horizontal by how many pixels vertical. So a higher resolution means the graphics has to work harder, as it literally has more pixels to deal with.

Lowering the resolution in the game should fix the problem, but it doesnt seem to in your case. Strangely enough what you are describing is the symptoms of a CPU bottleneck, but considering you are running off the CPU's integrated graphics I highly doubt that.

Think the easy solution to your problem is a dedicated graphics card. At your budget a HD7850 is a good choice.
 
Well for any form of gaming I would suggest a graphics card. Even a cheap one.

Now HD screens(which yours is) are more demanding on the graphics side, it look much better though. That's why you have the drop in FPS.

I would suggest getting at least an HD7770 @ $125 dollars after rebate.
here is a really nice one from Sapphire :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102993

If you want to spend more :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202004
That will serve you even better.

There is a nice article you can read to give you what is best at each price point.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-4.html
 

elvisruns

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Feb 16, 2011
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OK folks, I ended up buying a Diamond AMD Radeon HD 7750 1024MB (budget won whilst at Microcenter talking to one of the tech support guys). The fps is a non issue now, but......now, every so often, the monitpr will freeze for a split second or screen will go black for a second, then resume as normal during games.
Any thoughts on why, or what I can look to change (settings?), or (if you think it's just not the best compatibility with the system) just return it for something else. I haven't OC'd anything on the system.