Computer struggles to run games, even on low settings.

[pivey101]

CPU: i5-2500k 3.30GHz (never overclocked)

Ram: 8GB G-Skill

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB

Mobo: Asrock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

Power Supply: 700W OCZ Mod Xstream-pro

OS: Windows 7 home premium 64bit


I built this computer around February of 2012 and up until now it has always ran games (WoW, SWTOR, SC2) on high or ultra faithfully. I've always maintained everything (reapply thermo paste, spray dust out, keep up with updates etc.) so I'm just curious why I'm experiencing a significant sudden drop in frames. We're talking 5-15fps at best on low settings.

Thank you!

 

[James Mason]

Probably your graphics card just showing it's age.

Have you tried a full system reinstall? (or create a separate empty partition and install the OS on that and see how it performs)

 

[pivey101]

Probably your graphics card just showing it's age.

Have you tried a full system reinstall? (or create a separate empty partition and install the OS on that and see how it performs)

I have not. I figured that was the case honestly. I'm a full time college student and I mainly use my computer September-June and keep it packed up during the summer as I have no way to use it when I move back home. Not really sure what would have went wrong because it was packed away responsibly. I guess a better question would be, would it be viable to just toss this gpu and upgrade to a newer one with my current mobo and cpu? Or would I see some bottleneck?

 

[James Mason]

Your current cpu is only slightly worse than it's modern comparison, so you can upgrade to pretty much any modern GPU.

 

[hang-the-9]

If you havesame games all of a sudden not working right, I doubt you need to upgrade to fix them.

You should check to make sure the fans / heatsinks and case are clean to make sure the card is not running slow to pretect itself.

A clean Windows setup is a good test also, that would rule out software issues.

 

[pivey101]

I think it may just be the card. I've cleaned the case from top to bottom and ensured fans were operating correctly. I also reinstalled windows and am still experiencing the same drop in fps.