CPU upgrade or just ram is fine?

May 3, 2018
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Been struggling past 2 years to run some games on my computer.
I was also testing it on bunch of games to see whether it's my ram or CPU giving me lots of stutters in games.

My system specs are:
AMD Athlon II X4 641 (overclocked to 3.0 GHz)
ASUS R7 250 1 GB GDDR5
Patriot 4 GB ddr3 overclocked to 933 MHz
motherboard ECS a55f-m3

This system started struggling to run games like CS GO, Fortnite, GTA 5, Watch dogs, don't even know why i tried to run Watch dogs 2, absolutely terrible.

Now CS GO slowly opens and goes to a competitive match, as soon as i go in it starts stuttering a lot, after 2-3 minutes it works fine but from time to time it stutters again. Fortnite gets to like 80 fps but drops it every few seconds to like 15 and goes back, watch dogs only runs at 30 fps and goes below it, never goes up. WD2 is terrible, unplayable.

So i thought about it and still unsure till this day if i have to upgrade my CPU as well or i can just upgrade my RAM to 4 or 8 GB at 1866 MHz (thats the max frequency this CPU can handle) and would that make things better at some point where these games i mentioned would be playable? All of them i play on low settings and i don't mind bad graphics, i just want them playable. If i do have to upgrade both, i can but i wish to know what CPU is perfect in combination with my GPU? (I don't plan on upgrading that as well.) I was thinking about Ryzen 1200 (i know i have to upgrade my mobo as well because it's different sockets) im just unsure if this is the best one i could combine with my gpu.

Sorry for writing a bible, hope you don't mind :)
 

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
That's a dated system, so you cannot expect wonders from it.

BUT, are you actually monitoring CPU/RAM usage? Task Manager would do it, as would third party tools like HWMonitor or MSIAfterburner (the problem is, each of these still require their own resources to run).

Are you monitoring temperatures? Specifcially on the CPU/GPU?
 
I believe WD2 requires at least 2GB of VRAM so your 1GB card is the main problem there.

Overall this is a very old system so I'm hesitant to put anymore money into it. Unless you think there is no way you can afford a total overhaul? If you are really stuck with this then bump the RAM up to 8 Gb (this assumes you have a 64-bit version of Windows installed, if you don't then don't waste your money). Other than that I wouldn't put anymore money into it.
 
May 3, 2018
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Yea i have monitored my CPU/GPU Usage with all of these games using MSI Afterburner, CPU Is always stuck at 98-100% while gpu sticks around 50-70%. Ram is always at its maximum usage, around 3600-3800 MB, and when stuttering occurs it's impossible to see what is the usage of both of these in the next 10 seconds after stutter, seems like MSI afterburner freezes as well.

Now im sort of stuck on budget, i can stay for a little longer with this system but really i am planning to upgrade it if necessary. I've seen the new ryzen 2000 series and i just don't want to have an iGPU with it so i kinda wanna stick with 1000 series, like 1200 or 1300. I would be able to get a new mobo as well but i'd be stuck later on with 4 GB at 800 MHz, until i can afford better one. Yes, i do own 64 bit Windows 7.

Again, i'd prefer to stay with this CPU, if it's possible to get rid of stutters in CS GO, fortnite, and maybe raise up the fps a bit in WD1 without stutters, if only RAM could fix this issue. I mean i don't see why not? Isn't the CPU at some level limited because of ram? It can handle 1866 MHz, and this one i own is 933 MHz, so thats almost 1 GHz of upgrade? If not, i can upgrade it i guess, either the ram alone or just get a new Mobo and CPU. Components are quite expensive here so my budget is a bit low.

Update: Temperatures i measured, on CPU it's always around 50C, stock cooler and thermal paste applied to it, in idle state it's 5-10C. GPU however gets hot, up to 65C but doesn't go above usually.
 
May 3, 2018
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It did when i first got my hands on R7 250, since i've had before an HD 6450 it was running at 60 fps, no more on low settings. Got the new gpu and went to 150 FPS (keep in mind it's not 1080p monitor, it's at 1366x768) but nowadays stutter occurs and i guess my system is getting old now, but im hoping i can get some more juice out of it if i can upgrade only ram or i guess i'll just have to get a new mobo and cpu, ram too :/

(sorry for double post if its not allowed, not familiar with rules)
 
If you were getting better performance, but it's degraded since then, that suggests you either have a software issue like a gummed up Windows install, or some kind of malware infection. Or you have a hardware problem. Considering the age of the system, have you replaced the thermal paste on the CPU? If things are running hot then that will slow performance down.

A clue of that being the case is if your computer seems to run fine until you run something demanding, like a game. Running a game will cause the CPU and GPU to work harder, generating more heat. Another possibility is if your power supply is breaking down under load.

I would not spend money until after you have figured out what caused the problem.

In general, your system should be able to handle older games and a bit of the newer less demanding games. An Athlon II X4 plus R7 250 is not enough for more demanding games, not even at 720p. Having 8gb ram can help eliminate some framerate stutters, but not the ones caused by software or hardware problems.
 
May 3, 2018
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Eh im afraid as well, but not even close, cant even dream about buying rx 580 or 1070 ti, even if i could i would rather buy 1080 instead of 1070 ti. Yet, im not really into newer games, just sticking around the older ones and fortnite which isn't that hungry on specs. So thats why im checking out if i could somehow get rid of stutters or i'd just get newer generation of cpu's and mobos, more ram too. I dont need anything expensive.
 
May 3, 2018
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Few days ago i put the thermal paste again after 2 months when i put it the first time. The temperature is good so far on the CPU side under heavy load but yet fails to work the way it worked before. GPU on the other hand gets around 65C but doesnt go above or less, stays around there so i think that would be normal. Windows 7 also reinstalled 2 weeks ago so its freshly installed, and still same issues, issues appeared even before i reinstalled it.

I gave windows 10 a go as well, sound drivers didn't work properly and i couldn't get the VIA HD Audio to install on windows 10 so i considered it unusable and had to move back to windows 7 and here we are again. (And i gave only fortnite a try on windows 10, same issue with stuttering).

So really, no issues around software or any drivers, they are installed and working just fine. Yet im not sure about hardware? It is quite old, it's been maybe 3-4 years so that may be it? (except the gpu, its new.) About the Power supply, i really dont know. I've been cleaning it only and never caused me any problems? (i mean the only problem i know is overheating leads to shutdown but never happened before) so i really don't know the other way to fix it but to buy new hardware.