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Question about Frames per Second.

L

Luni

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
156
(Graphics card newb alert) I recently got a GTX 670 for a early birthday gift after a buddy pointed me to http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html showing the 670 on top, loving it so far, but I notice some oddities in my games, I got the EVGA Precision X tool that lets you see your frames per second, now in certain games like Fable 3, my graphics have to be tweaked weirdly to allow it to hit 60 FPS (Friend told me the game is badly optimized so I chocked it to that) recently however, I started playing Just Cause 2, and noticed that while -really- smooth, I sat at about 50% GPU usage, 50 degrees celsius, and a near constant and unbudging 30 frames per second. The card is on stock clocks (Too worried to overclock) and I set the "Frames per second target" in precision X to "60" I see people claiming to get 60FPS in almost EVERY GAME.. why can't I?

System Specs (In case you need them)
-Asus P5N-E SLI motherboard
-3 Gigs of DDR2 (Mushkin brand says 6400 on the side and 4-4-4-12 in small writing)
-Intel Core2Duo @3.0 GHZ (E6850)
-Windows 7 64 Bit
-EVGA GTX 670 FTW edition
-Corsair AX1200 watt psu
 
Aren't some game engines capped at a certain FPS? I think I remember reading that id was thinking of doing that in their most recent engine.
 
You're running a Core 2 Duo, and with 3GB of ram, you're probably not even running dual channel memory configuration (unless you're running 2x1GB and 2x512MB sticks) which is making an already weak CPU even more crippled.

Your system is not at all balanced. You have a lot of GPU power but the rest of your system is nowhere near powerful enough to exploit it, that's why your GPU is sitting at 50% utilization.

Also, disable vsync
 
your cpu is bottle necking your card

as ramongtp said, you graphics card is great but the rest of your system cant support it.
 
You're hideously CPU bound, the GPU is being bottlenecked. You'll probably find a fairly enormous performance boost if you switch to a more modern CPU.
 
What do you have set in the Nvidia Control Panel for Vsync? Make sure it is set to "use the 3D application setting" and not something else.
 
An E6850 isn't as bad as most people here and on other tech forums will make it out to be, I'm pretty sure most people here will recommend a 3770K regardless of a user's needs.

You will be CPU bound in a few very recently released games, Just Cause 2 isn't one of them. Two games is also a pretty small testing pool, try some more of various engines/age and report back.

3GB of ram is a little on the low side for Windows 7, try disabling Aero if you haven't already and check some optimization guides for a few other unneeded processes you can disable to free up a little more RAM. Memory is not the source of your issue though, but it can be a concern as you may experience choppiness when the slow hard drive is being tasked to page memory, it won't cap you at 30fps though.

Are your video drivers up to date?
 
Mechasheeba said:
An E6850 isn't as bad as most people here and on other tech forums will make it out to be, I'm pretty sure most people here will recommend a 3770K regardless of a user's needs.

You will be CPU bound in a few very recently released games, Just Cause 2 isn't one of them. Two games is also a pretty small testing pool, try some more of various engines/age and report back.

3GB of ram is a little on the low side for Windows 7, try disabling Aero if you haven't already and check some optimization guides for a few other unneeded processes you can disable to free up a little more RAM. Memory is not the source of your issue though, but it can be a concern as you may experience choppiness when the slow hard drive is being tasked to page memory, it won't cap you at 30fps though.

Are your video drivers up to date?
Click to expand...

I'd say it's your expectations of the 6850 that's a bit high. Expecting a constant 60fps in JC2 is NOT going to happen. And with a GTX 670, JC2 most certainly IS CPU bound beyond a shadow of a doubt.

No one here even said anything about a 3770.
 
Mechasheeba said:
An E6850 isn't as bad as most people here and on other tech forums will make it out to be, I'm pretty sure most people here will recommend a 3770K regardless of a user's needs.

You will be CPU bound in a few very recently released games, Just Cause 2 isn't one of them. Two games is also a pretty small testing pool, try some more of various engines/age and report back.

3GB of ram is a little on the low side for Windows 7, try disabling Aero if you haven't already and check some optimization guides for a few other unneeded processes you can disable to free up a little more RAM. Memory is not the source of your issue though, but it can be a concern as you may experience choppiness when the slow hard drive is being tasked to page memory, it won't cap you at 30fps though.

Are your video drivers up to date?
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but my q6600 at 3.4GHz was bottlenecking a single GTX460 @1650x1080 in JC2 and BF3. I bet it's the same with his system.
 
Hey guys am I looking at any potential bottlenecks here? I just want to optimize my system to get the most out of it.

Intel i5-3570K
8GB (4x2) Ballistic Crucial Memory
128GB Crucial SSD drive
1TB Hitachi 7200 harddrive
XFX Double D FX-787A-CDFC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB
GIGABYTE GA-Z77MX-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s MOBO
Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI
 
t.o. said:
Hey guys am I looking at any potential bottlenecks here? I just want to optimize my system to get the most out of it.

Intel i5-3570K
8GB (4x2) Ballistic Crucial Memory
128GB Crucial SSD drive
1TB Hitachi 7200 harddrive
XFX Double D FX-787A-CDFC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB
GIGABYTE GA-Z77MX-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s MOBO
Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI
Click to expand...

I don't see any particular bottlenecks with this setup
 
I actually think you should go with a i5 2500K it overclocks easy and fast. 4.0 Ghz on the stock heat sink with no voltage, anyone with just about any case can do that. Most of the gains of the 3570 are in the GPU you wont use anyway.
 
rudy said:
I actually think you should go with a i5 2500K it overclocks easy and fast. 4.0 Ghz on the stock heat sink with no voltage, anyone with just about any case can do that. Most of the gains of the 3570 are in the GPU you wont use anyway.
Click to expand...

If you can find a 2500k on sale for under $200 this would be the way to go. If you're paying full retail you might as well pay the extra $20 for the newer and slightly better 3570k. I wanted a second gaming machine in addition to supplement my primary and already had a capable 5870 not doing much of anything. I was going to build an AMD machine just to experiment with them a bit and get first hand experience in terms of their gaming performance, but when I saw a 2500K on sale for $170 at my local Fry's, that sealed the deal for me.
 
I don't have Vsync on, and I turn it off for almost every single game I get. It's the first thing to be turned off lol. It's even off in the 3D application section of the Nvidia Control Panel and yes my drivers are up to date (Unless a new updates come out in the past like, week?) A friend of mine says I should grab a new motherboard and an ivy bridge processor if I like to OC, or a 2600K if I don't any recommendations? Also, I WANT liquid cooling eventually if that like matters.
 
I think a 2500k or 2550K gives you the same performance with an OC as a 2600K in games. Also if you have a microcenter near you, you can get various CPUs like the 2500k and 3570 and 3770k for a cheaper price.
 
Luni said:
I don't have Vsync on, and I turn it off for almost every single game I get. It's the first thing to be turned off lol. It's even off in the 3D application section of the Nvidia Control Panel and yes my drivers are up to date (Unless a new updates come out in the past like, week?) A friend of mine says I should grab a new motherboard and an ivy bridge processor if I like to OC, or a 2600K if I don't any recommendations? Also, I WANT liquid cooling eventually if that like matters.
Click to expand...

Your friend is a little mixed up or you misunderstood him. If you want to OC, you get any K series processor. Ivy Bridge OR Sandy Bridge. 2500k and 2600k are Sandy Bridge 3570k and 3770k are Ivy Bridge
 
rudy said:
I think a 2500k or 2550K gives you the same performance with an OC as a 2600K in games. Also if you have a microcenter near you, you can get various CPUs like the 2500k and 3570 and 3770k for a cheaper price.
Click to expand...

I paid $270 for the CPU and MOBO combo at Microcenter.
 
Get a new Mobo / CPU / RAM, until then, overclock that sucker to 3.6 GHz. I was running a E8400 that could hit that on the stock heatsink. That gave me a giant bump in fps.
 
Thing is, I have no clue HOW to overclock, and since this is my one and ONLY pc, for a couple of months, I have -no- desire to risk a fry or a danger when I don't have cash to replace it. So, assuming it will sit at a stock clock, whats the best processor in terms of bang for buck and reliability?
 
i5 3570
i5 3570k if you think you may want to dabble in overclocking.

Also snag a Gigabyte D3H for an excellent and low cost Z77 board.
 
You're likely to get better value from a non-K processor if you're leaning toward Intel (though this may vary on market factors). Looking at the chart of current Ivy Bridge procs, the i5 3550 looks like a pretty great value at around $200.
 
I could potentially learn to OC, at some point, I just hear the idea of messing with voltages and frying processors and I'm like "Yeesh" but why the 3570 over the 2600k? I heard that 2600K OC's better then a lot of Ivy bridges? Kinda new at building PC's for gaming, normally I just grab a processor look at it's socket and grab a mobo in the same price range for friends, never built an "Enthusiast" pc lol
 
That's generally a myth. Sure the 2600k probably has a better chance of getting a higher clock than the equivalent Ivy Bridge processor, but the IB processor will still perform better at the lower clock speed. Simply because IB is faster clock for clock over SB.
 
Sandy Bridge typically can overclock higher but Ivy Bridge is faster clock for clock, so performance wise it's more or less a wash. Ivy Bridge has the added advantage of consuming less power, better IGP and PCIe 3.0 doesn't really make sense to go with sandy unless you find a good deal on one IMO
 
Whatever happened to overclocking?

If the op is runnin' his E6850 at stock 3Ghz then he should overclock his cpu, it has quite a bit of headroom. This will atleast allow his gpu to work a little more efficiently in the meantime.

Also, check with cpuz that your memory is running in dual-channel mode, not single channel. Some boards can't run dual channel with only 3 memory dimms, but some can.
 
OP, really? I cant believe you would ever put a gtx670 in a system like that. and why on earth do you have an AX1200 psu for system that uses about 300 watts? for what you wasted on that psu, you could have bought a modern cpu and mobo. :eek:

but yeah please hurry and get an i5, mobo and and 8gb of ram so you can actually put that gtx670 to full use.
 
THOMO said:
Whatever happened to overclocking?

If the op is runnin' his E6850 at stock 3Ghz then he should overclock his cpu, it has quite a bit of headroom. This will atleast allow his gpu to work a little more efficiently in the meantime.

Also, check with cpuz that your memory is running in dual-channel mode, not single channel. Some boards can't run dual channel with only 3 memory dimms, but some can.
Click to expand...

He still needs to upgrade. He's looking for 60fps and getting 30, overclocking won't even get him 40, and he's already posted his reasons for not wanting to overclock his current setup.
 
if he is not budging from 30 fps in Just Cause 2 then he has some type of frame rate cap or vsync on either in the game or control panel. if not there there is an issue other than his cpu with that game. now his cpu is certainly a huge bottleneck but it should not cause Just Cause 2 to only get a max of 30 fps.
 
RamonGTP said:
He still needs to upgrade. He's looking for 60fps and getting 30, overclocking won't even get him 40, and he's already posted his reasons for not wanting to overclock his current setup.
Click to expand...

Sure he does in the long run but runnin' his cpu at 3.6Ghz for example is an instant free upgrade :D.
 
For the people asking why I have a 1200 Watt PSU, and a 670, I've said it all ready, the 670 was a gift, as was the 1200 watt. I have friends who build these monstrosities, and then sometimes gift me parts for my birthdays /Christmas WHICH I turned 23 yesterday for what it's worth :p Anyways, until I get a couple checks under my belt, I'll probably shy from using Overclocking, just cause I don't know HOW, and have no idea how to check the safety/stability and don't want to fry my only CPU before I even get money to replace it.
 
Even at 3.6Ghz, my old Q6600 doesn't begin to compare to my 2500k. I can't even imagine being stuck with a dual-core.
 
Luni said:
Anyways, until I get a couple checks under my belt, I'll probably shy from using Overclocking, just cause I don't know HOW, and have no idea how to check the safety/stability and don't want to fry my only CPU before I even get money to replace it.
Click to expand...
There's nothing wrong with that, but keep in mind that there's nothing particularly dangerous about mild overclocks, assuming your cooling system is sufficient. It's voltage increases that you need to be somewhat afraid of.

That said, Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge chips already 'overclock' themselves anyway. At 3.6/3.7 GHz, an SB/IB chip is by no means slow.
 
You said you disabled v sync in the 3D settings page, but have you checked it in both places in the NV control panel - 'global settings' and also the individual game profile under 'program settings' as well?

I would also try turning off your frame rate target in precision X, or temporarily uninstall precision altogether since you don't OC anyway, and see if that affects anything. The RTSS plugin (the part that gives you the fps on screen display) has a frame limiter setting hidden in it's options page too.
 
I checked both sides of the Nvidia control panel, and checked the RSS platform in precision X it must just be that my CPU is holding my GPU back. I'll be looking into getting an IB and a motherboard to match it. Might just save up and build a new rig but keep my PSU and GPU. lol
 
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