What's my problem?

S

Shorehn

Gawd
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Sep 28, 2005
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I play a lot of TF2 and CoD4. I was having a little trouble with slowdown at certain points in-game, so I decided to invest in some cheap upgrades with the hope that I wouldn't have to replace everything.

I got a newer hard drive that's about twice as fast, upgraded to 4GB RAM from 2GB, overclocked my CPU to 3.2 GHz from 2.8, gave my 4830 a small OC, and replaced my X-Fi Xtrememusic with an Auzentech Forte which has the X-RAM. I also replaced my 1280x1024 monitor with a lovely 1600x900 LG W2061TQ.

I play both games at 1600x900 with 2x AA...and yet my system can still be brought to its knees just like when I was using the old hardware. In CoD4, for example, if someone calls a friendly airstrike and it hits me, my framerates drop to hell until the explosion dissipates. The same goes for if I'm around a smoke grenade. Temperatures aren't an issue; I've already checked. I know my system isn't top of the line, but I'm disappointed that the slowdown issues remain What's my problem here? Is there a bottleneck? Do I need to bite the bullet and do a full upgrade?
 
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reinstall windows on another hard drive and test if it is software issue.
 
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I did a clean install of Windows 7 when I got my current hard drive and I still have the issues I did with the old one.
 
its the gpu Shorehn. I had the same problem back when I had an 8800gts 640mb. I upgraded to a 4850 and it improved but in a large server when that happens I still experienced similar problems although the fps didnt drop to its knees but the fps did go red and less than 40 fps. I only resolved the issue with getting a better gpu(the gtx 260 in my sig).
 
Shorehn said:
I play a lot of TF2 and CoD4. I was having a little trouble with slowdown at certain points in-game, so I decided to invest in some cheap upgrades with the hope that I wouldn't have to replace everything.

I got a newer hard drive that's about twice as fast, upgraded to 4GB RAM from 2GB, overclocked my CPU to 3.2 GHz from 2.8, gave my 4830 a small OC, and replaced my X-Fi Xtrememusic with an Auzentech Forte which has the X-RAM. I also replaced my 1280x1024 monitor with a lovely 1600x900 LG W2061TQ.

I play both games at 1600x900 with 2x AA...and yet my system can still be brought to its knees just like when I was using the old hardware. In CoD4, for example, if someone calls a friendly airstrike and it hits me, my framerates drop to hell until the explosion dissipates. The same goes for if I'm around a smoke grenade. Temperatures aren't an issue; I've already checked. I know my system isn't top of the line, but I'm disappointed that the slowdown issues remain What's my problem here? Is there a bottleneck? Do I need to bite the bullet and do a full upgrade?
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A hard drive will do nothing for your frame rates. Call of Duty 4 and TF2 aren't exactly memory hogs and that's a really small OC. The X-RAM won't really do jack shit for your frame rates despite the advertisements to the contrary. (There is some minimal truth to that under very specific circumstances.) The real bottleneck I believe is the GPU. Even though 1600x900 isn't that demanding I still believe the problem lies there. A 4850 or something along those lines would have done more for your performance in those games than what you've done thus far. In those two games I don't think the CPU is a major bottleneck. My girlfriend's machine runs Call of Duty 4 at resolutions greater than 1680x1050 just fine using a moderately overclocked E6600 just fine. The difference is that her machine (compared to the OP's) uses a Geforce 9800GX2 for the GPU. My E8400 machine is running at stock speeds and it rips through Call of Duty 4 using a single Geforce GTX 280. The point? It's your GPU. Not your CPU. 3.2GHz shouldn't castrate your performance all that badly given the GPU you are using at the resolutions you are running at.
 
I guess I shouldn't have grouped the hard drive in there with the rest of them. I got that to take care of the slow access times of my old one - things seem to load quicker now.

I guess if I've got multiple people who say it's the video card, including an [H] editor, that's that. What would be the best bet for a better video card that would last me a while and not be bottlenecked by the CPU? I just got my 4830 in December and I'm not happy that I'm going to have to get rid of it already :mad: The 7800GT I had before it got me through a couple of years before it got long in the tooth.
 
The HD4870 1GB is a good choice for 1600x900 and should be within your PSU's capability to run it. I recommend XFX for their double lifetime warranty and awesome CS:
$150 - XFX HD-487A-ZHFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB PCI-E Video Card
 
getting good frame rates is one thing as an avg but how low do they go in the toughest parts of the game?

+1 to Danny's suggestion.

Here are a couple of other suggestions in case you are not an ATI fan,

XFX GX260NADFF GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB $169.99
EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB $184.99 - $30 mir + fs
as for the eVGA rebate I got mine in 5 weeks! I think thats a record for any rebate.

At the end of teh day the 4870 and gtx 260 trade blows @ this resolution so pick what one you like the most!
 
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