Which is the bottleneck here?

S

Shadowhaxor

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 15, 2005
Messages
311
I currently run all my games in 1680x1050 and normally I see frames ranging from 35 - 60+, my most played being World of Warcraft (20 on most raid encounters to 100 alone and 35-45 in croweded cites) and Call of Duty 4 (average of 30fps).

I'm starting to wonder if my processor is my bottle neck currently, I'd thought that the 8800GT would be putting me higher than it currently is. Though at the same time, it simply could be that the video card is peeking and I have been looking to replace it with either a 4850 or 4870. Issue being I don't want to replace the card if it's not the problem. I can't say 100% that it is the processor either, assuming that I'm getting just about the same fps rates now , that I had when I had an overclocked X2 3600 @ 2.4Ghz.

Basic components are the same except for the processor.

AMD X2 5000 Black Edition @ 3.0Ghz
Biostar TF 550 SE
BFG 550 Watt Power Supply (GS-550)
(4) 1GB Gskill DDR2800
BFG Nvidia 8800GT (512MB) OC PCIe card

My main goal, as a gamer, is to get the max frames at all times, without having the wife kill me ;) I'd even consider going SLI with another 8800GT, if that would help, though that would entail getting another 8800GT and a SLI board (been thinking about replacing the card anyway.

If I do anything, my max spending atm is 300.00. Any higher and I know I'm dead.

Thoughts or suggestions for a righteous gamer?
 
My rig in sig does CoD4 60FPS (locked) at max settings 1680x1050 in Vista x64.

I think you might have another underlying issue. Have you done the necessary tests to see if you have faulty hardware?
 
Yes, I have... this what is driving me crazy. I also am running Vista64 (home prem) and I know with what I have, I shouldn't be seeing this issue. Though I'm leaning toward the mobo however, I've been having issues after issue since I first purchased it.
 
This may just be my personal opinion, but with Vista, I've seen game performance on every machine I've used go through the floor. Could be OS, but since I really don't like Vista, I could be biased, but if you can try it with XP, it might be worth a shot
 
TheLordsServant said:
This may just be my personal opinion, but with Vista, I've seen game performance on every machine I've used go through the floor. Could be OS, but since I really don't like Vista, I could be biased, but if you can try it with XP, it might be worth a shot
Click to expand...

It is a valid test, but only if testing OS config and maybe bad drivers.
I run Vista Business x64 with no issues and very similar hardware to the OP.
 
If you have COD4 jacked up on the AA and AF setting then it would hinder the 8800GT performance. At 1680 x 1050 res you are not cpu bottlenecked as much as gpu. An HD4850 will give you a decent boost over that 8800GT card in COD4. HD4870, even better. Expect roughly 15-20 % overall performance gain over an HD4850.
 
I would get new ram 2 X 2gb and move those 512's to other computers and see if you see better performance. Nothing worse than buying a new video card just to find out it was something else slowing you down.


Unless you have the 8800gt 256mb if so then upgrade fast becuase it's the suck.
 
Sorry gang, i'm retarded at the moment... looking at servers all day kinda makes you crazy. I have 4 sticks of Qskill DDR2800 at 1GB... not 512MB.

That said, to be honest I recently rebuilt this pc, as I had Winxp prior to and make the jump to Vista 64bit, so I can use all of my memory and get DirectX 10 (had to sooner or later... sure windows may port it to XP, but who knows.... windows 7 anyone?). So this is a 2 week old build. Other than WoW and CoD4, I play alot of Grid at 8AA and it runs good, maybe maxed out at 1680x1050. I didn't install fraps so I can't give fps scores on that. All my mame games run fine as expected... though I can't run TrackMania: Nations. It just comes up with errors, I can't use my mouse, I can't use the keyboard, I can't even enter my name to play. Once I get home I'll be installing Doom3, Quake4, UT2004 and my source games (Portal, TF2, HL2, DoD) to see where else I see fps losses. I can tell you though I am running the Wotlk Beta and it's running 60+ with high shadows and its fine.......

@HardwareGuru - When you installed Vista64, was there any drivers/patches you needed to install? I was under the impression with Vista, we didn't have to install any specific AMD/Windows drivers/patches like we did for Xp.

Only thing other I can think of is say 3 months ago, I did smell smoke but that was also when my Power Supply died as well. But once I replaced it with the BFG, I was back in business, so I don't know atm.

stevedave said:
I would get new ram 2 X 2gb and move those 512's to other computers and see if you see better performance. Nothing worse than buying a new video card just to find out it was something else slowing you down.


Unless you have the 8800gt 256mb if so then upgrade fast becuase it's the suck.
Click to expand...

Yah, its an 512MB card. That's why I either buy at Bestbuy (and get price raped) or Microcenter (tax... no micrcenter in Delaware) but I can take the items back as well, so the price is usually worth it.
 
QSkill or GSkill? Because if it's GSkill, you are that much closer to my config, because I run 4x1gb as well.

Are your BIOS, chipset and video card drivers all up to date?
 
Version_3 said:
QSkill or GSkill? Because if it's GSkill, you are that much closer to my config, because I run 4x1gb as well.

Are your BIOS, chipset and video card drivers all up to date?
Click to expand...

Its definitely GSklll;

(2) F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Bios is up todate as I had to update it in order to get the new settings to overclock the 5000BE. I just got done playing a game of HL2E2 at 1680x1050 with 8AA and all settings maxed and it ran silky smooth... Not sure what the deal is.

BTW. I had to laugh. Seems other than the mobo's, our config is the same... heck, I got the 20.1" version of your monitor, the VX2025wm.
 
LOL Nice. So again, there's no reason why you can't hit 60FPS on CoD4.

I just checked my video settings and here is what I actually have:

Graphics1.jpg

Graphics2.jpg


I would completely wipe and reinstall CoD4 and then update it to the latest patch. (Save your profile if you want). Also, do you have anything 'forced' in the driver video settings, or are you allowing that to be application controlled?
 
Update: Well, since I sold my PS3, I went and got a 4870. Not really seeing a big jump here at moment, so I'm thinking that the board/cpu is my bottleneck here. Likely either going to return the card and get a 4850 and upgrade to a Core2Duo combo or just keep the 8800GT and get a Core2Quad.

I'm guess I'm pushing to much, I want to have the best of the best and not having to downgrade any settings, you know ;)

And I am using 64bit. I'm running Vista Home Prem with 4GB of ram.
 
I believe it may be your CPU. I also believe that if you dropped in a 6000+ or a 6400+, you would see a MUCH more noticeable difference (increase in FPS.)

My friend with a 2.9GHz 3600+ was getting shitty FPS with his 8800GTS until he bought a 6000+ and the FPS basically doubled, or in some cases, tripled. These Brisbanes aren't that great. The older models with more L2 cache still pack more punch.
 
I'd have to go with motherboard something. Its the only real difference between yours and my systems.
Its either mobo hardware, or some settings somewhere. My coworker also maybe thought you had some other app running at the same time, but that may/may not explain half the FPS that I see.
 
Version_3 said:
I'd have to go with motherboard something. Its the only real difference between yours and my systems.
Its either mobo hardware, or some settings somewhere. My coworker also maybe thought you had some other app running at the same time, but that may/may not explain half the FPS that I see.
Click to expand...

I did some more testing last night. Now, in WoW with the 4870, I was still getting around 35-45 in a crowd and 60-100 alone (max fps 100). With CoD single player, my max fps was 50, which should be a lot more with the 4870. Grid was at 50 fps as well. I'm really thinking it is the mobo. I was thinking about also getting a AM2+ board, since this one only supports the AM2 and upgrade to a Phenom later on down the road.

As far as the 6400 vs 5000BE, after doing some research, I saw that the 5000BE was the better deal, so I'm not so sure. the 6400 doesn't have any room for over clocking, although that L2 cache is nice for gaming.

So far, the process/video card/psu have been replaced........ sigh, looks like its mobo time.
 
your CPU shouldnt be an issue at 1680x1050. modern games use probably 75% gfx card and 25% CPU at that rez, and it only goes further to GFX card the higher rez you go.

as per the 6000+/6400+ arguement...what? his 5000+ BE is running at the same speed as the 6000+. it virtually IS a 6000+. that argument is silly. your CPU is fine since it's running at 3.0ghz

i'd have to point to yer mobo and/or drivers as well. did it cost you like $70? biostar makes the worst of the worst mobos. that's not saying they dont have a place...i've used 1 or 2 in a few builds, but for ANY gaming rig, they need to be avoided. buy a newer AM2+ board based on the 780 chipset, or whatever the newer one is.

also, i'd 1st reformat and make sure you didnt have a bad windows install or faulty drivers.
 
The system install is 2 weeks old now, I installed vista 64, a clean install, last sat-sun. Yah, the board was 70 or so, and I was thinking about getting a new 790 chipset board.

Prolly later on today.

GRRRR!!
 
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