Is there an issue with my GPU? Please assist if you can

npuldon · Apr 24, 2014

Hi there,

I'm interested in everyone's opinions on what could be the issue with my system. Below is the scenario.

My system (mainly 2007/2008 parts):
Intel E8400
DDR2 1066
MB: Asus P5K-E (p35)
ATI HD 4870
750w PSU - bought 2013
SSD Samsung 840Pro - bought 2013

**I just upgraded to ATI R9 270 (Nov 2013) (OC'd to 1050 core and 1500 mem clock with afterburner).**

I am still getting frame rates in games like guild wars 2 and SWTOR that drop below 30 FPS on the regular with my graphics setting mostly on high/very high + (AA on low or 1x/2x). When I check the monitor in MSI's afterburner program I am showing my GPU usage never goes above 40%.. With the ATI HD 4870 I would get similar FPS but on med settings (no AA) instead of high.

Shouldn't I be getting 60 FPS all the time on these games? They came out 2011 and 2012!

My computer, like it has been since I built it, is snappy overall (multitasking programs/games/downloading, transferring large files, etc). VERY snappy since I got the SSD last year.

Any advice would be helpful. Especially methods I could use to test your theories on what the actual problem is.

Thank you for the help!

64K · Apr 24, 2014

It's that E8400 that's slowing you down in open world games.

Sasqui · Apr 24, 2014

64K said:
It's that E8400 that's slowing you down in open world games.

^That... both Guild Wars 2 and SWTOR is heavily CPU bound - do some Googling

BUCK NASTY · Apr 24, 2014

Overclock that E8400. Should be good for 3.8Ghz+ with the proper settings.

npuldon · Apr 24, 2014

So a full sys upgrade would need to be in order it seems. Unless I played a First Person Shooter that wasn't CPU bound? I guess I could test that in my system before I dish out cash to rule out a bad card.

Out of curiosity, do you think there is a bottleneck in my system memory or south bridge? Or only in the CPU?

rtwjunkie · Apr 24, 2014

The cheapest thing to do and search for improvement is to overclock that e-8400. 3.6Ghz is super easy, and 3.8 is easily doable with just a little bit of effort. Many people have reached 4Ghz on e-8400's as well, although your mileage may vary, so it's not assured. I would try that first to save yourself some money right now and get a little bit of extra life out of the system by overclocking.

BUCK NASTY · Apr 24, 2014

npuldon said:
So a full sys upgrade would need to be in order it seems. Unless I played a First Person Shooter that wasn't CPU bound? I guess I could test that in my system before I dish out cash to rule out a bad card.

Out of curiosity, do you think there is a bottleneck in my system memory or south bridge? Or only in the CPU?

All of the above. Your current platform is several generations dated. Try the CPU O/C for starters.

brandonwh64 · Apr 24, 2014

Yep the 8400/ddr2 is the bottleneck point.

charbaru · Apr 28, 2014

Like everyone else said, you're definitely still CPU/memory bound. I actually had a Xeon E3110 (basically an E8400) and I was able to get that up to 4.4 Ghz on air cooling. Depending on your motherboard and how much time you want to invest, you might be able to get there.

I will say this though- we upgraded that machine to an H61 cheapo motherboard and an i3-2100, and it's LOADS better than the old Core2 configuration.

Just some food for thought...

True Christian · May 20, 2014

Th eonly problem is that you have a slow CPU and slow RAM. If you upgraded to a, say, used i5 2500K or an AMD FX 8350 you see a heck of a difference. Your GPU is pretty good and your PS is very good. I know it's not what you want to hear.

System Name	My Rig
Processor	Intel E8400
Motherboard	Asus P5K-E
Cooling	Stock CPU and GPU
Memory	DDR2 4GB OC'd to 1066
Video Card(s)	MSI R9 270 (OC'd Core to 1050 and Mem Clock to 1500)
Storage	Samsung SSD840 Pro 256GB
Display(s)	Acer 22" LCD 1680 x 1050
Case	Antec 300
Power Supply	750w Corsair
Software	Win7 Pro 64-bit

Processor	i7 7700k
Motherboard	MSI Z270 SLI Plus
Cooling	CM Hyper 212 EVO
Memory	2 x 8 GB Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2070 Super
Storage	Samsung 850 EVO 250 GB and WD Black 4TB
Display(s)	Dell 27 inch 1440p 144 Hz
Case	Corsair Obsidian 750D Airflow Edition
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNova 850 W Gold
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Logitech G105
Software	Windows 10

System Name	Senile
Processor	I7-4790K@4.8 GHz 24/7
Motherboard	MSI Z97-G45 Gaming
Cooling	Be Quiet Pure Rock Air
Memory	16GB 4x4 G.Skill CAS9 2133 Sniper
Video Card(s)	GIGABYTE Vega 64
Storage	Samsung EVO 500GB / 8 Different WDs / QNAP TS-253 8GB NAS with 2x10Tb WD Blue
Display(s)	34" LG 34CB88-P 21:9 Curved UltraWide QHD (34401440) FREE_SYNC*
Case	Rosewill
Audio Device(s)	Onboard + HD HDMI
Power Supply	Corsair HX750
Mouse	Logitech G5
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe RGB & G610 Orion Red
Software	Win 10

System Name	Main Rig
Processor	AMD FX-4130 @ 4.8Ghz
Motherboard	ASUS M5A99X Evo
Cooling	Coolermaster Hyper 212+
Memory	8GB GSkill DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	ASUS GTX 970 Strix @ 1503Mhz Core
Storage	Corsair Force 90gb SSD/ WD Caviar Blue 750gb
Display(s)	ASUS 24" IPS
Case	Coolermaster Centurion 590
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Antec TP750 80+
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64

System Name	My Rig
Processor	Intel E8400
Motherboard	Asus P5K-E
Cooling	Stock CPU and GPU
Memory	DDR2 4GB OC'd to 1066
Video Card(s)	MSI R9 270 (OC'd Core to 1050 and Mem Clock to 1500)
Storage	Samsung SSD840 Pro 256GB
Display(s)	Acer 22" LCD 1680 x 1050
Case	Antec 300
Power Supply	750w Corsair
Software	Win7 Pro 64-bit

Is there an issue with my GPU? Please assist if you can

npuldon

64K

Sasqui

BUCK NASTY

4P Enthusiust

npuldon

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

BUCK NASTY

4P Enthusiust

brandonwh64

Addicted to Bacon and StarCrunches!!!

charbaru

True Christian

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

System Name	The Hoon
Processor	Intel i5-2500k @4.5 Ghz
Motherboard	MSI P67a-GD65
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212 +
Memory	Kingston Hyper X Blu DDR3 (2 x 4GB) @ 1600 Mhz
Video Card(s)	Sapphire AMD Radeon HD7950 @ stock settings (for now!)
Storage	OCZ Vertex3 120 GB SSD / 1 TB Western Digital
Display(s)	3 x 21.5 Acer LED LCD monitors (in Eyefinity)
Case	Generic Blade Server Chassis
Audio Device(s)	Saffire Pro 14 via Firewire
Power Supply	Antec Earthwatts EA650 650 Watt
Software	Windows 7 x64

System Name	Old but Good.
Processor	Intel Core i5 2500K at 4.8GHz (1.425)
Motherboard	Asus P8Z68-V\GEN3 BIOS 3402
Cooling	Cooler Master EVO +212, 4 120mm case fans.
Memory	4x4GB Kingston ValueRam DDR3-1333/1600 at 1600, 1.6v
Video Card(s)	2 eVGA GTX 760 2GB at 1214/7800 ACX SLI
Storage	2TB, 3TB SG Barracuda SATA 6 and a SG Expansion 3TB USB 3.0 drive
Display(s)	27" Acer G276HL LED Monitor 1920x1080@66Htz
Case	Cooler Master
Audio Device(s)	Realtek on-board 5.1 Surround
Power Supply	750w Cooler Master GXII SLI/XFire-ready
Mouse	Logitech G500 Gamin' Mouse (8 Buttons)
Keyboard	Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E.R. 3
Software	Windows 10 Pro Build 10565
Benchmark Scores	3DMark2006-77891 3DMark Vantage: 64,558