What's bottlenecking? Pretty harsh performance.

NeptuneUK

NeptuneUK

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I've been struggling to get any decent performance out of my machine for sometime, I recently upgraded the CPU cooler from stock and added an extra case fan. My temps are fine. Close all background apps, drivers up to date etc
No other issues with the PC (software crashes, temps, unusual background activity etc)

Specs are along these lines:
Windows 7 64-bit
2.8ghz Core 2
GTX 460 786mb
2x2 gb DDR2 @ 1066mhz
X-fi Xtreme music soundcard.
750W thermaltake PSU


For example in bad company 2, I've just ran FRAPS and I get 25-40fps on high settings, and a mere increase of about 9fps on lowest when running at a measly 1280x1024 res.
This is plain wrong! I need to be certain what's ruining my gaming experience before upgrading. I recently purchased the gtx 460 as an upgrade from a radeon 3850 with very little effect. I'm pretty sure the Core 2 should be able to handle itself too. And the ram is low latency.
Motherboard? PSU? Something else?
 
BC2 is a very CPU-intensive game. It's optimised for quadcore. Your Core 2 Duo is definitely holding you back. I have almost the same specs as you, except for a PhenomII x4 3.2GHz (and only 3GB DDR2-800), and my framerate skyrockets when I turn the details down. I haven't FRAP'sed it to check the actual framerate, but even on high with SBAO/4xAA, I struggle to notice low framerates.
 
I get almost exactly the same performance on lowest settings as I do on very high. Which makes bullshit sense. I just FRAPSed again and the FPS was almost identical (25-40) regardless of graphics settings. And I can see the CPU will be an issue but surely an average of about 30 odd fps is stupid on lowest settings at 1280 res?
Gorramit
 
I think your GPU is seriously being bottlenecked by that core 2..why did you even get a core 2..when the intel quad core series is already out of fashion..
 
Who said I just bought it?
I'm going to save and maybe go for a 3ghz Athlon 2 X4 640, and go crazy and get 2x4gb of ram at 1333mhz. If that doesn't sort it out nothing will! :D
 
Don't bother upgrading your RAM just yet - I only have DDR2-800 and my performance is great. Your money is better spent on the CPU.
 
8 gigs is pointless unless you're doing some heavy duty workstation type stuff.
 
Yeah true but I found an awesome deal online. Futureproof innit.
It's more for the 800 -> 1333

(my ram isnt 1066 its 800 I forgotteded)
 
neptuneuk said:
Who said I just bought it?
I'm going to save and maybe go for a 3ghz Athlon 2 X4 640, and go crazy and get 2x4gb of ram at 1333mhz. If that doesn't sort it out nothing will! :D
Click to expand...

Whats the socket type on your mobo? Or are you planning on getting a new mobo?
 
neptuneuk said:
Yeah true but I found an awesome deal online. Futureproof innit.
It's more for the 800 -> 1333

(my ram isnt 1066 its 800 I forgotteded)
Click to expand...
It's not futureproof unless you're going from DDR2 to DDR3, and even then the performance gain is in the single-digit percentages. You'll see equal gains tuning your RAM timings in BIOS (CL, tRCD, tRP, and tRAS). Which can be tricky... but honestly, just put the money towards the CPU. You don't need new RAM at all right now, 4 gigs of DDR2 is more than enough.

Also, there's only like five motherboards that support both RAM types, so if you make the jump you'll likely need a new MB too.
 
I'm not really sure bad company is a good measuring tool. Get a game with an actual benchmarking feature. Really though,a dual core processor at those speeds should be handling most games just fine. Could be just bad company where it struggles (and any other cpu heavy game like ARMA2 or something).
 
When I had my C2D running at 3.4ghz, I had about the same performance as you. That game rapes CPU's in the asshole. You're best bet would be to just buy a Core2Quad, since you should be able to use the same mobo. That would fix youro BC2 frames.
 
BadCompany2 and Dirt 2 where the most CPU intensive games when they came out. On an online benchmark, for "Recommended CPU", my i5-750 system came up a bit short in these 2 games, but compared to "Minimum Spec" it was great) (So I believe framerates can still be fairly perfect)

Make of that what you will, honestly I'm relatively unfamiliar with the Core2.

Why not run the futuremark bench? It only takes a moment and lets you know what games run well, and what your bottlenecks are.

GO HERE: http://www.yougamers.com/gameometer/10171/
 
Your cpu is absolute the bottle neck in this case, your cpu can't deliver enough data to your 460.

If you didn't upgrade already, search for a Q9550 quadcore with 12MB lvl3 cache (C1 stepping or higher)
 
Got a 3ghz quad core AMD II about a fortnight ago.
PC be blazing everything on high now :)
 
Sounds like you got the Phenom II 945 (Black Edition?). Excellent choice sir.
 
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