Upgrade Needed?

marcus2704

marcus2704

marcus2704

Associate
Joined
7 Aug 2005
Posts
358
My aim is to play the current generation of games at High (Ultra) detail at 1900 x 1080 resolution.

For the most part, I have been able to, but I have bought Metro Last Light and the frame rate wildly varies from smooth, to less than 10fps which is borderline unplayable. A few other games I have also exhibit similar problems, although Crysis 3 generally is ok on Ultra.

Based on what I have below, would there be any upgrades which would aid the performance of my PC?

VTX3D Radeon R9 290 V2 X-Edition 4096MB GDDR5
Intel Core I5-4570 @ 3.20GHz, standard stock heatsink
32GB DDR3 12600 RAM
128GB SSD
500W OCUK PSU
Gigabyte H97M-D3H Intel H97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard

Nothing I have is overclocked, to be honest, I wouldn't know what to change/where to start on that, I was hoping my components would be good enough without having to OC anything.
 
Last edited:
Your components should be good enough.

Have you got all the latest drivers properly installed.

Can you monitor your GPU/CPU usage In games, this may present us with some bottlenecks.

I think Overclocking may help, should certainly give you a bit of an advantage..
 
Do you think the CPU is a bottleneck? I always thought the graphics card would do the bulk of the work and there was less importance placed on the CPU which just needs to 'keep up'.

This is my first venture into PC gaming, having been a console gamer for years :) Having no clue about overclocking, I expect I would end up buying an I7 or something instead.

I tried the beta Catalyst driver but suffered lots of crashes. I *think8 MY PSU is either 570W or 600W.
 
they all play a part, an i5 would be sufficient
assuming you can overclock your cpu (if you have the i5 "k" version) then you can eliminate the cpu as a source of the bottleneck
 
My original post was wrong about two things (sorry!)

1 - My CPU is Intel Core I5-4570 @ 3.20GHz, I understand this not to be a K version?

2 -My PSU is a OCUK 500W, I bought a Primo build from OCUK a little while back

Also updated OP with my MOBO
 
You can game just fine on a stock cooler. You could install something like cpuid's hardware monitor to check your temperatures and see if overheating is the issue, but if so it's more likely your case ventilation than your CPU cooler that is the main cause.

It sounds a bit like you've had trouble with your graphics driver setup - if they're not installed properly then that could explain a lot. You say the latest beta drivers gave you trouble - what have you got installed instead?
(Personally I'd not recommend anyone use beta drivers unless they are comfortable they know what they are doing & know why they need the beta drivers over the main release ones)

I know nothing at all about an OCUK PSU so will refrain from joining in that part of the discussion.
 
Last edited:
Ill get one ordered, I also have the standard fans provided in the Primo, if they need to be changed.

Is the PSU sufficient, the VTX claims to need a 750W so at 500W I appear to be way off??
 
marcus2704 said:
2 -My PSU is a OCUK 500W, I bought a Primo build from OCUK a little while back
Click to expand...

There is your issue.

You need a Better PSU for that GPU.

I bet its not getting the power/ampage it needs.

marcus2704 said:
Ill get one ordered, I also have the standard fans provided in the Primo, if they need to be changed.

Is the PSU sufficient, the VTX claims to need a 750W so at 500W I appear to be way off??
Click to expand...

Your airflow seems like it could be pretty poor too. The case isn't really designed for great airflow.

YOu don't need 750W atall. You need a 500W-600W Decnet make PSU that can hold its own.

The Superflower 550W Green is a good choice.
 
I suspected as much, I will order the below -

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-003-SF
SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black - £49.99

Should I also be changing the CPU heatsink? The H110I mentioned above is liquid cooled and £88, is that a bit excessive for my needs?

I didn't really want to change the case, but would do so if required. When I originally bought the Primo, I had no intention of using it as a games machine, just to run my VMs (hence 32GB) and my storage drives for media. I have already replaced the motherboard, it seems like Ill end up replacing the whole thing before long!
 
Check your cpu temps before you bother buying a cpu cooler. If you aren't/can't overclock the cpu, no point buying case fans and cpu coolers if temps are fine.

If your GPU is being throttled because it is not receiving enough juice then buy a CPU. Maybe run a few gfx benchmarks like 3dmark and compare your score to similar systems before purchasing anything.

Hope this helps.
 
marcus2704 said:
... I have already replaced the motherboard, it seems like Ill end up replacing the whole thing before long!
Click to expand...

I had assumed it was a pre-built system, if you've replaced the motherboard then that means you've had to re-attach the CPU cooler, which means it may well be worth checking your CPU temperatures to make sure it was done properly.

Don't worry, your CPU & graphics card are plenty good, you shouldn't need to buy lots more stuff - just need to work out what's going wrong & sort it :)
 
I will definitely upgrade the PSU, but will wait and see regards to the CPU cooler.

No plans to buy a second 290 though, hoping what I have will be good enough for 1900 x 1200 res.

What are the best methods of obtaining CPU/GPU temps?
 
You could try hwmonitor

Edit: Try to ignore the adverts trying to get you to click their 'download!' buttons. It's on the right, under:
Download the latest release
1.25 setup
(installation, automatically installs 32 or 64-bit version depending on your system)
 
Last edited:
Thanks Ill try that out.

I'm pretty much set and will be ordering a PSU today :)

I have an option of buying a Dell U2412M monitor for approx. £40 off through my work (so approx. £190), looks to be a lovely screen but is 8MS response acceptable for FPS gaming?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom