Why do games not run better on my system?

[ethangk]

Hey,
I built my computer a few month back, my specs are:

Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L iG31 Socket 775 Onboard VGA 6 channel audio mATX Motherboard
MSI 8600GTS Heatpipe Edition 256MB DVI HDTV PCI-E Graphics Card
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket 775 (3.0GHz) 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache
OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL 4-4-4-15 PLATINUM XTC
Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 Processor Cooler

That should run games fine, especially something like call of duty 5 with not very high settings, but it doesn't, it ends up lagging like crazy, to the point where the game becomes difficult to play. Does anyone have any suggestions as to why its so slow?

Thanks,

ethangk

 

[Turnitdown]

Hey,
I built my computer a few month back, my specs are:

Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L iG31 Socket 775 Onboard VGA 6 channel audio mATX Motherboard
MSI 8600GTS Heatpipe Edition 256MB DVI HDTV PCI-E Graphics Card
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Socket 775 (3.0GHz) 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache
OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 CL 4-4-4-15 PLATINUM XTC
Arctic Cooling AC-FRZ-7P Freezer 7 Pro Socket 775 Processor Cooler

That should run games fine, especially something like call of duty 5 with not very high settings, but it doesn't, it ends up lagging like crazy, to the point where the game becomes difficult to play. Does anyone have any suggestions as to why its so slow?

Thanks,

ethangk

Your GFX doesn't have a huge amount of memory. Although it should still be able to play it on lowest settings.
What other games have you tried?

 

[ethangk]

rainbow 6 vegas 2 runs ok, crysis is a bit of a no no, a few others are a bit iffy. Is the main bottleneck the graphics card, and if so, is it worth overclocking, as there is a utility to do that that came with the driver.

 

[m0nk3ys1ms]

An 8600GTS should play CoD5 reasonably well. You might try giving your drivers an update if you haven't recently. You also might want to upgrade to 4-6GB of RAM, as your 2GB may be holding you back.

 

[tlarkin]

what other processes are running? Look at your system resource monitor and see what is eating up memory.

 

[bomberboysk]

What res are you playing at?

 

[Droogie]

An 8600GTS should play CoD5 reasonably well. You might try giving your drivers an update if you haven't recently. You also might want to upgrade to 4-6GB of RAM, as your 2GB may be holding you back.

my 9800 GTX only gets about 60 FPS at most. cod:waw is actually some what demanding. maybe if he turns everything down to low and medium, he'll get decent results.

the 2GB of ram my be a bottleneck, i agree.

 

[tlarkin]

I don't see any game that requires 2 gigs of RAM or more. It isn't the RAM that is the problem, it is most likely resources not being available.

Also, 60fps is good considering the human eye can't see over 20 to 25 fps.

 

[ethangk]

res is generally 1280x1024, never higher, sometimes I might set it a little lower.
Im running xp 32 bit, so 4gb of ram would be pointless, although im thinking of upgrading to 4 when I upgrade to win7, as im gonna get the 64 bit ver.
As far as I remember, far cry 2 ran okish on it, with not very high settings.
Im unsure if it is the ram though, as tlarkin said, games generally recommend about 1-2gb.

As background processes goes, I made sure to turn off pretty much all non-essential processes which didnt seem to do much.

Looking now, apparently, according to nvidia monitorview, my GPU is running at a constant 65 degrees, and im assuming it will jump when I play games. Do you think this is a potential cause of the problem, or is 65 normal.

 

[ethangk]

also, a friend mentioned that my PSU might be holding me back, its 350w, but I specificly chose energy efficient components. Whats your view on this?

 

[bomberboysk]

also, a friend mentioned that my PSU might be holding me back, its 350w, but I specificly chose energy efficient components. Whats your view on this?

GPU Shouldnt really affect framerates, but for a rig with an 8600gts 350w seems a little low...