Hi there everyone! : ) This is my first post and I'm doing so because I don't think the system I built (first build) is working as it is supposed to! This is my set-up: Athlon 64 3500+ MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum mobo 2 GB Corsair 3200C2PT RAM XFX GeForce 7800GT Live 24! Sound Blaster 550 Watt PSU Windows XP Home I have the latest BIOS, drivers for everything (nvidia drivers for mobo, graphics card, monitor, sound blaster, etc) and updates for Windows. I'm not trying to toot my horn here (well, maybe just a little hehe) but as far as I can tell, with these specs the system should be giving a fairly good performance. However, I have found that for one, the load up time seems a little longer than it should be. Secondly, game graphics have gotten choppy in some sections of Far Cry, and the fps in CS:Source drops from around 90 to 10 when blinded by a flashbang. Up until a month ago I was using a XFX 6600GT and I wasn't getting this fps drop at all when flashed. I tried a test using 3Dmark05 and ended up with a score of around 7,500, which i gather is the average for a 7800GT? Basically, as this is my first build, I am asking for any advice anyone might have as I feel I have missed something. Perhaps a hardware conflict or even just how the drivers have been installed?
Hiya, thanks for the uber-quick reply! The PSU is not really a known brand, its something along the lines of Ezy-cool. Sounds dodgy, I know. But it was recommended by the guy in the shop and was a little cheaper than most of the 'name' brands, so I know he just wasn't trying to get me to spend money!
With that system, look for a decent Power Supply, see this thread about PSU's a very good bit of information there written by Big B, I'd look at a Tagan or Enermax Unit, where abouts are you in the world, so we can help find a new PSU for you...
Well first we'd suggest you get a good brand PSU with around 450W for your system. Take a look at this thread fyi: http://www.hardwareforums.com/power-supplies-you-why-you-dont-want-cheap-psu-updated-9-2-05-a-5218/ Also have you tried using Omega drivers instead of the nVidia ones? Take a look here.
Thanks for the advice. That is really annoying seeing I spent £40 to 'upgrade' to that PSU. I'm in London by the way. I've printed out that post about PSU's (many thanks by the way) and I will research some PSU's based on that. I've heard of the Omega drivers before. Is that what you guys have been using? Is it much of an improvement on the nVidia ones?
In my eyes, Not really. the omega drivers are just regualr ATi or nVidia drivers with a few customizations added to them! I would make sure you Direct X 9.0c installed correctly and perhaps turn down your graohical settings on the driver side of things just a tiny bit and see if it makes any improvement in performance! As for the slower than average loading, that could be a few things. You could have too many programs starting with windows, fragmented hard drive, virus or spyware scanner doing a scan, software defragging the Hard drive as windows loads, or all of the mentioned. You should check these first!
Thanks pelvis. Just two more questions: Assuming I do a complete reformat and reinstall of Windows, is there a certain order I should be loading drivers for the different components? And, is it recommended to load drivers for the CPU and this AMD Cool n Quiet thing?
Lets not jump the gun here. It may not be necessary to re-install windows at this point, but if you are willing to then id say there is not necessarily a particualr order to install the drivers. But, i think it's best to install the motherboard drivers, then Cool 'n Quiet, then Video card, sound card etc... Overheating can also cause this decrease in gaming performance. You should check the system, GPU and CPU temperatures to make sure they aren't at unacceptable high's.
haha. No, i'm not going to reinstall unless i need to. Like I said, this is my first build from scratch and I just wanted to make sure that I was installing drivers correctly. I have checked the processor temps in the BIOS, and I think it was running at 40-50 degress C. How would I check the GPU temps?
They are pretty high temps you got there! What heatsink are you running on your CPU? You should be able to check your GPU temps in the driver control panel!
I'm at work atm, so will have to look at GPU temps and double check the CPU temps I just mentioned, tonight. but i have a thermaltake TR2 (A4006-01) fan + heatsink on my CPU.
I don't really trust the BIOS temperature readings as they've been very inaccurate for me in the past, usually 10c above the real temp.
I would reccoment that you install motherboard monitor to build up a nice 'picture' of what temps you cpu is reaching when you don differnt things. (you can create logs) Motherboard monitor 'monitors' )) temps, fan speeds voltages etc 40-50 'c is very high for an idle AMD! if your fan is speed adjustable make sure its on/near max!
My BIOS temps have always been around what any other program say, weird that you have inaccurate readings.
my Bios temp also say around 40*C or so(Athlon 64 3700+), but according to PC wizard, Asus Probe, and Asus A.I. Booster my temps are low 30s. Load up MSI core cell, it will be somewhere on your MoBo drivers CD, and see what it says for temps.
Okay, getting back to the original topic of the thread I have been lookin at different power supplies that might run my system better. After reading the sticky on PSU's - I think I have narrowed my choice down to the Seasonic 600 watt PSU. Does anyone have an opinion on this PSU? It's a little pricey, but seems quite beefy and reliable. Plus, it gives the option of running an SLi system.
