Computer bottle neck

[Hazzaslagga]

I was just wondering whether anyone here thought there might be a bottle neck in my computer.
Win 7
Pentiumr dual core e6700 3.2ghz 2mb L2cache
4GB ram 400mhz(thinking about upgrading)
8800gt 512 (says 1gb tc on box)
stock motherboard (unknown brand impossible to find going to replace at some point)

i'm asking because i recently experienced some lag when I bought the witcher. Any upgrade suggestions.

thanks for the advice guys so far my system is sufficient i.e can run shogun 2 on mid/huge settings without much lag. But to keep it going I think i'll replace Ram/motherboard maybe a Mobo that supports ddr3 ram. I know lga 775 processors are dated but there are still a few more powerful ones so i may keep current one(maybe overclock if i get right Mobo) and upgrade in the summer. I may also upgrade my Gpu after awhile as well(also might try an overclock as its max temp is usually 55). I installed a 550-600w psu awhile ago which i think should be alright.

Also dualcores are still better for gaming at the moment right?

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Whole system looks a bit long in the tooth, to be honest, but from the look of it it's the RAM that's bottlenecking you.

OTOH, The Witcher tends to chug a bit unless you're throwing massive processing power at it. It's not what you'd call the best optimised game around.

 

[AndrewC]

Yeah replace the motherboard, chances are it's not very good.

Upgrade your ram to some 800mhz, that'll do nicely. You could go higher but 800 will do super duper for everything.

 

[BlackIvory]

Whole system looks a bit long in the tooth, to be honest, but from the look of it it's the RAM that's bottlenecking you.

OTOH, The Witcher tends to chug a bit unless you're throwing massive processing power at it. It's not what you'd call the best optimised game around.

They fixed most (if not all?) of the perfomances bugs in the enhanced edition

 

[distortedreality]

There is always a bottle neck in every computer.

That whole system is looking long in the tooth, i'd be doing a full upgrade rather than upgrading single components. All that gear is what? 4-5 years old now? That's if you're planning on doing a lot of gaming in the next year or so.

 

[WhatHityou]

your ram is the likely culprit.

 

[Jaygee02]

Your graphics card is fairly dated, but your RAM is definitely the worst of the bunch. Its clock speed is terrible for 2011. Upgrade to 4GB of whatever the max is which your mobo can handle. Check the mobo manual for that, or if you don't have it, it'll be in tiny print next to your RAM slots (will probably need a magnifying glass).

Upgrading RAM speed will require a new motherboard - if you're lucky, you might be able to get one which still supports your CPU, but in the long term that'll cost you more money

 

[JET1971]

the processor should have 2 years left in it, ram is a bit slow but thats incredibly cheap to upgrade. I think the Mobo and vid card is in need of replacement the 8 series of cards is getting to min specs range in AAA titles even if they claim the 6 or 7 series is. and unknown stock mobo says to me its a brand name rig example... gateway or dell. even if they claim its a gaming PC its not really a gaming PC, its just a better video card in an office machine.

Overall i would suggest start saving and buying components now. begin with Vid card right waya because you can use it in the current rig and transfer to the new one when you get the parts. get the best you can afford right now. nvidia or ati doesnt really matter.

consider an I7 or I5 processor/mobo combo (*1) deal. PSU around $100 because that will need to be upgraded too and budget here is really a bad idea (*2). RAM to match mobo around 8gb or 4x 2gb sticks (*3) but try to stay under $100. that gives you 8Gb with room to increase later on by buying a single matched set like say 2x4gb sticks to give you a total of 12gb.

once you get the PSU, mobo/proc, and ram, pull the mobo(with ram and processor still attached) and psu out of the case you have and put the new parts in, connect everything to the new mobo and start it up. insert the mobo CD once in windoews and install the new drivers. play your games now!

thats basicly how i upgrade my rig when a new socket type comes out and the old one is being phased out from software not supporting anymore. though I have a formula for upgrading my gpu and keeping it cheap, i skip a generation and upgrade when that generation is just being replaced. I have 2 9800GTX+ cards and what i had before were 7800 GT. i upgraded when the GTX 200 series came out and am now looking to buy a new vid card. hardware like hard drives and optical i buy when an old one breaks or when I need more space. I have not bought a new computer since 1996, infact the rig I am using is still that one just upgraded over the years.

My Specs:
Win 7 ultimute 64 bit
Core2Quad QX9650
Asus P5N72-T Premium
2 EVGA 9800GTX+ in SLI
8 gig OCZ Platinum (PC2 6400)
Supreme FX2 sound card (onboard)
COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evolution SE case (all fan slots filled)
XClio X14 650 watt modular power supply
6 misc hard drives
1 dvd burner and 1 blue ray player



*1: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.643138 $321.98
*2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021 $104.99
*3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231275 2 pairs for $93.98

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Whole system looks a bit long in the tooth, to be honest, but from the look of it it's the RAM that's bottlenecking you.

OTOH, The Witcher tends to chug a bit unless you're throwing massive processing power at it. It's not what you'd call the best optimised game around.

They fixed most (if not all?) of the perfomances bugs in the enhanced edition

The Witcher EE is better but it can still chug when there's a lot going on on-screen.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

consider an I7 or I5 processor/mobo combo (*1) deal. PSU around $100 because that will need to be upgraded too and budget here is really a bad idea (*2). RAM to match mobo around 8gb or 4x 2gb sticks (*3) but try to stay under $100. that gives you 8Gb with room to increase later on by buying a single matched set like say 2x4gb sticks to give you a total of 12gb.

The pre-Sandy Bridge 'i' series of processors are triple channel so it's best to buy triple packs of RAM. 3*2Gb sticks is usually the best deal unless you have other applications that love to eat RAM.

 

[JET1971]

Excelent point! but that kind of hurts upgradability with the mobo/proc combo deals that could last 3-5 years. the new triple channel sytem is new still and its always good for those on a budget to hold back on "new" until its established and cheap. hell they have triple channel memory but still make 4 slot boards for normal, no 3 slot normal, or 6 slot extreme/gamer boards.

its new time and early adopters will pay through the teeth for it and heve less optimizations than those that adopted the new tech late. tri channel ram is allot more expensive than dual channel, same as it was when dual was new compared to single channel. basicly with new and fresh tech its ok to hold back until there is budget, midrange, and high end available and established. you get the best deals then compared to early adopters.

 

[Valiance]

I was just wondering whether anyone here thought there might be a bottle neck in my computer.
Win 7
Pentiumr dual core e6700 3.2ghz 2mb L2cache
4GB ram 400mhz(thinking about upgrading)
8800gt 512 (says 1gb tc on box)
stock motherboard (unknown brand impossible to find going to replace at some point)

i'm asking because i recently experienced some lag when I bought the witcher. Any upgrade suggestions.

thats an old ass processor
thats some old ass ram, Ok size though.
thats an underpowered video card.

you should have at least 800mhz DDR2
At least a Core 2 duo
at least a 9800GT according to Nvidia's current upgrade cycle.[/quote

This is effectively what I was going to say. An 8800GT should be similar, but can't go wrong with a cheaply priced 9800GT or a Radeon 5000 series card or 4850.

The ram should be running at least twice that speed, if you can't get 1066mhz RAM on the board, 800mhz at the minimum...(Unless it's already 800 from the 400 and then DDR2-800, but yeah.)

My board supports up to 1333 RAM but my CPU is the bottleneck because I have pretty much yours except slower. Check the chipset on whatever new board you support as well, make sure it supports faster bus speeds.

 

[Valiance]

Technically even what i listed is 3~4 years behind the curve.
Its just not powerful enough for todays games

Minimum for games and systems these days is pretty much Core i3 4gb~6gb RAM Nvidia 240GS or GTX 260

I pretty much agree with you here. The sad thing is, everything I want to play pretty much runs fine on my lower end system. My 9800GT E5200 machine still runs new or newish games in a playable state, and with the graphics not all on high/ultra, a very swift and responsive state. I'm not trying to say new parts aren't worth the money, I'm just saying that not everything requires as powerful a rig as it seems.

I think I would get a quad core 775 socket before I got anything else, and stick win7 on my desktop so it can actually see all 4 gb of RAM instead of buying a mobo. I wish I got a AM2+ or AM3 socket mobo, but I have the LGA775 instead. (friend of mine bought me the processor since I was using an e4300, and it didn't fit my board due to nm size, so i got a board to go with the processor instead of wasting the gift...)