Bottle Neck?

[Ashlee Smith]

Hello.
SO lately i have been wondering could i have a bottleneck?? And Crysis 2 got me thinking the most..
So this is my system:
Intel E5400 Dual core 2.70 ghz @ 3.34 ghz no vcore mod
Hyaundix Ram 2 x 1 gb (one stick is 433 mhz) (one is 337mhz)
Could my ram bring down performance?
Ati Msi R6670 1gb GDDR5 800 mhz 1000mhz @ 860 mhz 1050 mhz
Sata 2 7200 rpm samsung 320 gb 16mb cache hdd, 1 % defragmented.
450 watt psu.
Temps:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... /temps.jpg

So i did a few benchmarks
All ran at 1600 by 900 60hz Resolution
HomeFront - maxed aa x8 af x16 Avg: 38.650 - Min: 28 - Max: 47
Crysis 2 Very High Dx9 SP - Avg: 34.650 - Min: 23 - Max: 50
Crysis 2 Very High Dx9 MP Avg: 38.167 - Min: 15 - Max: 51 ( in mp the frames hit a serious drop alot, even when i was just in that exact same spot 1 min ago?? very frustrating).

So i was just wondering is there a possible bottleneck in my system / if i upgrade to Kingston 800 mhz 4 gb ram will it make a noticeable difference ?
Thankx

[StarBound]

Nope its time for a serious upgrade. But the most common issue here seems to be your ram is a tad bit too little. I'm assuming your on XP still so slapping in another 2 gb of ram will get you about 2.5-3gb of total usable system ram since you have a 1gb card.

Beyond that it is time for an upgrade.

Assuming your strapped for cash:
i3 + h61 board + 2x4gb ddr3 1333 will be the fastest upgrade path with little room for expansion or overclocking.
using rebeltechs pricing:
i3 - http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?ma ... d53cf8094d R1100
H61 - http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?ma ... cts_id=781 R600
2 x4gb ddr3 - http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?ma ... cts_id=238 R400

Crysis 2 might still not run like you want to but it should run better even with that card you have. The next step is replacing that card with a 6770 or 5770. Also windows 7 64-bit will set you back another R1k. So your looking at a R3000 minimum investment.

I have heard AMD is still dominant in the low end market but I am just not seeing it. Good luck with your replacements.

[hamin_aus]

1. Throw out your mismatched RAM and buy 4GB as fast as your mobo supports
2. Buy a solid state drive
3. Be realistic. You have an old PC, there's only so much of a performance gain to be had by throwing newer hardware at it

[THE_STIG]

The most obvious issue there is your ram. A) it is oddly mismatched and B)2gb is not nearly enough these days. also stop trying to run everything maxed out, sure it may appear to run ok but the moment something epic happens in game things are going to slow down quite a lot....so turn off the AA.

I had 2gb of DDR2 667 and replaced it with 4gb DDR2 800. It does not make a hugely noticeable difference but it does make the games feel smoother when things start getting hectic(like epic explosions etc....). Games should also load faster and the desktop experience will be slightly smoother.....but then again you have xp so scratch that last one

//but a full upgrade will be the best long term solution, its something that I need to do as well

[Ashlee Smith]

hey thankx for the replies, okay first off im running. windows. 7 32bitt ultimate not xp
and jeah i know about the maxed thing, because it runs wel then it hits a sudden drop
then it climbs. It hard to explain, what would be better?
A) do aa i3 p61 4gb like starbound said or
B) upgrade to 4gb ram windows 64 bitt and buya ati 6850 1gb and new psu?

P.S i owna original copy of windows 7 32 bitt ultimate and windows 7 64 bitt professional so that not a problem.

[StarBound]

DDR2 800mhz will be expensive. 4gb 2x2gb costs R800. Might take the heat off some of the swapping going on. the addition of the 6850 will help alot. But after all that your cpu is still duel core and more and more games these days like quad core.

In the light that an 6850 costs R2000 and your ram R800, I'd say change the cpu to an i5, that board and 8gb ram. You might see more of a difference that way than with the better card running on more restrictive hardware.

So here is titan-ice pricing and cpu/ram/board suggestion for an R2800 or close.
http://titan-ice.co.za/product_info.php ... ts_id=5908 - i5 - R1800
http://titan-ice.co.za/product_info.php ... ts_id=5750 - asus h61 board - R650
http://titan-ice.co.za/product_info.php ... ts_id=5435 - 8gb ram - R500