[SOLVED] Bad Performance in Old Games

[FOAMgiant]

For some reason I can play newer games pretty easily on my pc. Like Deus Ex mankind divided and DOOM 2016 and GTA V, but when playing older games like Fallout New Vegas, Skyrim, Black and White 2, or any old games my cpu tops out and hits temps in the upper 60s and sometimes low 70s. What could be causing this? It is distressing when my temps hit that high.
PC is a rig from 2016/17
Specs
GTX 1050 2gb
AMD 4300 3.8ghz quad core
16 gb ram DDR3
GA-78LMT USB3 6.0
4 fans and room ventilation so the room doesn't get hot

 

[Phaaze88]

Check your cpu temps on these games with AMD Overdrive instead.

Check cpu(each core) and gpu usage with Msi Afterburner.

 

[geofelt]

Games that are graphics limited will not push the processor.
Older games tend to be cpu limited, and largely single threaded.
The throttle point for FX processors is around 60c.
You are likely throttling.
Performance is reduced, temperatures drop, performance is restored, and the cycle repeats.
If you are overclocking, back it off.
What is your case and fan arrangement?
What is your cpu cooler?
If you take the case covers off and direct a fan at the innards, does that help?

 

[FOAMgiant]

Games that are graphics limited will not push the processor.
Older games tend to be cpu limited, and largely single threaded.
The throttle point for FX processors is around 60c.
You are likely throttling.
Performance is reduced, temperatures drop, performance is restored, and the cycle repeats.
If you are overclocking, back it off.
What is your case and fan arrangement?
What is your cpu cooler?
If you take the case covers off and direct a fan at the innards, does that help?

Directing a fan inwards does help slightly but is not noticeable. I don't overclock since I play more older games than new games. Do not have a dedicated cooling system but instead have the 4 fans located in the lower back, upper back, right middle facing out of the case, and front fan pulling heat off of the drives. 3 fans are pulling heat off of the cpu, gpu, etc. I mean I have 3 fans all directly pulling off of those so I don't know how the cpu gets so hot. The gpu has NEVER been above 60c.

 

[FOAMgiant]

Check your cpu temps on these games with AMD Overdrive instead.

Check cpu(each core) and gpu usage with Msi Afterburner.

Gpu has never reached above 60c while owning my pc. I monitor the temps constantly. Usage is horrible on old games on all cores for some reason.

 

[Phaaze88]

Use AMD Overdrive for cpu temps on FX chips. Other programs won't be as accurate.
If Overdrive shows your thermal marging is 10C or lower, then the cpu is definitely throttling, which would also cause the cpu usage to spike(because it's running slower to keep from overheating).

 

[geofelt]

What is the make/model of your case?
It is more important too get cooling air INTO the case.
It will exit somewhere, taking component heat with it.
GTX1050 is not a hot card and should not be an issue.

What is your idle temperature?
I expect to see 10-15c. over ambient if your cooler is mounted well.

Ultimately, FX-4100 has slow single thread speeds which is not good for a gamer.
$250 can buy you a new processor, motherboard and 8gb of ddr4 ram.

 

[FOAMgiant]

What is the make/model of your case?
It is more important too get cooling air INTO the case.
It will exit somewhere, taking component heat with it.
GTX1050 is not a hot card and should not be an issue.

What is your idle temperature?
I expect to see 10-15c. over ambient if your cooler is mounted well.

Ultimately, FX-4100 has slow single thread speeds which is not good for a gamer.
$250 can buy you a new processor, motherboard and 8gb of ddr4 ram.

How do I find the model of my case? And yes I have fans facing inwards, sorry for messing up my wording. Each core idles around 20c to 25c.

 

[FOAMgiant]

Use AMD Overdrive for cpu temps on FX chips. Other programs won't be as accurate.
If Overdrive shows your thermal marging is 10C or lower, then the cpu is definitely throttling, which would also cause the cpu usage to spike(because it's running slower to keep from overheating).

Apparently the lowest my margins get is around 20c

 

[geofelt]

I guess you are right, most cases do not have the make/model printed in a visible place.
If you have two front 120mm intakes and one 120mm exhaust, you will have plenty of airflow.

I suspect your 20/25c. temperatures are not correct.
Cool ambient temperature is 20-25c, and any cooler can not get close to that.
You could measure with HWmonitor which will give you current, min and max temperatures.
What you are looking for is a cpu temperature that was ever near the 60c. throttle point.

 

[FOAMgiant]

I guess you are right, most cases do not have the make/model printed in a visible place.
If you have two front 120mm intakes and one 120mm exhaust, you will have plenty of airflow.

I suspect your 20/25c. temperatures are not correct.
Cool ambient temperature is 20-25c, and any cooler can not get close to that.
You could measure with HWmonitor which will give you current, min and max temperatures.
What you are looking for is a cpu temperature that was ever near the 60c. throttle point.

Well that is also what hwmonitor says. Well amd overdrive tells me it is around 40c normally and then 60c to around 70c during play. That seems to make more sense to me. I don't trust hwmonitor it tells me cpu hits 250c to 300c and also 0c when idle so yeah, hwmonitor I am not going to use it.

 

[FOAMgiant]

It may just be my single thread computing is too low so I will need to upgrade sometime. Thanks guys for the help, much appreciated.

 

[geofelt]

For reference, your quad core FX-4100 has a passmark rating of 4694 and a single thread rating of 1411.

By comparison a processor costing about $100
might be the latest gen ryzen 3200G quad core with a rating of 7976 and a single thread rating of 2108.
The intel i3-9100F quad has a rating of 9068 and a single thread rating of 2428.

Time to plan on an upgrade, I think.

 

[FOAMgiant]

For reference, your quad core FX-4100 has a passmark rating of 4694 and a single thread rating of 1411.

By comparison a processor costing about $100
might be the latest gen ryzen 3200G quad core with a rating of 7976 and a single thread rating of 2108.
The intel i3-9100F quad has a rating of 9068 and a single thread rating of 2428.

Time to plan on an upgrade, I think.

Yeah my build is a budget build and a few years old at that. Thanks man. I will need to upgrade sooner or later. How do I figure out what is compatible with my motherboard?

 

[geofelt]

There are no good upgrades for your current motherboard.
A FX-8350 might be compatible, but what you get is 4 more cores of about the same speed as now.

Once you pick your processor, you can pick the appropriate motherboard.
Best to do some research and post your prospective build before buying.

 

[FOAMgiant]

There are no good upgrades for your current motherboard.
A FX-8350 might be compatible, but what you get is 4 more cores of about the same speed as now.

Once you pick your processor, you can pick the appropriate motherboard.
Best to do some research and post your prospective build before buying.

Thanks man. I guess some day I am just going to do a total overhaul on my system. Glad to see it wasn't some weird problem just a problem with my current build.

 

[FOAMgiant]

For some reason I can play newer games pretty easily on my pc. Like Deus Ex mankind divided and DOOM 2016 and GTA V, but when playing older games like Fallout New Vegas, Skyrim, Black and White 2, or any old games my cpu tops out and hits temps in the upper 60s and sometimes low 70s. What could be causing this? It is distressing when my temps hit that high.
PC is a rig from 2016/17
Specs
GTX 1050 2gb
AMD 4300 3.8ghz quad core
16 gb ram DDR3
GA-78LMT USB3 6.0
4 fans and room ventilation so the room doesn't get hot

So the problem was that none of these games were using my gpu for anything. The new games auto selected my gpu but New Vegas, Skyrim, or essentially any older game would use my integrated graphics making them unplayable. I forced these games to use my gpu and now they run like butter.