(Below?) average performance on 'decent' system

[shinuftw]

Hi there,

The past few months I have been having performance issues with my PC. Just in general, a lot of games that should feel "smooth", don't (examples: QL, TF2, Overwatch). All of these games I run at extremely low settings. I feel it also doesn't run some 'newer' games as well as it should, either. Note: All of these above games I have on my SSD(s), so read/write speeds are definitely not a problem.

My specs

i5 4690k @ 4.4ghz (gets to around 60 ish degrees max in Overwatch)
EVGA GTX 970 FTW ACX 2.0 4GB (forgot the speeds of this – at work atm – temp sits around 70-75)
DDR 3 RAM 2x4GB (forgot speeds) default timings
2x 120GB SSDs RAID 0
Windows 10 64 bit

I can't really describe the feeling well, but when I was checking out my friend's PC on the weekend with similar specs (only difference is he has a 4790k which is clocked about 200mhz more than my i5, and a 144hz vs my 120hz screen) his PC just felt WAY smoother in general with all of these games. His FPS didn't fluctuate in QL, while mine kind of does (seems to be only between 200ish-240 VERY RAPIDLY by the looks of things, but it feels WAY worse than this).

Was just gonna do a full upgrade and solve it in a fell swoop, but the more money I can save atm, the better.

Thanks all

EDIT: I have already performed a clean Windows install, using latest GPU drivers, and power options are at High Performance.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

before replacing parts you may want to just try a fresh Windows install and driver update all around. if power settings are in High Performance mode it may be some internal Windows quirk.
you should definitely be getting high-ultra settings at 1080p over 60fps.

 

[shinuftw]

before replacing parts you may want to just try a fresh Windows install and driver update all around. if power settings are in High Performance mode it may be some internal Windows quirk.
you should definitely be getting high-ultra settings at 1080p over 60fps.

Oh sorry. I meant to say I have already performed a clean windows install. I also have power settings at high performance at the moment.

I have edited my OP

 

[turkey3_scratch]

^^I agree. Poor performance can be caused by either heat, which can cause components such as the CPU to downclock and hurt performance. But the more common one is just software. Over time, stuff builds up in Windows. People even get Malware often, and idle CPU usage increases over time, and the easiest way to combat this is just reinstall the operating system.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

something wrong then hardware-wise. what's the PSU? and what are using for cooling; CPU, case fans, etc?

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Temperatures?

 

[shinuftw]

PSU is a corsair AX750.

CPU heatsink is Noctua NH-D14

I have a Silverstone RV02-E, which has 3x 180mm fans at the bottom blowing hot air out the top (mobo faces top not back), as well as 1-2 other case fans as part of the case.

I have also stated my max temps I get in these games: Overwatch gets to 100% load, so the max it uses is about 60 odd degrees celsius, GPU at 75.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

there's always a chance though one or more of the games or other software you are installing is coming with some sort of bitminer or other malware that is sapping the GPU or CPU usage.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Yes are they legally installed games?

 

[shinuftw]

They most certainly are. I am part of the Overwatch beta, Quake Live I have on steam, and Team Fortress 2 is free to play (I bought it in December 2007).

 

[turkey3_scratch]

It's time to hit the monitoring. You need to monitor both GPU usage and CPU usage of each core while gaming, and that'll help deduce the issue.

 

[shinuftw]

What software would you recommend for monitoring? I suppose one can use task manager for CPU, but what about GPU?

 

[turkey3_scratch]

MSI Afterburner.