BF4 - bottleneck performance issues? Other components letting down GTX 760?

[Shokti]

Hi - I've included as much system information as I could after my question below.

My question :

I upgraded my graphics card recently to an ASUS GTX 760 (full specs below).

I run BF4 at 1360 * 768 on Ultra settings. I would expect smooth 60fps all the time given that the resolution is set much lower than 1080. The res is low as this is the native resolution for my Samsung TV, which I use as my monitor.

The problem is - it manages a smooth 60fps when there aren't other players on screen in multiplayer - but as soon as other players start running around on screen, it stutters, and the hard drive appears to start doing something furiously (hard drive noise and light indicating hard drive activity).

When this happens, FPS can drop to 30-50fps, with screen stutter - it's very annoying. It shouldn't be happening with this card.

I can't figure out what is causing this? It can't be the graphics card? Is some other part of my computer causing a bottleneck?

In particular, I'm wondering whether it is a) the mobo b) the CPU or c) the RAM or a combination of all 3?

I've ruled out the OS as a problem as I have formatted the HD and reinstalled Windows 7 (just a few days ago).

Please help!

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE OF CARD: 9 Feb 2014
LAST DATE OF HDD FORMAT: 10 Feb 2014

BUDGET RANGE FOR GPU: £250
USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming (Battlefield 4, Titanfall, online MMORPs like Tera)

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY:

GPU: Asus Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 DirectCU II OC 2GB GDDR5

Power supply: Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply Unit

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:

OS: Windows 7 64 bit
CPU: Intel i3 2120
MoBo: Chipset Intel H61, socket type 1155
Memory: Dual channel 2 * 2 gig DDR RAM 1333Mhz, Non ECC memory only
Cooling: standard (i.e. basic fan) cooling in Midi ATX case.
HDD: 500 gigs 7,200rpm

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: amazon.co.uk
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK

OVERCLOCKING: The GPU is meant to be the 'OC edition' - but my mobo apparently doesn't support CPU overclocking - I don't know how this effects the GPU's OCing abilities.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1360 * 768 using Samsung 50 inch Plasma TV, HDMI input.

 

[Shokti]

That sounds good, the only other thing I would recommend would be another 4Gb of Ram. The 4Gb you are on is probably getting consumed in BF4, worth checking.

I have seen people say they have seen 5-7Gb of RAM usage when playing BF4, so if you are having to page to disk, that will certainly cause another bottleneck.

Ok, thanks - I'll order a couple of 4gig sticks:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9-Vengeance-Performance-Desktop/dp/B004CRSM4I/ref=zg_bs_430511031_2

 

[Shokti]

That sounds good, the only other thing I would recommend would be another 4Gb of Ram. The 4Gb you are on is probably getting consumed in BF4, worth checking.

I have seen people say they have seen 5-7Gb of RAM usage when playing BF4, so if you are having to page to disk, that will certainly cause another bottleneck.

That did the trick - BF4 is now silky smooth.

Tera is still a bit jerky at bits - but from doing a bit more research, I understand that this is mainly down to poor coding used in the game. My framerate can fluctuate from 100fps down to 20 in towns and cities. There must be something wrong with the way the game handles multiple PCs on screen.

 

[RobCrezz]

Cool, glad its all sorted. You have a good spec gaming PC now and you are ready for 1080p if you ever decide to change your screen. Yeah I think that is just tera..