Computer slow at gaming, used to not be

[AchillesSidney]

I have a computer that I use for gaming now, (Mostly runescape and Skyrim) and I used to be able to run the games at the high settings and get around 40 FPS on runescape about 30 on skyrim. This lasted about 8 months after I built the rig. After said 8 months or the last month or two it's slowed down on gaming, now getting 20 FPS max on medium settings. My set up is a Intel i5 3.2 GHz quadcore, 8gb ram, 500 GB HDD with most of it free space, and nVidia geforce 8400 gs GPU. I know the card is weak but it worked well for quite awhile. The only thing I can think of the issue being is the GPU itself is going bad, as my computer is still a solid machine when it comes to other task, hasn't lost a beat. But any feedback would be appreciated, really don't want to buy a better GPU just yet.

 

[amd4lif3]

basically the ccpu is an awsome i5 the gpu is very old the gpu is trying its hardest to keep up and because of this its doing damage to the gpu you need a balenced gpu to go with that cpu , also if you cant get a new one right now just make sure al very least you reapply thermal paste on the gpu this will lower temps while your at it clean your fan

 

[jakjawagon]

Have you checked your temperatures? Could be dust accumulating inside your PC causing it to get too hot and throttle.
Alternatively, could be a virus or something else using system resources.

While amd4lif3 is right that a new GPU would be a good idea, the imbalance wouldn't actually damage the existing GPU.

 

[APassingMe]

How old is that GPU? I would consider replacing it regardless of other potential issues if it is more than 4 years old, do check your GPU temps though since it's likely the paste has dried out.

 

[amd4lif3]

dude seriously dust doesnt form dangerous in a pc after 8 months , but check cpu temps i mean you may have applied thermal paste wrong . also this may be fault of a rubbish psu so tell me what one is it i know the corsair CX series are terrible

 

[jakjawagon]

Eight months is a bit short for dust to be a problem, true, but it's not impossible, depending on the case/environment.

 

[Entomber]

it might be helpful if you gave full specs.

 

[AchillesSidney]

Update, when gaming my GPU never exceeds 46 C. I don't know if that's good or bad. Also I never heard of applying thermal paste to a GPU, done it on CPUs only, maybe there is my issue. Where do you apply thermal grease to the GPU?

System specs,

Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
500 W PSU
8 GB DDR3 RAM
Intel i5 haswell @ 3.2 GHz
500 GB HDD with 405 GB free
nVidia Geforce 8400 gs as GPU
any other specs you need to know?

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

The time frame is only part of the equation in dust accumulation.

Graphics cards need thermal paste for the same reason a CPU needs thermal paste. It improves the thermal conductivity between the IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader) on the GPU and the heat sink and fan that cools it.

To apply thermal paste will require removal of the cooling device on your graphics card.

46°C sounds well below any sort of thermal throttling threshold. I suspect thermal paste is not going to cure the issue here, even if it's dried up.

You might want to have a look around Windows and see if you aren't overburdening it with too much open software while trying to game, or as was mentioned earlier, have become infected with a virus or malware.

 

[AchillesSidney]

Update, blasted all dust off of GPU, applied thermal grease, FPS improved greatly, however dual monitor display not working now

 

[APassingMe]

Dual monitors? That might explain both your decrease and increase in FPS, not sure why they might of stopped working though, check your connections/settings?

 

[amd4lif3]

step one have the power cables in the pc step two put the video lead (vga dvi hdmi or even display port) , then make sure you have your periferals (keyboard and mouse) , then plug in the monitor power and plug the other end of the video cable into your monitor

issues with muliple monitors makes sure all cables are in switch the cable for a different one try driver reinstilation erm make sure the switch is on

 

[amd4lif3]

wait a seccond multiple monitors with that old gpu , thats planning for disarster just use one monitor for now and when you upgrade your gpu you should have multiple monitors

 

[Entomber]

dual monitors will not have that drastic of an impact on his FPS in my experience.

 

[APassingMe]

It's double the pixals on an old and low-end card, wouldn't be too surprised if it made a decent difference. That said, I don't run dual monitors and am just going off of the logic end of it here so I could be wrong.

 

[Entomber]

Unless he's running a fullscreen video on the secondary monitor while he games on the first, there will not be a drastic FPS hit due to dual monitors.

Your desktop and browser run at a very low FPS

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Umm, even better. It's multi-tapping the graphics memory, a feat that is quite easily handled by modern graphics cards. Back in the days when the Matrox G400 was the only card that supported multi-monitor, it was a horrendous performance hit.

If the OP is only gaming on a single screen, the performance hit is almost non-existent, whether he's watching full screened video on the secondary screen or not. Video playback is handled by dedicated decoding on graphics cards, not by the 3D pipeline. If the OP is gaming with multiple monitors, then yes, you have the performance hit of the second screen.