Does a CPU help with gaming graphics?

Status
Not open for further replies.

gabrielorie

Distinguished
Jan 28, 2012
151
0
18,680
I wasn't sure of which section to put this in because its a mixture of two things... Around last year i got a Radeon HD 5770, a new CPU (AMD Athlon X2 245) and a new PSU (An Antec EA 500w, which was below the 5770's required +12 volt rail) and something went wrong. In the Sims 3 I noticed graphics artifacts, such as the water turning white instead of blue and sharp edges showing up even though AA was turned on. I'm hoping that that there's something wrong with my CPU and not my graphics card but then again i used it for a while with the power supply i bought and it was below the requirements. And the reason i'm asking this is because i've been told by a computer technician that CPU's help with graphics in games.
 
Solution
the 5770 needs less than 30A (20 should do) on the 12v and AMD recommends a 450w psu. A 500w antec is more than enough for it.

power_maximum.gif


artifacts can occur due to a lot of things, mainly a driver issues, Insufficient voltage or a dying card. A psu will generally keep the voltage right but current could be insufficient, just check the voltage on the 12v with a program to make sure it is about 12v. Drivers probably isn't your problem but you can try reinstalling drivers.

gabrielorie

Distinguished
Jan 28, 2012
151
0
18,680
I think lack of voltage is causing my problem... The 5770 requires i think 50a on the +12 volt rail, my PSU now has 28a... The new one i'm buying has 104a, hopefully the issue stops when i buy that...
 

smokincola

Distinguished
Jan 2, 2012
73
0
18,660
I'd also check around and see if there are any hotfixes for known graphics problems with the Sims 3. It could be a driver thing which might mean that AMD have released a patch or EA might have released an update.

Do you see issues in other games ? I mean I'd try running something like the 'Heaven' benchmark and see if that messes up.
 
the 5770 needs less than 30A (20 should do) on the 12v and AMD recommends a 450w psu. A 500w antec is more than enough for it.

power_maximum.gif


artifacts can occur due to a lot of things, mainly a driver issues, Insufficient voltage or a dying card. A psu will generally keep the voltage right but current could be insufficient, just check the voltage on the 12v with a program to make sure it is about 12v. Drivers probably isn't your problem but you can try reinstalling drivers.
 
Solution

truegenius

Distinguished
BANNED
agree with smokincola, drivers and game itself can be problem
6770 require minimum of 20A on 12v combined (recommend 25a)
to check psu use occt to stress gpu and keep monitoring your temp and voltages

if psu is a problem then try to downclock your gpu to confirm this (down to 50% clock of original), if artifact are gone then its psu otherwise is drivers

other simple method is
usd ati tray tool to scan for artifact at stock clocks (maybe 800/1200@1.2v), if result is positive then its psu

if its driver or game itself then try newest non beta drivers, or newest patch for game, otherwise reinstallation of windows is the only way to resolve this.

(few weeks ago
i faced artifacts in mw3,mw2, and gta4, to solve this i reinstaled the window)
 

gabrielorie

Distinguished
Jan 28, 2012
151
0
18,680
@smokincola many other users experience this issue, so its a known bug. It only happens when the game is updated, if i use it in its original form with the original patch the water will look normal, but if i update it it'll change.

@thesnappyfingers I plan on keeping the PSU i'm about to buy for a very long time, in the future i'll want to crossfire my card, or even OC my CPU or videocard and I want to have a PSU that can handle this.

@esrever I'm almost sure that this PSU isn't enough for this card... When i played Marvel Ultimate Alliance my PC overheated and shut down or restarted, very frequently. And this is a 2006 game with not much graphics requirements. I also played Saints Row 2, Tomb Raider Underworld, Gta IV and they all crashed.

@truegenius I heard of downclocking already, is it something i have to do in the BIOS?

EDIT: On the specs of my current PSU i'm seeing something saying 'Over Voltage Protection recycle AC to reset' '+12 trip point - 14.3v'
Does this mean that at a certain voltage it'll 'trip' and reset?
 

thesnappyfingers

Distinguished
Sep 6, 2011
612
0
19,010
that psu wattage is still an absurd amount for your needs present or future. that sort of wattage is more for two gtx 590s. You will never have a system that will use that much power.

pc components trend is to typically use less and less power, If you really want a large psu that will meet your needs for xfire and sli and overclocking these two will serve you more than adequately currently are on sale.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?nm_mc=AFC-TechBargains&cm_mmc=AFC-TechBargains-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&Item=N82E16817151087

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=17-139-021&SortField=1&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29&Page=1#scrollFullInfo
 

gabrielorie

Distinguished
Jan 28, 2012
151
0
18,680
Thanks for the info and links but newegg dosent ship to my country...
What about an OCZ ZX 850w? Its more than what you showed me but i want to have the best components for my PC. The price after rebate is $139, which is a fair price but the price without it is $169. What is a rebate btw? I've heard of it but never used this term before.

EDIT: A Corsair TX850 has the same specs as the OCZ one but its cheaper, and i've heard that Corsair PSU's are great, should i go with this one instead?
 

gabrielorie

Distinguished
Jan 28, 2012
151
0
18,680
@truegenius Thanks, i'll try these program soon :)
I still need to know what PSU to order... In personal opinion, because they both have the same specs (or close to it) which PSU will be better? A Corsair TX850wor an OCZ ZX 850w? Thanks.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS