Frame issue Nvidia GTS 450

[Nahezu]

I need help! Or some kind of awnser. For anyone on overclocking video cards, or a card thats 3 years old may be-able to help me.
Or maybe someone who understands video cards performance issues.

My issue is very simple, lack of Frames! FPS.

I use DSR and have a 37 inch T.V. screen as a monitor.

In this screenshot as you can see, much room is left to perform yet it doesn't do this. I can always increase graphics and cause Usage to spike. But frames manage to stay under, never steady on 60.

My specs:
Win 10
Quad core 2.3 ghz
8GB DDR3 ram
1GB DDR5 Zotac GTS 450 6 pin PSU connected
450WATT PSU DYNEX ATX12v MaxLoad 30A minLoad 0.5A
32 bit colour
60 to 75 herz display depending on res

Other devices:
2 HDD 2TB each 1 SATA other USB 3.0
8 USB 3.0 slots
DVD/multi CD label flash
3 gaming controllers, 2 wireless wingmans logitech, 1 xlive 310 logitech
RCA T.V. 37inch HDMi DVI USB

Internet speeds:
Download: 300 MBPS
Upload: 100 MBPS
My provider?
Rogers

No matter how good the game looks, or how bad, my video card never trys it's hardest. Infact, I have to push it to 2700 x 1500 with SSAO high graphics or Antialasing 16xQ CSAA / 32xCSAA just to eat up under 30FPS & I can go as low as (If the games let me) 640 x 480 and have no FPS increase while also lowering and disabling in-game graphics!


Suspific games:
State of decay
Assassins creed
Trove

I took note of two things with common games, the gamelist is much larger than the 3. Open gl supportive all 3.1 and up, and direct x 10 supportive. My vid is direct x 10 and 11 with open gl 4. Any game that is under direct x 10 runs over 600FPS

Exampled games:
Duke nukem
Doom
Hexen
Heretic
Unreal tournament
Battlefield 1 & 2
Sim city 1 to 4


Yet some games do use my vid with some power & run perfect 60FPS.
Resident evil 6 would be my best example.

All I want to know is why this is happening as it doesn't make any sence. I want to better enjoy my games.
I use to run a Radeon HD 4650 and ran skyrim 60fps at 1600x900 but with my more powerful GPU unit with overclocking software, I can't seem to compare to my outdated HD 4650 on most games.

I have also another problem. My native resolution does not show anymore like it use to.

My artwork/SS screenshot shows my example on what my problem is and why I don't understand whats happening. Please help.

The solutions I have tried so far:
Unpluged repluged DVI HDMI connectors.
Rebooted pc.
Uninstalled clocking software and reset to defaults.
Uninstalled and reinstalled display driver through geforce experience.
Installed Original Zotac driver (even tho otudated) from CD
Searched google for common issues (Lack of FPS)
Edited or changed in-game options
V sync off
Both window mode & fullscreen
Used nvidia inspector to force no frame caps.
Used Firestorm to force more performance,

So far, nothing has worked 🙁 I own 3 other PC's all of them gain FPS lowering both in-game settings & resolution. For this System, it has no effect.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

What is CPU usage of each core while gaming? Not the whole thing, each core. Right click the task manager CPU graph and change it to logical cores.

 

[Nahezu]

Thank you btw for your reply!

okay, so Trove is down with an update / maintenance, So I took a SS of APB reloaded instead. This game everything is on high along with Anti and anisotropic both enabled on highest.

As you can see in the image, the loading shows easy, but always my frames is under 60 50 40 no matter what darn game or graphics. I can set to lowest and still play games at 30FPS for no apparent reason.

Switching from window to full screen has no effect on fps changes either.

The only time I see my video card going above 50% is on load times and I take it thats a good thing But why can't I get 60 FPS in any open gl3 or Direct x 10 games is my real concern. Saints row 3 allows me to select, dx9 or 10, 9 runs flawless, 10 is slugish.

I also take note of another thing, its the Noise. Some games my computer is completly silent, and some games make it sound like a jet engine especially if i'm running full 32x CSAA etc etc but lowering and disabling makes my computer more silent and less hot, & yet, no fps increase.

 

[RobCrezz]

Can you check the CPU temperature when under load? Perhaps its having to throttle performance due to the heat.

Check GPU temperature under load also for information.

 

[Nahezu]

it's got a legit fan table size built into it for cooling with a dust catcher that needs cleaning every month. The fan is as big as the case and keeps the cpu at 50c

GPU idles 37c to 47c when active generates to 80 but never goes higher than 80. I believe the Heat is even locked or CAPPED.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

By "locked" or "capped" that would mean a decrease in clock rate, which could decrease performance. While I'm no expert on the GTS 450, I can't imaging it getting that hot easily.

 

[Nahezu]

I believe its because of the overvoltage the reason it generates alot of heat.

 

[RobCrezz]

it's got a legit fan table size built into it for cooling with a dust catcher that needs cleaning every month. The fan is as big as the case and keeps the cpu at 50c

GPU idles 37c to 47c when active generates to 80 but never goes higher than 80. I believe the Heat is even locked or CAPPED.

80'c is fine for the GPU, are you sure your CPU isnt going higher than 50'c?

 

[Nahezu]

The CPU unit is a little hecktish, i mean, its a Intel core quad 2, not very good reviews on it, but its the same cpu i used back on my radeon 4650 1GB. It just doesn't make sense, I buy an upgrade and it isnt much of an upgrade haha comparing the 2 video card, my GTS 450 should be 10 times more powerful than the ATI radeon 4650 i replaced it with.

Thank you all for you're replys, I do feel like we are getting some where.

I have not tried the GPU in another system because my other systems are to low specs, 1 is AGP, one is to small, and other does not have a 6 pin connector for PSU or enough PSU watt power to support it. I forgot, i also have a laptop I7 geforce 630m with intergrated HD 4000 graphics, my laptop is not as powerful as this system i'm currently on, infact, it canot run state of decay at 40fps like this comp, yet it has newer everything. Its a envy HP costed about 1,600$ canadian but only use it for on the go.

Comparing this vid with my other computers is the only shot I have at figuring out whats going on. System spec and requirements all match, PSU unit is okay, not best. I really don't wanna go out buying new parts to find out it made no difference. Could it very well be the CPU?

 

[Nahezu]

just to show you both what I mean when lowering Res or graphics does not impact frames. Here is a Screenshot with APB same position etc but all super low detail, anti off, etc etc

Very low settings:

Very high settings:

odd and weird, right? Closing the Task manager and other apps free's up about 30 more CPU usage, and again, no FPS increase. It seems my GTS 450 only thing I can do is actually hurt the frames more by raising graphics or res size. I just wanna know what is happening and why. I can play little direct x 10 indie games and get 30 40 fps too, its just a bit fustrating, But the little indie games i'm not worried about, we can play them 30fps normally.

The noise is something I take note of too, I mean, the noise tells me when it is powerful, no noise, not using much. No noise on alot of games but the result is still bad fps. I get no blue screens of death and the GPU funtions perfectly, no crashes besides Battlefield 3 because BF3 doesn't like factory overclock cards. I play far cry 3 on high graphics, my systems sounds like a jet engine, turn them down, the sound dies down with the settings, but FPS always stays the same unless I go over the limit that results in 10fps lol I should be getting 60fps in a 640 480 res with no shadows, low graphics in games like APB, Trove, Payday, instead, my GPU says no? 😛

 

[DSzymborski]

Given that you have other PCs to test the GPU in, does one of those PCs have a better power supply to test in your rig with issues?

I suspect you have a power-starved GPU for a few reasons. First, while a 450W power supply ought to be able to power this system just fine, you don't actually have 450W power supply. While it's hard to be 100% without looking at the PSU, you've almost certainly got one of those old awful Huntkey Green "450W" PSUs that were rebranded as Dynex. Some years ago, Hardware Secrets literally exploded up two of them trying to get it to 450W and the reviewer called it the "worst branded power supply we've seen." It was essentially a 360W power supply with a crappy +12V rail when it was new and I'm guessing it's a fairly old one, given the age of your PC, Best Buy no longer selling this specific one, and that I used to see a lot of these in the 2009-2011 range and they are increasingly rare now as excellent power supplies only cost a few bucks more.

Now, it may not in the end be your PSU, but it's hard to diagnose issues with something like that in the mix and the symptoms not pointing to one clear-cut issue (since the GPU works in other PCs). You reference overclocking software - are you currently trying to overclock?

 

[Nahezu]

Great reply Yes that makes sense! I had to get a new PSU for this GPU. The PSU before was a 300watt and I needed a 400watt for my GTS, so I got a 450 just incase. I still got the old PSU and both boxes. I will pickup a new PSU since its a cheap part to find out if this will solve it, any recommendations? Once I try this method, I will reply ASAP and select you're solution.

oh, about the overclocking, I only tried that to increase frames hehe by default, i've always had this issue without the software too 🙁

 

[DSzymborski]

What's your budget for a power supply? And do you want to leave yourself room for a better GPU later?

 

[Nahezu]

Yes, indefinitely. I am a big time gamer with over 1,000 games and I'm sure more to come My budget, I'd say 100$ is safe, saving 25$ on top of that would always be grateful If its something that will or may last 10 years, be willing to raise to 200$ I'm not sure on pricing for PSU units, i'f i'm not mistaken, the 450watt I bought was around 47$ it was a cheap little guy.


Side note:
I got the box for my psu, I made a mistake, it isn't 450 watts, its 400 watts, so I guess I am only meeting minimum specs or requirements for my gpu, This is starting to make more sense

 

[Nahezu]

I got a question besides my fps problem, does anyone know for sure if I did the right thing, i mean, is the radeon HD 4650 1GB DDR3 better than my GTS450 DDR5 1GB PCI 128bit bus 16x? or am I right and I should be getting more frames than I am?

 

[DSzymborski]

The GTS 450 is the better card, though it's still a budget card.

You don't have to actually spend $100 on a decent PSU!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $79.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-13 15:07 EDT-0400

You can go even cheaper than that, but here you get the full modular. Something like this will perform well for a long time and you could run a 980ti in there if you wanted to.

Hopefully, this will clear up your problem. If not, it will eliminate one possible source of issues and if it doesn't, you'll have a terrific PSU for a long time. As I said, I'd normally suspect the GPU first, but only having issues in one rig makes me think of power supply as the next thing to check, given the circumstances.

 

[Nahezu]

That's perfect, thank you all for all you're help & thank you DSzymborski & toms hardware! <3 community