Game performance issues

[jeffyz]

Lately I have been having a strange graphics glitch with a few of my games. I play Counter-strike Source and Lock on Modern Air Combat mostly. Both games run well for a while but eventually the gameplay begins to stutter. The only apparent fix is to restart my computer whenever it happens. The best way to describe whats happening is to think of it as dropped frames or a sub-30 framerate. I've ran the "Video Stress Test" built into CSS when this problem has occurred and the framerate score is within 10 frames of the score after a fresh reboot. I also did this test with 3dMark06 with the scores before and after restart being roughly the same (within 15 points)

Someone suggested that it could be an overheating problem. I ran another test playing CS and it sat around 72 C with a max temp of 74C after extended gaming periods. It quickly cools down though once I stop playing games. The default threshold for the card is set to 115 C. The CPU sits at around 49 C during gaming and 39 at Idle.

Im running a AMD64 X2 4600 Socket 939
BFG 7600 GT 256mb
2 Gigs of ram
ASUS Mobo

Any thoughts?

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Whats your PSU?

 

[nh484000]

I dont think that i am going to be much help to you but i have the same card. i know that my cards max temp is about 64 after hours of gaming. When it happens after playing after a little while it does seem like its a heating problem. Maybe another component is overheating?

Another thought is maybe your psu doesn't have enough juice.

 

[jeffyz]

I have an Antec Neo HE 500W.

The card runs entirely off of the Motherboard, there are no PCIx power connectors for it. The motherboard does have a 4-pin molex power connector if it requires extra juice to run SLI. The manual claims that it should only be plugged in when an indicator light on the board is turned on.

 

[randomizer]

72C is pretty warm for that card I would imagine as it doesnt use much power. Is it the passively cooled version? If it is then try sticking a low speed fan on it so that you dont have a lot of noise and it will drop temps by alot. You dont need a vantec tornado to keep something cool, just some airflow.

 

[rabidbunny]

Is it the passively cooled version?

I doubt that it is the passively cooled one because it's the BFG card, I have it too..

In my own experience, I have not payed attention to the gpu's temperature. It does sound like something is overheating, How is your case airflow in the graphics card area? better yet, what is your case?

You may want to check and see if the heatsink is completely attached to the card at all.

In any case, I would make sure everything is connected properly because you never know when something isn't quite fitted properly.

 

[DJ_Jumbles]

Now you guys are all over the place. The problem is probably a driver issue for the CPU timing. AMD released a driver patch for x2 processors that addresses some CPU timing issues that people are having:
AMD Dual-Core Optimizer - The AMD Dual-Core Optimizer can help improve some PC gaming video performance by compensating for those applications that bypass the Windows API for timing by directly using the RDTSC (Read Time Stamp Counter) instruction. Applications that rely on RDTSC do not benefit from the logic in the operating system to properly account for the affect of power management mechanisms on the rate at which a processor core's Time Stamp Counter (TSC) is incremented. The AMD Dual-Core Optimizer helps to correct the resulting video performance effects or other incorrect timing effects that these applications may experience on dual-core processor systems, by periodically adjusting the core time-stamp-counters, so that they are synchronized.
This is found here: http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_871_13118,00.html

 

[jeffyz]

I'm using the Antec Sonata. It has a single 120mm fan in back. There is space in the front for a 120mm fan, I have yet to get one for it but its something I've been wanting to do for a while.

The vid card has a heat sink that is identical to http://www.bfgtech.com/7600GT_256_PCIX.html

The fan on it does have a tendency to speed up during idle periods which seems a little odd.

When I was looking for a slim case fan I noticed that there are fans that can be placed on the PCI slots at the back of the case. Anyone recommend these? They seem to be the best way to help cool a GPU without changing the heat sink on it.