Games are unplayable on my system

[Shawnpt86]

Not sure what else to try, I have all my drivers updated and while I know this processor isn't the best, my computer should be able to run games at least on low settings however they are completely unplayable. Even formatted and reinstalled windows.

AMD Sempron 2.7 GHZ
Foxconn Motherboard a7da 3.0
GTX 970
8 GB Ram
Win 10 64 Bit

Can not even run Saint's Row 4 on low settings for example.

Tried every setting I could find in BIOS that made sense, updated everything. I'm out of ideas, any leads on what I can try?

 

[LudazTV]

Not sure what else to try, I have all my drivers updated and while I know this processor isn't the best, my computer should be able to run games at least on low settings however they are completely unplayable. Even formatted and reinstalled windows.

AMD Sempron 2.7 GHZ
Foxconn Motherboard a7da 3.0
GTX 970
8 GB Ram
Win 10 64 Bit

Can not even run Saint's Row 4 on low settings for example.

Tried every setting I could find in BIOS that made sense, updated everything. I'm out of ideas, any leads on what I can try?

That CPU is most likely bottlenecking that GPU, it sounds easier than it is but try to upgrade your CPU :/ Were you previously able to play games fine or have you just started using the PC for gaming?

 

[SinxarKnights]

It is the CPU. It was horrible when it came out as it is only single core. It is an extreme bottleneck with any remotely modern game.

 

[LudazTV]

It is the CPU. It was horrible when it came out as it is only single core. It is an extreme bottleneck with any remotely modern game.

Damn it's single core? I presumed it was dual core but woah, didn't know those still existed :lol:

Well OP, you have your answer

 

[Shawnpt86]

Not sure what else to try, I have all my drivers updated and while I know this processor isn't the best, my computer should be able to run games at least on low settings however they are completely unplayable. Even formatted and reinstalled windows.

AMD Sempron 2.7 GHZ
Foxconn Motherboard a7da 3.0
GTX 970
8 GB Ram
Win 10 64 Bit

Can not even run Saint's Row 4 on low settings for example.

Tried every setting I could find in BIOS that made sense, updated everything. I'm out of ideas, any leads on what I can try?

That CPU is most likely bottlenecking that GPU, it sounds easier than it is but try to upgrade your CPU :/ Were you previously able to play games fine or have you just started using the PC for gaming?

This was my original assumption as well, it just seemed like it should still be able to handle the older games. Thing is previously had the hardware on a Dual Core Phenom, something like 7GHZ which ran most everything, Fallout 4 ultra settings for example. I just installed the ram, graphics card and a new power supply on this PC. I wanted to exhaust all options before upgrading the mobo/proc as well.

 

[4745454b]

It wasn't 7GHz. You can't add the speeds together. Semprons haven't been around in ages. I'm sure it's an ancient single core CPU. Most games these days need a dual core, some are even saying they need a quad core or at least a dual core with hyper threading/SMT. If you are running a Sempron this tells me you are running an ancient S939 or S940 which was used ~15+yrs ago. You need a serious CPU upgrade if you want to game. Sorry for the bad news.

 

[LudazTV]

Not sure what else to try, I have all my drivers updated and while I know this processor isn't the best, my computer should be able to run games at least on low settings however they are completely unplayable. Even formatted and reinstalled windows.

AMD Sempron 2.7 GHZ
Foxconn Motherboard a7da 3.0
GTX 970
8 GB Ram
Win 10 64 Bit

Can not even run Saint's Row 4 on low settings for example.

Tried every setting I could find in BIOS that made sense, updated everything. I'm out of ideas, any leads on what I can try?

That CPU is most likely bottlenecking that GPU, it sounds easier than it is but try to upgrade your CPU :/ Were you previously able to play games fine or have you just started using the PC for gaming?

This was my original assumption as well, it just seemed like it should still be able to handle the older games. Thing is previously had the hardware on a Dual Core Phenom, something like 7GHZ which ran most everything, Fallout 4 ultra settings for example. I just installed the ram, graphics card and a new power supply on this PC. I wanted to exhaust all options before upgrading the mobo/proc as well.

Yeah, not much other options than to just upgrade Mobo and CPU, shame you can't do much else about it but that's a single core processor for ya :lol:

 

[SinxarKnights]

Not sure what else to try, I have all my drivers updated and while I know this processor isn't the best, my computer should be able to run games at least on low settings however they are completely unplayable. Even formatted and reinstalled windows.

AMD Sempron 2.7 GHZ
Foxconn Motherboard a7da 3.0
GTX 970
8 GB Ram
Win 10 64 Bit

Can not even run Saint's Row 4 on low settings for example.

Tried every setting I could find in BIOS that made sense, updated everything. I'm out of ideas, any leads on what I can try?

That CPU is most likely bottlenecking that GPU, it sounds easier than it is but try to upgrade your CPU :/ Were you previously able to play games fine or have you just started using the PC for gaming?

This was my original assumption as well, it just seemed like it should still be able to handle the older games. Thing is previously had the hardware on a Dual Core Phenom, something like 7GHZ which ran most everything, Fallout 4 ultra settings for example. I just installed the ram, graphics card and a new power supply on this PC. I wanted to exhaust all options before upgrading the mobo/proc as well.

Here is the PassMark score compared with the minimum requirements for Saint's Row 4:

 

[Deleted member 217926]

That's a single core CPU. No AAA game newer than about 2008 is going to run ( most won't even start as you are finding out ) on a single core CPU. You're using it with a GTX 970? You wasted money on that 970. HUGE bottleneck.

I'd be surprised if Windows even runs well. I'll bet 2 or 3 tabs open in a browser slows it to a crawl.

 

[bignastyid]

Most likely the cpu(guessing you have a Sempron 140 from the posted specs), its a weak single core cpu. CPU load doesn't change much from low to high settings as most to all of them are visual and impact the GPU. Your cpu doesn't come close to meeting the minimum requirements for the game.
"Processor: Any Quad Core Processor (Intel Core i5 or AMD Phenom II X4) or 3.0+ Dual Core CPU"
http://www.pcgamer.com/saints-row-4-system-specs-announced/

If you are trying to get by on a budget you can usually pickup a used Phenom II X4 965 for $30-40.

If you want to confirm it's the cpu holding the system back monitor the CPU usage when the game is running, It's likely pegged.