Is my GPU bottlenecking my CPU?

[ryan6627]

Okay, so yesterday, I started playing BF3 again. About a few minutes into the game, I noticed than my frames would drop from 40 to 1, then shoot back up in a fraction of a second. I mentioned that in the chat box, and somebody mentioned Bottlenecking. Is my GPU bottlenecking my CPU? I have an FX 8320E 8 core CPU, along with a shittacular XFX 7700 (1 Ghz). I'm saving for a new GPU now but I'm just wondering if my current GPU is the cause of this

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

When your GPU is maxed and the CPU is hardly breaking out any sweat, then yes, your GPU is bottlenecking. Seems like your PC has "pre-built PC syndrome". lol

 

[holyrage]

make sure u have the latest drivers installed and try again

 

[Entomber]

I wouldn't necessarily call what's happening "bottlenecking" but just a subpar GPU.

 

[coozie7]

Multiplayer or SP?
What are the full system specs?
Right now the FX8320 is being savagely held back by the HD77xx card.
Check the CPU and card temperatures, wild frame rate fluctuations can be caused by thermal throttling.
Or a poor 'net connection if you're into multiplayer.
Or trying to download a movie off the 'net while playing a multiplayer game.
Or limited system memory.
or...

 

[ryan6627]

Multiplayer or SP?
What are the full system specs?
Right now the FX8320 is being savagely held back by the HD77xx card.
Check the CPU and card temperatures, wild frame rate fluctuations can be caused by thermal throttling.
Or a poor 'net connection if you're into multiplayer.
Or trying to download a movie off the 'net while playing a multiplayer game.
Or limited system memory.
or...

Source 530 Case
(7) Corsair SPF 120mm fans
ASRock Fatal1ty 990fx Killer motherboard
8GB 1866Mhz RAM (I think it's vengeance)
AMD FX 8320E CPU
(1) Corsair H105 Water Cooler (I used 2 SPF fans for the radiator)
XFX 7700 1Ghz Edition GPU
EVGA 750w Bronze PSU
And a few hardrive from all over the place, as well as an optical drive

I play multiplayer games, but I normally get 60+Mbs internet connection, so I know it's not that...

 

[coozie7]

If you're running security software, try disabling it, some AV software/firewalls can play havoc with online games.
Check the card temperature and that its fan is actually working, a bottleneck should occur instantly, not several minuets into a game.
Also check the CPU temperature, WC loops can suffer overheating problems like any other cooling system.
Try playing SP with the game turned down as far as possible-it may be the card running out of memory.
Try running virus and malware sweeps.
If you have any file folders on the desktop they need to be moved onto the HDD/s, files and folders on the desktop, particularly large ones, can cause all sorts of problems.

 

[p_nut_uk]

I'd take a guess at the CPU, especially during multiplayer the CPU is under more load, you can try reducing the graphical settings to see if that helps but I would have thought that if it was graphics related then you'd just have a decrease in FPS not an outright stall.

 

[ryan6627]

Multiplayer or SP?
What are the full system specs?
Right now the FX8320 is being savagely held back by the HD77xx card.
Check the CPU and card temperatures, wild frame rate fluctuations can be caused by thermal throttling.
Or a poor 'net connection if you're into multiplayer.
Or trying to download a movie off the 'net while playing a multiplayer game.
Or limited system memory.
or...

I'd take a guess at the CPU, especially during multiplayer the CPU is under more load, you can try reducing the graphical settings to see if that helps but I would have thought that if it was graphics related then you'd just have a decrease in FPS not an outright stall.

I'll try it, but I'd be disappointed if decreasing my video settings is the only solution 🙁. Well I'm saving for a new GPU anyway, so I shouldn't have this problem for long. Strangely, I didn't notice this until I started running FRAPS.

 

[ryan6627]

If you're running security software, try disabling it, some AV software/firewalls can play havoc with online games.
Check the card temperature and that its fan is actually working, a bottleneck should occur instantly, not several minuets into a game.
Also check the CPU temperature, WC loops can suffer overheating problems like any other cooling system.
Try playing SP with the game turned down as far as possible-it may be the card running out of memory.
Try running virus and malware sweeps.
If you have any file folders on the desktop they need to be moved onto the HDD/s, files and folders on the desktop, particularly large ones, can cause all sorts of problems.

I doubt it's the loop, because my temps usually stay below 30c while playing Battlefield, but I do think it's possible that the card is running out of memory at times (in fact, it's probably the most probable cause)