Is my graphics card bottlnecking my system or is it something else?

[Dunnoz]

Hello all I am trying to figure out whats wrong with my current setup. I am playing counter strike source and my fps is unstable. I am playing css at the resolution of 1920X 1080. It might be at 100+fps at times but then it drops and stays in the range of 30-60 fps. Even when i lower the graphics I still experience the same problems. It should not be an overheating problem because I dusted out my gpu and the temps are low, drivers are up to date as well. I tried different settings even playing at dx level 81 and the problem persists. I am not sure why my fps is so low when i should be able to run it without problems. I believe that my gpu may be bottlenecking my sytem. I would like to know what you guys think of this situation.



Specs

Motherboard: Biostar A870

Cpu: Amd Phenom II x6 1055t

Gpu: Nvidia gefore 9800 gtx+

Ram: 4gb DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)

Power Supply: 580 watts

OS: Windows 7 64 bit

 

[Pyree]

So what is your temp?

 

[Dunnoz]

Around 50 C

 

[Cheesevillage]

Functioning properly, that GPU should run CSS totally fine.

Are you playing on official maps? Custom game types/maps can have performance issues.

Do other [Source] games do this? Check for activity in background applications. Consider doing an install of XP or something else on another HD (if you have one) to see how performance is on a new install of windows.

 

[ilysaml]

Yes, try other games and see what happens, also update to the latest drivers, Anyway it's time to consider an upgrade since you play @ 1080P.

 

[refillable]

Around 50 C

Idle or what? If you get 50C in idle there might be some problems.

Try another game and update the drivers to the latest one. Because it is maybe a driver bug or something.

I think this is the best solution for your problem.

 

[Dunnoz]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I tried other games such as portal 2 and the problem persists. There are no odd background applications. My os is newly installed as well. And no i get around 50 C in game. Yes i do play official maps in css such as d2, inferno, season etc. So it seems that my gpu is holding me back. This card was running source at 200 fps in my other pc but the other pc had older parts such as ddr2 and an older mb. I would like to hear what gpu u guys believe I should get that can be powered by my 580w psu. My budget for a gpu will be around $100-175/180.

 

[Cheesevillage]

Source will run on a $50 card this makes no sense.

 

[Dunnoz]

im as surprised as u but it seems like my gpu is bottlenecking the rest of my system making my games run like ***

 

[ilysaml]

HD 6870 $160 after rebate, or you can push your budget a little bit and get HD 6950 1 GB.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948