Is the HDD bottlenecking this PC?

[damiengajda]

Hi,

I'm about to start trying to fix a PC for a friend, we have been playing together recently and he's suffering from severely low FPS and stuttering in game, in every game we play, even though his graphics card and CPU are better than mine.

He has:
AMD FX-8350 4.0ghz @ 1.35v
8GB RAM 1300Mhz
GTX 1060 3GB
1080p 60Hz Monitor
5400rpm HDD (I think this is the problem)

He has a decent motherboard, can't think what it is off the top of my head, but it has an nvme port, so I'm thinking that the reason his games are running so slow is because he only has a HDD for Windows and all programs. Would I be right in thinking most of his problems will be resolved if I put an nvme SSD in and do a fresh install?

Just to compare, I have the FX-4300, GTX 960 2GB, 8GB RAM 1600Mhz, SATA SSD, and a 1440p 144hz monitor. So as you can tell, I should be getting lower FPS and more stuttering than my friend, but I'm averaging 60fps on a game where he is getting 5fps.

I've checked his PC and it's basically just a fresh windows install with like 3 steam games installed. Couldn't see anything running in the background that shouldn't be or that would slow it down. But when I checked task manager when he is in game it says the HDD is at 100%

So, will the nvme sort these issues out? Or could it be something else?

Thanks!

 

[asoroka]

What OS are you running.

How much memory is being used when you are running games.

If you run out of memory, you will need to swap to disk. That will be slow, so a SSD would help.
Are the memory speeds teh same in both cases?

 

[damiengajda]

Both running Windows 10, his has 1300Mhz 8Gb, mine has 1600Mhz 8Gb.

His PC was using 4GB of memory when in game, so I put some 16Gb 1300Mhz RAM in and it then said 4.3Gb is being used, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference in game.

 

[asoroka]

what result do you get if you give him the faster RAM.

 

[damiengajda]

I haven't tried that but can try at the weekend, do you really thinks a 300mhz difference in RAM would cause such a huge FPS difference? It seems unlikely.

 

[SkyNetRising]

He has a decent motherboard, can't think what it is off the top of my head

Motherboard model name?
Probably not suitable for 125W FX-8350.
What CPU cooler is being used?
What are cpu temps under load?

 

[damiengajda]

It's a Gigabyte GA-990X Motherboard and an Arctic Freezer 7 rev.2

Edit: temps are high, in lobby on Fortnite it goes straight to 78 degrees.

The thermal paste was freshly done by myself a few months ago and CPU cooler fully cleaned too.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Did you mean GA-990X-Gaming SLI ?
This one?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Arctic Freezer 7 is recommended for cpus up to 115W TDP.
Since FX-8350 is 125W TDP, the cooler is struggling to cool it down.

Either get a better cooler or
lower cpu frequency and cpu voltage.

 

[madmatt30]

The freezer 7 is not good enough for an 8350.

That said he should not be hitting cpu temps like thst while sitting in a lobby.

Check the cooler install, there's something wrong there without a doubt.

Throttling temp on fx cpus is 72c.

 

[damiengajda]

Ah I see, I will re-seat the cooler and see if that makes a difference, and I will lower the frequency and voltage of the CPU and see if it helps bring the temps down. And yes that is the correct motherboard.

Any recommendations on a good cooler for it?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Any recommendations on a good cooler for it?

Noctua U12S, U14S,
Cryorig H5.

BTW - what pc enclosure is being used? Does it have enough air-flow? How many fans?

 

[damiengajda]

Thanks, i will check them out and let him know.

It's in a NZXT H440 (newer edition one) and he actually has the front panel off at the moment so the 3 x NZXT 120mm fans have nothing blocking them. 1 x 120mm exhaust fan, also by NZXT.