Is this frame rate normal ?

[zylo123]

Hello,

NOTE TO MODS: if i have posted in the wrong section plz move thks.

Ok guyz here are the specs of my pc.

CPU: Pentium D 805 2.66Ghz
MOBO: Intel D945GNT
RAM: 4GB
Graphic: GTS 250(512 mb) on Pci-e 1.0 slot.
OS: XP SP 3

Now guyz the problem is that fraps is giving me the frame rate 3-4 on Assassins creed brotherhood(even when not in combat).

I wanted to know that is this frame rate normal for my specs or is there a problem ?

And one other things is

I purchased this system approximately 2 years ago.

Now in the first year of gaming at the system was running fine it was able to run almost every game from medium to high settings.

Then came a pause of almost 9 months in which i didn't played not a single game whatsoever.

A few months back i started again playing the games but this time the games were barely able to run.Even MW2 which i previously played fine was not fully working.The curious part is that It would work fine but just for the first five minutes and then the game would become slow and same was true for other games which worked fine just a year ago.

At first i though it was a virus so i erased the HD and installed a fresh copy of xp.

But even after doing that there has been no improvement.

I suspect some sort of physical damage although i haven't moved my PC anywhere and the my PSU is CM 500W. So no chance of electrical damage.

Now i am absolutely clueless about what is happening ?

 

[HEXiT]

check your temps. you may have bumped the pc and loosend a hsf or sum such..
open the case and make sure the cpu heat sync and fan are all working propperly. clean out any dust.

 

[Gman450]

You're most probably having a little bottle neck. When you mentioned PCI-E 1.0, do you mean by pci-e x 16 1.0 or pci-e x 1 ?
Also, is that GTS 250 a low profile card ?
As Hexit said, check your temperatures.
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

 

[zylo123]

These are my temp

@Gman450

I may have a bottleneck but it doesn't explain why the games ran fine in the first place and are causing trouble only now.

I meant Pci-e x16 1.0

No its not a low profile card.

 

[Gman450]

Well, firstly your card is not running at it's full potential. You have a bottleneck AND your pci-e x 16 1.0 is backward compatible with a GTS250 but it decreases it's performance. That can be an issue, but you said the slowdown didn't occur that bad as it had right now. Did you check if your GPU's got any dust in it ? Also, are those temperatures while at idle or while gaming ?

 

[ZakX11]

hmm maybe there is a problem with your Processor.
In those 9 months did you do any overclocking?

 

[zylo123]

Well, firstly your card is not running at it's full potential. You have a bottleneck AND your pci-e x 16 1.0 is backward compatible with a GTS250 but it decreases it's performance. That can be an issue, but you said the slowdown didn't occur that bad as it had right now. Did you check if your GPU's got any dust in it ? Also, are those temperatures while at idle or while gaming ?

Ya i just cleaned my GPU and the whole system.

Those temperatures are at idle. Are they normal ?

 

[zylo123]

hmm maybe there is a problem with your Processor.
In those 9 months did you do any overclocking?

Infact i also have the same feeling.But i don't have any proof to substantiate.

I never have overclocked anything.

 

[HEXiT]

your gpu temp is pretty high for idle. you should be idling at about 45'C 60'c is about normal for 50% load 75'c should be the temp for max load... so if your idling at 60+ add in the full stress temps which are likely to be around 40+ on top of your idle temps and your within the throttle zone for your card...

so your load temps will likely be 100+ if thats the case then thats your problem...

 

[anwaypasible]

i was thinking maybe some piece of software was installed that was causing some i/o congestion.
but
then i seen the high idle temps on the graphics card.

it is true..
if your temps are like that, you could be hitting a throttle.

also..
if you dont know your installed programs by the back of your hand, i would go through them each.. one by one.. and see what processing are running, as well as any extra services running.


i know mw2 could be used for a solid benchmark.. because the frames per second are consistent depending on the map.

 

[zylo123]

your gpu temp is pretty high for idle. you should be idling at about 45'C 60'c is about normal for 50% load 75'c should be the temp for max load... so if your idling at 60+ add in the full stress temps which are likely to be around 40+ on top of your idle temps and your within the throttle zone for your card...

so your load temps will likely be 100+ if thats the case then thats your problem...

MW2 used to run fine i even had played it straight for 3 hours and now it starts lagging just after 5 mins. What would cause such a problem ?

Anyways what do you suggest i do ?

Should i also upload CPU temp ?

 

[zylo123]

i was thinking maybe some piece of software was installed that was causing some i/o congestion.
but
then i seen the high idle temps on the graphics card.

it is true..
if your temps are like that, you could be hitting a throttle.

also..
if you dont know your installed programs by the back of your hand, i would go through them each.. one by one.. and see what processing are running, as well as any extra services running.


i know mw2 could be used for a solid benchmark.. because the frames per second are consistent depending on the map.

I just cannot understand why the same game used to work a year ago absolutely fine and now it doesn't ?

I even have wiped clean my HD(for suspected virus) and installed a fresh copy of xp(just a month old).

I also remember almost every program installed and i don't remember installing something graphic or CPU intensive.

I have checked every program in task manager. nothing

 

[anwaypasible]

how many processes do you have running?

and i believe you should be using arctic silver 5 on the graphics processor for close to maximum cooling performance.

there are some seriously exotic ceramique pastes that cool better than artic silver 5.
but
these are almost classified by the government and made hard to find.
besides..
arctic silver 5 works good if the cooler is worth anything.
i have used it to bring my temps down 30 degrees at idle with a new cooler.


sometimes when you reinstall the operating system.. you put the problem right back when you install all of the software you 'normally' use.

i am holding you to the lack of good cooling paste (still dirty cooler too)
and
you probably put the problem right back on the fresh install of windows.

there really isnt anything more logical.. except blue screen of death crashes.
the program doesnt have to be cpu or graphic intensive.
it can be a hog to your motherboard that you might not be seeing.
if it clogs your memory hub.. or simply makes it busy.. it could be a problem that you dont see in the task manager.
and your hard drive light wouldnt show it either.

so...
how many processes do you have with everything closed?
and
how many extra services that you dont need are 'started' ?

www.tweakguides.com
this place has a free 'guide' that will tell you how to turn off the services you dont need.
the guide will also tell you which services are safe to shut off.

 

[HEXiT]

get msi after burner and check your fan speeds 60 at idle would suggest either you have dust problem or the fan

 

[zylo123]

how many processes do you have running?

and i believe you should be using arctic silver 5 on the graphics processor for close to maximum cooling performance.

there are some seriously exotic ceramique pastes that cool better than artic silver 5.
but
these are almost classified by the government and made hard to find.
besides..
arctic silver 5 works good if the cooler is worth anything.
i have used it to bring my temps down 30 degrees at idle with a new cooler.


sometimes when you reinstall the operating system.. you put the problem right back when you install all of the software you 'normally' use.

i am holding you to the lack of good cooling paste (still dirty cooler too)
and
you probably put the problem right back on the fresh install of windows.

there really isnt anything more logical.. except blue screen of death crashes.
the program doesnt have to be cpu or graphic intensive.
it can be a hog to your motherboard that you might not be seeing.
if it clogs your memory hub.. or simply makes it busy.. it could be a problem that you dont see in the task manager.
and your hard drive light wouldnt show it either.

so...
how many processes do you have with everything closed?
and
how many extra services that you dont need are 'started' ?

www.tweakguides.com
this place has a free 'guide' that will tell you how to turn off the services you dont need.
the guide will also tell you which services are safe to shut off.

Well i tend to shut off all the unnecessary startup services in order to boost the log on speed.I dont remember installing any software that i haven't used before.

Anyways i will again reinstall windows.

EDIT: I got MSI Afterburner and it shows 60 at 0% GPU usage. So i don't think that any hidden application is using GPU.

 

[zylo123]

get msi after burner and check your fan speeds 60 at idle would suggest either you have dust problem or the fan

The place i live there is tons of dust.Ok will do.

EDIT: Ok i got Msi AfterBurner it also shows 60 at 0 % GPU usage.

 

[anwaypasible]

you should be seeing 30 - 40 at idle.

if your temps are that bad at idle.. you could be seeing a multiplying of heat when you play 3d video games.
sometimes the stock cooler is perfect.
but
sometimes the stock cooler lets the heat build up 3x more than the idle temp.

all of the gts 250 graphics cards that i see on the internet search have pathetic coolers attached to them.
first of all.. there isnt enough metal fins to suck the heat up.
second.. the fan doesnt blow enough air compared to the 'squirrel cage' version.


you need aftermarket cooling paste.
and it cant be some junk.
the product needs to have a solid reputation for dropping temperatures.
arctic silver 5 has such a reputation.

i dont know how hot it is in your computer room.
but your fan is only at 37%
you need to run it at 100% to help.

riva tuner will raise your fan speed.
i dont know if you will have as much certainty with other programs that claim to adjust graphics card settings, since they are dedicated to the name brand and model numbers.


there is a heat throttle-back.
there is a 'power-saver' throttle-back to save electricity.


but anyways..
you didnt tell us the resolution or game settings you are using when playing the game.
my guess is the graphics card is slow and the processor is slow, and that is why you are getting the low frames per second.

have a look at this website:
http://benchmark3d.com/assassins-creed-brotherhood-windows-xp-vs-windows-7-benchmark

they have an intel core2duo e5200 @ 3.3ghz
with a ati 5750
the game is getting a minimum of 31 frames per second.

that graphics card is going to bring the number down some.. the CPU is going to bring the number down some more.. and that means the PCI 1.0 slot is bringing things down further (solid guess if no other software is doing it).

maybe you arent all the way down to 3-4 frames per second because of the three things above.. but if your graphics card is throttling back because of it, that would absolutely do it.

 

[ZakX11]

hmmm maybe you need to increase you Fan speed.
Download and Install VTune.
Then it will show up beside you clock(lol i forgot what that bar is called)
Right click on it and select Fan Control.
Select Fixed speed and increase it to 100% and apply.
Just check what ur temp is after doing this and you may later adjust the Fan speed accordingly.