Very low frame rates with a pretty decent build. Why?

[EmailSupport]

I just bought a whole new build.

CPU: I3 4130
GPU: GeForce GTX 660 SC edition
Mobo: MSI H87-G43
1 x 4 GB RAM
PSU: CX Corsair 500
500 GH HDD
(plenty of cooling for it all)

But i go in and play Arma 3 and even with everything set to standard or even the lowest setting. Every bit of graphics that would slow down my game. Turned off all other PC's and tv's, closed all apps on my PC and i get a 20-25 FPS. I don't understand why my FPS is so low this build is even at the recommended settings for Arma 3. Should i overclock the CPU to increase my performance? Not sure what my boost speed actually can get to on this CPU i looked and couldn't find much. Any help to increase my FPS would help.

 

[EmailSupport]

running on windows 8 64 bit

 

[EmailSupport]

nevermind now it's getting lower. to that 10 - 20 fps. I know my CPU is staying cool at 30 celsius

 

[coolcole01]

download msi kombuster just the benchmark run one of the benchmarks and see if your cpu is pushing the card to 100%
http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm
if you vclick the top box it will download both afterburner and kombustor just use kombustor

 

[EmailSupport]

yea i'm plugged into the GPU. I can try uninstalling the previous graphics drivers. And i have the current driver for the 660 downloaded.

 

[EmailSupport]

gpu has a load of 99% on the benchmark test

 

[coolcole01]

then that cpu can push that card to its max so its not the cpu

 

[EmailSupport]

* max GPU core speed you get = 1045 Core clock
* max GPU memory speed you get = 3005 Memory clock
* max temperature the GPU goes to = 35 Celsius

I also couldnt find any integrated or previous drivers on the Mobo, just the gtx 660 so that's all connected and what not.

 

[EmailSupport]

The afterburner thing gives me stuff to adjust like, Core clock, core voltage, power limit, Etc. should i adjust that or leave it alone.

 

[coolcole01]

Msi is an overclocking tool look up your card and see what other people have it set to before messing with it

 

[Beezy]

how old is the PSU, to me thats the blame right now. next i would blame 4GB RAM( 8GB is better), and next the i3 being dual core, and finally, the 660 SC (least likely cause).

 

[Beezy]

also check VRM temps and socket temps, maybe the motherboard is throttling you. i heard some MSI boards have that problem with voltage throttling

 

[EmailSupport]

PSU is new. Bought it on amazon like 2 weeks ago. and 8GB Ram would help but not that much of a difference in fps. I'm talking i want a 30 FPS boost from the 10-20 i'm getting. I shouldn't be getting that low of FPS from this new of a build and it's not a bad one either. How do i check VRM temps and socket temps. No idea how to find out if my board is "throttling" me

 

[coolcole01]

Switch to 800x600 and whats it like

 

[Beezy]

Hwmonitor will tell you temps of the CPU socket and the CPU itself (package), GPU monitors that can log temp are very helpful ( for my ASUS HD 7870Ghz i use ASUS GPUTweak). Core temp is another program that can log the temps of the CPU.

Max temp of CPU should be 72 C and the GPU should stay under 95C.. if either of them are getting too hot, like say the GPU for example, is getting hot, but for some reason the fans on the GPU are not kicking in to cool it, thats when you will see unreasonable fps that do not make sense compared to the raw power you know the rig has. Or if the CPU gets too hot, it will lower the frequency sometimes automatically to lower the temps, to keep you from frying parts. this too will feel like choppiness or lagginess depending on the applications you are using when the throttling is happening. generally Nvidia cards + intel cpus run quite cool...just a hunch. I would check for core parking in the registry. also set the computer to high performance mode in windows control panel power options. lastly, in the BIOS, make sure power saving features are disabled, they can throttle you too.

 

[Beezy]

and disable v-sync in arma3 and lower settings to low/medium if u havent tried that yet..

 

[bystander]

Does any other game have issues? The Arma series is notoriously CPU heavy, and even with the fastest CPU's, it still does not get good performance. It is most likely an issue with the game and a CPU can help some, but you'll never get great performance in that game.

 

[Beezy]

Does any other game have issues? The Arma series is notoriously CPU heavy, and even with the fastest CPU's, it still does not get good performance. It is most likely an issue with the game and a CPU can help some, but you'll never get great performance in that game.

Right, i heard this too. Seems like if you get 30 fps you are lucky. Someone with a 3930k and 680s in sli reported around 30 fps... so an i3 and a single 660 at 12fps seems normal. the best you can do is overclock the GPU and lower graphical settings.

 

[EmailSupport]

Everything is quiet, and at the average temp for maximum performance. No throttling either. Everything seems fine. I will try another game and see what happens.

 

[EmailSupport]

Yeah arma 2 runs smooth. Can't tell how many frames but definitely more than 40

 

[EmailSupport]

* max GPU core speed you get = 1045 Core clock
* max GPU memory speed you get = 3005 Memory clock
* max temperature the GPU goes to = 35 Celsius

I also couldnt find any integrated or previous drivers on the Mobo, just the gtx 660 so that's all connected and what not.

It should go to over 6000 for the memory clock. If it never goes up to 6000 in a game, that seems problematic.
You could force the core and memory clock to their default speeds of:
1046Mhz core clock
6008Mhz memory clock
if you want to test how that affects things. These are normal speeds that you should get, not overclocks for that model.

However, before you do any of that...
* Make sure to try other games or a 3d benchmark to see if it's everything or just the one game that is slow.
* Also, try the part about uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers.

So i should turn the gauge up to 6000 instead of where it's at, at 3000. Same for my memory clock?

 

[EmailSupport]

Ok, i just did another test with an arma 3 multiplayer server running. My temp got up to 70 celsius and kept going for the GPU. It's rapidly over heating and I have no idea how to stop it. I had to just exit out of the stress test because I was afraid I might damage the GPU but i'm sure it would keep rising above 70 C. How can i fix this?

 

[bystander]

Ok, i just did another test with an arma 3 multiplayer server running. My temp got up to 70 celsius and kept going for the GPU. It's rapidly over heating and I have no idea how to stop it. I had to just exit out of the stress test because I was afraid I might damage the GPU but i'm sure it would keep rising above 70 C. How can i fix this?

As long as it doesn't reach 90C, there isn't a problem. GPU's are safe at temps up to 100C, but of course you don't want to push the limit. Below 90C is safe. CPU's, on the other hand, should be below 70C.

 

[EmailSupport]

I already told you I ran arma 2 and it ran just fine. 40+ frames or more it didnt say but it ran smoothly

 

[EmailSupport]

Yea I have no idea why it's doing this. I even reinstalled and i'm getting that 10-20 FPS on lowest settings. Is it the 4 GB of RAM I have that is completely slowing it down?

Update: I also tried league of legends and i'm only getting 60 fps. That's what I got on my gt 640 with an amd II X4 athlon 635. On high settings-very high. So I have no idea what's slowing my games down. Either my GPU or CPU.