Why can't I run some games properly? Are my PC specs good?

[NikitoX]

Hello people! One or two years ago, I can't exactly remember when, but I built my own first PC. I did a lot of research before picking these parts, I did not use PCPartPicker. The specs are below;

Mobo: AsRock Fatal1ty 990FX
RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 @ 1600MHz
CPU: Amd FX8320 8-cores (8CPU's) @ 3.5GHz
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 White
GPU: ASUS GeForce GTX 760 DirectCU II OC
HDD: I don't exactly know what it's called but I know it's SATA II, 7200 RPM, with 250 GB space.
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO SSD 250 Gt 2,5" SATA3
PSU: My PSU is kind of old, since I never bother to buy a new one so I think that may be the problem. It's 450-500 watts, 80+ Bronze.
(I am planning on upgrading my HDD and PSU)

I had a low budget so I bought the AMD 8-core, which was a very bad choice. It overheated with the stock cooler, so I had to get a new thermal paste and thermal paste removal package, and a new cooler which wasted a lot of my money. I also couldn't fit the Noctua into my old case, so I had to buy a new one. My problem is that, my PC specs pass the system requirements of some games. So the games should run at least on low, medium and maybe high settings but they don't. I tried to play Dying Light, and it was really choppy at the lowest settings possible. I tried to run Skyrim on medium and high, and it was choppy, I tried to run Witcher 3, at lowest, and it was choppy. I tried to run Ark: Survival Evolved at LOWEST and it was really choppy. I don't know what the problem is here. Is it my CPU? Is it my GPU? What is the problem here, I have a SSD and a HDD, they aren't full since I just reformated and I have the latest drivers. While my PC idles, my CPU and memory usage are really low, but when I run a game, they skyrocket and my PC starts making some weird noise and it starts heating up really bad even though I have a cooling system on my case, Noctua and the ambient in the room is cold, since I have my windows open and no, it's not dusty. So what's the bottleneck here?

PS. Do you guys think I should OC my CPU? Will it overheat? Also, should I get a new PSU? If yeah, what PSU do you guys recommend.

Regards Nikito

 

[Vice93]

but when I run a game, they skyrocket and my PC starts making some weird noise and it starts heating up really bad

Download HWmonitor and (preferably) post a screenshot of the temperatures while you're playing a game, or let us know what it reads.

 

[JingLuci]

My best bet would be there was damage done to the CPU when it overheated with the stock cooler. Hence, affecting its processing power when you try running games. Maybe you could get another CPU and see what happen ? Or just download CPU-Z and monitor the Temperature, Load and the Frequency. That should give us more details to help you.

 

[gamerk316]

PSU might not be sending enough power to the GPU to handle it at full load. If this occurs, the GPU will downclock to it's lowest settings, which would cause the behavior you are seeing.

It's unlikely the CPU had any physical damage; if the CPU doesn't work, nothing would work.

 

[NikitoX]

but when I run a game, they skyrocket and my PC starts making some weird noise and it starts heating up really bad

Download HWmonitor and (preferably) post a screenshot of the temperatures while you're playing a game, or let us know what it reads.

Hey,
Sorry for late answer, was out! But here is the HWMonitor temperatures under load.
http://i.imgur.com/P6fF7m2.png
And here is the HWMonitor temps while idling.
http://i.imgur.com/JbJnaWo.png

 

[JingLuci]

Your CPU seems about right. The choppy-ness is due to your RAM usage being that ridiculously high. Even while gaming my RAM usage never exceed above 5 or 6 even with multiple background apps running. Might be due to some driver issue. Happened to my laptop once. Did a fresh install of window cause I was too lazy to figure out the cause.

 

[NikitoX]

Your CPU seems about right. The choppy-ness is due to your RAM usage being that ridiculously high. Even while gaming my RAM usage never exceed above 5 or 6 even with multiple background apps running. Might be due to some driver issue. Happened to my laptop once. Did a fresh install of window cause I was too lazy to figure out the cause.

I don't think it's a driver issue though. I had the same RAM on my old Windows 7 install, and it was the same, did a new reformat a few weeks ago, reinstalled the newest drivers, still the same problem.

 

[JingLuci]

Hmm you might want to check around the net for your issues. I'm by far no expert in this but from what I can see is that your RAM usage is ridiculously high. It was like my old laptop. I had that laptop for like 3 years. First 2 years ran fine. Then at the 3rd year I added a SSD and did a fresh install of windows there. And my RAM started acting up. In the end it was due to some driver issue which I had to reinstall the OS and did everything again. And my RAM usage never exceeded 5GB even while gaming and having my music playing in the background while having at least 5 different tabs loaded.

 

[NikitoX]

Hmm you might want to check around the net for your issues. I'm by far no expert in this but from what I can see is that your RAM usage is ridiculously high. It was like my old laptop. I had that laptop for like 3 years. First 2 years ran fine. Then at the 3rd year I added a SSD and did a fresh install of windows there. And my RAM started acting up. In the end it was due to some driver issue which I had to reinstall the OS and did everything again. And my RAM usage never exceeded 5GB even while gaming and having my music playing in the background while having at least 5 different tabs loaded.

What do you mean by driver issue, RAM drivers? If yeah, where can I get mine?

 

[JingLuci]

Like I said in my previous comment above. Was way too lazy to test every component so I just went ahead and did a fresh install of my OS and no more issue with choppy games. Everything ran like a champ.

 

[NikitoX]

BUMP, still looking for answers