Why has a new graphics card not upgraded performance?

[Chris4890]

Hello, I have a homebuilt computer (a friend did most of the build) and I have just started gaming again after a break and thought that I would get a new graphics card to fix the low frame rate issues I was constantly plagued with before so I bought a Gainward GeForce® GTX 560 Ti 1024MB "Phantom" (used to have Gainward GTS250 1024MB "Deep Green") and plugged it in.
I installed the drivers and it says that it is working fine yet the frame rate is just as low as it was before when am playing games. I have seen people with setups less powerful than mine run the game perfectly so what could be the problem? Thank you in advance for any reply!

 

[Chris4890]

Side note, the other parts are

Intel Core i7 860 BOX, Quad Core, 2.80 GHz

Kingston HyperX, 2x2GB, DDR3-1600, CL8-8-8-24@1.65V

MSI LGA 1156 3xSLI/CFX Intel P55 ATX Motherboard P55GD80

 

[4745454b]

Driver issue? Might be a power issue as well. (The new Nvidia cards will change their clock speeds based off of available power.) You also didn't tell us which game, it might be just a bad console port.

 

[Chris4890]

I have tried completely uninstalling and reinstalling all the drivers with no success. I will have a look to see if the power is enough but if the minimum required is 500W, would having over that amount be a problem? The games are World of Warcraft and Starcraft and I am not really sure what a console port is and how I would test/fix a problem with it, Thanks

 

[4745454b]

Having more isn't a problem as the PSU will only deliver what the computer will draw. The issue is not all PSUs are made the same, so even if your PSU says it can do 500W, doesn't make it true. Diablotek has shown in several recent reviews that their PSUs can only output half of what its rated at.

 

[Chris4890]

Well in that case it seems this is definitely something I will look into when I get home this evening. Is there any way to test if my PSU is up to scratch without manually using a multimeter (this is the only way I have heard of it being tested on the internet)?

 

[4745454b]

What model is it? If you have a known junk brand or something that can't provide enough power to a GTX560, then we can assume thats the issue.

 

[Chris4890]

I will check first thing when I get home.

 

[Chris4890]

This is the power supply I am using currently

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LC-Power-Silent-LC6600GP2-V2-3/dp/B001T9RI7O

Also, the computer randomly rebooted a few times last night on its own while i was in the middle of doing things which it never did before and then today when I came home it had shut down on its own so does this give any indicator of what could be causing the problem?

 

[wannaturnuptheheat]

This is the power supply I am using currently

http://www.amazon.co.uk/LC-Power-Silent-LC6600GP2-V2-3/dp/B001T9RI7O

Also, the computer randomly rebooted a few times last night on its own while i was in the middle of doing things which it never did before and then today when I came home it had shut down on its own so does this give any indicator of what could be causing the problem?

That tells me you're having power issues. This Tom's thread discussing that PSU brand tells me your PSU is at fault.

 

[4745454b]

Can you barrow a PSU from a friend for a bit to see if your performance improves? Just tell him you want to see if yours is bad and plug it in long enough to play a level of ??? with fraps on. If the performance increases, you've found your problem.

 

[Silvune]

The LC Power Giant Green Power "600" is a bit light on the 12V rails for a 600W PSU. 17A - 204W, 19A - 228W. Even if you could just add those together you would only get ~430 watts. It is also doesn't have an 80Plus efficiency rating. So things are adding up to it being a pretty poor power supply.

 

[Chris4890]

Firstly, thank you for all the replies! Very helpful

Secondly, what I've gathered from this is that my PSU sucks and does not output the 600W it says on the label so can anyone recommended a PSU that will definitely, more than comfortably support the GTX 560 Ti 1024MB "Phantom" as well as the rest of the system (mentioned above). I have recently moved to Zurich and have been buying from this site http://digitec.ch/ so if you can find one on here I would be extremely grateful.

 

[jason gran]

Corsair, antec, and thermaltake are all awesome brands. look for something 650-750. doesnt hurt to future proof too. and it depends if you want modular (lets u disconnect cables you do not use).

suggestion: corsair Hx 650 or Hx 750. its modular so itll reduce clutter and keep your air moving inside the case. doesnt get much better than corsair. comes with 5-8 year warranty also.

 

[4745454b]

A bit much for a PhII and a GTX560. Unless there is little difference in price I'd drop down to a 500 or 550W.

 

[asteldian]

The 650W Antec Truepower New is actually a nice little PSU for a decent price. I always prefer getting at least 650W myself - allows for OCing and any upgrades I may make, but a 550W would be enough

 

[4745454b]

The 650s can be weird. To much power for a single system, yet can be lacking in power for the higher end dual or tri card systems. Its almost like you need 380-500W for a single card, or 750+ for higher systems.

 

[asteldian]

Depends on the system. A 650W can handle a very overclocked system with single card, or it can usually handle a moderate OC with 2 cards such as 560.

I used to always want to go with 750W PSUs but for a quality one they can just edge into the too expensive zone, an d considering I always prefer one powerful card to two weak ones, 750W was actually a pointless excess for me

 

[Chris4890]

I am not sure what to take from this. Are there any advantages of me leaving my old graphics card in and just plugging the new one into a different PCI slot? or the old one pull the new one down with it?

Regarding the power supply, am I right in saying that you can never have too much power? and that the system will only take what it needs? I am asking because the price difference between the Corsair Hx 650 and Hx 750 is negligible ($170 and $180 respectively) so should I buy the 750 so that it is more flexible in the future or will this just create problems?

Finally, seeing as how I've ended up doing a bit of an overhaul on my system and I currently only have 4 GB RAM, would it make a noticeable difference if I filled the other two slots with either -

Kingston HyperX, 2x2GB, DDR3-1600, CL8-8-8-24@1.65V
or
Kingston HyperX, 2x4GB, DDR3-1600, CL9-9-9-27@1.65V
(again price difference between the two is negligible)

 

[Chris4890]

I have been reading a few other threads and so was wondering if this was a decent alternative to the Corsair ones?

Seasonic X-660 (SS-660KM) Gold - 660 Watt

 

[Silvune]

That Seasonic one is much better than the Corsair HX series, due to being fully modular, 80Plus Gold efficient. The fan also only spins under certain loads. And it seems the icing on the cake is that it is actually cheaper than those HXs. You can go cheaper and still get high quality units.

And I'm pretty sure that it will have been shown that systems with two GTX 560 Tis use such a little amount of power that you wouldn't have any problems with a good 650W PSU. I actually think that the majority of recently released cards can be paired up and run on 650W PSUs, it's just the power hogs and people who overclock to extremes as well have lots of other components that need more.

Having more RAM won't make any difference to gaming, so you would have to use or want to use programs that need RAM to really justify getting more.

I'm not sure what you are referring to when you are talking about PCI slots, perhaps you could explain further? Do you have both graphics cards plugged in or something?

 

[Chris4890]

Overclocking is still a relatively unknown concept to me and I'm pretty sure that for the gaming I will be doing (WoW 25man raiding on good quality graphic settings and starcraft2) it won't really be needed.

I will only be using 1 GTX 560 Ti so from what I have read, the Seasonic X-660 (SS-660KM) Gold - 660 Watt will be fine for running it right?

In that case I can't see any need for the extra RAM so I'll skip it, thank you for the tip.

That part was more of a general question as I was wondering if I could still use the old graphics card in any way to give a little boost to the system as otherwise it will just be sitting in a box in a draw unused or would leaving the old one in only be useful for running another display (if that, I really have no idea)

 

[Silvune]

Yes of course the Seasonic will be fine for your graphics card.

I think one of the most common uses for old Nvidia Geforce cards is as a PhysX card, which can improve the physics in games that support PhysX. I doubt that you could use it for any of Nvidia's other selling points like 3D or more than two screens, or SLI etc.

 

[Chris4890]

I have no idea how to re-task it to do that lol. Well it looks like I'm buying a new Seasonic X-660 tomorrow! I will update when I have it all installed and hopefully running smoothly

Thank you all so much for your inputs and help, it is very much appreciated