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View Full Version : How come my new hardware stills lags?


Wolfmight
12-28-2005, 03:10 PM
When I play FarCry, Half-Life 2, or Doom 3 I normally get 60-100 fps, but I still get little lags from here and there when new things come on screen. My setup is:

Nvidia 7800GT 256MB 1.0Ghz Memory Clock, 450Mhz Core clock.

Amd Sempron 64 1.7ghz 64+64 L1 Cache, 128 L2 Cache (EasyTune5 Reports my CPU Clock to be at 1698.88Mhz, so I might as well say it's a 1.7ghz)

200GB IDE 7200rpm Hardrive that has 33% free space.

1gb DDR Ram 400Mhz

nforce4 chipset on my motherboard.


I've already installed the latest drivers for both my graphics card and motherboard using Nvidia.com's drivers.

Do you think it's the CPU or Hardrive?
If so, which should I get instead?
(I'll try to rack up some more money and sell the old part I suppose)

Could I just overclock the CPU to 2.0Ghz and get rid of the Lag?
Currently, my CPU temp is pretty much "always" 30 degrees celsius.

I thought that have a graphics card with a 1ghz memory clock, 445MHz Core Clock, and 400 MHz Ramdac would save my CPU all the trouble when it comes to processing graphics. Basicly I see it does, but I still get little lags everytime some music comes on (a split second lag/freeze), some new evironment is loaded (only 25% of the time really), or when a big event occurs. I've never had a lag over 1-2 seconds, but they can get annoying sometimes when I notice the FPS is 100 and I'm still getting a lag or two. :wacko: Wtf?

Any ideas?
Does overclocking allow a system to stay on all day or can you only use it for about 3-5 hours to prevent overheating?

I really wish I had $150-$200 extra to get a socket 939 and AMD 64 Venice or something.

Details Specs:
My Graphics Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130247
My CPU: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819104245
My Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128308

I installed a second copy of Windows XP, but I stripped down the installation using nLite and I made the system as "barebone" as possible. I installed a copy of halflife 2 on it also and the game does run about 5-8% better, but I still get the lags. I figured windows xp without all it's crap would allow me to have a very small registry and thus running the system faster...and indeed it does, but mostly for the operating system environment. Without anything to bog it down, my barebone installation of XP starts up nearly 5x faster than my first one and it can explorer files in a snap! It can completely boot up as fast as a Ps2. (hell, actually faster)

Could it be the AMD "Quiet and Cool" driver for the CPU?
I've already defragged and checkdisk'd all my partitions. It stills seems like something isn't fast enough and it's probably the CPU or Hardrive. Would a 15000 rpm solve this?
abu_has_the_power
12-28-2005, 05:06 PM
that has nothing to do with the graphx card. it could be the cpu or ram
SaYiaN
12-28-2005, 05:16 PM
Bad sound drivers?

is the psu holding up? well-known and reliable?
Seedler
12-28-2005, 05:25 PM
I think it's your cpu. Your vid card is great, but your cpu is the bottleneck of your system.
S!X
12-28-2005, 08:19 PM
Pretty brutal cpu, id say thats the cause also. Get an AMD X2:cool:
Wolfmight
12-28-2005, 08:20 PM
I've got an Antec 450W PSU with dual 12v rails.
I have the latest nvidia sound drivers for my mobo. Gigabyte's website says to use Realtek sound drivers, but I dunno. Would that solve the issue?

Hmm, it appears the 2.6ghz cpu for 754 is only $300. The 2.6ghz for 939 cost $800. Half the Cache and 200Mhz less FSB.
Wolfmight
12-28-2005, 08:27 PM
Can this only be used on a laptop? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104257
It says Mobile, but I don't know what would stop me from putting it on my board. The price is kinda high, so I'll have to rack up some cash for it.

Compared to my current cpu, it's:
1.0Ghz faster, 744kb more L2 Cache (1MB L2 Cache), and it uses .05 less voltage.
zapjb
12-28-2005, 08:31 PM
I vote for the CPU as well.
Wolfmight
12-28-2005, 08:43 PM
I vote for the CPU as well.
Is this one any good?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104257

I don't have $1000 for a Socket 939 board and 2.6ghz AMD 64 Socket 939, so this'd be cheaper and it would give me a huge boost.
tesco
12-28-2005, 11:01 PM
I doubt it's the CPU.
I've run Doom3 wihtout lag on an athlon XP 2200+ :blink:
Shiranai_Baka
12-28-2005, 11:17 PM
I vote for the CPU as well.
Is this one any good?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104257

I don't have $1000 for a Socket 939 board and 2.6ghz AMD 64 Socket 939, so this'd be cheaper and it would give me a huge boost.

You guys are totally ignoring his suggestions.

Lol You don't need 1k. Or is that exaggeration? Well Just look for the 64 3200+s. The rig I'm running is pretty stable.
Wolfmight
12-29-2005, 12:08 AM
I doubt it's the CPU.
I've run Doom3 wihtout lag on an athlon XP 2200+ :blink:
Not even a single lag? What were the specs on that machine with the athlon xp 2200+?
tesco
12-29-2005, 12:36 AM
I doubt it's the CPU.
I've run Doom3 wihtout lag on an athlon XP 2200+ :blink:
Not even a single lag? What were the specs on that machine with the athlon xp 2200+?
512mb ram
40gb 5200rpm hard drive
cant remember if I had the geforce 5200 or mx440 at that time...

Basically not that good of a computer, the game was on low or med settings and in the game it worked fine, getting into it and exiting, loading, etc. was hell tho (needed more ram I think).
lynx
12-29-2005, 12:41 AM
Audio Chipset Realtek ALC850
There's your problem. That's an audio playback chipset, so it's not really suitable for generated sound used in games.

It's a fairly simple codec which needs to get all it's instructions from the cpu. Combined with what are probably poor drivers (as far as DirectX is concerned) you aren't going to get very good performance.

Considering the mobo costs less that $71 you can't expect much more.

Get a decent sound card (or even a cheap sound card, it can't be worse).
clocker
12-29-2005, 01:28 AM
... but I still get little lags everytime some music comes on (a split second lag/freeze)

Get a decent sound card (or even a cheap sound card, it can't be worse).
I agree.
Wolfmight
12-29-2005, 02:48 AM
Ah, so that's it
Could you guys recommend a decent one for $70 or under?
What about this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102178 ?

Here's a page full of them: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=SubCatDeals&SubCategory=57
tesco
12-29-2005, 05:52 AM
Could you try disabling sound to make sure that's the problem?
Wolfmight
12-29-2005, 05:04 PM
Could you try disabling sound to make sure that's the problem?
In the game or in the bios?
Wolfmight
12-29-2005, 07:44 PM
The game doesn't run with the OnBoard Audio disabled in the Bios and it doesn't help to mute everything either. I think it might just be the CPU. I overclocked it to 1.75ghz and didn't see much of a difference. I'm too scared to bring it up to 1.8 or 2.0.
lynx
12-29-2005, 08:24 PM
Ah, so that's it
Could you guys recommend a decent one for $70 or under?
What about this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102178 ?Given your budget, that's probably what you should go for.
Note the polyphony spec "64 voices (hardware)", that's where the real performance benefits come in.

Here's a page full of them: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=SubCatDeals&SubCategory=57The first one on the page is the retail version of the one above, but it is $10 cheaper after the rebate.




Could you try disabling sound to make sure that's the problem?
In the game or in the bios?

I think he means in the game, the game probably won't work with the audio disabled in bios. :rolleyes:
Wolfmight
12-31-2005, 12:09 AM
Could you try disabling sound to make sure that's the problem?
Sure enough, it's the sound that causes the lag. With the sound muted in XP and the volume level set to minimum within the games I had no lags whatsoever. Gunshots fired perfectly the first time, New places and events occurred immediately as they were meant to. I just ordered the SOUND BLASTER|AUDIGY 2 ZS and I'm looking forward to using it. It's reviews are 5 out of 5 on the average :naughty: :01: .
Wolfmight
01-02-2006, 09:50 PM
The game doesn't run with the OnBoard Audio disabled in the Bios and it doesn't help to mute everything either. I think it might just be the CPU. I overclocked it to 1.75ghz and didn't see much of a difference. I'm too scared to bring it up to 1.8 or 2.0.
What I forgot to do was mute all the sound in XP using the "Master Volume" dialog which has all the volume controls for different parts of windows xp. I originally turned down the volume in the game, but apparently it still processes those sounds. There was no lag when the system was set mute on everything though. ;)