Bottleneck Hunt

[Graham]

Okay, so I got this awesome gaming rig (well most of it is awesome):

-Asus K8V SE Deluxe mobo
-AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Clawhammer socket 754 @2.3 Ghz w/ Thermaltake venus 12
-ATI Radeon X850 XT 256MB AGP 8X
-Two CMX512MB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (at 3-3-3-6) memory modules (No dual-channel cause my mobo does not support it. This could very well be the problem but since there is no single vs dual channel tests I can't tell)
-Sound Blaster Live X-Gamer 5.1

and the damn thing so blatantly has a bottleneck it is not even funny. I discovered it when I got the new video card (old one was a first-gen 9800 pro 128MB) and found out that HL2 suggested max detail but no anti-aliasing or anisotropic filtering!?!?!? I was very angry that my computer could not handle either. I did the video stress test and got an average of 160 fps with 4x AA and 4x AF at 1024x768. Most of the people I know that get great results see that kind of average fps in the stress test.

Unfortunately, in game, I see about 80-120 fps in spawn, which is great. No need to complain once you get excess of 60+ fps. The thing that kills me is that whenever you get into a firefight with as little as 8 people on screen the damn thing goes into red. It doesn't really go below 40 but you can tell it is just wrong.

I score great on 3dmark and hardware tests show that my system is great. I just don't get what is causing my system to not perform during such events.

I just tried the demo to F.E.A.R. and it sets everything ot max with no anti-aliasing!!?!??! I don't get why no anti-aliasing over texture quality but game programmers probably know more than me. Someone who has a slower processor and a 6800 GT which is not as good as X850 XT gets a much more stable gameplay. On my comp i get "studdering" or "hicups" as people call them quite frequently where my screen freezes for a second or two and the current sound bits repeat in an annoying fashion where if it was a loud gun sound the bass annoys everyone in my house.

Sorry for HUGE post but I just wanted to give as much info as possible since this is a difficult problem. I attached the CPU-Z html file report on my system so anybody who knows REALLY in-depth tech could point out what they see as obvious problems.

Thanks in advanced to ANY help!

EDIT: I forgot to add that I am pretty sure the socket 754 CPU has problems with memory. I read on tomshardware some time ago that the 3200+ specifically has problems but i am not sure. Upgrading costs a TON of money as pc components are rediculously overpriced now ($550 for a 7800 GTX = bs) and would make me upset to spend it wrong.

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

Well FEAR is bottlenecked by memory, and a 6800GT will do far better in FEAR than a card like yours. FEAR is a very demanding game which is hard to run.

For HL2, their's alot going on in firefights, it can easily bog down your CPU if things start really flying.

 

[Graham]

Wow that's a quick reply. I'm still looking over my facts.

So you saying the X850 XT is not as good as a 6800 GT or just in certain cases? I got a feeling it is case-specific since Doom 3 is very shader-dominated over texture quality which nvidia cards do well in.

 

[Graham]

I guess I need a more direct question:

What are the min upgrades I should get where I can expect a good fps in FEAR?

Type of CPU and mobo chipsets

RAM type and CAS latencies etc etc etc

 

[DoomUK]

F.E.A.R. is a highly demanding demo, like DJ-CHRIS has pointed out. Not to mention a horribly optomised one. @ 1280x1024, 2xAA, 16xAF, Vsync ON, everything else maxed out (inc. soft shadows), my system can crawl to as low as 20 FPS. In a word, an X850XT won't cut it on max settings.

HL2: An average of 160 FPS w/ those settings is good, so quit complaining . You most likely will see a drop during heavy action sequences (which includes a sh**load of AI & physics calcs being made etc), as long as it doesn't go below 40 FPS you'll find it perfectly playable. You should be able to bumb the settings up in that game without any noticale loss of performance imo; try out 1280x1024, 4xAA, 8xAF or something...

Doom 3 will perform roughly the same on an (AGP) 6800 GT/Ultra and an X8** XT/P.E. Seeing as the game, to my knowledge, does not support any of SM 3.0's features (or in this case any OpenGL extensions that allow those featues to be utilised), there will be no radical image quality or performance difference in Doom 3, as as far as the engine is concerned the cards are very similar in specs.

Do you have the latest Catalyst drivers? That could be the simple answer to any performance struggles you have.

 

[mgoldb2]

FEAR is extremly demanding like the people have mention before for example here some benchmarks

These benchmarks was taken on a system running a athlon 64 fx-55 so for your system you proberly need to subtract somewhere around 10fps from the number given.

 

[Nubius]

are those benches from the demo though?

Too many people are complaining about the demo when in reality as one person above said, it's not entirely optimized....no doubt the game will be demanding because of how it is, but no one will truly know how it'll play on what systems until the whole thing comes out...right now it's pure speculation based on a demo which like every other demo on earth isn't perfect.

 

[mgoldb2]

are those benches from the demo though?

Too many people are complaining about the demo when in reality as one person above said, it's not entirely optimized....no doubt the game will be demanding because of how it is, but no one will truly know how it'll play on what systems until the whole thing comes out...right now it's pure speculation based on a demo which like every other demo on earth isn't perfect.

You are correct that it is the demo. I agree with everything you said.

The only reason I used the demo was because he was complaining about performance he was getting and I guessing he playing the demo.

 

[HAVOC]

Well FEAR is bottlenecked by memory, and a 6800GT will do far better in FEAR than a card like yours. FEAR is a very demanding game which is hard to run.

CHRIS - Why exactly would a 6800GT do far better in FEAR than an X850XT? Please explain this to me. And please don't pull the PS2 vs. PS3 rabbit out of your hat on this one.

"Far Better" is what I want explained.

 

[mgoldb2]

CHRIS - Why exactly would a 6800GT do far better in FEAR than an X850XT? Please explain this to me. And please don't pull the PS2 vs. PS3 rabbit out of your hat on this one.

"Far Better" is what I want explained.

Well base on the demo benchmarks it would seem that they are about even. (6800GT has a 1-3fps lead)