CPU Bottleneck?

[Schrodinger]

CPU Bottleneck? Motherboard Faulty?

Hi guys, couple months back my old GTX 460 died and I changed to a MSI 650 Ti Hawk.

A few issues I'm facing currently:

1. My fps during DoTA2 is under 60 during teamfights/laning phase.

2. My RAM has been problematic over the past year too. Like CPU-Z / Speccy shows the full 8GB whereas Task Manager only shows 6GB. (BIOS boot up time also says 6GB). Any idea what might be the issue?

3. My whole PC would freeze sometimes, not just gaming, but even when just using Spotify. Quite random though, sometimes can play for hours w/o problems.

Attached are my specs, would I be better off getting a new CPU/Motherboard?

P.S: If any mod could change my title as per this post's title, it'll be nice.

 

[aaragore]

ur picture too small, cant see anything

 

[monikernemo]

What is your range of fps for dota 2? Maybe want try down tune pic quality?

 

[LoNgMaO]

Hi TS, test one ram each and at different ram slot to run the game. It night be ram or ram slot faulty. Also clean your ram gold finger with a eraser to make it shining again. What is your windows version and is it 32bits or 64bits.

Install H/W monitor to check your device temperature cause I have a friend with a over heated cpu due to HS fan loose still running but game fps drop at a range 20-50 fps.

 

[Schrodinger]

ur picture too small, cant see anything

Clicking the picture should be able to give u the full-res one.

What is your range of fps for dota 2? Maybe want try down tune pic quality?

Around ~40-50 with everything maxed. Running a GTX 650 Ti should be able to get 60 isn't it? I've got a Aftershock XG13 with 860M that easily goes beyond 70fps and 860M is slightly less powerful?

Hi TS, test one ram each and at different ram slot to run the game. It night be ram or ram slot faulty. Also clean your ram gold finger with a eraser to make it shining again. What is your windows version and is it 32bits or 64bits.

Install H/W monitor to check your device temperature cause I have a friend with a over heated cpu due to HS fan loose still running but game fps drop at a range 20-50 fps.

Windows version is Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit. Wouldn't even get 6GB now if it was 32-bit I guess?

CPU temps are in the range of 50s to 60 according to Speccy.

 

[clon22]

Try test booting with individually memory modules.
Clean the golden fingers of the memory as mentioned above too.
If all seems to work individually,
proceed to test om different memory slots of the mainboard.
See how it goes from there.

 

[Schrodinger]

Try test booting with individually memory modules.
Clean the golden fingers of the memory as mentioned above too.
If all seems to work individually,
proceed to test om different memory slots of the mainboard.
See how it goes from there.

May I know how to go about doing a thorough test?
Like:
1. Place RAM 1 in slot 1
2. Boot up
3. Run dota? run memtest86+?

 

[clon22]

May I know how to go about doing a thorough test?
Like:
1. Place RAM 1 in slot 1
2. Boot up
3. Run dota? run memtest86+?

Yes, can.
But priority is to get it to detect all 8GB 1st.
So you can leave the tests for later.
Test boot the rams individually on a working slot.
If all works, then boot on different slots with one working module.
If everything working individually, then boot up all 4 sticks again and try again.
See if bios detects all 8GB.
Check under "System" to see how much memory is detected.
Also, if the mainboard is still under warranty, you can bring the board down to us and let us check for you.

 

[Schrodinger]

Yes, can.
But priority is to get it to detect all 8GB 1st.
So you can leave the tests for later.
Test boot the rams individually on a working slot.
If all works, then boot on different slots with one working module.
If everything working individually, then boot up all 4 sticks again and try again.
See if bios detects all 8GB.
Check under "System" to see how much memory is detected.
Also, if the mainboard is still under warranty, you can bring the board down to us and let us check for you.

I've tested all the sticks on DIMM Slot 1 of the mobo. Only one got stuck halfway through boot up.

Then I proceeded to check the fully working sticks against the other DIMM slots, turned out that DIMM slot 4 was faulty and refused to boot up.

Lastly, I placed the RAMs to slots 1, 2 and 3. (2GB, 2GB, 4GB) respectively.

Now it detects all 8GB and is able to utilise all (showing up in Windows System / Task Manager now).

The question I have though, is that despite one of the sticks nt being able to boot up on its own, it's working when used in conjunction with the rest. Do I have to go and get it replaced just in case or it's ok..?

My main issue that I want to solve however, is still the FPS. Does 80~ 90% CPU usage with 60% GPU usage mean that my X4 955 is bottlenecking the GTX 650 Ti? My PSU is a Seasonic M12 II Bronze (520 watts) so I think it has sufficient power.

I've read that the 650Ti is capable of ~80 fps for DoTA2 at max settings.

Side notes:
My desktop is really old, so the mobo is out of warranty. It's a 870A-G54 from MSI.
CPU Core temp is around 48 Idle, 60+ on full load (Prime95).

 

[Alternative X]

I've tested all the sticks on DIMM Slot 1 of the mobo. Only one got stuck halfway through boot up.

Then I proceeded to check the fully working sticks against the other DIMM slots, turned out that DIMM slot 4 was faulty and refused to boot up.

Lastly, I placed the RAMs to slots 1, 2 and 3. (2GB, 2GB, 4GB) respectively.

Now it detects all 8GB and is able to utilise all (showing up in Windows System / Task Manager now).

The question I have though, is that despite one of the sticks nt being able to boot up on its own, it's working when used in conjunction with the rest. Do I have to go and get it replaced just in case or it's ok..?

My main issue that I want to solve however, is still the FPS. Does 80~ 90% CPU usage with 60% GPU usage mean that my X4 955 is bottlenecking the GTX 650 Ti? My PSU is a Seasonic M12 II Bronze (520 watts) so I think it has sufficient power.

I've read that the 650Ti is capable of ~80 fps for DoTA2 at max settings.

Side notes:
My desktop is really old, so the mobo is out of warranty. It's a 870A-G54 from MSI.
CPU Core temp is around 48 Idle, 60+ on full load (Prime95).

1) Run Memtest 86+ with all your RAM installed. Fastest way to see if that particular stick of RAM might give you issues down the road. Would be best to replace that stick of RAM if Memtest 86+ produces errors during the test.

2) Do note that for GPU benchmark tests, the review site usually uses the fastest CPU avaliable (usually an Intel CPU) to eliminate any sort of CPU bottleneck. As DOTA 2 mainly uses only 1-2 cores, IPC (Instructions per cycle) is the main determining factor in determining gaming performance with a particular GPU when using the CPU in question.

Since the Phenom II X4 955 has an inferior IPC when compared to modern Intel CPUs, it is safe to assume that you will not be getting 80 FPS when playing DOTA 2 and thus there is some bottlenecking. Fastest way to solve this is to OC the CPU, but I do not think your 870A-G54 is suitable for OC either.

How far under 60 FPS do you get when playing DOTA 2? I do not think I would be too worried if getting 50+ FPS during gaming. 30 FPS would then be a more appropriate moment to start worrying.

 

[jgyy1990]

U have to change motherboard too

 

[Schrodinger]

1) Run Memtest 86+ with all your RAM installed. Fastest way to see if that particular stick of RAM might give you issues down the road. Would be best to replace that stick of RAM if Memtest 86+ produces errors during the test.

2) Do note that for GPU benchmark tests, the review site usually uses the fastest CPU avaliable (usually an Intel CPU) to eliminate any sort of CPU bottleneck. As DOTA 2 mainly uses only 1-2 cores, IPC (Instructions per cycle) is the main determining factor in determining gaming performance with a particular GPU when using the CPU in question.

Since the Phenom II X4 955 has an inferior IPC when compared to modern Intel CPUs, it is safe to assume that you will not be getting 80 FPS when playing DOTA 2 and thus there is some bottlenecking. Fastest way to solve this is to OC the CPU, but I do not think your 870A-G54 is suitable for OC either.

How far under 60 FPS do you get when playing DOTA 2? I do not think I would be too worried if getting 50+ FPS during gaming. 30 FPS would then be a more appropriate moment to start worrying.

I see. Hmm, right now it's around the region of 40s and 50s for minimum. Max FPS is above 60 but that's max...

Anw, I can notice the difference compared to when I play on my laptop.

870A-G54 is bad for OC, in what way may I ask?

U have to change motherboard too

You mean when I change CPU? I do understand that. But would it be worth it to change CPU + mobo for this old desktop?

 

[LoNgMaO]

See from you picture your ram say single channel shouldn't it be dual channel? Can do a print screen on the task manager?

 

[Alternative X]

I see. Hmm, right now it's around the region of 40s and 50s for minimum. Max FPS is above 60 but that's max...

Anw, I can notice the difference compared to when I play on my laptop.

870A-G54 is bad for OC, in what way may I ask?

You mean when I change CPU? I do understand that. But would it be worth it to change CPU + mobo for this old desktop?

The 870A-G54 only has a 4+1 power phase system and the VRMs have no heatsink on them either. While this is not an issue when running your CPU at stock, OCing your CPU will increase the amount of electricity going through these power phases and causing them to heat up. As there are fewer power phases avaliable on the mobo to spread out the load and no heat sink to help with heat dissipation, there is an increased chance that OCing your CPU with this mobo may cause the VRMs to overheat and causing your mobo to burn out, especially with high CPU OCs using high CPU core voltages.

If you want to OC your CPU, can get the Asus M5A97 Evo R2.0 for $185 and use your Phenom II X4 955 with this mobo. Do remember to get an aftermarket cooler if you want to OC your CPU though.

If you do not want to OC your CPU and do not mind a dual-core CPU (Dual-cores are good enough for DOTA 2), get an Intel G3240 + Asrock H81M-HDS for $152 instead. The superior IPC of the G3240 should be enough to give you an improved performance in DOTA 2.

 

[Rashkae]

See from you picture your ram say single channel shouldn't it be dual channel? Can do a print screen on the task manager?

I saw that too.

TS, make sure you have your RAM in the correct RAM slots on your motherboard to enable dual-channel RAM.

 

[Schrodinger]

See from you picture your ram say single channel shouldn't it be dual channel? Can do a print screen on the task manager?

I saw that too.

TS, make sure you have your RAM in the correct RAM slots on your motherboard to enable dual-channel RAM.

The image in the first post was when tools said there was 8GB but windows showed 6GB. After re-seating and re-arranging them, it's showing as 8GB again.

The 870A-G54 only has a 4+1 power phase system and the VRMs have no heatsink on them either. While this is not an issue when running your CPU at stock, OCing your CPU will increase the amount of electricity going through these power phases and causing them to heat up. As there are fewer power phases avaliable on the mobo to spread out the load and no heat sink to help with heat dissipation, there is an increased chance that OCing your CPU with this mobo may cause the VRMs to overheat and causing your mobo to burn out, especially with high CPU OCs using high CPU core voltages.

If you want to OC your CPU, can get the Asus M5A97 Evo R2.0 for $185 and use your Phenom II X4 955 with this mobo. Do remember to get an aftermarket cooler if you want to OC your CPU though.

If you do not want to OC your CPU and do not mind a dual-core CPU (Dual-cores are good enough for DOTA 2), get an Intel G3240 + Asrock H81M-HDS for $152 instead. The superior IPC of the G3240 should be enough to give you an improved performance in DOTA 2.

Wow, that's a lot of information that I never really knew when I bought this desktop a couple years back. Good to know I guess. Hmm, I think I shall I would probably just stick with my current setup for now until issues get unbearable. Really appreciate your help/insights!

Will still proceed to test the RAMs though, for stability (general word processing / net surfing usage). I'll update you guys

 

[Schrodinger]

Hu guys, how many passes should I run the test ah?

 

[tungsten2]

About 1/2 hour to be on the safe side

 

[Schrodinger]

About 1/2 hour to be on the safe side

The image posted was with all ram sticks on the first 3 slots (2x 2gb, 1 x 4gb), running members overnight. I'm on my way home and would post another updated one later,hopefully error free.

Quick qn: if I run for so long n no error occurs, do I still need to run mentest for individual sticks?

 

[Schrodinger]

Apologies if double posting is forbidded but here's an update on the Memtest, have stopped it tough. Posting this from the desktop itself.