What do you suppose is bottlenecking this PC?

[LookAQuesadilla]

Hi, I'm new here. I hope I put this thread in the right place. :)

I have a PC here that seems to be performing below the level I think it should be at, especially in 3D games like Battlefield, for example.

Here are the specifications:

Intel Celeron D @ 2.8 GHz
Asus P5S800-Vm motherboard
BFG 6600GT OC @ 500MHz core 1GHz memory.
512Mb of DDR400 RAM.
2 X 5200 RPM laptop drives @ 20 Gb each.

I know it's a bit of a 'thrown together' type machine, but I honestly think it should be performing a bit better. I have another machine with twice the ram, a Atlon 64 3200 and a eVGA 6800 GS SE video card, and it is capable of running Battlefield 2 with all the settings maxed out at a steady 50-70 frames per second.

This machine, however, seems to have trouble maintaining 40 frames per second on the lowest settings. The OC'd 6600GT is _faster_ than the 6800GS, even if it's missing some of the GS' pipelines. The Celeron is also 'technically' operating at a higher clock-rate than the Athlon 64, athough I'm certain any Athlon processor easily beats a Celeron.

I'm thinking the slowdown is either in the lack of memory, or the hard-drives, seeing as I've heard about nothing but good results with the 6600GT in all the reviews I've read. However, I'd like to hear your opinions before I go and spend 50$ on another stick of RAM. Any clues as to which components are hurting performance the most?

Thanks very much!

PS: I've tried overclocking the Celeron, but it seems to have trouble keeping anything above a 10% OC stable.

PPS: The troubled machine can run Quake 4 on medium settings fluidly, so it isn't entirely incapable.

[Shadowed]

Another 512 of ram would be a good start.
If your hard drives are getting filled up may cause some slow down as well with the pagefile. Also being 5200rpm drives could be an issue.

[cdn_Madrach]

Well this is just my opinion but your cpu being a celeron really blows( no offense)Plus if you are playing BF2 or 2142 with 512 of ram.... you must be a very patient person to wait that long for levels to load. Worst thing is that when your system runs outta available mem and looks to the HD and sees 5200rpm drives ...ouch. Also I think your 68gs is actually a faster card than the 66 which would be another contributer to your lower fps. But if you want to really compare just swap the video cards and see what happens and if you have the same memory just add some to the celeron machine from the amd one and see if you notice a difference in fps Good luck and again this is just my opinion. Cheers

[LookAQuesadilla]

Thanks guys. :)

The 6600 GT's clock speeds are above those of the GS, but it having half the pipelines (and memory) cause it to drag behind, I think.

Yeah, it's certainly not a great machine. I'll start with the 512megabytes of RAM, and I hope that helps.

Once again, Thanks!

PS: I was also thinking about upgrading the video card in one machine, If it were you, which of the following would you buy:

1 7600GT (higher clock speed)
or
1 7900 GS KO (more memory bandwitdh, 8 more pixel pipelines)

[sswilson]

Yeah, at least another stick of 512, and look around for a replacement cpu.

The 6600gt isn't a killer card, but it's certainly capable at medium settings. (My young lad can run Oblivion @ 1024 X 768 with playable framerates with a sempron 3100/1g/6600gt).

[Shadowed]

If you want to hold off a bit for a video card upgrade ?
Rumour has it there are going to be more price drops coming soon. (end of the month ?)

PS. Not sure if I would bother buying 2 cards for SLI unless you own one already.
I have seen sales come up on single cards that will beat 2 lower cards for less money... just a thought.

comparison guide

VGA Charts | Tom's Hardware

[LookAQuesadilla]

Thanks for the Tip and link Shadowed! :)

I'll do just that sswilson!

[cdn_Madrach]

If you are gonna buy a card get the 7900gs very nice card for the money and a big improvement over your present cards.

[Shadowed]

7900gs ko $164.99 w/$15.00 mail in rebate

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...6&promoid=1008

very nice upgrade :)

[LookAQuesadilla]

Originally Posted by Shadowed

7900gs ko $164.99 w/$15.00 mail in rebate

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...6&promoid=1008

very nice upgrade :)

Wow, that's great! My Athlon system was nice about a year and half ago, but it needs a boost like that. :)

*bookmarks that page* (hopefully will order soon)