Gaming Lag, Computer should be able to support it

[shameel1]

Hey guys, first time posting in a LONG time. Just looking for some help. I recently bought a computer from the B/S/T forums, here are the specs http://forums.redflagdeals.com/fs-antec-skeleton-gaming-htpc-400-a-1176781/
I should be able to run almost all games on at least medium but most games i try to play are ridiculously laggy. Sometimes the lag fixes when i restart my computer which isnt too bad but id rather fix it completely. Ive resorted to playing almost ALL games on low quality with the lowest resolution. Heres a small list of what im playing and the result i get:
Starcraft 2-lowest resolution,lowest quality smooth gameplay. Increase either and it'll start to be choppy
Dragon Nest- Almost all game screens are laggy but game usually plays smoothly, if not a restart fixes the lag MOST of the time
DOTA 2- Only playable on the absolute lowest resolution and quality, if i increase just a bit, it becomes unplayable
Super Monday Night Combat- Completely Unplayable, no matter what video restrictions

When i bought the computer he formatted it and setup some over clocking. He said he has it on very optimal settings. I guess if i needed to format i could just copy all the BIOS settings down and redo them. But since ive gotten the computer i havent installed anything but games and skype. I have no idea why im lagging so much but its kind of frustrating buying a computer for the sole purpose of gaming then finding out it cant do what i need it to do. I believe the seller is out of the country temporarily so he isnt responding to my texts right now.

If any more specs are required please ask. Id like to fix this ASAP. Thanks for your help! :)

[george__]

Hey guys, first time posting in a LONG time. Just looking for some help. I recently bought a computer from the B/S/T forums, here are the specs http://forums.redflagdeals.com/fs-antec-skeleton-gaming-htpc-400-a-1176781/
I should be able to run almost all games on at least medium but most games i try to play are ridiculously laggy. Sometimes the lag fixes when i restart my computer which isnt too bad but id rather fix it completely. Ive resorted to playing almost ALL games on low quality with the lowest resolution. Heres a small list of what im playing and the result i get:
Starcraft 2-lowest resolution,lowest quality smooth gameplay. Increase either and it'll start to be choppy
Dragon Nest- Almost all game screens are laggy but game usually plays smoothly, if not a restart fixes the lag MOST of the time
DOTA 2- Only playable on the absolute lowest resolution and quality, if i increase just a bit, it becomes unplayable
Super Monday Night Combat- Completely Unplayable, no matter what video restrictions

When i bought the computer he formatted it and setup some over clocking. He said he has it on very optimal settings. I guess if i needed to format i could just copy all the BIOS settings down and redo them. But since ive gotten the computer i havent installed anything but games and skype. I have no idea why im lagging so much but its kind of frustrating buying a computer for the sole purpose of gaming then finding out it cant do what i need it to do. I believe the seller is out of the country temporarily so he isnt responding to my texts right now.

If any more specs are required please ask. Id like to fix this ASAP. Thanks for your help! :)

If the system is randomly freezing and it's overclocked. Then it might be a overclocking issue. I can give you a example. With my system when the ram overclocking is unstable, my system will randomly freeze.

You should set the BIOS to DEFAULT, read about how to overclock, learn about your motherboard and hardware and overclock from scratch.

[number8888]

I assume all your drivers are up to date?

[george__]

I assume all your drivers are up to date?

Good point.. What if the drivers weren't install after reformatting, I forgot the most awesome thing -_-"

[Adevictus]

Good point.. What if the drivers weren't install after reformatting, I forgot the most awesome thing -_-"
That means your gpu isn't even working to render graphics

[george__]

That means your gpu isn't even working to render graphics

Maybe because the computer is using Windows Drivers for the graphics card

[xalex0]

Good point.. What if the drivers weren't install after reformatting, I forgot the most awesome thing -_-"Check the device manager. Also run 3dmark to see where where issue could potentially be.

[Piro21]

I assume you can see all the parts in that case? Check the device manager or the Nvidia utility (I run an ATI card so I don't know what it's called) to see if the video card he says he sold you is the card he actually sold you.

[wilsonlam97]

Are your games all bought and licensed?

I hope your not bootlegging them because for obvious reasons that = virus.

[george__]

Are your games all bought and licensed?

I hope your not bootlegging them because for obvious reasons that = virus.

Huh? Bootlegged games = virus :S

[Busybuyer888]

Just go to the nVidia site and d/l the newest video drivers.

Is the nvidia GTX550 ti so powerful it can play all games? I thought we needed to be at the GTX560 ti card to be able think such things.

[wilsonlam97]

Huh? Bootlegged games = virus :S

Bootleg = piracy = rip off copy

[george__]

Bootleg = piracy = rip off copy
I don't see how that would affect the performance of the game :D

[soul_taker]

I don't see how that would affect the performance of the game :D

It actually does. A lot of bootleg games still crash when you enable or disable specific settings or try to do specific things. Also people who 'rip' games often take things out or lower quality of various things to produce a smaller more downloadable file size.

Most notable is a bootleg copy of Metro floating around that does not run in DX10. Or that version of Crysis Warhead that has all the videos in lower quality and watermarked. I could go on, but you get the idea. Uh... Not that I pirate games or anything, you can find paid for copies of these games in my Steam library.

[george__]

It actually does. A lot of bootleg games still crash when you enable or disable specific settings or try to do specific things. Also people who 'rip' games often take things out or lower quality of various things to produce a smaller more downloadable file size.

Most notable is a bootleg copy of Metro floating around that does not run in DX10. Or that version of Crysis Warhead that has all the videos in lower quality and watermarked. I could go on, but you get the idea. Uh... Not that I pirate games or anything, you can find paid for copies of these games in my Steam library.
Ah - like those repacked / re-ripped which are smaller in size than the "retail" / "regular" ones you can also find?

[shameel1]

Wow! what a great response! didnt know you guys were this active haha. Well ill go over all issues.



If the system is randomly freezing and it's overclocked. Then it might be a overclocking issue. I can give you a example. With my system when the ram overclocking is unstable, my system will randomly freeze.

You should set the BIOS to DEFAULT, read about how to overclock, learn about your motherboard and hardware and overclock from scratch.

I guess this is an option. He told me he had most games run well on his pc. I guess ill have to start learning some stuff :P Thanks!



I assume all your drivers are up to date?

yes ive checked multiple times, all of my drivers are up to date



I assume you can see all the parts in that case? Check the device manager or the Nvidia utility (I run an ATI card so I don't know what it's called) to see if the video card he says he sold you is the card he actually sold you.

yup its the correct card



Are your games all bought and licensed?

I hope your not bootlegging them because for obvious reasons that = virus.

i dont see how this would be an issue, but you cannot bootleg starcraft 2(blizzard), dota 2(steam), super monday night combat(steam), or dragon nest(nexon). Unless you want to play offline versions.


Oh and i forgot to mention ive added on my own hard drive to the pc. Its a WDC WD5000AAVS-00ZTB0. Its an older 500gb hard drive that ive been putting all my games on because i dont wanna use up all 60gb of my ssd to quickly. I thought about this being the issue as it is a slower hard drive, and tried reinstalling starcraft 2 on my ssd. When i did this i got the same result as before, playable but only on lowest quality and resolution. As soon as i upped it to medium graphics while staying on the lowest resolution, the game became unplayable. Very weird problem, hopefully we can find the issue :\

[vonblock]

One possible explanation.

Your computer can underclock when it get too hot.

Is it possible for you to monitor the temp when playing a game (probably only cpu) ?

[xXxTehxXx]

Just go to the nVidia site and d/l the newest video drivers.

Is the nvidia GTX550 ti so powerful it can play all games? I thought we needed to be at the GTX560 ti card to be able think such things.

You underestimate the 550! It's actually pretty decent for gaming. Ultra Skyrim, Ultra TF2, Medium COD, Medium Starcraft 2, High DOTA2, High LoL. Good card for some medium-gaming

[BobSagget]

Is your computer in a spot where it is well ventilated? Not boxed in to any walls? I've experienced first hand what happens when you place your pc tower too close to walls and try to play graphic/cpu intensive games. I didn't realize at first that the seriously low FPS I started to experience was because I had placed the tower too close to the walls in the corner of the room. All the heat generated from the PC was not being properly ventilated out. Soon as I realized my mistake I moved the case so that there was space on all sides (about a foot) and it stopped causing me issues within minutes.

[shameel1]

One possible explanation.

Your computer can underclock when it get too hot.

Is it possible for you to monitor the temp when playing a game (probably only cpu) ?

I doubt its a heating problem, the computer has a huge fan on top as you can see as well as a smaller fan attatched. As well as this the guy who i bought it from added his own extra fan to keep everything cool. And on top of all this my computer is in my basement which is always freezing enough for me to put on a sweater whenever i go down there



Is your computer in a spot where it is well ventilated? Not boxed in to any walls? I've experienced first hand what happens when you place your pc tower too close to walls and try to play graphic/cpu intensive games. I didn't realize at first that the seriously low FPS I started to experience was because I had placed the tower too close to the walls in the corner of the room. All the heat generated from the PC was not being properly ventilated out. Soon as I realized my mistake I moved the case so that there was space on all sides (about a foot) and it stopped causing me issues within minutes.

I dont think this is an issue but ill try moving my computer. The right side of it is close to my wall but thats it. Thanks for the tip!

[vonblock]

I doubt its a heating problem, the computer has a huge fan on top as you can see as well as a smaller fan attatched. As well as this the guy who i bought it from added his own extra fan to keep everything cool. And on top of all this my computer is in my basement which is always freezing enough for me to put on a sweater whenever i go down there


Yes, My idea was that during the computer move from his to your house, the Cpu heatsink could has move, and cause a bad contact with your cpu (and higher temps), It happen to me more than once (Lan party)

[shameel1]

still no luck, any other ideas?

[george__]

Are you sure you got the card the OP said you got?

[Amourek]

Stop overclocking.

Check your GPU temperature while runing FurMark.

[cesaro]

1) Check for latest drivers in all your hardware ( GPU, motherboard, etc ) and update. Make sure there are no yellow question marks in the device manager.
2) Look for high temperatures in your system ( Use software like RealTemp ) and make sure your system has sufficient ventilation/cooling, especially if you overclock.
3) Check if your hard drive is running low on space. Run CCleaner and remove any temp files.

Hope this helps.

[shameel1]

1) Check for latest drivers in all your hardware ( GPU, motherboard, etc ) and update. Make sure there are no yellow question marks in the device manager.
2) Look for high temperatures in your system ( Use software like RealTemp ) and make sure your system has sufficient ventilation/cooling, especially if you overclock.
3) Check if your hard drive is running low on space. Run CCleaner and remove any temp files.

Hope this helps.

thanks for the advice! ill do them asap and get back to you

alright i did the suggested steps. There are no yellow question marks in the device manager and i have the updated drivers for all my stuff. Here is a screen shot of me using RealTemp, all my temperatures seem reasonable, and my system definitely does have sufficient ventilation and cooling. Ill be running CCleaner very soon, just gotta do something quick. Ill let you know how it goes

edit : http://gyazo.com/32c65abde946e9c0b7605cb495c0ed98

[PurePsychism]

thanks for the advice! ill do them asap and get back to you

alright i did the suggested steps. There are no yellow question marks in the device manager and i have the updated drivers for all my stuff. Here is a screen shot of me using RealTemp, all my temperatures seem reasonable, and my system definitely does have sufficient ventilation and cooling. Ill be running CCleaner very soon, just gotta do something quick. Ill let you know how it goes
No visible screenshot.

[shameel1]

http://gyazo.com/32c65abde946e9c0b7605cb495c0ed98

[wilsonlam97]

New thermal paste application?

[shameel1]

uhmm im not 100% sure, can you tell me how to check for that?

[xalex0]

Essentially, it would fit into the overheating category. The screenshot is not too useful, since you were keeping the CPU on idle. What you need to do is to measure the temperatures for CPU and GPU while at load, i.e. while the lagging game is running. For that the program has to log sensor data while running in background.
I know that aida64 has a stress test where it graphs temperatures for some duration (can't recall if it has GPU temperature there). So what you can do is launch the stress mode, but don't start - start your game instead, and after awhile exit and look at the temperature graph.

[shameel1]

Essentially, it would fit into the overheating category. The screenshot is not too useful, since you were keeping the CPU on idle. What you need to do is to measure the temperatures for CPU and GPU while at load, i.e. while the lagging game is running. For that the program has to log sensor data while running in background.
I know that aida64 has a stress test where it graphs temperatures for some duration (can't recall if it has GPU temperature there). So what you can do is launch the stress mode, but don't start - start your game instead, and after awhile exit and look at the temperature graph.

thanks but after snooping around the evga forums, i found out that my card was getting pushed to hard. I had to underclock it a bit to recieve optimal performance.

[JasonCao]

you should try older and more stable drivers from nvidia website, the newest driver are for mostly gtx 600 series. my self have had problems with the latest driver while playing diablo3 as well. very low and lag fps sometimes. and i have gtx 560 ti