FPS Issues on all games

Celor · 11 Jun 2010

Hey All,

I recently reformatted my computer and re-installed Windows 7 64bit on it.

Previously i had Windows XP and Windows 7 dual booting, both 32bit, windows xp would play games fine, windows 7 however, would not. (The reason im on 64bit now is to use more RAM)

Anyway, the problem is almost every single game i play there are strange FPS issues, constant dips in fps, its hard to explain. I used fraps to check and linked it to my LCD on my G15 keyboard and the graph was something similar to:

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Yeah its hard to describe, but its going from 75 fps to around 65 constantly, it doesnt sound like a noticeable difference, but you can definitely tell theres a dip in fps as it goes all jerky.

The only problem I can think of, is with my RAM.

I'm using 3 sticks atm, two 1Gb's and one 2Gb's, the 1Gig sticks are running at 266Mhz - DDR2 533 (PC2-4300) but the 2Gig stick is running at 333Mhz - DDR2 667 (PC2-5300)

I read something about the different speeds causing problems, I know my way around a computer but not enough to alter the speed settings on the RAM, if that's the problem that is.

If it's needed i will provide a log file of my computer (diagnostic wise) otherwise a list is below:

Graphics - Nvidia GeForce GT240 - 1Gig
RAM - Described above
Processor - AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ 3Ghz

Not sure if anything else is needed, any help would be greatly appreciated,

Sorry for the wall of text but i like to give details!

Note: All drivers are fully up-to-date, directx is also up-to-date.

Luckystar · 11 Jun 2010

So let me get this right, your getting noticable lag with a drop of ~10fps (75fps down to 65fps)

Have you got any anti-virus, or firewalls running? Constant AV scans can have an effect

Are there any programs that are running during play? Some heavy programs may be taking resources needed for the game/s

Lucky

Celor · 11 Jun 2010

Well, fraps says it is around a 10fps drop, but it feels more like 50fps, that's the problem.

I have AVG running as well as Malwarebytes and Zone Alarm firewall, that's all I run when Im gaming.

Luckystar · 11 Jun 2010

Try running the games with all those closed and report back with how you got on.

And if you can, and know, go into task manager and close some of your processes (only ones that have your username and not system or local service)

Lucky

Celor · 11 Jun 2010

Just tried your suggestion, everything turned off, still get the fps drops.

Luckystar · 11 Jun 2010

Well, lets go back to your original post, try running the games with just the 2gb stick in, then vise-versa, try the 2 1gb sticks on their own.

Celor · 11 Jun 2010

Just tried without the 2Gig stick, no noticeable dips as before, slight issue but thats because the RAM has been halved, just going to try it with the 2Gig stick in by itself.

EDIT: Tried with the 2Gig stick and its much more jerky with that by itself. Guess thats the problem, whether it's with the speed of it, or its just faulty. I don't know.

Fumz · 11 Jun 2010

Celor said:

... Anyway, the problem is almost every single game i play there are strange FPS issues, constant dips in fps, its hard to explain. ... its going from 75 fps to around 65 constantly, it doesnt sound like a noticeable difference, but you can definitely tell theres a dip in fps as it goes all jerky.

The only problem I can think of, is with my RAM.

I'm using 3 sticks atm, two 1Gb's and one 2Gb's, the 1Gig sticks are running at 266Mhz - DDR2 533 (PC2-4300) but the 2Gig stick is running at 333Mhz - DDR2 667 (PC2-5300)

The behavior you report is normal. FPS never stays constant. The only way for you to get constant FPS is to join an empty server, stare at one spot, and never move. How much fps dips depends on the card, the cpu pushing it, the game, the environment, and the number of players.

Your issue, imo a major issue, is your RAM configuration. FYI, you cannot run memory speeds independently; given two different kits, the memory timings will default to the lower speed kit... so you're running all your RAM at 266MHz (ddr 533). What's also an issue is that you're not running dual channel. In order to run dual channel, you've got to fill all the dimm slots, or use the right dimm slots.

You can run dual channel by putting the 2x1GB sticks in the same colored slots, but with the memory you have, when you put it all in the machine, because all the slots aren't filled, you're forcing the board to revert to single channel mode.

Celor · 11 Jun 2010

Right, ok thanks for the info.

I've taken out the 2Gig stick and ordered two more 1Gig sticks, hopefully solves my problem.

Fumz · 11 Jun 2010

Why not just order another 2GB stick? It's the faster of the two.