Hardware Gaming question

Discussion in 'Computing, Science, and Technology' started by samw40, Jun 29, 2012.

  1. samw40 Well-Known Member

    Member Since:
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    So I've been thinking, and that usually ends up with some wacky questions. Here it is, try to understand as this is kind of confusing.

    So lets say I have a game on my PC. And I have a processor, RAM, and video card. And all the other stuff, but it's not relavent. So hypothetically, if the processor limits the game to say 40 frames per second, and the RAM can handle it fine, and the video card limits it to 60 frames per second, then the game would run at about 40 frames per second, right? So, does this mean that I could turn up a few of the graphics settings without loosing frames per second? Because if I turn up the graphics settings, lets say the video card is now only able to perform at 40 frames per second. Is this at all accurrate or have I been eating too much ice cream to say anything sensible?
  2. savage24x Well-Known Member

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    Jun 24, 2009
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    Yes.

    Anyway, whichever is the lowest end component will limit you. An i3 and a GeForce 680, the i3 will be your bottleneck. You can max out the graphics settings, but the i3 will be even slower because it has to process that even just a little.

    You will lose some FPS. Bottom line, you will. Test out different settings and see how it is.
  3. cryphakon Active Member

    Member Since:
    Mar 18, 2012
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    Device:
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    The HDD (or SSD) hands over the data to the CPU

    The CPU then does a little bit of work requiring some RAM to do it

    The GPU then recieves the textures and other bits of data from the CPU so it can render an image onscreen using some of it's RAM aswell.

    The five main bottlenecks are:
    HDD unable to transfer data quickly enough (map loading normally)
    CPU doesn't have enough grunt to process all the data (lag normally)
    RAM doesn't have enough free space for the CPU to do it's stuff (crash normally)
    GPU doesn't have enough grunt to process the textures and other stuff (lag or crash normally)
    VRAM doesn't have enough free space for the GPU to do it's stuff (lag or crash normally)

    That is a very basic outline of what is occurring and it also differs with different setups and games.
  4. tw23 Community Development Team

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    You could always overclock which would raise your FPS ;) :) .
    ale624 likes this.
  5. samw40 Well-Known Member

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    I'm considering that.
  6. Cwazywazy Well-Known Member

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    just overclock your cpu and gpu. when i overclocked my cpu it wasnt very stable even when ocd just a little. but when i ocd my gpu i got a big boost in fps.
  7. samw40 Well-Known Member

    Member Since:
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    How do I over lock my GPU? I have a PNY Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT. It has a gigabyte of RAM. Do I over lock it with a software program in the OS? I have Windows 8.

    One thing I've always wondered... I know that I need to keep an eye on the temperature in case it overheats. But if it doesn't over heat or anything while I over lock it, will it slowly cause any damage to the video card?
  8. Cwazywazy Well-Known Member

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    Well, people say that over locking it will reduce your cards life by a little but it lasts a long time anyway. So, assuming you use the nvidia drivers just go to the nvidia site and look for an ovrclocking program. (I think its called ntune) it adds another section to your nvidia control panel in which you can overclock it.
  9. cryphakon Active Member

    Member Since:
    Mar 18, 2012
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    Run CPUz and GPUz and start gaming for around 15minutes
    Exit the game and look at which component was running at 95-100% and report back from there I'll teach you.
  10. samw40 Well-Known Member

    Member Since:
    Jul 28, 2009
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    Device:
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    Ok thanks. I get home tomorrow and then I'll do it.