3D Performance/Frame Rate Issues

[speedcanhurt]

I have recently put together a computer with the following specs:

AMD Athlon64 X2 6000+ Dual Core CPU
XpertVision GeForce 8600GT 256MB GPU
Asus M2N-MX SE motherboard
Corsair XMS2 1Gb RAM x2
Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATA HD
LG GSA-H62NBBK DVD Re-Writer
It is in a PowerHouse E18 Mid Tower ATX Case which has a 500W PSU, so power should not be a problem. I have also only just installed Windows XP Professional 32-bit with Service Pack 2. All the hardware drivers have been installed and updated. Whenever I am running a 3D application such as a game, no matter on what quality, the frame rate seems to slow down massively for a few seconds every five minutes to ten seconds. I have done some research, and this seems to happen only when the CPU temperature reaches around 45 or 46 degrees. At this point, the total CPU usage jumps from 50% to around 70%, though the usage by the game drops to about 15% and the rest is mostly the System Idle Process. RAM and page file usage remains the same, so this seems to be a problem with the CPU. I have tried running 3D games that run straight off the HD, but the results are the same so there is no problem with the disc drive.

W H A T T H E H E L L I SW R O N G ?

[Schmidget]

Here's something to keep in mind. Just because it's a 500watt PSU doesn't mean it's pumping enough power to keep everything alive. What really matters is how much current each rail is rated for. Cheap no-name PSUs might say in glossy bold letters 500WATT!!!, yet in the fine print in the back of the box, it claims only 18A on the 12v Rail (Which depending on the specs may not be a problem). That said, I don't think you're PSU is the problem.

Those massive slowdowns being related to temperatures 45 and 46 doesn't make any sense at all. Those temperatures aren't that high. The only thing that I can guess is happing is standard stutters caused by the program loading stuff from the hard drive in-game. (any hard drive activity during these slowdowns?) That's what I thought until you mentioned CPU usage.

Originally Posted by speedcanhurt

total CPU usage jumps from 50% to around 70%,though the usage by the game drops to about 15% and the rest is mostly the System Idle Process

You need to investigate this further because the rest can't be System Idle Process. (Unless...) System Idle Process can roughly be explained as the percentage of your CPU doing nothing, so it isn't included in total CPU usage. It can't be system idle process unless that particular program really does suddenly only use 15%. And if no other programs are using a sizable amount of CPU time, then Idle will show a high percentage.

Tell me what happens when you use the Video Card stability test. I'm not really interested in what score you get on it's benchmark utility or anything like that. I just want you to observe what happens as you run the program.

Does the framerate dive here too?
Is it OK for a long period of time?
Does the CPU usage for this process remain pretty constant throughout? Those sorts of things would be helpful.

Maybe someone else can give a straight answer.

[speedcanhurt]

I tested with a house fan to reduce the temperatures, and got some pretty good results. CPU temperature dropped from around 55 to 35 (running at full speed) and motherboard dropped from 40 to 30, and I did not get a slowdown at any stage during my extensive testing (played games). This tells me I need better airflow within the case, so I've ordered an Antec Super Cyclone Blower exhaust fan to mount in the expansion slots and an Antec 80mm TriCool (Green LED!) intake fan to mount on the side in place of an 'air funnel' which is currently doing absolutely nothing. They cost me a total of about $27 AUD, and both fans have three-speed settings, so I can experiment with different speeds to see how I get the best results. This should hopefully solve my problems. I'll update this thread when I've put them in.

[Schmidget]

It's strange that a temp of ~40C was causing problems. It's hot no doubt, but that's still unusual in my experience. Did you ever take a look at the temps of your graphics card as opposed to the mobo/CPU?

[speedcanhurt]

Graphics card temperature is fine, its never been above 45 degrees and it rarely goes above 40. I've gotten some opinions from other people with similar systems who have had to do the same thing, so I should be right now.