Do I really need to upgrade?

[mnewsham]

So now I'm thinking motherboard or GPU, leaning towards GPU. Unfortunately you have one of the original Sandy Bridge chipsets which doesn't give access to the IGP on your CPU, so you'll need a spare GPU to test with. Do you happen to have (or can borrow) one?

That was my train of thought as well :thumbsup:

 

[aigomorla]

Keith, a fresh install will rule out any possibility of hardware.
Its the easiest debugging, and you said, the system was fine for what you needed, so im guessing more on a software issue then hardware.
If your still running into problems after a fresh install, then u can start debugging hardware.

But until you ruled out its not software, u cant start guessing at hardware unless u see physical damage on said hardware.

If ur hesitant to reinstall windows on your main drive, get a spare drive and install it on that, just so you can see if u can rule out hardware.
And if ur still running into problems, then you can debug the hardware, and swap out parts, and reinstall the old drive.

 

[destrekor]

Keith, a fresh install will rule out any possibility of hardware.
Its the easiest debugging, and you said, the system was fine for what you needed, so im guessing more on a software issue then hardware.
If your still running into problems after a fresh install, then u can start debugging hardware.

But until you ruled out its not software, u cant start guessing at hardware unless u see physical damage on said hardware.

If ur hesitant to reinstall windows on your main drive, get a spare drive and install it on that, just so you can see if u can rule out hardware.
And if ur still running into problems, then you can debug the hardware, and swap out parts, and reinstall the old drive.

Should not essential benchmark tools do enough to determine if it's hardware, even now? Something like memory stressing, CPU stressing, and GPU stressing with benchmark utilities, should bypass any kind of configuration corruptions or driver quirks.

I'd suspect if it was software, such tests won't really help you narrow down the issue as different drivers may help provide different performance levels.

That said, if it's hardware, I wouldn't expect stress test utilities to last long at all. You'd generally get hard resets or a BSOD real quick with bad hardware.

Then again, really bad driver conflict situations will ALSO produce that same result - so.. hmm, nevermind, lol.

 

[KeithTalent]

Sorry for the late reply, was completely away from home all of yesterday and this morning.

The not starting problem seems to resolve itself. It had something to do with using the Disk Cleanup utility that comes with Windows. I turned on the "Clean up system files" option and there was about 6 GB of Windows Update files that were available to be deleted after it ran through its analysis. After doing that and restarting, my PC seemed confused. Fortunately completely powering it off for the night worked and it now it starts up and I can use it normally.

The low FPS thing has not been corrected however, just tried out TF2 and it dipped below 10 frames per at a certain point.

I guess I need to do a reinstall of Windows, which could be a problem because I've moved twice since my last install and have no idea where the disc is. Time to start my back ups.

Thanks for the tips so far everyone. I'm guessing it will be a few days at the earliest before I can do the fresh install, but hopefully once I do, it clears up the problem.

KT

Edit: actually, not a huge deal since I have the majority of my stuff on my secondary TB drive and I just boot and launch games from my SSD. Not much to back up.

 

[nsafreak]

Sorry for the late reply, was completely away from home all of yesterday and this morning.

The not starting problem seems to resolve itself. It had something to do with using the Disk Cleanup utility that comes with Windows. I turned on the "Clean up system files" option and there was about 6 GB of Windows Update files that were available to be deleted after it ran through its analysis. After doing that and restarting, my PC seemed confused. Fortunately completely powering it off for the night worked and it now it starts up and I can use it normally.

The low FPS thing has not been corrected however, just tried out TF2 and it dipped below 10 frames per at a certain point.

I guess I need to do a reinstall of Windows, which could be a problem because I've moved twice since my last install and have no idea where the disc is. Time to start my back ups.

Thanks for the tips so far everyone. I'm guessing it will be a few days at the earliest before I can do the fresh install, but hopefully once I do, it clears up the problem.

KT

Edit: actually, not a huge deal since I have the majority of my stuff on my secondary TB drive and I just boot and launch games from my SSD. Not much to back up.

I haven't used my original disc in a long time. For my new build I put together a new custom ISO image using a combination of tools namely RT7 Lite and Windows Update Downloader. I downloaded the ISO image from Microsoft (there's a thread on the W7 forums that lists the locations here: http://www.w7forums.com/threads/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads.12325/) and used those other two tools to update the image so that when I did the install I didn't have to do much in the way of updating at all.

 

[KeithTalent]

^^ not sure about all that. I found my disc though, so should be fine. But thank you for the suggestion.

Almost positive it's my CPU. Was monitoring it yesterday and it kept spiking up massively. I took it out and cleaned it up (the fan was very dusty) and put a bit more thermal paste on it, but it seems to be heating up or something and my PC just ends up shutting down from out of nowhere.

So annoying, I really don't feel like replacing parts, but I guess I need to get on that. :\

KT

 

[Ketchup]

...Almost positive it's my CPU. Was monitoring it yesterday and it kept spiking up massively. I took it out and cleaned it up (the fan was very dusty) and put a bit more thermal paste on it, but it seems to be heating up or something and my PC just ends up shutting down from out of nowhere.....KT

Well, that stinks, but if it is throttling that would explain your problem. What kind of temps are you seeing?

 

[richaron]

I would monitor CPU temps(/clocks/%usage).

Sounds to me like thermal throttling & you need more info.

 

[KeithTalent]

Not sure on the temps, I was just using the Windows usage monitor thing in the Task Manager. Is there something useful I can download to test it out better? Pretty sure I used to know these things, but I've forgotten now. :hmm:

KT

 

[Ketchup]

I have been using HWMonitor for a few years now and it is the best tool I have found,

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html


It is free unless you go with the pro version.

 

[KeithTalent]

I have been using HWMonitor for a few years now and it is the best tool I have found,

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html


It is free unless you go with the pro version.

Perfect, thanks so much. I'll grab it when I get home.

KT

 

[z1ggy]

Have you been monitoring temps on the GPU, too? Also, most good programs will tell you the load on the card etc etc, although TF2 should not load the card much.. it at least might give you a clue if the GPU is toast or not.

And while you're at it... Run memtest over night. Might as well figure out the health of all your hardware if you're going to be purchasing new stuff.

 

[KeithTalent]

Have you been monitoring temps on the GPU, too? Also, most good programs will tell you the load on the card etc etc, although TF2 should not load the card much.. it at least might give you a clue if the GPU is toast or not.

And while you're at it... Run memtest over night. Might as well figure out the health of all your hardware if you're going to be purchasing new stuff.

Nah, have not really looked at the GPU. I would have expected some sort of artifacting if that thing was going awry, no?

I will check those other things though; certainly could not hurt, though I imagine my computer will not stay on long enough to make it through all of these tests.

KT

 

[Insomniator]

If the card throttles you probably won't see artifacts... but performance will get killed.

Do a reinstall, clean out your PC and then test performance and monitor temps. TF2 should be ok on that system... but who runs a 2500k at stock ?

 

[KeithTalent]

If the card throttles you probably won't see artifacts... but performance will get killed.

Do a reinstall, clean out your PC and then test performance and monitor temps. TF2 should be ok on that system... but who runs a 2500k at stock ?

<-- this guy

Good to know on that first part. The only time I had GPU issues in the past, I definitely had crazy artifacts. Assumed it was always that way.

KT

 

[mfenn]

Nah, have not really looked at the GPU. I would have expected some sort of artifacting if that thing was going awry, no?

I will check those other things though; certainly could not hurt, though I imagine my computer will not stay on long enough to make it through all of these tests.

KT

HWMonitor will show you the CPU and GPU temps on the same screen, so it's easy to check both.

 

[KeithTalent]

Well as I suspected I can't even keep the computer on long enough to run any of these tests; even tried in safe mode. At this point I may just have to buy new stuff.

KT

 

[DSF]

Well as I suspected I can't even keep the computer on long enough to run any of these tests; even tried in safe mode. At this point I may just have to buy new stuff.

KT

The probability that you need all new stuff is small. Is there any way you can get spare parts to test with? Friends? Parts bin?

 

[toughtrasher]

Well as I suspected I can't even keep the computer on long enough to run any of these tests; even tried in safe mode. At this point I may just have to buy new stuff.

KT

Wow that's all bad.

 

[KeithTalent]

The probability that you need all new stuff is small. Is there any way you can get spare parts to test with? Friends? Parts bin?

All of my old stuff is incompatible unfortunately and I'm the only person I know around here who puts together their own PCs.

I think I'll just grab a mobo and a cpu first. I've never been a fan of this mobo anyway. Anyone have any recommendations for stuff I can still use with my gpu and ram?

KT

 

[Ketchup]

As a test, if you have time, if you were to put in a Windows installation disk and start a fresh install process, would it crash as if you were in the OS, or would it run through the whole thing without the issues cropping up (at least yet)?

 

[KeithTalent]

Was about to try that but damn it, I was wrong, I don't have my windows 7 disc, it was an Office disc in a Windows 7 case. Now to try and find the Office case.

I did find a GTX 460 and an old Bad Axe 2 mobo but no CPU unfortunately.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

So does anyone have any recommendations on CPU and Motherboard? Don't need anything crazy and will definitely not be overclocking, but something reliable and something compatible with my current GPU and RAM would be nice. Would prefer to stay away from an MSI board as I have never liked the one I currently have.

Thanks!

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

What about this motherboard: http://www.ncix.com/detail/asus-z87-k-atx-lga1150-z87-a0-84505.htm

and this CPU: http://www.ncix.com/detail/intel-core-i5-4570-quad-14-81329-1114.htm

Would like to keep the total under $500 all in.

KT

 

[Ketchup]

Hey KT,

I don't know what kind of upgrader you are, but this Gigabyte board is running the latest Z97 chipset, and is just a couple CAD more than the board you are looking at.

http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-z97x-sli-atx-lga1150-z97-ed-96899.htm

Either would be great though, IMO.