GTX 460 aging or bad drivers?

[minori]

I've had this card for about 1 year now. It has been a powerful card and I used to play any game I wanted with max settings.

I don't know what happened but one day when I decide to play Killing Floor the game really lagged in some maps. It wasn't my ping it was graphical lag because I could feel how choppy the game became.

I also noticed I can't play CS:GO on max settings either without lagging. The game just gets really choppy.


Does this mean my card is old and time to upgrade? Or does this just mean my card isn't powerful enough?

Thank you for the help, this was my first PC build.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

It is either your gpu or CPU. Not drivers.

 

[Fallengod]

I dont think performance would be affected if the gpu was going "bad". It would just be overheating or having issues, not have low performance. To me it just sounds like your GPU isnt powerful enough or you changed settings that is causing stress on the gpu that you didnt realize.

I never play any game at max settings personally but if the gpu cant take it, that will definitely do it. Lower your detail settings.....

Drivers of course can always be a factor.

Does this mean my card is old and time to upgrade? Or does this just mean my card isn't powerful enough?

Both of those things are kind of related.

 

[nforce4max]

I get the impression that you don't know much about hardware in general so the advanced stuff is out of hand. What you could do is clean the card of any dust and install fresh drivers. If you are willing to take the time you could hunt down any hot spots on the card to see if you could try to improve the cooling. Beyond any possible physical issues with the card it could be a lot of other things that could be slowing down your fps. I got a 460 my self and it has survived over two years of abuse thanks to some heavy cooling mods.

 

[Jimzz]

Yea I would also start by making sure the CPU and GPU heatsinks are clean and the fans are working. Could be one is over heating and down-clocking.

 

[moonbogg]

I have experienced the same thing in the past. I suddenly thought to myself "Didn't these games used to run better?" I don't know what caused it, but I suspect that driver updates favor new games so the old ones suffer. Try an old driver.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

People misunderstood his post. His old games are running fine. His new games are giving trouble.

 

[jacktesterson]

Well, an overclocked 7850 is about 2x more powerful than a 900 core 460, so it may be starting to age.

Is there any other issues your noticing? Or just the one game?

Have you turned down settings?

 

[96Firebird]

First, I would check CPU and GPU usage during gaming. This should also tell you if heat is an issue.

 

[Fallengod]

Oh, I thought he was saying the same games used to run better but now run poorly.

Sounds like just needs to lower details or invest in a newer/better video card.

 

[Termie]

Run 3dMark11, post results.

 

[minori]

Run 3dMark11, post results.

http://i.imgur.com/s3FAM.png

I resinked my cpu last month using some MX-4 and I have a silverarrow. I know it's not the problem. My ram is fine too, I've ran memtest a few times while being oc'd at 1600mhz. I just don't know what is wrong with my gfx card. Perhaps it is the drivers?

 

[Termie]

http://i.imgur.com/s3FAM.png

I resinked my cpu last month using some MX-4 and I have a silverarrow. I know it's not the problem. My ram is fine too, I've ran memtest a few times while being oc'd at 1600mhz. I just don't know what is wrong with my gfx card. Perhaps it is the drivers?

It would have been easier to compare if you'd run the performance not the extreme setting, but based on what you scored, I'd say there's nothing wrong with your card.

If the performance isn't good enough in your games, it might be time to upgrade.

 

[BrightCandle]

Capture some fraps data and look at the fps at the very least. There is a good chance just dropping the settings a notch will bring performance into acceptable without much loss of eye candy. If you want those super duper highest settings then it might be time to upgrade but its worth getting your current card to play the game well before you decide if its worth it or not.

 

[minori]

It would have been easier to compare if you'd run the performance not the extreme setting, but based on what you scored, I'd say there's nothing wrong with your card.

If the performance isn't good enough in your games, it might be time to upgrade.

I don't know what I was thinking to use extreme.

Here is the performance bench:

http://i.imgur.com/hclik.png

I'm not sure but my friend said his AMD 6850 is equivalent to the GTX 460. He said he was maxing out CS:GO but when I do, I get bad fps on the same settings. So I don't know if its really equivalent or what.

 

[Hitman928]

I don't know what I was thinking to use extreme.

Here is the performance bench:

http://i.imgur.com/hclik.png

I'm not sure but my friend said his AMD 6850 is equivalent to the GTX 460. He said he was maxing out CS:GO but when I do, I get bad fps on the same settings. So I don't know if its really equivalent or what.

What do you mean by maxing out? You should be able to turn all the in-game settings on their max but that depends on what resolution you are running. Yes, your 460 should be roughly equal to a 6850 at stock. Also, you might want to check in your Nvidia control panel (or injector if you use it) to make sure you haven't turned on a very high level of AA to be globally applied or something like that.

 

[minori]

What do you mean by maxing out? You should be able to turn all the in-game settings on their max but that depends on what resolution you are running. Yes, your 460 should be roughly equal to a 6850 at stock. Also, you might want to check in your Nvidia control panel (or injector if you use it) to make sure you haven't turned on a very high level of AA to be globally applied or something like that.

In nvidia control panel it's set to "Let the 3D application decide" but in the game I have AA set to max.

 

[Hitman928]

In nvidia control panel it's set to "Let the 3D application decide" but in the game I have AA set to max.

What resolution? I have a 6870 that's a bit faster than the 460 with everything maxed in CS:GO and I never see lower than 100 fps. You shouldn't be having any issues with CS:GO unless you're trying to run a really high res. Can you post a fraps benchmark from CS:GO with frame times?

 

[minori]

What resolution? I have a 6870 that's a bit faster than the 460 with everything maxed in CS:GO and I never see lower than 100 fps. You shouldn't be having any issues with CS:GO unless you're trying to run a really high res. Can you post a fraps benchmark from CS:GO with frame times?

I can't do a benchmark atm, but my resolution is 1920x1080. I remember I really lagged hard on CS:Office out in the snow fall. Inside the offices I barely lagged but when I went outside to the weather effects it got bad.

 

[Hitman928]

So I just did a session in office for you. I maxed out everything in game and set my resolution to 1080p. I even downclocked my 6870 by 17% to more match what your 460 should do (although your cpu is faster than mine). I got a minimum of 88fps and an average of 134 fps. If you're getting much lower than this, something is definitely wrong.