SC2, bottlenecks, and general hardware.

[RyanGreener]

Hi everyone, I bought a custom desktop from an AT member here, but I've changed it around ever so slightly by buying parts that are considered an upgrade and a "good deal", such as getting a practically free 9600GT to replace an ATI Radeon HD 2400. I play SC2, and I can't tell what is bottlenecking me. Here is my setup before I explain more:

AMD Athlon X2 5600+ (Windsor) 2.8 GHZ
PNY nVidia 9600GT 1 GB
Foxconn 770 ATX Motherboard
2 x 1 GB DDR2 800 MHZ RAM (I was never told the brand)
Hitachi 7200 RPM 500 GB Hard Drive
hec 585W PSU

Here are the settings I run:
1600x900 Resolution
VSync Off
Mouse Smoothing/Lag Delay Off
No AA
Sound Quality Settings at Minimum
Health Bars and Flying Spots Always Showing

I noticed it was a bit laggy on Windows 7 64 bit. I assumed it was a RAM issue, so I installed Windows XP. This desktop is for strictly gaming (no general internet browsing) so I don't need the extra security of Windows 7. It ran MUCH better on Windows XP, but I still noticed that during big battles it stutters a bit on the same settings I've had above. I then took the liberty of doing a free easy overclock. I overclocked my CPU to 3.011 GHZ through the BIOS changing only the FSB, and nothing else. Voltage is still stock. I ran OCCT test for 2 hours, and Linpack Test for 15 minutes and it passed both. I disabled Cool N Quiet and set the multiplier to x14 (which gave it the 2.8 GHZ, the BIOS feature hasn't allowed me to make my multiplier higher than stock) in an attempt to make sure it was always running at full speed. I haven't tested out the performance of the game after the overclock, but I'm wondering....what is my bottleneck in this game? Should I overclock more and buy a better cooler/fan, or should I just upgrade the hardware?

Sorry for the wall of text....thanks in advance.

 

[mfenn]

I don't think a 7% overclock is going to be noticeable.

I could definitely see the lack of RAM being a major issue. The fact that downgrading to XP gave you a performance gain reinforces that idea. Leave the task manager open while the game is running and alt-tab back and forth a few times during the course of a normal game (probably not wise to do in league play, lol!) to see what your memory usage looks like.

The reason I say to upgrade the memory first is that you definitely need it and 2GB of DDR2 is only like $45 on Newegg. Determining CPU vs. GPU-limitation is also nearly impossible when you're memory limited, because you then have to worry about whether or not swapping is screwing up your results.

 

[RyanGreener]

I don't think a 7% overclock is going to be noticeable.

I could definitely see the lack of RAM being a major issue. The fact that downgrading to XP gave you a performance gain reinforces that idea. Leave the task manager open while the game is running and alt-tab back and forth a few times during the course of a normal game (probably not wise to do in league play, lol!) to see what your memory usage looks like.

The reason I say to upgrade the memory first is that you definitely need it and 2GB of DDR2 is only like $45 on Newegg. Determining CPU vs. GPU-limitation is also nearly impossible when you're memory limited, because you then have to worry about whether or not swapping is screwing up your results.

Yeah, I knew RAM was the main issue with Windows 7. It ran at 1.66 GB RAM and stuttered, so I was assuming it sent the rest of the stuff to the hard drive. That's why I installed XP and it ran much better. The lame thing is, my two RAM slots are filled with 1 GB RAM, so I need to by a 2x2 set which will cost me a bit much, and then I'll have 2 1 GB RAM sticks that will be useless to me.

 

[betasub]

You only have 2 DIMMs slots for RAM? Is that Foxconn 770 board listed in OP actually microATX?

 

[RyanGreener]

You only have 2 DIMMs slots for RAM? Is that Foxconn 770 board listed in OP actually microATX?

No, it really is an ATX form factor with two slots...

 

[mfenn]

No, it really is an ATX form factor with two slots...

Wow, that is super lame, I must say.

 

[RyanGreener]

Wow, that is super lame, I must say.

Agreed!

 

[Axon]

Mfenn is correct. First and foremost, you have a RAM limitation. I also suspect your GPU is also a little too soft for SC2 at high or ultra at 1600, but I can't recall where, exactly, the 9600 places.

 

[RyanGreener]

Mfenn is correct. First and foremost, you have a RAM limitation. I also suspect your GPU is also a little too soft for SC2 at high or ultra at 1600, but I can't recall where, exactly, the 9600 places.

Yeah I've already ordered RAM....now I'm trying to OC the CPU more.