1Reshiram12

You can test it by unplugging the GPU and plugging the monitor cable into the motherboard. You have a modern i3 which has on board graphics.

That's not what you said nor what is in your signature but okay. 4770 should be pretty solid, and shouldn't bottleneck a 970 in games. It's single core performance is similar to a new HEDT CPU like the 7800X and even the 8700k would be a marginal upgrade.

Do you have a 3770 or a 4770k?

The 4100 is for the AM3+ socket, and there really aren't any CPUs for that socket that do well for gaming due to their poor per core performance. You'd be better off with a new motherboard and CPU if possible. Something like this would be good. Make sure the motherboard is compatible with your case too. PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 1200 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($104.99 @ Amazon) Motherboard: MSI - A320M PRO-VD PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($35.98 @ Newegg) Total: $140.97 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-02-10 20:17 EST-0500

Have you checked the temps? It's probably thermal throttling from dust buildup or a broken fan or something of the sort.

I have two drives, a 256 GB SSD and a 1 TB HDD. The HDD is used for most of my game library, except for ARK Survival Evolved which is on my SSD. I have it on my SSD because it's the game I play most frequently and which has the most frequent updates. However, I have noticed in task manager that when ARK updates, the HDD is being used way more than my SSD, where the HDD is writing multiple MB/s but the SSD is only writing a few hundred KB/s at any given time. I'm 100% sure that my selected download folder for ARK is on my SSD and I've checked multiple times to make sure that ARK is located on my SSD. Even when I play the game, the SSD is the drive being used. I was wondering why or how the HDD is the drive that is being used when I'm downloading an update for a game on my SSD and if there is any way to fix that. It's especially annoying because the HDD is at 100% usage when downloading so I assume it would go faster if it just used the faster drive.

Make sure your cpu and gpu aren't thermal throttling. That tends to be my source of mysterious lag on occasion.

Assuming that's 60 centigrade or Fahrenheit you're absolutely fine, you could even consider it cool. Modern processor's will never let them selves reach an unsafe temp, but rather will throttle their performance to keep the temperature in check. That would happen around 90+ centigrade.

If you just want to cut costs for the same performance this would be good. PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Amazon Canada) Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($74.50 @ Vuugo) Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($216.43 @ Amazon Canada) Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($74.88 @ Amazon Canada) Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.95 @ Vuugo) Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Dual Video Card ($275.50 @ Vuugo) Case: Corsair - Carbide Series 88R MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg Canada) Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Memory Express) Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($116.75 @ Vuugo) Wireless Network Adapter: Asus - USB-N13 USB 2.0 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter ($27.00 @ Vuugo) Total: $1189.98 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-20 22:50 EST-0500

Bumped up the GPU to a 1060, got a motherboard with built in WiFi so you don't need a USB thing, switched the SSD to a 120 GB to save money since it will mostly be for booting and added in a Cryorig H7 so you can OC the CPU comfortably. PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Amazon Canada) CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.75 @ Amazon Canada) Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($134.00 @ Vuugo) Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($216.43 @ Amazon Canada) Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($74.88 @ Amazon Canada) Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.95 @ Vuugo) Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB AMP! Edition Video Card ($355.99 @ Newegg Canada) Case: Corsair - Carbide Series 88R MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg Canada) Power Supply: Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Memory Express) Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($116.75 @ Vuugo) Total: $1349.72 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-20 22:49 EST-0500

There's a $110 cheaper Acer Aspire and the only difference is a 1 TB HDD rather than a 256 GB SSD and a slightly smaller size. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16834316214

The 342 has a 1 ms faster response time than the 341 and the 382 is slightly larger with a wonky resolution. I think the 341 and 342 are just different generations of essentially the same product.

There's an enable integrated graphics option in the BIOS.

Shouldn't, both the same aspect ratio. In fact it should look better than a native 1080p display.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($254.99 @ Amazon Canada) CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($62.75 @ Amazon Canada) Motherboard: Asus - CROSSHAIR VI HERO (WI-FI AC) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($301.75 @ Vuugo) Memory: Corsair - Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($269.99 @ Memory Express) Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($121.95 @ shopRBC) Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($78.25 @ Vuugo) Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB STRIX GAMING Video Card ($1006.50 @ Vuugo) Case: Fractal Design - Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case ($114.99 @ Newegg Canada) Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Memory Express) Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($116.75 @ Vuugo) Case Fan: Corsair - ML120 Pro 75.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($24.99 @ Newegg Canada) Monitor: LG - 27UD58-B 27.0" 3840x2160 60Hz Monitor ($399.99 @ Amazon Canada) Total: $2882.89 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-20 22:18 EST-0500