High end pc performs bad

[Boisman]

Hi, I have a relatively high end pc but have noticed recently that my pc has started to perform pretty bad in some games, battlefront 2 for example. I get around 60-80fps with drops going down to 40 at times, especially in galactic assault and more specifically Naboo, but in other maps as well. And on battlefield 5 I have never gotten above 60fps on high settings. I see other players with the same spec as mine with sometimes twice the FPS in games and I really wonder what in my pc that I need to change. My cpu is about 3 years old and my gpu is almost a year old. Thanks in advance!

 

My specs

CPU: i7-4790k

GPU: Asus gtx 1070

8gb ddr3 ram

Motherboard: Asrock B450m pro4 (pretty old model)

[SpookyCitrus]

2 minutes ago, Boisman said:

My specs

CPU: i7-4790k

GPU: Asus gtx 1070

8gb ddr3 ram

Motherboard: Asrock B450m pro4 (pretty old model)

Heres a couple things you might want to look at.

First off your CPU is 5 years old.

Second the motherboard you listed is a Ryzen motherboard from last year, not even compatible with Intel CPUs.

8GB of DDR3 is the bare minimum for gaming now, any modern AAA title is going to max that out very quickly.

[Boisman]

3 minutes ago, c00face said:

Change your motherboard, you should see major gains. I'm surprised you haven't encountered any problems yet with incompatible motherboard running an i7 4790k.

I disagree with the above poster. 8GB should be just fine.

My apologies, my motherboard is called b85 pro4, not b450m, but yeah I have considered buying a new CPU to maybe a 9700k but idk if it is worth the money and if it will have a big difference, I think i would have to change the motherboard also if I were to change the CPU though 

[JoostinOnline]

15 minutes ago, Boisman said:

Motherboard: Asrock B450m pro4 (pretty old model) 

Do you mean Z97M Pro 4?

 

You haven't listed what resolution you're playing at, or if the CPU is overclocked.

[JoostinOnline]

2 minutes ago, Boisman said:

My apologies, my motherboard is called b85 pro4, not b450m, but yeah I have considered buying a new CPU to maybe a 9700k but idk if it is worth the money and if it will have a big difference, I think i would have to change the motherboard also if I were to change the CPU though 

There's your problem. You've got an unlocked CPU on a locked motherboard. You need to get a Z97 motherboard, a good cooler, and overclock that puppy. It should hit at least 4.6GHz easy. Mine is at 4.8GHz.

[Boisman]

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

Do you mean Z97M Pro 4?

 

You haven't listed what resolution you're playing at, or if the CPU is overclocked.

No b85 Pro4, like I said it is a pretty old model. I’m playing at 1920x1080 at 144hz. My CPU is not overclocked, and my gpu is overclocked a tiny bit, I can’t seem to push my gpu that much when overclocking, it just crashes after only +80 mhz 

[Sorenson]

4 minutes ago, Boisman said:

My apologies, my motherboard is called b85 pro4, not b450m, but yeah I have considered buying a new CPU to maybe a 9700k but idk if it is worth the money and if it will have a big difference, I think i would have to change the motherboard also if I were to change the CPU though 

CPU’s get hammered on online multiplayer games. Rendering all of the people moving around causes the CPU to become a bottleneck. However, I would still instal a monitoring program like MSI afterburner to double check that your cpu is the issue. Also I would wait until ryzen 2 reviews come out before you do a platform upgrade to the 9700k.

[Boisman]

2 minutes ago, c00face said:

If you don't want to spend money to for some extra FPS, shouldn't do it, especially if you're trying to save money.

Lets work with what you have here and answer some questions if you would please.

 

What resolution are running in-game and your monitor resolution/hz?

Are you sure it's not PC related (PC clogged up/messy)?

If your PC is full of nasty drivers all over the place, have you consider a fresh install?

What is the OS your running?

 

What are your in-game settings in terms of Anti Alias, Vertical Syn, etc...

1920x1080 @ 144hz, I clean my pc frequently and I only have like one game installed right now on my ssd and that is battlefront 2, in that game I’m running everything on ultra, vsync off, did a fresh install of my drivers yesterday but didn’t make any difference 

[JoostinOnline]

4 minutes ago, Boisman said:

No b85 Pro4, like I said it is a pretty old model. I’m playing at 1920x1080 at 144hz. My CPU is not overclocked, and my gpu is overclocked a tiny bit, I can’t seem to push my gpu that much when overclocking, it just crashes after only +80 mhz 

Well your CPU is absolutely the bottleneck, but unless you get a Z97 motherboard, you can't overclocks it. Keep in mind that upgrading the CPU also means upgrading the RAM and motherboard. A 9700k is also a waste of money when the Ryzen 3000 series is just around the corner. Buy a used Z97 motherboard from eBay and get a decent cooler for now.

[Boisman]

4 minutes ago, Sorenson said:

CPU’s get hammered on online multiplayer games. Rendering all of the people moving around causes the CPU to become a bottleneck. However, I would still instal a monitoring program like MSI afterburner to double check that your cpu is the issue. Also I would wait until ryzen 2 reviews come out before you do a platform upgrade to the 9700k.

Okay, yeah I read somewhere that my cpu is bottlenecking my gpu by 14% or something, the cpu usage is also very high in games, often at 80-90%

[Boisman]

2 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

Well your CPU is absolutely the bottleneck, but unless you get a Z97 motherboard, you can't overclocks it. Keep in mind that upgrading the CPU also means upgrading the RAM and motherboard. A 9700k is also a waste of money when the Ryzen 3000 series is just around the corner. Buy a used Z97 motherboard from eBay and get a decent cooler for now.

So you’re suggesting that I buy a new motherboard and cooler and then overclock my cpu?

[JoostinOnline]

Just now, Boisman said:

So you’re suggesting that I buy a new motherboard and cooler and then overclock my cpu?

Yes, although it doesn't need to be new. Check eBay and local sellers for a used Z97. For a quick and dirty overclock, I'd give it 1.29V and increase the multiplier to 46. That should give you a significant performance boost.

[Boisman]

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

Yes, although it doesn't need to be new. Check eBay and local sellers for a used Z97. For a quick and dirty overclock, I'd give it 1.29V and increase the multiplier to 46. That should give you a significant performance boost.

Okay I’ll start by doing that, I’ll come back in a couple of days for the results, thank you very much!

[SpookyCitrus]

24 minutes ago, c00face said:

I disagree with the above poster. 8GB should be just fine.

Most new AAA titles including BF II require 16GB of ram for running anything over High settings. Any new AAA title will have 8GB as the minimum for being able to run the game below medium settings at 1080p or lower. 8GB ram has been a minum requirement since late 2015, I've upgraded several PCs in the last year alone where the reason they had performance issues was they only had 8GB of ram and were being held back by it.

[Boisman]

2 minutes ago, c00face said:

Wouldn't hurt to buy extra ram sticks of those DDR3. He could pick some up for fairly cheap prices.

@Boisman

Start with expansion of your ram stick. Since they are DDR3, you can find cheap prices for them on ebay, etc...

Not ddr4?

[SpookyCitrus]

1 minute ago, Boisman said:

Not ddr4?

DDR4 isn't compatible with your board or CPU.

[Boisman]

Just now, SpookyCitrus said:

DDR4 isn't compatible with your board or CPU.

Oh ok

[JoostinOnline]

11 minutes ago, SpookyCitrus said:

Most new AAA titles including BF II require 16GB of ram for running anything over High settings. Any new AAA title will have 8GB as the minimum for being able to run the game below medium settings at 1080p or lower. 8GB ram has been a minum requirement since late 2015, I've upgraded several PCs in the last year alone where the reason they had performance issues was they only had 8GB of ram and were being held back by it.

That's not really true. 8GB is still enough. It's just not enough if you're running stuff like Chrome in the background.

[SpookyCitrus]

@Boisman Your platform is completely outdated other than adding another stick of DDR3 ram it isn't worth putting any other money into. If I were you I'd upgrade to a more modern platform as soon as you can.

[JoostinOnline]

Just now, SpookyCitrus said:

@Boisman Your platform is completely outdated other than adding another stick of DDR3 ram it isn't worth putting any other money into. If I were you I'd upgrade to a more modern platform as soon as you can.

That's just silly. You're greatly overestimating the performance differences between generations. A 4790k will still beat a modern mid-range CPU.

[Boisman]

Just now, JoostinOnline said:

That's just silly. You're greatly overestimating the performance differences between generations. A 4790k will still beat a modern mid-range CPU.

Id rather not spend money on a new cpu if I don’t need to, so yeah maybe start with buying extra ram, then if that doesn’t make a difference buy a new motherboard and cooler?

[SpookyCitrus]

11 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

That's just silly. You're greatly overestimating the performance differences between generations. A 4790k will still beat a modern mid-range CPU.

If overclocked yes, but buying a decent enough board for that CPU that will allow it to be overclocked is going to be expensive unless OP finds a good deal. The resale value of Intel is ridiculous, for a good motherboard that will allow OP to overclock the i7-4790k you're looking at a minimum of $100 anything less than that is going to be a crap bottom of the barrel board. If the price on 4th gen hardware wasn't astronomical it would still be a viable option. But it's not worth it to be putting a chunk of money like that into an old platform like that with the price and performance of Ryzen.

[JoostinOnline]

2 hours ago, Boisman said:

Id rather not spend money on a new cpu if I don’t need to, so yeah maybe start with buying extra ram, then if that doesn’t make a difference buy a new motherboard and cooler?

Yes, that's reasonable. First monitor your memory usage in game to make sure you're using all 8GB already.

 

It's not too hard to find a decent Z97 motherboard for under $100. Just shop around a bit. I know that's still a fair amount of money, but it's a lot less than what it would cost to replace the CPU, motherboard, and RAM with something new.

[Paul Rudd]

17 hours ago, Boisman said:

I’m running everything on ultra

This is your only issue with your current hardware. Absolutely no reason to upgrade anything except your RAM. Although I don't know why you are using a K processor on a non-overclockable motherboard, you still do not need to upgrade it.

• Lower fps killing graphic settings that are completely unnecessary to leave at Ultra. You will not lose the Ultra looking visual fidelity provided you bump down the correct settings to the appropriate setting and you will at least double your fps and beyond, depending on the game.
• Use MSI Afterburner to check what your CPU is clocked at while you are gaming. It should be 4.0 GHz. If you have turbo enabled, then it should be 4.4 GHz. Both are more than enough for modern gaming, this I assure you.
• If it's clocked at 4.4, you should probably monitor your temps if you are using a stock cooler.
• Add 8GB's of RAM when you run into $25.00-$30.00.

Take all this with a grain of salt if you wish but it couldn't hurt to try it out. Been gaming at 84-144 fps(depending on the game) in 1440p on a 1070 for a couple of years now and my i5 has half the threads your i7 does and is only clocked at 3.0 GHz.

[Paul Rudd]

20 hours ago, Boisman said:

I get around 60-80fps with drops going down to 40 at times

This is common. I get around 100-130 fps, with drops going down to the 80's-90's at times. But when I bump everything up to Ultra, my fps is in the 70's-80's with drops going down to the 60's and even the 50's when playing online in populated lobbies. This is the result in BF II anyway.

 

Lower some graphic settings and you should get much better fps. The settings in this gameplay are set to this...

 

 

I just chose to leave half the settings at Ultra and the next half at the lowest they'll go. If I were to put more time into each and every setting, I'm pretty sure I could get even higher fps. And without losing any visual fidelity. In Battlefield and Battlefront games anyway. All games and their performance vary dramatically.