What's the weak link of my PC?

[Technex]

Hi guys,

Long time no see! I should start hanging around here a bit more

.

I'm just after a bit of help with my rig. It's quite old now (don't laugh

) due to financial issues etc...

Anyway, I'm starting to get sick of low FPS/delayed responses with the new Source engine which Counter Strike Source is using.

Nothings changed other than the game, this rig used to be super speedy on the old CSS, before all the updates...

Looking for more FPS/less delay.

CPU:

Intel Quad core Q6600 2.40Ghz

Motherboard:

Abit IP35 PRO

Graphics Card:

Nvidia BFG 8800 GTS 640MB

Memory:

4GB (4x1GB) A-Data Vitesta DDR2-1066 Running @ 5-5-5-15 1066

Cooling:

Thermaltake Big Typhoon

Case: Cooler Master ExtremEngine 3T

Power Supply:

HX 620W Corsair PSU

Monitor:

24" Dell HC Ultrasharp LCD

Cheers,

Laurence

 

[hmmblah]

I'd look at replacing that 8800. Great cards, but are showing their age now. GTX460 is a great card to upgrade to. Price/performance nothing beats it IMO. Also, it's a good folder. They can be had in the $200 to $240 price range depending on amount of memory and brand.

Other than that, I'd clock the Q6600 a little bit. What kind of cooling do you have on it?

 

[tinytomlogan]

what OS are you running dude? If you say XP or vista have you tried a fresh install?

 

[Technex]

Thanks for the speedy replies! I was also thinking the GFX card but wasn't sure as I hear the new CSS uses the CPU a lot...

I'm using Windows 7 and yeah tried a new install, I tend to keep them pretty clean

.

I have the ThermalTake Big Typhoon on it, big ass cooler, can OC it a little bit I guess, but then the RAM doesn't normally like it

.

 

[equk]

Maybe the gpu but obviously depends on what games you play.

I have a similar setup and the games I play at the moment are fine on 1920x1200.

I mostly play CS:S and get around 500fps on the stress test on 1920x1200 on the new patch, so not much point upgrading for CS:S.

 

[Technex]

I'm on the same reso...

Only play CS:S really (Well only game I care about FPS)

In DM games online it can drop down to below 60, which I really don't want

.

Do you find the new update more laggy?

 

[equk]

I'm on the same reso...

Only play CS:S really (Well only game I care about FPS)

In DM games online it can drop down to below 60, which I really don't want

.

Do you find the new update more laggy?

The new update seems to have added loads more bugs and also the fps is slightly lower than before but they have added multicore rendering support and new cvars & launch options to enable this. (was only single thread support before)

So u sort of lose fps because of the new engine and gfx/effects that come with it but you gain a little back because of multicore support.

Also all servers are now forced to 66tick as valve said there was negligable difference between 66 and 100

 

[Technex]

100tick was always better I felt.

Mutlicore actually made it more laggy and with less fps!

Turned it of.

 

[AMDFTW]

what HDD do you have,they are the slowest componants.

a 460 is the best bang4buck and a 768mb version would be fine for you.

get rid of the big typhoon thats thermaltakes own WC aint it.get something like a titan fenrir or if you have the cash a noctua DH-14

once thats sorted get some overclocks on the CPU

 

[equk]

100tick was always better I felt.

Mutlicore actually made it more laggy and with less fps!

Turned it of.

what sort of config / launch options do you have?

also what do you get on the stress test in cs:s ?

the multicore cvars and launch options seem to have wierd effects, when I first setup multicore it was worse and crashing but once I changed the settings again it was fine and no more crashing

 

[Technex]

Raptor HD, its pretty fast and don't see how it can effect in game FPS?

Big Typhoon was one of the best air coolers at the time (and to be honest they haven't changed much), it's massive with a load of copper and alu, think it would be a waste of money to upgrade this, better spent on a new gfx card surely...? Thanks though for the suggestion.

270.40 I get in the stress test.

Why so much lower then....

Latest drivers, clean PC....

Launch options:

-novid -nojoy -noipx -fullscreen -console -w 1920 -h 1200 +exec autoexec.cfg -noforcemparms -noforcemaccel -noforcemspd

//FPS

r_decal_cullsize 1

mat_monitorgamma 1.6

cl_c4dynamiclight 1

cl_forcepreload 1

cl_phys_props_max 0

cl_ragdoll_physics_enable 0

cl_show_splashes 0

fps_max 999

r_3dsky 0

r_cheapwaterend 1

r_cheapwaterstart 1

r_shadowmaxrendered 9999

r_drawflecks 0

r_drawmodeldecals 0

r_dynamic 0

r_eyes 0

r_lightaverage 0

r_occlusion 0

r_shadows 1

mat_filterlightmaps 0

r_waterforceexpensive 0

mat_specular 0

mat_trilinear 0

mat_wateroverlaysize 16

mat_vsync 0

mat_hdr_enabled 0

mat_hdr_level 0

mat_disable_bloom 1

mat_forceaniso 0

mat_antialias 0

mat_bloomscale 0

mat_bumpmap 0

mat_fastnobump 1

muzzleflash_light 1

mat_fastspecular 1

r_sse 1

r_sse2 1

r_mmx 1

mat_bufferprimitives 1

mat_compressedtextures 1

mat_envmapsize 0

mat_envmaptgasize 0

mat_disable_fancy_blending 1

mat_disable_lightwarp 1

mat_showlightmapcomponent 0

mat_parallaxmap 0

r_flex 0

r_ForceWaterLeaf 0

r_dopixelvisibility 0

r_maxmodeldecal 0

r_minnewsamples 0

r_maxsampledist 0

r_phong 0

r_PhysPropStaticLighting 0

r_updaterefracttexture 0

r_renderoverlayfragment 0

r_worldlights 0

lod_transitiondist 400

overview_tracks 0

lod_enable 1

//Model

cl_ejectbrass 0

cl_minmodels 1

cl_min_ct 4

cl_min_t 3

cl_ragdoll_physics_enable 0

cl_ragdoll_collide 0

r_teeth 0

g_ragdoll_fadespeed 0

g_ragdoll_important_maxcount 0

g_ragdoll_lvfadespeed 0

//Props

props_break_max_pieces 0

//Water

mat_wateroverlaysize 4

r_waterforcereflectentities 1

r_waterforceexpensive 0

//Ropes

r_ropetranslucent 0

rope_averagelight 0

rope_smooth 0

rope_wind_dist 0.01

rope_subdiv 0

rope_smooth_minwidth 0

rope_smooth_minalpha 0

rope_smooth_maxalphawidth 0

rope_smooth_maxalpha 0

rope_smooth_enlarge 0

rope_shake 0

rope_collide 0

//Shadows

r_shadows 1

r_shadowrendertotexture 1

// Other

budget_show_history 0

mat_debug_postprocessing_effects 0

mat_debugdepthmode 0

mat_debugdepthval 128

mat_debugdepthvalmax 256

mat_colorcorrection 0

blink_duration 0

mat_picmip 2

r_lod 2

r_rootlod 2

mp_decals 130

cl_wpn_sway_interp 0

cl_detail_max_sway 0

r_DrawSpecificStaticProp 0

r_eyeglintlodpixels 0

r_eyegloss 0

r_eyemove 0

r_eyeshift_x 0

r_eyeshift_y 0

r_eyeshift_z 0

r_eyesize 0

mat_aaquality 0

mat_antialias 0

mat_autoexposure_max 0

mat_autoexposure_min 0

mat_alphacoverage 0

mat_bumpmap 0

mat_bloomscale 0

mat_bloom_scalefactor_scalar 0

mat_bufferprimitives 1

mat_clipz 1

mat_colorcorrection 0

mat_compressedtextures 1

mat_disable_bloom 1

mat_disable_fancy_blending 1

mat_disable_lightwarp 1

mat_disable_ps_patch 1

mat_debugdepthval 0

mat_debugdepthvalmax 0

mat_diffuse 1

mat_envmapsize 0

mat_envmaptgasize 0

mat_fastspecular 1

mat_fastnobump 0

mat_filterlightmaps 1

mat_filtertextures 1

mat_forcehardwaresync 0

mat_forcemanagedtextureintohardware 0

mat_framebuffercopyoverlaysize 0

mat_hdr_enabled 0

mat_hdr_level 0.

mat_maxframelatency 0

mat_max_worldmesh_vertices 0

mat_mipmaptextures 1

mat_non_hdr_bloom_scalefactor 0

mat_parallaxmap 1

mat_picmip 2

mat_reducefillrate 1

mat_shadowstate 0

mat_software_aa_blur_one_pixel_lines 0

mat_software_aa_strength 0

mat_software_aa_strength_vgui 0

mat_software_aa_tap_offset 0

mat_softwarelighting 0

mat_specular 0

mat_trilinear 0

mat_use_compressed_hdr_textures 0

mat_wateroverlaysize 0

r_ambientboost 0

r_ambientmin 0

r_ambientfactor 0

r_bloomtintg 0

r_bloomtintb 0

r_bloomtintexponent 0

r_bloomtintr 0

r_cheapwaterend 1

r_cheapwaterstart 1

r_decalstaticprops 0

r_dopixelvisibility 0

r_drawbatchdecals 0

r_drawmodeldecals 0

r_dynamic 0

r_eyes 0

r_flex 0

r_forcewaterleaf 1

r_hunkalloclightmaps 0

r_lightcache_zbuffercache 0

r_lightaverage 0

r_maxdlights 0

r_maxmodeldecal 0

r_maxnewsamples 0

r_maxsampledist 0

r_minnewsamples 0

r_occlusion 1

r_PhysPropStaticLighting 0

r_queued_post_processing 1

r_renderoverlayfragment 0

r_rootlod 2

r_ropetranslucent 0

r_drawdetailprops 0

r_3dsky 0

r_teeth 0

r_threaded_client_shadow_manager 1

r_threaded_particles 1

r_threaded_renderables 1

r_worldlights 0

r_waterdrawreflection 0

r_waterforceexpensive 0

r_waterforcereflectentities 0

cl_clearhinthistory 1

cl_detaildist 0

cl_detailfade 0

cl_forcepreload 1

cl_phys_props_enable 0

cl_phys_props_max 0

cl_predictweapons 1

cl_predict 1

tf_playergib 0

cl_showhelp 0

cl_showpluginmessages 0

cl_show_splashes 0

cl_rumblescale 0

cl_debugrumble 0

cl_threaded_bone_setup 0

cl_threaded_client_leaf_system 0

cl_ragdoll_collide 0

cl_ragdoll_fade_time 0

cl_ragdoll_physics_enable 0

cl_ragdoll_forcefade 1

Edit:

Without the config I get 215fps...

Edit2:

Got it to 372fps after messing with the cfg a little but mainly turning on Multicore support, weird that it seems to make it more laggy (delayed) online though...

 

[equk]

not sure why you're getting fps drops if you get over 200fps on stress test.

doesn't look like you have any of the new cvars etc for multithreading in your autoexec

some of the new multithreading stuff:

new multithreading launch options for number of threads:

-threads 8

new cvars etc from my config:

// CSS Orangebox update

r_bloomtintg "0"

r_bloomtintb "0"

r_bloomtintexponent "0"

r_bloomtintr "0"

r_drawdetailprops "0"

r_flashlightrendermodels "0"

r_hunkalloclightmaps "0"

r_lightcache_zbuffercache "0"

r_propsmaxdist "0"

r_staticprop_lod "3"//"7" zblock forces 3 or less

cl_clearhinthistory "1"

cl_playerspraydisable "1"

cl_showhelp "0"

mat_alphacoverage "0"

mat_bloom_scalefactor_scalar "0"

mat_maxframelatency "0"

mat_max_worldmesh_vertices "0"

mat_software_aa_blur_one_pixel_lines "0"

mat_software_aa_strength "0"

mat_software_aa_strength_vgui "0"

mat_software_aa_tap_offset "0"

prop_active_gib_limit "0"

// Multicore

mat_queue_mode "-1"

cl_threaded_bone_setup "0" 

cl_threaded_client_leaf_system "0" 

mp_usehwmmodels "-1" 

mp_usehwmvcds "-1" 

threadpool_reserve "0"// Reserve x Threads for Multi-Core Threading

cl_interp_threadmodeticks "0" 

r_threaded_client_shadow_manager "1" 

r_threaded_particles "1" 

r_threaded_renderables "1" 

r_queued_decals "0" 

r_queued_post_processing "1" 

r_queued_ropes "1"

//Orangebox Render Tweaks

r_eyegloss "0"

r_eyemove "0"

r_ambientfactor "1"

//Orangebox Client Tweaks

cl_detaildist "0"

cl_detailfade "0"

cl_debugrumble "0"

cl_detail_max_sway "0"

cl_detail_avoid_radius "0"

cl_detail_avoid_force "0"

cl_detail_avoid_recover_speed "0"

lod_transitiondist "0"

//Disable Orangebox Popups

cl_show_achievement_popups "0"//disable popups

cl_disablefreezecam "1"//disable Kill Cam

also notice you don't have heapsize set

my launchoptions (you'll probably want to change number of threads as you have a quad core):

-heapsize 524288 -noipx -nojoy -nocrashdialog -noforcemparms -noforcemaccel -noforcemspd -threads 2

 

[Technex]

-novid -nojoy -noipx -fullscreen -console -w 1920 -h 1200 +exec autoexec.cfg -noforcemparms -threads 4 -heapsize 2097152 -noforcemaccel -noforcemspd

My new launch options

Why are you not using the correct heapsize? (Half of 4GB?)

Thanks for the commands! *adds*

 

[alienware]

Raptor HD, its pretty fast and don't see how it can effect in game FPS?

It depends on how much ram you have and how much virtual memory is assigned to the hard drive. With games like BC2 I get the odd stutter when it has loaded a new level. IE - If I go storming off as soon as the level has loaded it will stutter.

It also depends on how much Vram your GPU has. Nvidias with lower Vram (like, say the 9800GT) will borrow some of your ram to use as texture ram. This is fine, but it can leave your system woefully short of memory to load things into. As an example GTAIV. Play with the sliders and see what happens.

So we come back to virtual memory (which is enabled on all Windows installs by default) and that means running your hard drive as ram, which leaves a lot to be desired. I did try disabling it when I got my SSD but it seems 3gb useable ram just wasn't enough to eliminate the need for it.

 

[equk]

-novid -nojoy -noipx -fullscreen -console -w 1920 -h 1200 +exec autoexec.cfg -noforcemparms -threads 4 -heapsize 2097152 -noforcemaccel -noforcemspd

My new launch options

Why are you not using the correct heapsize? (Half of 4GB?)

Thanks for the commands! *adds*

I only use 512m because I find it better than 2gb, have played around with all sorts of settings but it seems to run fine on 512mb also helps on other things in cs:s

has it improved the fps at all?

 

[Technex]

Thanks for the replies guys, yes FPS has been improved but multicore does seem to add it's own lag in. Even still without the large FPS drops I overall play a lot better.

My KDR has gone back up loads to where it used to be.

A new GFX card will be in order at some point but might be a little while let... Need too many new things

. Maybe motor bike or new car... Hmmm