Got GTX 480 - FPS not better than before

[alexf]

I installed the new GTX 480 replacing my dead GTX 8800. Although I can see a difference doing photography processing (it is indeed faster to load and save RAW files), I don't see any improvements in FSX

I installed the latest Ge Force drivers (257.21 WHQL). Granted it is still an older PC (4-year old dual core 4Gb RAM Alienware Aurora 7500 w/Vista 32bit), but I expected some improvement.

YBBN is still in single digits. 3W5 and 1S2 are in the 8 to 17 fps range at times). Approaching WA56 I get some blurries with average 12-16 fps and at times hiccups to 2 fps!

I am sure I can do something about this. Using mesh resolution at 5m, autogen at dense and scenery at very dense. AI and road traffic are set low as recommended.

Where should I look first?

[Guest J van E]

Where should I look first?

I am afraid the obvious answer will be: get a new CPU... That old one is simply holding the system back and can't feed the GTX480 fast enough... Using even lower ingame settings might help a little, but that would have been the same with the old GTX 8800...!

Not the answer you were hoping for, I am afraid...

O wait, one things you might want to try (now you have a GPU with 1 Gb of ram) is the Bufferpools at zero tweak: that could help a little! Read more about that here. Don't know how it works with old CPU's though...

[alexf]

Yeah, I was afraid of that. Not in the budget right now I'm afraid. Oh, well.

[Valcor]

You would see a world of difference with the 480 and an i7.  Honestly, the 480 might as well be a space heater coupled with that cpu

For about the same price as the 480, you could pick up an i7 and a mobo.

[Ross Casey]

Definitely your CPU holding you back Alex.

With my rig @ 4.2 & a GTX470 I have everything maxed around Concrete & Israel's & my frames never drop below the pre set 30fps.

I upgraded my vid card from a 9800GTX+ after my CPU & saw a vast improvement in the level of detail I can set my sliders to without the frame rates dropping drastically once I did.

Suggest you try to update when you can, it's a whole new experience with these new i7 & GTX400 combinations.

[alexf]

I am not a hardware guy. That's why I never made a PC, just buy online ready-made every 4 years or so when I can convince the wife

Could you point me to some links on i7? (hardware sellers online in the USA).

If I can get something with enough RAM, processor power and decent size power supply, considering I already have a new GTX-480 and a big hard drive, I may be able to get by with a system excluding those, then install them myself. My 500Gb HD already has Vista ultimate 32 and everything I need. Maybe someday I'll go for Win 7 but it would be a pain to reinstall everything again. At this point I am looking for prices. I may be able to get something in a month or two. Thanks.

[tennyson]

The chances of you plugging that hard drive with Vista on it, into a new i7 are pretty well non-existent.

You might as well get used to the idea of an OS re-install, if not just for the sheer fact of starting with a clean OS install.

So, it might be just the time, to shell out the extra few bucks and buy yourself a copy of Win7 64 bit, buy the extra RAM that 64 bit will cope with and plug your new 480 in and be amazed at the results.

Unfortunately, it's hard to make a silk purse from a sow's ear!

Frank

[Guest AS355F]

Personally I would look at AMD especially if money is tight. You will get a lot more for your dollar than with intel.

The 6 core 1090T can be overclocked easily as they're unlocked and you will get 4Ghz without any trouble, just change the multiplier to 20.

If you are currently running DDR2 and you go the intel route you have to buy new DDR3 ram which isn't cheap. AMD cpu's can use either DDR2 or DDR3 it depends on which motherboard you buy.

Feel free to PM me if you want any info.

Newegg is the place for parts in America.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849 $10 more than an I7 930 but you get 2 more cores (huge advantage) and you get to keep your existing ram saving $100-$200

[Guest AS355F]

Personally I would look at AMD especially if money is tight. You will get a lot more for your dollar than with intel.

The 6 core 1090T can be overclocked easily as they're unlocked and you will get 4Ghz without any trouble, just change the multiplier to 20.

If you are currently running DDR2 and you go the intel route you have to buy new DDR3 ram which isn't cheap. AMD cpu's can use either DDR2 or DDR3 it depends on which motherboard you buy.

Feel free to PM me if you want any info.

Newegg is the place for parts in America.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849 $10 more than an I7 930 but you get 2 more cores (huge advantage) and you get to keep your existing ram saving $100-$200

Sorry I hit the quote button instead of edit. So consider this a continuation of the last post ^^

They also have a locked 6 core the 1055T http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103851  for $100 less. Being unlocked it is a little harder to overclock and it has a stock clock of 2.8Ghz vs 3.2Ghz.

So there are a couple of options.

[Ross Casey]

Being in Oz I can't advise you on where best to purchase your parts Alex however here is a link to another thread where we discussed various components that you might find helpful.

[alexf]

Thanks for all the info. I see the path ahead now.

[Valcor]

I get all my stuff from newegg.com

Never had a problem with them, prices are right and delivery is very quick.

[Ross Casey]

Bugger, forgot to post the link.

Here it is: http://orbxsystems.com/forums/index.php?topic=23428.0

[Guest AS355F]

Thanks for all the info. I see the path ahead now.

Whatever you do use a 64bit operating system.

I looked at Ross's specs and 6gb of ram and a 470GTX (1gb??) there's 3+gb of ram sitting there unused.

[alexf]

That was my next question (32 vs 64bi bit) although I'm not ready to ask yet. I'll be ready for a computer upgrade (sans my new GTX-480 which I already have) in about two months. Whatever cheap card I can get i a new system, (I am not handy to build one myself), I'll place in the current box, and I'll use it as a network backup unit (has a 500Gb HD in it).

It will be Win 7 then. The questions will be if 64bit is the way to go (I'm afraid of incompatibilities with all the other software I own and will have to re-install <groan>), and how much memory to purchase in a new system. Learning a lot here.

[tennyson]

I might open a can of worms here, but if you buy parts and have it made for you, you are entitled to buy OEM Windows 7 (32 bit and 64 bit are bundled together).

You will save a lot of money buying OEM software, but the stipulation is, that the software belongs to the hardware you put it on.

If you decide later, to upgrade your CPU or Mobo, by the letter of the law, you are building a new machine and must buy another license.

If, however, you have a mobo meltdown or damage due to malfunction, Microsoft will allow you to put the license back on as a replacement with no charge.

Frank

[Ross Casey]

I'm using Win7 32bit at present as I have a couple of programs I use for my business that struggle in Win XP let alone any later OS versions. Hence I run a dual boot system & as my XP is 32bit I had to go with 32bit Win7.

My reason for having 6Gb Ram is for future updating to a 64 bit system a bit further down the track.

Don't understand the reference to the GTX470 though. It runs fine in a 32 bit system as expected & has been a great upgrade from my previous 9800GTX+.