System runs below potential ><!

[HamerD]

Hi guys, not sure if this is the right section. I posted this question in techguy forums, just posting it here too:

So basically, the pc really doesn't run at the level its specs should allow:

Motherboard:
Asus P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe motherboard

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600

RAM:
2GB Corsair 800Mhz, 5-5-5-12

GPU:
Gainward Geforce 7950GX2, latest Forceware drivers installed. Ran an optimization in the nVidia monitor

HD:
SATA 250gb

PSU:
akasa 400W max

Fans:
Akasa normal size fan on the cpu, running at about 3.2k rpm
rear fan about um...5" in diameter, running at 1.1k rpm, same for a fan over the GPU

Operating system:
Windows 32 Bit XP Home Edition

The system can barely cope with Oblivion or Fallout on medium settings. Crysis, CoD4 on medium to low settings. Medieval 2 Total War, has problems problems when playing huge battles on even high graphics.

For Farcry 2 and Rainbow Six Vegas, the system is abysmal in every setting other than minimum.

I have cleaned out the hard drive, run several virus scans, spyware and anti-malware scans. There's about 60GB on it. I've defragged, disk clean-upped. I've used a few startup programs and checked all the processes on my task manager with process library, and skimmed out any weird or superfluous programs.

So I am checking heating issues, the GPU's are running about 60-70 degrees C when chugging along normally, and going up to about 80-90 when running a game. I'm using SpeedFan to check my CPU, it's quite hard to tell what is what though. Maybe you can help that too. It says 'Core 0, Core 1 and Core'. Core 0 and Core 1 are, I think, my dual core processor. They are usually at 30-35 when resting, and go up to about 45 max when running full. Core is always the same temp as the other GPU (?) so maybe there is some confusion in the system.

The system never really ran games very well, I just assumed that I had mis-researched the stats of the things I had. But my memory might be shot a little ><. I could have been working better when I first got it put together.

After talking to a few guys at my workplace, they say it could be loads of things. Lots of things you would find with trial and error. Are there any things that jump out at anyone?

So I'm thinking maybe it's more than just tuning the system well?

Friends have offered advice such as:
- reinstall windows (will do, but looking for any other issues first. My friend is lending me a hard drive to install windows + 1 game and check it on that)
- check for a motherboard chip, perhaps it is badly ventilated (doesn't seem to be)
- get vista and more ram to run on direct x 10

Can anyone give me any ideas please?

Thanks a lot,

HamerD

[mjc]

PSU:
akasa 400W max

That would be a bare minimum for that system...and under load with the fans cranked, it may not be enough.

the GPU's are running about 60-70 degrees C when chugging along normally, and going up to about 80-90 when running a game

While modern video cards do tend to run on the hotter side of things, I still think that is a little on the high end...

Also, SpeedFan recognizes both cores, but does Windows itself? Are there two entries showing up in the Performance Monitor?

[HamerD]

Thanks mjc.

I will add that to the list of things I need to check out, about the PSU. So if the power is there, it's possible that the whole system will underperform?

Seeing as the machine has problems running processor intensive games as well as graphics card intensive ones, it does definitely seem that it could be a system problem more.

After checking online awhile ago, I was under the impression that the GX2 definitely is normally quite high temperature?

I think that the machine does recognize the dual cores. When I type in dxdiag it does say '(2 CPUs)' next to the core description.

One weird thing is that dxdiag says the total GPU memory is 512. While this makes sense because that's the memory of each card, when there are two running in SLI shouldn't that mean 1gb? I wonder could that be a problem, or is that just a noobish q?

[mjc]

Yes, it is one of the 'hotter' cards, but your temps are in the upper end of the 'average' range as opposed to the lower.

Do the Nvidia tools actually say that it is working in SLI?

[HamerD]

Yeah, well at least the nvidia program gives you the option to choose between SLI and separate cards and when I press it it says it's working in SLI...

When I just ran far cry 2 in medium settings, the GPUs were getting to about 90 degrees; and I did see some spikes actually, a couple of dodgy mountains that suddenly turned into triangles. Felt like overheating.

But the thing is that the games I am playing don't really descend in quality after a certain amount of time...they are always just under par from what I expect.