Yet a new problem! [Need Help]

[Faraday]

Hey guys,

ok recently my old motherboard gave up due to an electrical short. Since I have an AM2 socket processor, the guys at the repair shop had to find a new mobo for me.

Old setup:
ASUS M3N78-VM Motherboard
2x1GB Kingston RAM 800MHz
1x2GB Kingston RAM 800MHz
Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT
AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core

My new setup:
MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 Motherboard
2x2GB Kingston RAM 800MHz
Nvidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti
AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core

Power supply: 550W Antec earthwatts.

So here's what happened. I bought the new GeForce 550 GTX, and put it in my old setup. This caused my mainboard to malfunction (also due to bad screws/bad case).
The technicians at the repair shop replace my old mobo with the MSI-one. They said they couldn't deliver any better boards which would support the AM2 socket. They also replaced my 4 sticks of ram for only 2, because my new mainboard wouldn't support more (only 2 slots). They also built my system into a new case, because my old case was a REALLY old one which had different dimensions of ATX/mATX boards.

Now, my system holds the new (better) GTX 550 Ti, it also cost more than the 9600GT. But the big problem is that I suffer MAJOR lag in every type of game.

Before I had no trouble playing GTA:IV, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Crysis, L4D2, TF2, etc..
Now I can't even start up L4D2, TF2 lags horribly. And if TF2 already lags, I won't even start on BFBC2 & GTA:IV.

Does anyone know what causes this lagging? Is it mainly the motherboard? I also did the Windows Score thingy and it gives me:

Processor 7,1
RAM          5,5
GPU          7,3
HDD          5,9

Now the main purpose of buying the 550 GTX was to improve my system, not to make it horribly worse. I find it difficult to believe that it would be my GPU. The main thing I can think of, is the motherboard. But I don't see how that can have such an impact on playing games.

Any help or info appreciated!

[Devilboy665]

all original drivers installed?

[Faraday]

Please only non-moronic replies.

[Devilboy665]

Please only non-moronic replies.

oke!
all original drivers installed?

[[V]ACE]

Well the gfx card is much better than the 9600gt so in theory should be less lag, esp if the games were not lagging before.
The CPU seems good, and ram remains the same so mobo would seem the problem.

I am wondering if you have damaged other things when you installed the new gfx card (ram/cpu).

As an idea go to nvidia's website and download the latest (or beta) drivers for your gf card (im guessing you have done this but still).

Also, check the temperature at which your card is running (mine originally ran up to 91^oC, and would lag in some games at such high temperatures, so i had to get a better case and a new fan to cool it down!.

Other ideas are to ensure nothing running in background, up-to-date drivers or check settings either in the game (tf2 has a "multi-core" option, which is off by default) or by the "nvivida control panel".

After this i would suggest IRC and ask dugi/carol/anyone there about it. They know a lot more about this then me and are very good at finding problems

[n1K]

Check if the graphic card fan is working fine.

[Faraday]

Fans are spinning as normal. I have no idea how to check the temperature.

Latest drivers installed. The guys at the repair shop put it in my new case and built it from the bottom up, so I'm guessing they didn't damage anything.
On my old setup I played every game on (almost) highest settings, I know about the multicore option in TF2.. I emailed the shop today and waiting for response. It sucks to have paid that much money to get an even worse pc now...

[Devilboy665]

ya,didnt have time to explain..I just wanted to say about drivers,sometimes latest drivers are not OKE,they suk..I had that thing few times...changed many PCs..
So anyway,just wanted to say u can try with original drivers CDs u got with PC and cards,motherboard...!
Not tried to be moronic,just suggestion! My PC worked better with "outdated" drivers AKA original!

[[V]ACE]

Fans are spinning as normal. I have no idea how to check the temperature.

hmm mine came with the software, so i would guess software can tell you the temp.

Only other things i could think off are defrag the computer and see if that helps.
Check all drivers are up-to-date

Doubt chaning case would do damage - i changed mine and it works fine.

One point: On TF2 my game started to lag and cut out after the last update (a couple of weeks ago) i had to un-install and re-install the game to get it to run correctly. Might be an idea to try if you can, otherwise wait for the store.

Its annoying, i know to have a computer which should run great and does not. Happened to me, new gfx card, and my games lagged (even samp!) then after 3days it broke lol. So i took it back, got a new (and better one) in the sales and loved it.

Sorry cant be much more help D:

[n1K]

Can't you try putting your graphic card into someone else's pc? I mean just to rule out that there is no manufacturing defect in graphic card which seems to be the most suspicious thing.

[[eVo]Rizla]

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

tool to monitor temps

[Faraday]

Ok update:


Got word back from the store. They said it would have to do with my new motherboard (being suckier than my previous one) but only in a small amount of influence. They also said a re-installation of Windows might help. So I reinstalled Windows and I'm now using Win7 64 bit. Same problem still stands. I've tried BFBC2, TF2, L4D2 so far. TF2 Lags like a motherfucker. Can you imagine that? I have a fucking Quad Core AMD Phenom, 4 gigs of RAM, and a motherfucking 1GB GeForce graphics card.
Imo that is in nowhere acceptable to be playing games like I'm on an 80's Atari.

I also checked the temperatures and everything is normal (imo), reaching to around 60° after playing an hour of GTA:IV. (the GPU that is, rest is more than ok).

I need some fresh eyes on this because it's frustrating and annoying. I have a buttload of awesome games which I was used to playing on highest settings and now some games are unplayable.

[elof]

could it be a hardware conflict ?

[Faraday]

I sure hope not. Because the guys at the store found a replacement for my old motherboard.

[[V]ACE]

hmmm only other thing is either try gfx card in another computer which has same specs and see if it can run tf2 lag free. 60 is a fine temp - the card can run up to 95 (would not suggest this! - the cooler the better and the less lag and more life)

The gfx card you got should run tf2 easily (i looked it up - seems a good card, but on highest settings it might lag a bit) gta:iv is a hit and miss game imo - on my rig it runs good, but other who have the same/better set up it runs crap... so would concentrate on tf2 and other games atm.

one idea is if you can (i can do this and i have same os) - open task manager (alt+ctrl+del) and click on performance. Keep it open and run tf2. After it starts and you notice lag, quit the game and look at the performance manager. It will tell you if your cpu is maxing out or if ram is (it has some nice chart things, and would tell you if they are maxing out in the game). If either are then this would explain lag, and the cause - then we know the cause . If not then its something else D:

I say this as i thought of one thing: When i open tf2 (a couple of times) i noticed huge lag (i mean unplayable!). I did this and noticed one process (which wasn't of any use) was using all my cpu (i mean 90%!) i stopped this process (was linked to some old software i un-installed) and BAM lag free tf2. Every so often my comp will max out on explorer.exe (normally after defrag has run) and i have to end it and reload it. This could be a cause - one process maxing out your cpu/ram = lagggggggggg

After this it would only leave the mobo or gfx card. These might be slightly harder to test. Anyways, if you can do this, and let us know then it would eliminate two options

Hope this helps,
ACE (the man of many sheep)