Title: Tech Features: Let’s talk PC Gaming – Performance Anxiety
Author: Uberutang
Recovered Author: Uberutang
Published Date: 2016-03-16
Original URL: https://geeknode.co.za/2016/03/tech-features-lets-talk-pc-gaming-performance-anxiety
Wayback URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20170814105859id_/http://www.geeknode.co.za:80/2016/03/tech-features-lets-talk-pc-gaming-performance-anxiety/
Recovery Confidence: high
Categories: Tech
Tags: Benchmarks, PC, Upgrades

- Uberutang

- 1 year ago

- 1 0

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Let’s talk PC Gaming
So you have just installed that monstrously awesome new graphics card that cost more than your first car and for some reason it fails to create a rift in the space time continuum as promised by the cool box art.

Whatever could be the issue and how do you solve it?

First off: do not believe the box art! My Media PC failed to transform into a stealth fighter when I installed a Radeon card, so clearly it is more of an artistic license type thing than a promise.

Ok so let us get down to the business of figuring out why the fancy new GPU is not doing what you want it to do (or what you expected it to do).

Usually the lack of performance can be narrowed down to the following items (or combination of items):

- Thermal thresholds

- Resolution scaling

- CPU bottleneck

- Driver / Game optimization

Thermal thresholds

Modern graphics cards and processors have built-in fail-safes that will ‘step down or throttle’ the performance on the CPU and or GPU card to keep it from melting through the Earth’s core.

This is often an issue on notebooks, but can also be problematic on small form factor builds or ‘Frankenstein’ builds where you started with an ‘office’ PC and added a graphics card etc.

The best way to test for this is to run temperature monitoring software that logs the peaks and then compare that against your manufacturer’s specifications for thermal thresholds.

Once you have narrowed it down to a thermal issue, you can look into water cooling options, better airflow case options or a cooling cradle for your notebook.

Resolution scaling

This is a more tricky problem to nail down as you need to do some additional reading and research, but let me first explain what I mean by ‘resolution scaling’.

Basically certain GPUs only start performing well under more stressful conditions. Often times you will get similar gaming performance from a GTX970 and a GTX980ti at 1920×1080 or less even though the GTX980ti is a far more monstrous card than the GTX970.

Once you go above 2560×1440 or 4k the GTX980ti will start flexing those sexy graphics muscles and show the GTX970 who the true daddy of gaming is.

To test this you can simply enable Nvidia DSR or AMD VSR in your graphics card control panel and push the game resolution scaling up above what you monitor is capable off.

By testing and tweaking you can find the ‘sweet spot’ for your GPU and really get the benefit from all the extra horses it can draw.

CPU Bottleneck

Not all CPUs are created equal when it comes to gaming and even though the recommended requirements for CPUs are often vastly overstated it is worth keeping an eye on.

CPU bottlenecks happen when your processor cannot keep up with your shiny new graphics card. Pairing that 980ti with a core2duo might not have been the best idea ever nor is skimping on memory on your AMD APU system.

It is advisable to stay within the technology ‘curve’ when pairing components. So older i5s and i7s with GTX970’ and below and ‘enthusiast’ grade CPUs for the top shelf AMD and Nvidia cards.

Pairing a R3000 CPU with a R15000 GPU is not always going to be the most optimal way to spend that R18000 you are throwing at your rig.

Best way to avoid the problem is to read performance testing reviews or to run your own benchmarks ( catzilla’s paid for versions have fantastic recommendations on what you can upgrade or what you should leave well alone).

Or you can always ask the ‘internet’ for some advice.

Driver / Game optimization

This one can be a bit of pain. If you have an AMD system you probably hate the Nvidia Gameworks logo as you know it will cost you performance that should be on tap.

The undisputed king of getting ‘more’ out of a system under DirectX11 is an Intel/Nvidia combo, since they have the market and ‘toolkits’ cornered.

DirectX12 might finally allow AMD to flex their muscles the way we all know the hardware ‘should’ perform like, but until then you will have to make sure you read the fine print in driver release packs, game updates and if you want to really get the system to purr like the exotic machine she is: hit the internet performance guide sites and start tweaking those .ini files.

A good habit to develop is to make sure you have all your drivers (and BIOS) up to date and that you keep your games patched to the latest version.

Personally I usually wait a week or two before doing driver/game/bios updates to first make sure the updates are stable and that the ‘community’ has done the testing that the publisher should have done.

Fortunately most good games will ship with a build in benchmark tool for you to run and compare against similar systems, allowing you to gauge whether or not the new driver or patch was ‘worth it’. You can always scrub the driver from your system and re-install the previous one, should you be unhappy with it.

Display Driver Uninstaller from 3DGURU is a brilliant tool to wipe an pesky display driver from existence.

And there you have it. Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments.

This entry is part of 5 in the series Let’s talk PC Gaming
Tech Features: Let’s talk PC Gaming – Recommended System Specs >>

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Uberutang

Gaming / Tech Author at Geek Node

When I asked my mom where I was from she said they caught a wild ape and shaved it… she weren’t joking.

This primate has an unhealthy obsession with all things tech and pc gaming and when not in front of his Battlestation he can be found roaming the Cape wildlands with his motorcycle.

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Article Tags:
Benchmarks · PC · Upgrades

Article Categories:
Tech · Tech Feature
