Help with computer upgrade

[duramax170]

Hello

 

I have been using a-10c for a couple of weeks now and would like some help correcting a couple of issues I am having. My computer seems to stutter anytime things get busy. I would describe it as lag but I have only played single player so far. Whenever I get close to the enemy and my wingman starts to call out targets the sim will freeze momentarily. Also when firing Mavericks and sidewinders I get the same issue. I know some upgrades to the computer are needed would I am not sure where to start.

 

Win 7 64 Bit

 

GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

 

AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor ADX245OCGQBOX

 

Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

 

EVGA 01G-P3-N880-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 1GB 256-Bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP

 

I am thinking that increasing my memory to 8GB would be a start, but I don't want to put money into an area that isn't actually causing the problem. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

Sam

[Glamdring]

I reckon the biggest bottle neck in that system is the CPU. Sims like DCS are very processor intensive. I'm not really up on AMD processors but I recently upgraded from an Intel i5 to an i7 and the improvement was staggering. GPU wise it depends on what resolution you are running at. 8GB would be an improvement but not as significant as a CPU upgrade imho.

[Gerg]

Id say the gpu is a bit weak too unless playing at really low resolution and low settings.

 

My old HD 5850 didnt perform too well in DCS World and it was about 2x as powerful as your card.

[ricktoberfest]

I don't know much about AMD, but like glamdring said, yours is awfully slow for flight sims. I run my i5 overclocked to 4.7 ghz and still have issues at times with lots of effects happening because my graphics card is not high end (ati 6850). I still get over 20 fps, but yours is much slower than that

[dumgrunt]

i have been looking into this for a while too, my toshiba P750, although good for a laptop 2.5 years ago is definitely showing its age. I was looking at spending up to two grand on a "beast" desktop, since getting something halfway decent that was portable would have cost 2.5k anyway, a third of this cost would have been the GPU's alone. i decided to put this off for a while though, among other reasons; that many people seem to be waiting on upgrading until EDGE is somewhat of a known quantity.

 

I dont have a great deal of knowledge regarding hardware, but I could confidently tell you that nothing you have there is really sufficient for 1.2.7.

 

the consensus seems that running intel CPUs and Nvidia GPUs are the easiest way to get the best results with DCS.

 

As an interim solution, if you are only playing A-10C, you could consider obtaining the original stand alone 1.1.1.1 (which i am fairly sure the download is still on ED's archive). I know my now antiquated system still runs the standalone reasonably well even on high settings, where as DCS:World is getting gradually slower with each version.

Edited January 30, 2014 by dumgrunt
.

[PFunk1606688187]

How can you all be giving such bad advice? You're missing the critical bottleneck.

 

Its the ram. Simple as that.

 

Things get busy, you get stutters. Thats what happens when you run out of physical memory and the computer has to resort to using the page file, which is very very slow. This is happening because of only 4 GB of ram.

 

If you open taskmgr.exe and then select the Performance Tab then select the Resource Manager you can monitor how much memory programs are using, how much free there is, and even how often a program accesses the page file.

 

DCS at a minimum uses something in the range of 3+ gigabytes of memory to run. Windows 7 will use anywhere from 6-800 megabytes for background operation, and only leaves you around 200 megabytes of memory for anything else you have running if you only have 4 gigs.

 

Even 1 extra gig of ram will change your entire experience of DCS. Adding another 4 will solve your stuttering altogether.

 

Your CPU would be the next bottleneck, though not as severe as your ram is now.

[SkateZilla]

How can you all be giving such bad advice? You're missing the critical bottleneck.

 

Its the ram. Simple as that.

 

Things get busy, you get stutters. Thats what happens when you run out of physical memory and the computer has to resort to using the page file, which is very very slow. This is happening because of only 4 GB of ram.

 

If you open taskmgr.exe and then select the Performance Tab then select the Resource Manager you can monitor how much memory programs are using, how much free there is, and even how often a program accesses the page file.

 

DCS at a minimum uses something in the range of 3+ gigabytes of memory to run. Windows 7 will use anywhere from 6-800 megabytes for background operation, and only leaves you around 200 megabytes of memory for anything else you have running.

 

Even 1 extra gig of ram will change your entire experience of DCS. Adding another 4 will solve your stuttering altogether.

 

Your CPU would be the next bottleneck, though not as severe as your ram is now.

 

 

his Mainconcern is RAM, simply put there's not enough to Run the game fluidly, but DDR2 Ram is a deadend purchase, and DDR2 Sticks are $50 for 2GB, so....... 4GB is about $100, for $100 you can get 8-GB of DDR3, Maybe 16GB, But I think RAM Prices have doubled as the Kit I Paid $75 for is now $150

 

In My Opinion though, The Entire Mainboard CPU and Ram TBH is the Bottle neck,

 

It's a Low End 700 Series Chipset with limited memory lanes to begin with, with a 2 Core Athlon, it will only bog down any GPU you put into it.

 

While DCS Still only has 2 Threads, you still need at least 1 HW thread open for Windows and other things running, or else it will slow down DCS.

 

the 9800 GPU is also a bottleneck.

 

However, You Simply cant upgrade one component out of his setup,

 

You upgrade the GPU, the Chipset/Ram/CPU will bottleneck it,

 

You upgrade the Chipset/Ram/CPU and the GPU Will bottleneck.

 

You need to go for a new setup,

A Mid-Range Mainboard+CPU+8GB Setup runs a few hundred, and a decent nVidia GPU to Run the GFX will Run another $200.

 

However if Money is a Concern, Putting the RAM at 6GB or 8 GB should solve stuttering and allow you to run it at Minimum GFX.

Edited January 30, 2014 by SkateZilla

[duramax170]

That is kind of what I was after, I wasn't sure if I needed a whole new system or maybe just a little memory would help. I will start to piece together a new system.

 

Here is what I had thrown together on newegg

 

ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970

 

SAPPHIRE Ultimate Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

 

AMD FX-6350 Vishera 3.9GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor

 

Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800

 

Total Price of $391

 

I have no problem putting a computer together but figuring out the best way to do things and compatibility is not my strong suit. Any suggestions on the above combo would be greatly appreciated. I wouldn't mind saving some money if possible. I don't need a beast of a computer just something that will get me a more enjoyable experience

 

Thanks

Sam

[Gerg]

How much do you want to spend?

 

That motherboard you have should support up to Phenom x4 black edition cpu and 4 sticks of ddr3 ram.

 

Should be able to get a Phenom x4 BE, GTX 760 and extra 4GB ram for under $400

 

Check compatibility 1st with the motherboard.

 

Edit:

 

Or something like a HD 7790, X4 BE and 4GB ram for about $250-$270

Edited January 30, 2014 by Gerg

[PFunk1606688187]

his Mainconcern is RAM, simply put there's not enough to Run the game fluidly, but DDR2 Ram is a deadend purchase....

His quoted specs state he actually has 4 gigs of DDR3, unless thats a typo on his part. Also, between craigslist and certain kinds of ethical computer part recycling organizations you can actually find old ram for cheaper than what the big boys sell it for.

 

At a place near where I live you can get old DDR2 for $20-30 depending on the stuff they've received recently.

 

 

However if Money is a Concern, Putting the RAM at 6GB or 8 GB should solve stuttering and allow you to run it at Minimum GFX.

 

Basically what I was getting at. But I despise it when someone lacking knowledge asks for help and gets told something absolute like "you can't play with that machine, buy a new one" when its simply not true.

 

His specific problem was memory related, and as long as he can suffer turning pre load, clutter, and trees down to a minimum level he should easily be able to "make do" with a 2-4 Gig Ram upgrade.

[Gerg]

Im not sure thats the case. Sure he has below minimum ram requirements but even using 64 bit Windows would leave about 3GB free for DCS.

 

Ive dont think ive seen DCS go over 2GB memory usage in a few tests i ran from easy to hard busy missions with most gfx settings maxed.

 

Although theres a 64 bit exe for DCS it seems to use memory as if its still a 32 bit app limited to 2GB ram usage.

 

More memory wouldnt make much difference when the cpu has less power than a 1st gen Intel i3 or a gpu based on a rebranded 8800 GTS from 7 years ago thats worth about $50.

[outlawal2]

Im not sure thats the case. Sure he has below minimum ram requirements but even using 64 bit Windows would leave about 3GB free for DCS.

 

Ive dont think ive seen DCS go over 2GB memory usage in a few tests i ran from easy to hard busy missions with most gfx settings maxed.

 

Although theres a 64 bit exe for DCS it seems to use memory as if its still a 32 bit app limited to 2GB ram usage.

 

More memory wouldnt make much difference when the cpu has less power than a 1st gen Intel i3 or a gpu based on a rebranded 8800 GTS from 7 years ago thats worth about $50.

 

Actually, memory does make quite a difference... (I tried running with 4 GIGS myself and it wasn't pretty) Don't forget that none of us have any idea what services are running on this machine and every one of them take memory... There have been MANY threads regarding memory and DCS and nearly everyone has benefitted from more memory. (I got ticked enough that I went out and bought 16 GIG so I KNEW memory would no longer be an issue..) And guess what? It made a serious improvement.. I really think 8GIGS or more memory would make a substantial improvement for the OP...

[Bee_Sting]

In your case I would shut down all unnessary programs running in the background.Those programs takes away from the cpu and ram. When i'm playing Dcs I do this and I can see a bit of performance increase.

[SkateZilla]

That is kind of what I was after, I wasn't sure if I needed a whole new system or maybe just a little memory would help. I will start to piece together a new system.

 

Here is what I had thrown together on newegg

 

ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970

 

SAPPHIRE Ultimate Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

 

AMD FX-6350 Vishera 3.9GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor

 

Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800

 

Total Price of $391

 

I have no problem putting a computer together but figuring out the best way to do things and compatibility is not my strong suit. Any suggestions on the above combo would be greatly appreciated. I wouldn't mind saving some money if possible. I don't need a beast of a computer just something that will get me a more enjoyable experience

 

Thanks

Sam

 

How much do you want to spend?

 

That motherboard you have should support up to Phenom x4 black edition cpu and 4 sticks of ddr3 ram.

 

Should be able to get a Phenom x4 BE, GTX 760 and extra 4GB ram for under $400

 

Check compatibility 1st with the motherboard.

 

Edit:

 

Or something like a HD 7790, X4 BE and 4GB ram for about $250-$270

 

His quoted specs state he actually has 4 gigs of DDR3, unless thats a typo on his part. Also, between craigslist and certain kinds of ethical computer part recycling organizations you can actually find old ram for cheaper than what the big boys sell it for.

 

At a place near where I live you can get old DDR2 for $20-30 depending on the stuff they've received recently.

 

 

 

 

Basically what I was getting at. But I despise it when someone lacking knowledge asks for help and gets told something absolute like "you can't play with that machine, buy a new one" when its simply not true.

 

His specific problem was memory related, and as long as he can suffer turning pre load, clutter, and trees down to a minimum level he should easily be able to "make do" with a 2-4 Gig Ram upgrade.

 

 

Ooops yeah, Misread it as DDR3,

 

Should Be able to get a matching 4 GB Kit to make 2x2x2x2 for 8GB Total.

 

Some stuff isnt availible anymore, but can be found on eBay,

You cant really splurge and add top end components if you PSU and mainboard dont support them.

 

 

So:

~$100, 2x2GB of PatriotG Ram Kit (Can Likely by a new 8 GB Kit Cheaper.)

ebay Link

 

~$120+ Phenom II x 4 955 3.2GHz (can Prolly find it cheaper, also the 945s might be cheaper as they are Multiplier Locked)

Ebay Link

 

~$34 For a Decent Cooler Hyper 212, or $39 for AMD Approved Phenom II x4 Heatsink on eBay, unless you have one already.

 

~$200 for a 660Ti w/ 2GB of Ram (I'd go for an after market cooling design, FTW Edition is $224, as noted the 760 is also around $250)

 

~$5-10 for decent thermal paste

So around $475.

 

A Mid-High End Re-build will run you between $800-$1200+ now due to rising prices of GPUs, HDDs and RAM.

 

Keep in mind this many Hardware Changes will mess with ProActive Starforce, so DE-ACTIVATE any Licenses before you upgrade, and upgrade everything before re-activating.

Edited January 31, 2014 by SkateZilla

[kra961]

Couple of things come to mind.

 

1. Make sure your AV is either set in game mode or turned off

 

2. Move your page file over to a secondary drive.

 

3. Use msconfig and kill everything in startup that isn't absolutely needed

 

4. Think about disabling Windows Search service as it usually chooses the most inopportune time to index.

Edited January 31, 2014 by kra961
addition

[Weltensegler]

Regarding you graphics card's vram...for DCS you can use the old rule of thumb 1gb vram per 1080p but it might get dangerously close to the limit especially when you add a second monitor even though the game is not running on it.

If you use one monitor only you should get at least 1,5gb vram on your graphic card.

Note that in case of more than one card your primary card has to have the needed vram.

Vram doesn't add up.

Good luck!

Edited January 31, 2014 by Weltensegler