Need Help In Identifying Bottleneck

Hello, everyone.

I need some help in identifying where the bottleneck in my system is. There are games where my loading times takes forever and it there are also some games where I feel like my GTX 1050 can offer more but something in my system's holding it back.

CPU
AMD A8-7600

Memory
HyperX Fury 8.00 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1866 MHz

Motherboard
MSI A68HM-E33 v2

Graphics
Palit GeForce GTX1050 StormX 2GB 128bit DDR5
AMD Radeon R7 Graphics (Disabled)

Storage
Seagate Desktop HDD - ST1000DM003-9YN162 1TB (Single Partition) (255 GB free of 930 GB)

I have long loading times. For example, it takes me around 30 seconds for a map to load in Left 4 Dead 2. My older system that runs an i3-2120, Radeon HD 6570, 6 GB of Memory, same storage (but two partitions) almost loads the maps instantaneously.

Thanks to everyone who'll have a look! :)

Your CPU is the weakest part of your system, but loading times depend mostly on HDD. You can try and defragment it and see if it improves anything. An SSD or a hybrid drive would make everything load a lot faster, of course.

Both CPU and the amount of RAM could be a problem here. Well the CPU is a problem. Could help with 16GB RAM probably.

As someone who still has 8GB RAM I can safely say your HDD is the thing holding your load times back the most, the difference between my HDD and my SSHD is big and the difference between my SSD and HDD is HUGE in load times.

Your CPU on the other hand is a massive bottleneck, that thing is slower than FX 4/6000 series of CPU's which are offer worse gaming performance than i3 3/4/5 series CPU's from Intel.

You can fix your load times rather simply by buying a cheap 250-500GB SSD from Sandisk, Western Digital or Crucial for $120-250.... The CPU on the other hand would cost you a lot more since you would need a new board and new RAM along with a new CPU.

@Grey_Eyed_Elf: @horgen: @PfizersaurusRex: Thanks!

I checked my HDD and it doesn't need defragmentation. I wonder then, if I should partition the disk into two just like how it was on my older system.

I looked at the CPUs supported by my motherboard and got my sights on an Athlon X4. Or anything that is just enough to relieve the bottleneck. If that makes any sense.

So here are my options, then:

1. Save money for a new motherboard and CPU.

2. Storage/SSD upgrade.

3. CPU (that is supported by my current motherboard) upgrade.

Thanks again, guys.

Unless you find a CPU supported by your mobo for next to nothing, I would consider that a waste of money.

@horgen:

Made me look at some articles, comparisons and benchmarks. You're right, it seems. Upgrading to a CPU supported by my current motherboard's just not worth it. Thanks!

1. Save money for a new motherboard and CPU.

2. Storage/SSD upgrade.

3. CPU (that is supported by my current motherboard) upgrade.

@skrydis: i3 or i5 from the 8th generation from Intel... Or Ryzen... 1600.

The i3 8th gen is 4 cores, i5 is 6 cores. Or get a Ryzen 6 core. DDR4 ram on both platforms.

@horgen:

Alright. Thanks! I'll look into those. But can I know how you came up with the suggestion?

Eh.. You learn as you go.

Intel bumped up the number of cores with coffee lake, their 8th gen i CPU. Also the lower tiers are usually good bang for buck.

your whole computer is a bottleneck... is your HDD in healthy condition? might want to run a repair on it and defrag just in case.

Liar!!!

He's part of the "future people", he lives exactly 4 years ahead of us so he has all this insider information and can make recommendations easily.

@horgen: I see. Thanks!

@gamespot4life: I've done error checking and defragmentation. No errors were found and I got 0% on defrag analysis. But yeah, the entire rig is a bottleneck. :D Gotta work on this.

@skrydis: That whole computer is a bottleneck. I would start with upgrading the board/cpu/ram to either a ryzen 1600, or an i5 8400/8600 depending on budget.

You'll at least be able to run games smoothly, albeit at low resolution/details for now, and can upgrade the GPU later.

@appariti0n:

Thanks for the reply! I'm quite clueless on what to look for in a motherboard, like, what makes a motherboard good for the long run.

Just make sure it supports all the current tech, and don't buy something that's on its way-out.

Eg; Get a mobo that supports current CPU's, not last years (z370 not z270 as an example)

Must support DDR4, not DDR3...

etc etc

You get the point.

@skrydis: When you say you did error checking , did you run a chkdsk /r this will get you the most out of a check disk.

Oh... You're one of them..

Maybe you have discussed this picture in your past, then???

@horgen said:

@GTR12 said:

Liar!!!

He's part of the "future people", he lives exactly 4 years ahead of us so he has all this insider information and can make recommendations easily.

Oh... You're one of them..

Maybe you have discussed this picture in your past, then???

You mean the future...??? ;p

Anyways, too far OT now.

Most suggestions are just based on whats available in the current market place and your goals/needs. Most everyone who post on here keeps up with reviews/benchmarks of current hardware and looks for both performance & trends.

The 8th generation intel CPU's he was referring to are good choice (i3 8100, i3 8350k, i5 8400, i5 8600k). If you want to stay AMD then I would wait since there releasing new processors in February that are going to fix the only two major issues people had with the Ryzen series (those two issues being low clockrate and memory compatibility). No point in buying a Ryzen chip now when there replacement is due in the coming weeks

@mastershake575: @gamespot4life:

I thought you meant the Error Checking tool in the properties. But I did run chkdsk /r yesterday on a restart, viewed the event and it showed no errors. Thanks, by the way!

I tried to make a new build in pcpartpicker based on your recommendations and found out that aside from having to get a new motherboard for a better CPU, I'd also need to get new memory. The motherboards that support the CPUs you guys recommended doesn't support my DDR3 memory, according to pcpartpicker, at least. Anyway, thanks for the tip. I'll wait 'til February, then.

Both users that made the recommendation did actually tell you that you need DDR4 in there post (see below). Ram prices are super inflated right now so if money's tight when its finally time to buy then you might have to stick with 8GB now and then buy another 8gb later down the road.

@mastershake575: Man. It feels like building an entire new PC. But at least I now know where the problem is and what I gotta do.

Thanks, everyone.

I will strongly suggest getting 6 cores on your CPU. 4 cores have been mainstream for very long. It is getting kinda low end.

@horgen:

I'll keep that in mind and look for the one with the best price-performance ratio. Thanks.

By repair i hope you don't mean deleting. Deleting registry files is a bad idea, redundant ones cause no issues whatsoever, and can cause **** ups if you do.

Use something like Ccleaner to remove remnants and unused registry entries and files safely.

The one i own is the best one in that regard. Obviously a K version for overclocking.

Don't forget to delid it if you get a K version and intend to overclock. Also drop that weak air cooling. Get custom water cooling or even better, a phase cooler. :P

And suddenly we are on a budget of 1000$ for the cooling.

@horgen: A phase cooler, you're insane.

It might help with the initial load, but for gaming SSDs don't actually make that big of a difference. Most modern HDDs are able to work as fast as a persons CPU and GPU can go.

Without tinkering with the system i really cant tell you.

Here's my issue, people keep telling you to upgrade and maybe that is a good choice.

BUT, i am amazed that no one has mentioned that L4D2 should have zero problems running on that system. I can run that shit on a dual core from 09 with a damn 610 in it, without issue. We're not talking the new Assassins Creed here guys, we're talking about L4D, one of the best optimized and easiest to run on 10, 13 year old systems. The game does not even break 3GB Ram usage and any DDR3 should be fast enough for it.

Here it is running on a freaking Pentium D system from 05 - youtube.com/watch?v=GXtvMZILhcI

Here's a dual core with a 610 (a 10 dollar video card) - .youtube.com/watch?v=TbhvbHGQCm0

There is clearly something wrong with your system. First thing i'd do is take that R7 out. It might be disabled but its still using power, being read, its still part of the process. Remove it and see what happens. If that does not do anything, when's the last time you reformatted?

You cant take the R7 out, the A8 is an APU.

eeeewwwwwww

I didnt even consider it was integrated nastiness.

It still shouldnt have those problems.

Read what you just wrote.

Its an APU...

Its not made for games to start with, and its a low-end APU, if it was an A10, sure that's "ok", but its an A8.

Yeah six core 8th gen intel or wait for AMD's new 6 core processors that are due to release sometime near February. Quad is technically lowend but for his needs i don't see a modern 4c/8t CPU giving him any issues in the foreseeable future (hell my 5 year old quad core still runs games at max settings while both recording and streaming).

With the consoles using such weak CPU's, I could easily see a current generation quad core lasting another 3 or 4 years with no issues for most users.

@04dcarraher: @Random_Matt:

I do use CCleaner for that.

@Random_Matt: And that is?

@kod: Yeah. My older PC that has an i3-2120, HD 6570, same 1 TB storage (but in 2 partitions), 6 GB of memory loads, the maps way faster.

I haven't reformatted ever since getting this system.

@mastershake575: Noted, man. Thanks.

My post were never made to be taken seriously. But GS bugs out on me and refuses to show the bar above where the text is put in. I wanted to put a small disclaimer in a spoiler.

@kod: You never said he had issues with framerate with Left 4 Dead 2, he mentioned loading times being longer and that could just account to natural HDD degradation.

Also the SSD was a recommendation because he wants load times which HDD are slow at even compared to SSHD's.

He mentioned performance issues which is due to his CPU bottleneck and he also mentioned long load times which is primarily due to his HDD.

And there's nothing to suggest load times should be bad and as mentioned, SSDs would only help on that initial load, maybe. There are too many moving parts with video games for them to take advantage of SSDs.

And you've had this system for how long?

You think maybe we should reformat the HD? Reinstall windows and software? At this point id be willing to bet this solves your problem, because its clearly not your hardware.

@kod: For a year and almost a month now. I currently am not sure on how to go about reinstalling Windows. My brother installed the my OS with a USB drive which I don't have with me or him anymore.

Have him do it. Look it up on microsoft.com. You can download windows 10 free there and it even gives you the installer to put it on a USB

Look, get a new PC if you want, you could probably use one if you plan on playing newer games.

All im saying is that PC should have zero problems with that game loading or FPS, this system should be able to destroy this game. So if you plan on keeping it you need to go through a troubleshooting process, and reformatting the HD would be the first thing id do. Not only because it seems like that's probably the issue, but if its been over a year anyway, you should go ahead and do this.

@kod: Thanks, man. How about creating a partition? On my previous system with the same HD, I got 2 partitions. I read in some places that partitions do make a difference. If what I'm saying doesn't make any sense, I'll go on and look to reformatting the HD.

Youll have to create a partition no matter what, personally though, i wouldnt divide it up in an attempt to make two HDs.