(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Specs.
- Mobo: ASUS P8Z77-V LX, Socket-1155
- PCU: Intel i5 2500K @Stock
- GPU: EVGA GTX 670 2GB @Stock
- RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB
- PSU: Corsair 750W

Problems.
Very inconsistent FPS and rather low at times.

I'm getting tired here. I can't play my favorite games anymore without the FPS dropping allot. I know the CPU is getting a few years old and that the GPU is not top of the line anymore, but is a game running STABLE at 60FPS to much to ask for? I mean, I know that a couple of FPS drop are common, but when I drop from 60 to like 35 -37 I really notice it, and it bothers me.

Examples.
BF3 maxed out w/Adaptive vSync(Stutter).
- It does stay at 59 - 61 most of the time, but all of the sudden it drops down to like 30 - 40. Shouldn't this rig hold BF3 at Ultra?

GTA IV naxed out w/no Vsync.
This game dosen't even reach 60 FPS. I almost never seem to go over like 55 or so, and same as BF the FPS drops really low at times.

Any idea what might be wrong? Is my CPU to weak, is it the GPU or is there something else that messing up here?

As Linus would say, every system is bottle-necked, as the system can only perform as fast as it's slowest component being used in that scenario. I get frame dips while playing Bf3, and almost everyone does (unless you're running Dual 3970X and Quad Titans). So in order to reduce the bottleneck as much as possible, you can overclock your 2500k. But I am talking in the technical sense, when honestly a 670 + 2500k even at stock should run all the latest games (with the exception of perhaps Crysis 3) on Ultra. So you can go ahead and try to overclock your 670 or 2500k and see if that helps.

Do the frame dips happen when staring at a wall? Or do they happen when you are running through a high traffic, explosion ridden area with huge amounts of particle effects? Obviously the FPS is not going to stay constant, you will always get frame dips when gaming and moving through certain areas of the game, also online tends to have lower FPS opposed to campaign, especially on large servers. Try disabling V-Sync for a bit and see what the frame rate is then, and if you want to keep the high FPS without screen tearing, get Virtu MVP (Pretty sure they come on most modern Asus and AsRock motherboards).

You could try to download MSI Afterburner (which you can also use to OC) and check the GPU utilization. Usually while gaming it will be pinned at 99% however it can fluctuate. That's normal obviously, but the GPU utilization should not be fluctuating from say 99% to 33% randomly for no apparent reason, if that is the case the card might be defective (or maybe just needs a bit more power). The GPU utilization will also fluctuate randomly if you hit your VRAM limit, but 2GB should be more than plenty for 1080p gaming.

My monitor is only 60Hertz, and I can't stand tearing so I use adaptive vSync. It does not add any lag in my case so I feel comfortable using it. What I find funny tho is that with vSync off, I get FPS rates between 70 - 80. Why is it that when vSync is on, I can't keep that 60 mark most of the time when the tech clearly handles higher FPS? I'am planning on doing a little overclock, but I need a new cooler first. Was looking at the H70, and if that's what I need I'm getting it tomorrow. I don't want to overclock the GPU before the CPU is overclocked, in case that will add an even bigger bottleneck.

Dips happen often in fast motions like flying helis close to the ground, allot of moving through high detailed terrain and at times it just dips by like 5 FPS without much going on. Certain maps are worse than others. FPS without vSync reaches all the way from 120++(Looking up in the sky), to 70/75 when action is in motion.

Will Evga precision do the job? That's what I'm familiar with..

vSync is supposed to lock framerates to 60fps. I never bother with the blasted thing because honestly the hardware always outputs more frames, and in case there is a dip in performance it wouldn't be as bad since the frame rate is higher than 60 at the time so the dip would be less than when at 60.

The H70 is excellent for overclocking the CPU past 4.2GHZ (Easily achieved using stock air fans to reach that point). You can technically overclock even higher on stock air fans, but it gets loud. That's why I love the water treatment. If you have the extra buck. I always try to buy a adapter for the gpu installed so i can water cool it too on a different radiator. Makes the whole system almost dead silent. The Evga precision toolkit is very useful, and should do the trick. I don't have vast experience with it since I used to use ntune greatly.

Honestly the only thing that is bottle necking your system at this point is the CPU, if it's stock as you say at 3.3Ghz it can be a issue. What about the timings on the Memory? and what speed is the memory at? 1333 or 1600mhz?
Back to the CPU, if its a good chip you can easily OC to 4.9Ghz, but do it in slow increments, and test for instabilities.
At those speeds with your GPU, and even a stock GPU at this point would run BF3 120FPS easily (64 player servers btw). At 1920x1080 resolution with most of the settings maxed. Since its 60hz monitor and you don't have to strain the GPU to work harder on a 120hz monitor those extra FPS really give you some nice juice.

The memory is at 1600mhz.

I have a fan controller, AND I use a headset while playing so noise isn't to much of an issue. I was told that I should never OC on a stock fan, but it's Ok to up it a little? I just got my drivers license, so my account is kind of 'dry' at the moment. Not that I can't afford a 100$ fan, but if possible I'd rather not spend that money right now.

Stock fans can be pretty rigid. Out of the box your CPU can handle 3.8 Ghz because its been factory tested to do so in its boost mode.
In reality you could even oc higher, but several things like case ventilation and case heat come into play. That's why I love water cooled cpu's. big enough reservoir for the water, and its not a big issue anymore. You can buy good water cooled cpu radiators and reservoirs for around $100 no problem. It gets more expensive when you try to do the entire system though.

So in reality you should be fine getting it to 3.8 or even 4.0 with stock fan. You could push it higher, but it is stock fans. So if you used good thermal compound on the cpu and heatsink (re-seating the cpu every 6-12 months is a good idea). Plus if the head of the chip is polished pretty well which means excellent heat transference than you are golden for even higher clock speeds.

I currently have an i7 3770k @ 4.4 GHz, with a Gigabyte Radeon 7770 and I'm able to play Far Cry 3 Medium to High settings at a constant 55fps.

I use You must login or register to view this content. cooler and it keeps my CPU below 70 Celsius (I think. At work, can't remeber) when playing games. And keep in mind Ivy Bridge Runs exceptionally hotter than Sandy Bridge, so you should get a pretty high Overclock with your i5. If you really needed, you can also throw another 120mm fan on the cooler as it comes with the brackets to do so. It's also good to note that it was a bit difficult to install the fan, but it works very efficiently.

Also, if you go into the BIOS and check your memory settings, try changing the XMP profile to #1. That should boost things a tad. You must login or register to view this content. is probably the bet GPU monitor, because you can also record at little to no fps hit. (You can see how well it runs on my cheap GPU at my You must login or register to view this content.).

Thanks for all inputs, I really appreciate it. I think there's really only one thing to do. I'll set aside a couple of days to get this straight.

- Clean out all dust.
- Re-install Windows to get a 100% clean registry as well as getting rid of old drivers and shit that might cause problems.
- Buy either the H70/< and get both the CPU and GPU overclocked.
- Re-install and update everything from various drivers to the bios.
- Organize a bit better. All my files and such are scattered over 2 ssd's and 3 hdd's soo....

I'll see If I can grab a fan tomorrow, or if I have to get it online.

Well if you have multiple HD's its a good idea to keep one HD for OS only, don't bother installing anything on their period. You have a system issue? just have to deal with said drive. Since all the other contain installed non os data. Makes life ten times easier.

Good idea, but that does waste some valuable SSD space..

Anyway, I went to my local PC shop but they didn't have he H70 so I got the H80 instead. I'll spend this afternoon installing it and clean up the system.