pc gaming spec question

[MeltyGoblin]

alright so I've asked around a little bit, but haven't gotten a straight answer anywhere, so I figured I'd try the forums here. I got a new gaming pc a couple months ago,but I have noticed that there are games where I am well above the recommended specs and yet I still struggle to run them on high. Like for example, I just bought dirt 2 today on the steam sale, and its system requirments are

OS: Microsoft Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
Processor: - Intel Pentium D 3.0Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2
Memory: 1GB (2GB for Windows Vista)
Graphics: ATI Radeon X1500 or NVIDIA GeForce 6800
DirectX®: 9 and 11
Hard Drive: 10GB

where as my system is as follows

windows 7 home premuim 64 bit
intel core i7 740qm
4 gigs of ddr3 ram
ati radeon mobility hd 5850 (yes my pc is a gaming laptop)

and even with these specs I can only run dirt 2 on the high settings at about 20 frames per second. (although with the motion blur and effects it is still very playable). I can run crysis on high but only at about 30 frames per second. and I can run just cause 2 on high but only at about 45 frames per second. less intense games like call of duty black ops, starcraft 2, and team fortress 2 I get a solid 60 frames per second on high.

my question is where am I falling short? is there something I can do to improve my performance?

[Ad Bot]

[Molasses]

Well, system requirements are the bare minimum for the game to even run. Optimal, or recommended Specs are what will run the game well. Your rig, however, seems like it should be able to run Dirt 2 without a problem. I don't know about laptop graphics cards though, but I think they may be a downgraded version of the desktop variety.

I also seem to be having a similar problem, as it seems my Radeon HD 5870 isn't getting the performance I was expecting.

[keonesan]

I'm guessing your video card. I recommend getting a Nvidia 460 GTX. It's cheap and powerful as hell.

[MeltyGoblin]

well the card has 1 gig of dedicated vram. so I don't see where I would have a bottle neck

[keonesan]

Never mind it's your processor. I just looked it up. 1.73 ghz? That's it. You're bottlenecking the stuff out your card.

[MeltyGoblin]

Never mind it's your processor. I just looked it up. 1.73 ghz? That's it. You're bottlenecking the stuff out your card.

its a quad core and it's got intel turbo boost built it, it turbo boosts to 2.93 ghz.

[keonesan]

its a quad core and it's got intel turbo boost built it, it turbo boosts to 2.93 ghz.

I wouldn't trust intel overclocking. That processor is still crap. You need a CPU upgrade.

[MeltyGoblin]

I wouldn't trust intel overclocking. That processor is still crap. You need a CPU upgrade.

well I just did some tests, I found out that my processor is in fact overclocking itself. I'm reading about 2.8 ghz while playing crysis. Is there any other possiblity of a bottleneck in my system?

[Headcrab Zombie]

I'd go with the video card, I remember someone saying that mobility cards are a lot slower than their desktop counterpart.

Unfortunately since your on a laptop, upgrading isn't as easy.

[Night Fox]

You're bottlenecking the stuff out your card.

You ain't black.

[MeltyGoblin]

I'd go with the video card, I remember someone saying that mobility cards are a lot slower than their desktop counterpart.

Unfortunately since your on a laptop, upgrading isn't as easy.

yeah upgrading is really probably not a good idea. although the card is one 1 gig of vram, so I have no idea where it would be failing at

and also I just did a 3dmark06 test on my computer. and I got 12536. Is that good or bad?

[Headcrab Zombie]

There's a lot more to a video card than the amount of RAM it has.
And I'm not familiar with 3dmark scores

[Otis Da HousKat]

I'm guessing your video card. I recommend getting a Nvidia 460 GTX. It's cheap and powerful as hell.

LAPTOP. HE HAS A LAPTOP. STOP RECOMMENDING THE GTX 460 BLINDLY AND READ THE DAMN POST. HE HAS A LAPTOP. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

Anyway, for a laptop you have very solid specs. Unfortunately, you have a laptop. DiRT 2 requires a higher end computer to fully utilize the DirectX 11 effects.

System requirements
Recommended Specifications - Enhanced for DirectX 11
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 2 or Windows 7
Processor: Intel quad core or AMD Phenom II X4 955
RAM: 3GB
HDD Space: 10GB
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5750 or higher, NVIDIA GeForce 400 series or higher

Mobile hardware is quite a bit weaker than desktop hardware for power consumption and heat issues. You're either going to have to disable DirectX 11 or lower the general settings. Sorry.

There's a lot more to a video card than the amount of RAM it has.
And I'm not familiar with 3dmark scores

Yes, video RAM is really only important when you have a larger monitor (1920x1200 or above) or are using several monitors like with AMD Eyefinity.

[keonesan]

LAPTOP. HE HAS A LAPTOP. STOP RECOMMENDING THE GTX 460 BLINDLY AND READ THE DAMN POST. HE HAS A LAPTOP. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

He said desktop or laptop dumbforget.

EDIT: Oh wait. I think that was another thread. There's so many dam threads it's confusing.

Also sue me for making a small mistake. Stop loving raging.

[Otis Da HousKat]

He said desktop or laptop dumbforget.

No he didn't. I've added emphasis where necessary in his post since your god damn slant eyes can't read properly apparently.

alright so I've asked around a little bit, but haven't gotten a straight answer anywhere, so I figured I'd try the forums here. I got a new gaming pc a couple months ago,but I have noticed that there are games where I am well above the recommended specs and yet I still struggle to run them on high. Like for example, I just bought dirt 2 today on the steam sale, and its system requirments are

OS: Microsoft Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
Processor: - Intel Pentium D 3.0Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2
Memory: 1GB (2GB for Windows Vista)
Graphics: ATI Radeon X1500 or NVIDIA GeForce 6800
DirectX®: 9 and 11
Hard Drive: 10GB

where as my system is as follows

windows 7 home premuim 64 bit
intel core i7 740qm
4 gigs of ddr3 ram
ati radeon mobility hd 5850 (yes my pc is a gaming laptop)

and even with these specs I can only run dirt 2 on the high settings at about 20 frames per second. (although with the motion blur and effects it is still very playable). I can run crysis on high but only at about 30 frames per second. and I can run just cause 2 on high but only at about 45 frames per second. less intense games like call of duty black ops, starcraft 2, and team fortress 2 I get a solid 60 frames per second on high.

my question is where am I falling short? is there something I can do to improve my performance?

EDIT: Oh wait. I think that was another thread. There's so many dam threads it's confusing.

Also sue me for making a small mistake. Stop loving raging.

fake edit:

The problem is that you are consistently wrong in topics such as this. It's very annoying to see you constantly dish out poor computer hardware advice.