Are my specs bad?

[Madison2G]

So I can't say I am an overly tech savvy person and I listen and take the opinions and advise of people I know who are in regards to how I build my system. But I'm sure that I have a somewhat decent system, yet it feels very underwhelming and as if it's not living up to what it could be.

 

For example, in World of Warcraft, I can only pull up to around 45 FPS in the newer areas recently in the expansion launched a week ago. In Skyrim without any mods and just the base game itself on all ultra, same story 45-49 FPS.

 

My specs:

 

System Info

 

Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 10586) (10586.th2_release.160802-1857)

System Manufacturer: MSI

System Model: MS-7974

BIOS: BIOS Date: 12/17/15 14:18:10 Ver: 04.06.05

Processor: AMD FX-4130 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.8GHz

Memory: 8192MB RAM

Available OS Memory: 8138MB RAM

Display

Card name: AMD Radeon R9 380 Series

Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Chip type: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x6939)

DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)

Device Type: Full Device

Display Memory: 8141 MB

Dedicated Memory: 4072 MB

Shared Memory: 4068 MB

Current Mode: 1600 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)

Monitor Name: AOC 2070L

Monitor Model: 2070W

Any thoughts or advice? Is my computer just simply not as good as I think it is? Do I need to change or fix something here?

 

 

[Erik005]

The CPU is slow yes.

 

But I can see your display is 1600x900, resolutions lower then 1920x1080 will put more stress on the processor.

 

Getting a 1080p screen might get you better frame rates.

[FMod]

The CPU is slow yes.

But I can see your display is 1600x900, resolutions lower then 1920x1080 will put more stress on the processor.

Getting a 1080p screen might get you better frame rates.

That's not quite how it works.

People say low resolutions stress the CPU more because the game is no longer GPU bound, so the CPU doesn't sit idle so much of the time, there's more frames to render.

 

Conversely, a higher resolution only stresses the CPU less because there's fewer frames to render. That's exactly the outcome - fewer frames. A higher resolution always produces a lower framerate than a lower one.

 

The OP should get a FX-8320, which will fix the issue.

[Dazaster]

Everything is relative to what you want, or expect. Your system is pretty good for most games available today. You have a decent video card with 4gb ddr5 ram on it, enough system ram to meet modern game requirements and your cpu isn't that slow and it's 4 core. So overall not too bad. As for your framerate, well...I wouldn't worry about it. The human eye can only detect up to about 25fps, which is why movies were made to run about that speed. Anything above that is better for only one reason, and that's lag. When you're moving your character, turn, and have a sudden "freeze" for a moment, that's lag. All computers suffer from it, even the most expensive ones that Daddy bought his little boy, who crows about 60fps at 2560 res. As Fmod said, you could get an FX-8320, which would boost your fps a bit, but you don't really need to, imo.

[LeddBate]

You didn't mention your PSU. With a R9 380 (a notorious power hog), you need a minimum-rated PSU of 600 watts. 650 would be safer. Is it at least bronze-rated? What is the brand-name?

 

A cheap, low-powered, no-name PSU is a disaster waiting to happen.

[goranpaa]

Totally agree to that buying a cheapo, no name PSU is taking a serious risk. Get one from the reknown brands like Corsair, EVGA or Antec. And you can just as well for the sake of future proofing go for a 750 W. Preferably a modular one to keep the cable clutter at bay and improve the airflow thru the case.

Edited September 24, 2016 by goranpaa