Extreme Lag on Most Games

[Wrench97]

Originally Posted by StingDaFling

Turns out that there was a fan missing inside of the case, and that my other fans were obsolete. We got those replaced along with a different PSU (Cooler Master GX 650W --> Cooler Master GX 750W) to see what difference it would make.

The guy I talked to at Fry's said that the PSUs might have been designed to handle 13V, but I'm not completely sure I can believe that.

A few things support his argument, though. For starters, there's the consistency in average voltage (12.9V) between PSUs of the same brand. The specs say that the normal operation temperature is 0-40C; HWMonitor says that it's 34C right now. The 12V rail supports up to 60A, by the way. Just sayin'.

The guy at Fry's said it's definitely a GPU driver issue, so I spent literally the entire weekend installing and deleting different versions of my GPU's driver.

I've download and tested the following driver versions for my GPU:
266.71
275.33
280.26
285.62
290.53
295.73
296.10 (newest)

I also looked on NVIDIA's FAQ and checked all 1048 articles; none of them were of any help.


I should also mention that my card was manufactured by EVGA.

The guy at Frys has no Idea what he's talking about.
From the ATX PSU Specs which all PC Power Supplies are designed to meet

• Tolerance for the motherboard power rails should comply with the values listed in Table 6.
• Table 6. Voltage Tolerances
• Voltage Rail Tolerance
• +5VDC ± 5 %
• -5VDC (if used) ± 10 %
• +12VDC ± 5 %
• -12VDC ± 10 %
• +3.3VDC ± 5 %
• +5VSB ± 5 %

From the ATX 2.2 spec sheet here> http://www.formfactors.org/developer...s%5Catx2_2.pdf

The only way to be sure is check it with a digital voltmeter something every PC tech should have.

The newer GX series Coolermaster PSU's are made by Enhance Electronics and not nearly as reliable as the older units(using the same exact model number by the way) made by Seventeam.

If it happens to be a GX-lite model there made by ATNG and very poor quality.

Fans do not become obsolete.

If the hard drive is still showing a temp of over 42c there's your starting point.
High drive temp could be from lack of air flow, overvoltage, or a failing hard drive.

See if you have a PC Health or Hardware Health page in your bios and check the voltage readings there to start.

[StingDaFling]

Originally Posted by wrench97

The guy at Frys has no Idea what he's talking about.
From the ATX PSU Specs which all PC Power Supplies are designed to meet

• Tolerance for the motherboard power rails should comply with the values listed in Table 6.
• Table 6. Voltage Tolerances
• Voltage Rail Tolerance
• +5VDC ± 5 %
• -5VDC (if used) ± 10 %
• +12VDC ± 5 %
• -12VDC ± 10 %
• +3.3VDC ± 5 %
• +5VSB ± 5 %

From the ATX 2.2 spec sheet here> http://www.formfactors.org/developer...s%5Catx2_2.pdf

The only way to be sure is check it with a digital voltmeter something every PC tech should have.

The newer GX series Coolermaster PSU's are made by Enhance Electronics and not nearly as reliable as the older units(using the same exact model number by the way) made by Seventeam.

If it happens to be a GX-lite model there made by ATNG and very poor quality.

Fans do not become obsolete.

If the hard drive is still showing a temp of over 42c there's your starting point.
High drive temp could be from lack of air flow, overvoltage, or a failing hard drive.

See if you have a PC Health or Hardware Health page in your bios and check the voltage readings there to start.

Sorry for the late reply. I've been busy with school and had lots of places to go up to this point.

First of all, thanks for the many replies. I appreciate the help.

I'm pretty sure it's the PSU now. I had a look on the back of the box, and it stated that normal operating temperatures are 0~40C, while the PSU actually runs around 35~46C throughout the day. Not only that, but my internal hard drive still reaches temperatures exceeding 40C (not as often, though), and you've stated that excessive temperatures can be caused by overvoltage. The PSU constantly has 12.86~13.12V on the +12V rail.

I should haul it down to Fry's once more to see if getting a more reliable PSU will fix the issue, right? If so, what PSU should I get? The GPU (EVGA Geforce GTX 550 Ti 2GB) requires a 400W PSU with at least 24 amps on the +12V rail. I'm thinking I should get about 550W or so to be more cost-effective.

I also noticed that the -12V has about -6.2V all day... Is that normal?

[snedie]

Originally Posted by StingDaFling

Sorry for the late reply. I've been busy with school and had lots of places to go up to this point.

First of all, thanks for the many replies. I appreciate the help.

I'm pretty sure it's the PSU now. I had a look on the back of the box, and it stated that normal operating temperatures are 0~40C, while the PSU actually runs around 35~46C throughout the day. Not only that, but my internal hard drive still reaches temperatures exceeding 40C (not as often, though), and you've stated that excessive temperatures can be caused by overvoltage. The PSU constantly has 12.86~13.12V on the +12V rail.

I should haul it down to Fry's once more to see if getting a more reliable PSU will fix the issue, right? If so, what PSU should I get? The GPU (EVGA Geforce GTX 550 Ti 2GB) requires a 400W PSU with at least 24 amps on the +12V rail. I'm thinking I should get about 550W or so to be more cost-effective.

I also noticed that the -12V has about -6.2V all day... Is that normal?

Here's is to hoping linking to retail site's isn't going to get me banned on this forum. You should try this website for a new PSU if you are in the UK, if not Ebuyer:

Computer hardware, components & gaming PC retailer Overclockers UK

Compared to a high street store you won't be paying the premiums needed to keep the store open and staffed, and you can also see user reviews. The cash saved will also allow you to aim for a higher rated PSU, higher watt ratings generally mean greater performance and less heat in lower watt ranges.

Corsair and Seasonic are generally considered the most reliable, and both produce PSU's wholesale for other people to brand anyway.

[Wrench97]

+/- 10% on the -12v so that's not normal, but software readings are often off on that rail. XFX, Corsair, Sessonic are decent supplies.