660 Ti new setup not running right?

jpingra5

Intel i5 750 @ 2.67GHz
Gigabyte P55-UD3L Mobo
EVGA Geforce 660 Ti 2GB
16GB Kingston Memory
500 Watt Antec PSU
1 TB HDD

Been awhile since I got back into the gaming/pc building scene. I wanted to get something better than my current HP shelf computer so I found this thinking I got a good deal. It came with a 23" Samsung LED, Speakers, MS Keyboard and a Logitech G500 mouse.

The guys did a fresh install for me and left me with an activated copy GTA 4. I figured this would play GTA 4 but it runs like crap. I mean super laggy, can barely navigate the menu after it loads up let alone takes like 2 minutes just to rotate the view.

I'm thinking somethings wrong here or maybe this isn't good enough? Has the latest WHQL Drivers and all other drivers are up to date.

Tried doing some searching but no luck.

sykozis · 02-14-2013, 23:36 | posts: 13,630 | Location: US East Coast

Overclock your processor....

jpingra5 · 02-15-2013, 00:19 | posts: 7 | Location: Orefield, PA

so i'm assuming my processor is weak

if that's the case invest in a newer one if it will make a huge impact?

sykozis · 02-15-2013, 00:31 | posts: 13,630 | Location: US East Coast

Not going to make a "huge" impact.... If you have an aftermarket CPU cooler, overclocking would be a cheaper way to determine what's causing the performance issue than upgrading.

Uncle Dude · 02-15-2013, 00:36 | posts: 2,095 | Location: USA

GTA 4 is an absolute dog, performance-wise, but you sure ought to be able to navigate the menu smoothly. Something else is clearly amiss.

Fire up CPU-Z, start the game, and alt-tab out to see if your cpu is at full clocks. Also run MSI Afterburner's on-screen display to check that your gpu is ramping up to full 3d clocks. Could be as simple as a power management setting. Good luck.

jpingra5 · 02-15-2013, 01:39 | posts: 7 | Location: Orefield, PA

Yes, I have a Zalman CNPS9700. I'll run CPU-Z and give that MSI Afterburner a shot. I did just do a simple overclock and brought it up to 3.0. After that I believe I have to start adjusting other values besides the base clock. I'll run those apps first and makesure everything is operating like it should before I starting gearing it up more. Thanks for the quick responses!

machete · 02-15-2013, 01:56 | posts: 48

have you tried installing drivers? nvm

jpingra5 · 02-15-2013, 01:56 | posts: 7 | Location: Orefield, PA

I was hitting almost 78% thru the loading screens. Then as soon as it loads the first mission it lingers around only 34% - 42% GPU load.

So it seems the 660ti isn't running at it's full potential during game play.

CPU checks out fine.

jpingra5 · 02-17-2013, 02:48 | posts: 7 | Location: Orefield, PA

any input anyone?

Loophole35 · *Last edited by Loophole35; 02-17-2013 at 03:48.*

What is your CPU hitting GTA4 is a CPU hog and needs a lot of per core performance you need to over clock your CPU 2.6 won't cut it. The reason you have low gpu usage that usually means that the CPU can't "feed" the gpu.

mezball · 02-17-2013, 17:48 | posts: 286 | Location: Albany, NY

That setup you have is fine for gaming. My previous rig and the one my son's is using are similar and he has no problem playing BF3, Skyrim w/mods, Crysis2 w/mod, ASG III, etc:

BIOSTAR T5 XE P55 MoBo w/CM Hyper 212 cooler w/push/pull fans
I5-760 @ 4.0 Ghz (will do 4.2Ghz) all cores
8GB ram at 1600
Gigabyte GTX660Ti overclocked
PNY GTX460 for Physix
WD Raptor Hard drives
PC Power Cooling 910w power supply
X-Fi sound card

Personally, I don't trust anybody installing O.S. or programs. If I buy anything used (usually for friends/family), I do fresh installs of O.S., drivers, programs, etc. This way I know it's done right.

Update DirectX, Update windows, Update Mobo drivers, reinstall GPU drivers, definitely overclock CPU/GPU, clean-up hard drive, defrag hard drive, etc.

Good Luck!

styka · 02-18-2013, 04:36 | posts: 288 | Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

My guess is just gta4's terrible optimization.. I remember it was terrible on the pc.. Try other games first, see if the issue is persistent.

Zboe · 02-18-2013, 05:03 | posts: 534 | Location: USA

I played that game on an E2200 (OC'd to 3.3Ghz) and a pair of 8800GS' (this is the same GTA 4 that was released in 2008 right?)...any "i" series chip Intel has ever made should easily power even that "hog" of a game. Period.

jpingra5 · 02-19-2013, 00:47 | posts: 7 | Location: Orefield, PA

I tested out some other games it works perfect & fast with graphics maxed out. It hits around 90% - %100 with other games.

Yet it gets stuck below %40 in GTA 4.

I got the CPU up to 3.5ghz & I lowered everything to performance based settings in the Nvidia CP and still no change in it.

Guess it's just the game from what I can tell after trying out some others.

Loophole35 · 02-19-2013, 00:49 | posts: 1,927 | Location: FLA,USA

GTA4 is the model for how not to do a console port.

---TK--- · 02-19-2013, 00:54 | posts: 14,935 | Location: New Jersey, USA

overclocking your cpu should net you higher gains then oc your 660ti. awful port

jpingra5 · 03-03-2013, 21:57 | posts: 7 | Location: Orefield, PA

Just wanted to update this. I managed to overclock my cpu to run stable at 4.0ghz and used driver sweeper and installed 314.07 drivers and now it works great like it should all maxed out.

---TK--- · 03-03-2013, 22:02 | posts: 14,935 | Location: New Jersey, USA

overclocking your video memory should help as well, not sure how a 660ti overclocks on the memory though

alanm · 03-04-2013, 11:56 | posts: 5,048

I had no problem with GTA 4 with i5-760 @ 4ghz and GTX 570. As someone noted... something is amiss.

angmar · *Last edited by angmar; 03-06-2013 at 08:00.*

I gave my little brother my old i5 760 and he has it running at 4.2ghz and plays everything perfectly fine...you just need to overclock it....we've had this i5 760 overclocked since the day we got it which must have been atleast 3 maybe even 4? years ago

first gen Core cpus are def getting old but I would still take one of those over an AMD cpu anyday.

If you oc'd and GTA is still running like **** then either it's not updated or something else is def wrong.