Hardware monitor while gaming?

[BuzzKillington]

I'm looking for some kinda of diagnostic software to run while gaming that may help spot the bottlecap in my rig. I'm thinking of upgrading from the p8400 2.26GHz Centrino 2 to a t9800 @ 2.93GHz.

I'm thinking the P8400 is what's limiting my frames on AA3... do you think the extra .7GHz would bump me up 10frames or so? More?

EDIT: I was reading and found the Q9100(quad 2.26GHz) burned the T9600(2.8GHz) in every benchmark. Does this mean the Q9100 would yield similar performance gains in game as the more expensive, higher frequency dual cores? I ask this because the 2.26 quad is cheaper than the t9800 and t9600 duals... If I could get similar gains from the cheaper quad I think the choice would be clear.

[Omega]

I doubt it's the CPU.

That said, if you're already hard set on spending the money, I would spend it on a Quad anyways. Think about it this way: lower speed, yes, but higher cache (inherent of two more cores), and better general processing ability.

now, I doubt that AA3 has the tech to split the workload to different cores (physics to core 1, basic geometry to core 2, etc), but even just dividing the workload across 4 cores instead of 2 seems like a better idea.

So if you're dead set on just buying a new proc, go quad.

If you actually care about what's bottlenecking you -- it's probably your GPU or RAM, assuming you have a decent mobo. Higher speed/capacity RAM or a better GPU will be cheaper than a new CPU (well, maybe not the GPU, depends on what model you get), and may very well solve your issue.

If you have dual monitors, easy way to watch usage is to pop open task manager and put it on the performance page -- it'll show up to the most recent 30secs or minute or so of CPU usage (per core, too) and pagefile use. If you want something a little more, run Speedfan too (temps are good to know), and I forgot what program I had, but it was a really slick monitoring proggie that showed all kinds of data like CPU, RAM, GPU, temps, HD space, etc etc etc. If somebody can remember the name (i might have old screenshots with it), that's what i'd use.

if you're on a single monitor, I don't know what to say. haha

[Omega]

Also, what exactly are you asking? The thread title indicates software, but the content of your post points to hardware, specifically CPUs.

or, basically:

"You put this thread in the wrong section, where do you want it that isn't the chatterbox, but still relevant to that within it?"

[BuzzKillington]

I wanted a hardware monitor to determine where my bottleneck was, to see if upgrading my CPU was worth it. If it's my GPU I'm **** out of luck because it's a laptop (9800m).

Another similar question is, if my CPU scores around 2000 in 3dmark06, what kind of frame boost would I see with a CPU that scores around 4000? 5, 10 fps?

[crenn]

Depends on the game really. But I'd say your GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU.

[Zephik]

As far as frame rates go, its almost always the GPU and the RAM. The Processor you have should be more than sufficient. Even your GPU is pretty good. I'm only using an nVidia GeForce Go 6800 and I can play things like Oblivion on medium-high settings?

What frame rates are you getting right now anyways?

Maybe look into seeing if they make a more powerful card for your laptop and scour ebay for it.

[Omega]

Knowing now that it's a laptop, I would say don't bother with it. Either sell it and buy a more powerful/gaming-oriented laptop, or save up and buy a decent desktop, assuming you don't have one.

[BuzzKillington]

I have 4gigs of DDR3 @ 1066 in my laptop so it's definitely not the RAM.

I remember looking at laptop GPU's a while back and they were insanely overpriced, and for low-mid grade gpus at that. We're talkin' 8400GS's for like 350 if I remember right.

EDIT: eBay's best card atm is the 9600GT for 200 or the 8600GT for 250. I can only imagine how much a 260 would run.

On AA3 I'm typically in the 30-40 range but there are plenty of times I dip into the 20's. (8868 3dmark06 1st run)

[crenn]

Lower the quality settings to mid range and also lower your res down a little.

[x88x]

Assuming you're running the game at the max res for your laptop's panel, your GPU is definitely the bottleneck. If you want a hardware monitor to see what's going on, grab another monitor (the displaying kind :P) and install Motherboard Monitor (http://www.directron.com/mobomonitor.html) or SpeedFan (http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php)or something similar. That should give you a good idea of what's going on. I'm not sure if MBM measures RAM usage though, so you might want to run the Vista resource monitor on the second display too. That being said, you'll probably see a bit of a performance boost if you get more RAM.

[BuzzKillington]

Running at 1920x1200 haha. I updated my GPU drivers and they gave me a few more frames. I'm installing COD4 and BF2 to keep me entertained until AA3 is better optimized. The game doesn't have that amazing of graphics to be drawing so much. You see random casings flying around your guy sometimes so I'm sure that's a sign of poor optimization lol.

[x88x]

Running at 1920x1200 haha. I updated my GPU drivers and they gave me a few more frames. I'm installing COD4 and BF2 to keep me entertained until AA3 is better optimized. The game doesn't have that amazing of graphics to be drawing so much. You see random casings flying around your guy sometimes so I'm sure that's a sign of poor optimization lol.

Hmmm, those casings sound like lots of physics going on. Do you have any open RAM slots? You might actually get a nice boost from more RAM. The most noticeable improvement that I saw when I went from 4-8GB was a big improvement in GTA4.

[Eclecticos]

Although this may be irrelevant, I have found a solution to the constrained proportions of any second monitor connected to your PC. For the time being I would recommend an additional motherboard namely the Mini-ITX as the controller for a second monitor if you wish to multi-task during any gaming round. All you would really need is a Mini-ITX Motherboard, Mini-ITX PSU, RAM, another keyboard, mouse, and a router. You could modify your current pc case to accept the new hardware and enjoy the convenience of true dual monitors.

[Zephik]

I've always noticed that lowering resolution seems to make games run smoother. Maybe try something like that.