GPU CPU schmeepeeyou

Well, I feel slightly dumb for not ruling EVERYTHING out before getting another graphics card...

Apparently, it's my CPU that's the culprit with my lagging mouse and computer freeze-ups. I just installed the new GTX 470 (replacing the thought-faulty 465)... and am having the same issues. So, I tried World of Warcraft in Windowed mode while looking at the Performance tab of the Task Manager.

Yep... CPU going haywire. Now, I'm mad, because I REALLY don't want to deal with another processor right now... I want to wait until I get my tax return to get a new mobo/CPU/RAM. Ugh.

Who knows... maybe I can find another CPU for this socket (939 I believe) until then.

 

I'm getting really tired of this problem.

Specs:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Nvidia GTX 465
3GB RAM
500GB HDD (system, other hard drives too) with 167GB free space
1000W Corsair PSU
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

First, I had the mouse/keyboard issues (which went away with a different mouse/keyboard for awhile). Then, a few weeks after installing the GPU, the computer started acting up -- mouse lagging, programs lagging, complete freezes requiring a hard restart, BSODs in the logs from the freezes.

So now I'm thinking it's the CPU? Which I was 99% sure of when I posted the above, but now can I be certain that the CPU is the issue?

When replacing the motherboard (awhile back, since I thought the mobo was the issue due to weird screens at POST often and the mouse/keyboard issues), I did notice a few (maybe half a dozen) bent pins on the CPU, so I unbent them using needle nose pliers, tweezers, etc. (with an antistatic wrist strap on, of course), cleaned it and the heat sink with rubbing alcohol and applied fresh Arctic Silver 5 correctly.

I'm about to test the memory, but meanwhile I'd like input as to what the hell is going on... please?

 

Well, I let Memtest86 run for a half hour... zero errors, etc. so I'm pretty darn certain that the RAM is just fine.

So is the culprit indeed the CPU?

Why can't this thing just be okay until January when I get my tax return so I can get the new hardware I've been wanting?

And yeah, WoW keeps the CPU up at around 88%, which I've figured out is NOT normal...

What, besides OCCT, can test my processor with to see what the deal is? OCCT just brings the temps up (but not to the point of concern... they stay below 60C)

 

Bump

 

Just as a suggestion that CPU is a huge bottleneck for the video card.

If you want a new CPU probably need to replace the motherboard to get more modern.

WOW will put a big load on the CPU.

Regardless if it's the CPU or not I would still strongly consider a quad CPU upgrade later on as your doing.

Have you been monitoring your CPU temps?

 

Try Prime95, that beats the crap out of a CPU but is generally used as a test for OC stability. May give you an extra insight, IDK. I liked my X2 3800+ machine but I never played WOW on it. You playing it on full settings?

 

Thanks for the replies!

Yes, getting the GPU was a first affordable step in getting a whole better computer... planning on an i7, DDR3, etc.

I'll try Prime95 when I get a chance to figure it out (any tips?). Although, I'm thinking now that the GPU was still faulty, being that my computer hasn't frozen once since I put the 470 in, while with the MSI 465, it was freezing at LEAST once a day, sometimes a dozen times a day.

STILL waiting to hear back from MSI... going to have to try calling them again (tried twice already, it just rang and rang). Sigh.

What bothers me though, is when I first put the 465 in, WoW ran JUST fine (max settings). However, they came out with a major patch (4.0.1), so maybe that's why my CPU is freaking out now? I don't know. I tried scaling it down to 720p (from 1080p), and selecting middle-graphics... CPU is still at 60+%. I'll have to try messing with it more when I get time, but probably will first figure out Prime95.

 

Alright... CPU usage definitely equates to mouse lag.

Here is a screenshot of Everest sensor after about 5 minutes of Prime95 running... nothing abnormal (that I can see).

http://lookpic.com/c1/i2/3737/ZyCRzkTT.png

Also, I tried disabling all WoW addons (after reading that they boost CPU usage) and tried running WoW for a few minutes... no difference, still mouse lag and high CPU usage.

The mouse was having BAD lag problems while Prime95 was running... worse than with WoW, which is why I believe CPU usage = mouse lag.

The problem is, the mouse issue seems to be getting worse by day. For instance, at the Windows 7 logon screen, the mouse doesn't lag at all. With my account logged on and (only) Firefox open, mouse lags slightly. With another program that uses about 5% CPU, mouse lags a little bit more. A week ago, the mouse didn't lag at all except when running WoW.

Is my CPU going to die?