I'm building a retro gaming PC to relive some nostalgia with Windows XP, and I'm using a GeForce 980 Ti, which I thought would be more than enough for classic games like Hitman: Blood Money and Crysis. However, I've noticed that in some graphically intense scenes, my FPS drops significantly, down to the mid-30s or even late 20s in Crysis. My motherboard is an Intel P45 chipset, my CPU is a Core2Duo E8600 running at 3.33 GHz, and I have 3 GB of RAM. I know other components can affect performance, but is such a low FPS common for this setup? Shouldn't the 980 Ti handle these games better?
5 Answers
Honestly, your hardware exceeds the recommended specs for those games. But since the Core2Duo is from over a decade ago, upgrading your CPU could really help. Why not explore options like the Core2Quad Q9650 if it's available?
Your CPU is probably holding you back. The Core2Duo is quite outdated, and a newer chipset would likely pair better with the 980 Ti for optimal performance. Try to consider upgrading to at least a 4th or 5th generation Intel CPU if possible.
So you think it's definitely the CPU causing the FPS drops in intense game scenes?
Keep in mind that the original Crysis is known for being CPU-heavy. Even with high-end components, it can drop into the 60s. Also, I found that lowering the resolution from 1080p to 720p didn't improve performance much for me, either.
Interesting! I'll keep that in mind, especially since I got similar performance regardless of resolution.
Typically, the 980 Ti should give you over 100 FPS at 1080p with 8xAA. Although, if loads are high, like lots of enemies shooting, it could drop. Maybe try benchmarking your components to see where the bottleneck is occurring.
Yeah, it reaches over 100 FPS during lighter moments, but those frantic sections really bring it down. Do you know how to benchmark just the GPU performance instead of the entire system?
Have you checked if your GPU needs to be repasted? It's been a while since the 980 Ti's release, and with aging thermal paste, performance could degrade over time.
I monitored the temperatures and they seem fine, hovering around mid-60s to early 70s, which appears reasonable.
Yeah, I would love to, but the availability is an issue. Best option I've found is the E8600 for now.