Overclocking, Hardware & Everquest 2 FPS

Let me start from the beginning and post my specs first and foremost.

Processor: AMD Phenom x4 9950
Ram: OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Video Card: ASUS EAH4870 DK/HTDI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4870
Motherboard: Asus M3a79-t Deluxe

I have a very friendly computer when it comes to overclocking. 790fx southbridge and a black edition * Although old now* processor. I have made a few attempts and they "seem" to be successful ones according to Prime95 on 8 hour runs.
The reason though that I decided to OC my processor from 2,600mhz up to 3000mhz was to see if maybe it would help my framerate in Everquest 2. It did seem to help my framerate while standing idle but continues to be choppy when moving into new areas. Also keep in mind I am some what new to the whole overclocking scene.

This is how I achieved 3ghz OC.

1st: Changed FSB/ HTT from 200 - > 225 and the multiplier to 13.5
2nd: Changed Multiplier to 15 while leaving FSB/HTT at 200
3rd: Used a 15% profile in my bios settings to overclock to 3.0ghz (Not Prime95 tested)

Both seem to run fine on my machine and prime 95 has no issues on 8 hour cycles but I cannot for the life of me figure out if my lag inside the game is from a bad overclock on my part or just not enough processing power from my machine. Whether it is from my CPU or my GPU is the big question I have.

Idle in Everquest 2 my frames sit 45-50fps but if I dare move into a new area where new textures are having to load it can drop into single digits and I am not sure why.

Possible Solutions and Advice needed

I am going to upgrade my machine here in the next few days but am unsure which would make more of a dramatic difference for me.

1. Buy a AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core
OR
2. Buy a second ASUS EAH4870 DK/HTDI/1GD5 Radeon HD 4870

I was planning on buying one or the other anyways before I started having these issues but any friendly advice or insight would be great.

A little more information for you guys.

I have 3 different 3dmark scores to give you an idea of my performance outside of Everquest 2.

Stock Settings @ 2.6ghz with no overclock.

3DMark Score 12162 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score 4634
HDR/SM3.0 Score 6 K
CPU Score 3460
Game Score N/A N/A
GT1 - Return To Proxycon 37.178 FPS SM2.0 Graphics Tests
GT2 - Firefly Forest 40.056 FPS SM2.0 Graphics Tests
CPU1 - Red Valley 1.154 FPS CPU Tests
CPU2 - Red Valley 1.659 FPS CPU Tests
HDR1 - Canyon Flight 65.965 FPS HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Tests
HDR2 - Deep Freeze 50.972 FPS HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Tests



Test 2 with Multiplier at 15 , no change to FSB

3DMark Score 13766 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score 5 K
HDR/SM3.0 Score 6 K
CPU Score 4097
Game Score N/A N/A
GT1 - Return To Proxycon 42.832 FPS SM2.0 Graphics Tests
GT2 - Firefly Forest 46.365 FPS SM2.0 Graphics Tests
CPU1 - Red Valley 1.373 FPS CPU Tests
CPU2 - Red Valley 1.957 FPS CPU Tests
HDR1 - Canyon Flight 67.227 FPS HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Tests
HDR2 - Deep Freeze 60.230 FPS HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Tests




Test 3 with FSB at 225 and Multi at 13.5

3DMark Score 13297 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score 5 K
HDR/SM3.0 Score 6 K
CPU Score 3836
Game Score N/A N/A
GT1 - Return To Proxycon 41.218 FPS SM2.0 Graphics Tests
GT2 - Firefly Forest 45.498 FPS SM2.0 Graphics Tests
CPU1 - Red Valley 1.266 FPS CPU Tests
CPU2 - Red Valley 1.860 FPS CPU Tests
HDR1 - Canyon Flight 66.719 FPS HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Tests
HDR2 - Deep Freeze 57.555 FPS HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Tests



Temperatures

Not under load
CPU while overclocked ( Multiplier x15 ) : 38c
GPU : 51c

No load test... this is the only usefull info...
Prime 95
Occt
Thanks

Grosjambon said:

No load test... this is the only usefull info...
Prime 95
Occt
Thanks

Click to expand...

Wait what is it that you need again?

As an EQ2 player myself i can tell you that EQ2 is primarily a cpu load. If your able to significantly increase your framerates by OC'ing the cpu id start with that. (another way to tell where the problem is is if you upgrade your video and no fps increase...its cpu.) There are things in the setting of eq2 that can help with load times, and hurt them as well. Keep in mind that they have thier own issues as well...sony i mean. hehe If your getting 50 fps in game..not too bad really. If you go to the docks in EFP and go to the side with the carpet to SS...i stand there and look at the water and giant torch and get fps....80 or so with my amd phenom II 965 at 3.8 Ghz. 5850 1Gb radeon. my cpu score on 3dmark06 is about 5400.(video is about 21000) (tough to use though cause it prolly aint apples to apples...i just use the default settings in 3dmark06.

Not being familiar with Everquest II I am shooting in the dark here, a little (though I do play a lot of DDO). After looking through the system requirements I'd say you've just got a slow connection to their servers. Whether that's on their end or through the internet I can't tell you. A Phenom X4 @ 3.0 GHz and HD 4870 should be plenty to handle any on-line game. My old Opty 180 and 7900GTX (sig rig) does fine with DDO but I've got a good internet connection. In the middle of the night when the server load is light things are fine. When the servers get swamped, like on Friday night, things slow down - especially moving from one area to another and when I first enter the game.


However, the upgrade to a 940BE is worth it all by itself for other reasons ...

Can I also add one thing ... having played both EQ and EQ2 for a good long time

you are lagging at load into different zones, I'm willing to bet a few things may help.. all of them basic .. so I apologise Now if you have done some of this already .. helped me out a lot in the past.

1.) Internet lag .. these games were horrible for it and one of the reasons I went to WoW ( not wanting to get into a my MMORPG is better than yous contest here though ... I'd win ;p)

2.) does your poor HDD suffer ? make strange noises ? as this is where all that data is coming from, no need to go buy SSD but see if it's healthy

3.) if your HDD is good / new / fast .. then the next is where it is loading to .. your RAM
have a look at page-file settings and how much it uses that rather than the lovely 8GB RAM you have ... not sure what Windows you're running but turn off page-file and test it

4.) turn ALL the graphics settings to low and try loading zones .. will tell you if it's a GPU or CPU thing

5.) it could even be a driver issue .. try a clean sweep of GPU driver install etc.

All the best ... see you in Warhammer 40k online whenever they release it ... should kick *** over EQ,DDO & WoW