Simple Questions Simple Answers - Page 168

On July 01 2012 08:19 neek wrote:
I am using a nVidia gefore GTX 285 graphics and a intel q9550 quadcore 2.83hz processor. My fps are around 40-50 most of the game, but when there is a big engagement it drops below 20 fps making it impossible to micro correctly. I already use the lowest settings and used guides to increase fps using the "variables.txt" file, but nothing worked. I'm not an expert on hardware but i would say my hardware should do better then <20 fps on the lowest settings. Does any of you know anything I can do to improve my fps ?? I already tried updating my drivers. One thing I could think of is buying more RAM, as I'm only using 4GB now. But windows taskmanager shows I'm only using 2GB when starcraft2 is loaded... any help is appreciated

On July 01 2012 08:15 JingleHell wrote:


If you mean cleaning heatsinks and cables, yes, if you mean cleaning chips and circuit boards, no.

On July 01 2012 08:19 neek wrote:
I am using a nVidia gefore GTX 285 graphics and a intel q9550 quadcore 2.83hz processor. My fps are around 40-50 most of the game, but when there is a big engagement it drops below 20 fps making it impossible to micro correctly. I already use the lowest settings and used guides to increase fps using the "variables.txt" file, but nothing worked. I'm not an expert on hardware but i would say my hardware should do better then <20 fps on the lowest settings. Does any of you know anything I can do to improve my fps ?? I already tried updating my drivers. One thing I could think of is buying more RAM, as I'm only using 4GB now. But windows taskmanager shows I'm only using 2GB when starcraft2 is loaded... any help is appreciated

On July 01 2012 09:18 neek wrote:
few more things:

I am currently using Windows Vista. Will upgrading to Windows7 help me at all?

I checked the temperature of my CPU, and indeed it gets really high. I downloaded a program called Open Hardware Monitor and it shows the max temperature of my CPU is 61C and when im doing normal work it's about 50-55C. Then i checked the temperature when watching a replay where 200/200 army's fight each other, during that the temperature was higher, almost reaching max. Does this mean my CPU is simply not good enough and I should buy a new one or overclock? Will buying better cooling be an option?

On July 01 2012 09:20 JingleHell wrote:


What are you calling "almost reaching max". Also, you're getting core temps, yes? And the first solution is to see if your CPU cooler is dusty as shit.

On July 01 2012 09:30 neek wrote:


It went up to 59C. Yes these are core temps, so I have 4 different temps. But only core 1 showed signicant changes so I didn't mention the other. But now the max temps are changing for some reason, I don't really understand. Also one more thing to note: I also checked the CPU-usage, using windows task manager, and weirdly enough it doesn't really show difference, it stays around 30%... so maybe my CPU isn't too bad, but it's not performing to its potential for some reason

On July 01 2012 09:32 JingleHell wrote:


Uhm, if the "max temps" you mean are the ones in hardware monitor's rightmost column, that's the max since you've started the software. Core temps for C2Q are safe quite a lot higher than that. I'd guess you're just having situational trouble with your CPU keeping up with unit counts.

On July 01 2012 06:56 EdenPLusDucky wrote:


Windowed mode will perform worse than normal fullscreen.

On July 01 2012 09:37 neek wrote:


Yes, but how can my CPU have problems when it is not even using it's full power?? shouldn't it like, use more power to keep up the fps automaticly ?? I'm not really sure what this "30% CPU usage" means though

On July 01 2012 09:49 JingleHell wrote:


If the speed limit changes, and you don't see the sign and hit the gas pedal in your car, does your car accelerate anyways to compensate?

The software is the guy at the wheel in this analogy. If the software can't do more with your hardware, your hardware won't do more.

On July 01 2012 09:52 neek wrote:

Ok, so how do I tell my software to go faster then? Or in other words, how do I change the limit for CPU usage for sc2??

On July 01 2012 10:02 JingleHell wrote:


you swear violently at Blizzard, like the rest of us. I suppose it's theoretically possible there's something severely wrong with your GPU causing it to limit you instead of your CPU, but that's almost as plausible as politicians telling the truth.

On July 01 2012 10:06 Myrmidon wrote:
The software can't be changed (by you, and not without a whole lot of trouble on Blizzard's part).

The way the game's programming is structured internally, it can't make use of all the resources your CPU has. It's partly the consequence of what's inherently required to run an RTS like SC2 and partly because of the implementation. No software can fully use a CPU, particularly to do something useful, though some types can get a lot closer than others.

Actually, there are parts of your CPU that are being used fully, and everything else is waiting on that.

If all it took were changing some kind of limit, don't you think it would already be the correct way by default?

On July 01 2012 10:07 neek wrote:

Ah, so sc2 tells my CPU it can only use like 20% of its capacity ?? hm but then how would buying a new CPU help me ?? So if you're right, my CPU can do like 5 times better but sc2 is just not allowing it ? that's weird

On July 02 2012 06:46 EdenPLusDucky wrote:
Does intel quicksync help with streaming at all?