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I have set up my own PC - not so much experience at all with this stuff - and I am facing now some problems with gaming. Benchmarks told me that most of the games ( actually Borderlands 2 ) should run straight well. But when I am playing the game it lags, even on 1024x768 with all graphic requirements low. I've installed the drivers but it didn't change anything. So I am wondering whats wrong. Why my experience differs so much from the benchmarks.

I've installed CPU-Z and that's the output:

CPU-Z TXT Report
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Binaries
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU-Z version           1.63.0

Processors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of processors        1
Number of threads       4

APICs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processor 0 
    -- Core 0   
        -- Thread 0 0
    -- Core 1   
        -- Thread 0 1
    -- Core 2   
        -- Thread 0 2
    -- Core 3   
        -- Thread 0 3

Timers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ACPI timer      3.580 MHz
    HPET timer      14.318 MHz
    Perf timer      2.827 MHz
    Sys timer       1.000 KHz


Processors Information
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processor 1         ID = 0
    Number of cores     4 (max 4)
    Number of threads   4 (max 4)
    Name            AMD A8-3850
    Codename        Llano
    Specification       AMD A8-3850 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics
    Package         Socket FM1 (905)
    CPUID           F.1.0
    Extended CPUID      12.1
    Brand ID        21
    Core Stepping       LN1-B0
    Technology      32 nm
    TDP Limit       111 Watts
    Core Speed      2894.8 MHz
    Multiplier x FSB    29.0 x 99.8 MHz
    Stock frequency     2900 MHz
    Instructions sets   MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4A, x86-64, AMD-V
    L1 Data cache       4 x 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
    L1 Instruction cache    4 x 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
    L2 cache        4 x 1024 KBytes, 16-way set associative, 64-byte line size
    FID/VID Control     yes
    Min FID         8.0x
    VID range       0.450 V - 1.412 V
    # of P-States       8
    P-State         FID 0xD - VID 0x0B - IDD 19 (29.00x - 1.412 V)
    P-State         FID 0xA - VID 0x0E - IDD 17 (26.00x - 1.375 V)
    P-State         FID 0x7 - VID 0x12 - IDD 15 (23.00x - 1.325 V)
    P-State         FID 0x4 - VID 0x16 - IDD 13 (20.00x - 1.275 V)
    P-State         FID 0x10B - VID 0x1A - IDD 12 (18.00x - 1.225 V)
    P-State         FID 0x20C - VID 0x1F - IDD 9 (14.00x - 1.162 V)
    P-State         FID 0x206 - VID 0x24 - IDD 7 (11.00x - 1.100 V)
    P-State         FID 0x308 - VID 0x2A - IDD 6 (8.00x - 1.025 V)


    Package Type        0x2
    Model           51
    String 1        0x5
    String 2        0x1
    Page            0x0
    TDC Limit       76 Amps
    Boosted P-States    0
    Max non-turbo ratio 29.00x
    Max turbo ratio     29.00x
    Attached device     PCI device at bus 0, device 24, function 0
    Attached device     PCI device at bus 0, device 24, function 1
    Attached device     PCI device at bus 0, device 24, function 2
    Attached device     PCI device at bus 0, device 24, function 3
    Attached device     PCI device at bus 0, device 24, function 4


Thread dumps
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU Thread 0    
    APIC ID         0
    Topology        Processor ID 0, Core ID 0, Thread ID 0
    Type            02040000h
    Max CPUID level     00000006h
    Max CPUID ext. level    8000001Bh
    Cache descriptor    Level 1, I, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
    Cache descriptor    Level 1, D, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
    Cache descriptor    Level 2, U, 1 MB, 1 thread(s)

CPU Thread 1    
    APIC ID         1
    Topology        Processor ID 0, Core ID 1, Thread ID 0
    Type            02040000h
    Max CPUID level     00000006h
    Max CPUID ext. level    8000001Bh
    Cache descriptor    Level 1, I, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
    Cache descriptor    Level 1, D, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
    Cache descriptor    Level 2, U, 1 MB, 1 thread(s)


CPU Thread 2    
    APIC ID         2
    Topology        Processor ID 0, Core ID 2, Thread ID 0
    Type            02040000h
    Max CPUID level     00000006h
    Max CPUID ext. level    8000001Bh
    Cache descriptor    Level 1, I, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
    Cache descriptor    Level 1, D, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
    Cache descriptor    Level 2, U, 1 MB, 1 thread(s)


CPU Thread 3    
    APIC ID         3
    Topology        Processor ID 0, Core ID 3, Thread ID 0
    Type            02040000h
    Max CPUID level     00000006h
    Max CPUID ext. level    8000001Bh
    Cache descriptor    Level 1, I, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
    Cache descriptor    Level 1, D, 64 KB, 1 thread(s)
    Cache descriptor    Level 2, U, 1 MB, 1 thread(s)



Chipset
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northbridge         AMD K12 Bridge rev. 00
Southbridge         AMD A55/A60M rev. 11
Graphic Interface       PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width        x0
PCI-E Max Link Width        x0
Memory Type         DDR3
Memory Size         8192 MBytes
Memory Frequency        532.4 MHz (3:16)
CAS# latency (CL)       7.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD)   7
RAS# Precharge (tRP)        7
Cycle Time (tRAS)       20
Bank Cycle Time (tRC)       27

Memory SPD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIMM #              1
    SMBus address       0x50
    Memory type     DDR3
    Module format       UDIMM
    Manufacturer (ID)   G.Skill (7F7F7F7FCD000000)
    Size            8192 MBytes
    Max bandwidth       PC3-10700 (667 MHz)
    Part number     F3-10666CL9-8GBXL
    Number of banks     8
    Nominal Voltage     1.50 Volts
    EPP         no
    XMP         no
    AMP         no
JEDEC timings table     CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
    JEDEC #1        5.0-5-5-14-19 @ 380 MHz
    JEDEC #2        6.0-6-6-17-23 @ 457 MHz
    JEDEC #3        7.0-7-7-20-27 @ 533 MHz
    JEDEC #4        8.0-8-8-22-30 @ 609 MHz
    JEDEC #5        9.0-9-9-25-34 @ 685 MHz
    JEDEC #6        10.0-10-10-28-38 @ 761 MHz

DIMM #              1


Monitoring
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mainboard Model     A75M-HVS (0x00000218 - 0x009CE752)


DMI
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

DMI BIOS        
    vendor          American Megatrends Inc.
    version         P1.80
    date            05/26/2012
    ROM size        4096 KB

DMI System Information      
    manufacturer        To Be Filled By O.E.M.
    product         To Be Filled By O.E.M.
    version         To Be Filled By O.E.M.
    serial          To Be Filled By O.E.M.
    UUID            {03000200-0400-0500-0006-000700080009}

DMI Baseboard       
    vendor          ASRock
    model           A75M-HVS
    revision        unknown
    serial          unknown

DMI System Enclosure        
    manufacturer        To Be Filled By O.E.M.
    chassis type        Desktop
    chassis serial      To Be Filled By O.E.M.

DMI Extension Slot      
    designation     PCI1
    type            PCI
    width           32 bits
    populated       yes

DMI Extension Slot      
    designation     PCIE2
    type            A5
    populated       yes

DMI Extension Slot      
    designation     PCIE3
    type            A5
    populated       yes

DMI OEM Strings     
    string[0]       To Be Filled By O.E.M.

DMI Physical Memory Array       
    location        Motherboard
    usage           System Memory
    correction      None
    max capacity        8192 MBytes
    max# of devices     2

DMI Memory Device       
    designation     A1_DIMM0
    format          DIMM
    type            unknown
    total width     64 bits
    data width      64 bits
    size            8192 MBytes

DMI Memory Device       
    designation     A1_DIMM1
    format          DIMM
    type            unknown
    data width      64 bits

DMI Processor       
    manufacturer        AMD
    model           AMD A8-3850 APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics
    clock speed     2900.0 MHz
    FSB speed       100.0 MHz
    multiplier      29.0x


Graphics
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of adapters      1

Graphic APIs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

API             ATI I/O
API             ADL SDK

Display Adapters
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Display adapter 0   
    Name            AMD Radeon HD 6550D
    Codename        Sumo
    Technology      32 nm
    Memory size     512 MB
    PCI device      bus 0 (0x0), device 1 (0x1), function 0 (0x0)
    Vendor ID       0x1002 (0x1849)
    Model ID        0x9640 (0x9640)
    Performance Level   0
        Core clock  282.4 MHz
        Memory clock    533.0 MHz
    Performance Level   1
        Core clock  1800.0 MHz
        Memory clock    533.0 MHz

Win32_VideoController       AdapterRAM = 0x20000000 (536870912)

Software
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Windows Version         Microsoft Windows 7 (6.1) Home Premium Edition 64-bit   (Build 7600) 
DirectX Version         11.0

So, is it possible that I can raise the settings? Especially the GPU? I heard that I can increase the GPU Memory to 4GB. But how can I do that? In the bios settings, I didn't find a solution for this.

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1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

According to this, the AMD Radeon HD 6550D supports a maximum of 1024 MiB shared memory. However, your particular motherboard only supports 512 MiB shared memory (source).1

The GPU frequency of the AMD A8-3850 (unlike the A8-3870K) is locked and cannot be tweaked.

The benchmarks I found that claimed that some (certainly not most) recent games are playable were taken using (1024 MiB) DDR3-1866 memory. You are using DDR3-1333 memory, which is almost 30% slower. Although the CPU itself can barely benefit from the speed increase, even DDR3-1866 memory is rather slow for a GPU if you compare it to the GDDR5 memory used in dedicated graphics cards.

So, to take full advantage of your GPU would require buying a new motherboard and faster memory. A dedicated graphics card will probably come cheaper and achieve better results.

1 For reference, you can tweak the amount of shared memory in Advanced → North Bridge Configuration → Shared Memory in the BIOS.

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  • Thanks Dennis. Even these are bad news, i am glad to have certainty. I guess i have to buy a "real GPU". Anyway a perfect answer.
    – M. Hirn
    Feb 10, 2013 at 22:13

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