Upgraded Video Card is Downgrading System Performance

[ryanbarrier]

I recently purchased a new video card to help my performance when playing World of Warcraft.  Old card is AGP 4x/8x GeForce4 Ti 4200 by MSI that is several years old.  It would allow me to play the game with all graphics settings at minimum, at a resolution of 1280x1024, at average framerates around 18 frames per second.

The new card is HIS Hightech H26XQT512ANP Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail.  I found this card from reading a review on TomsHardware.com, which I've used in the past with great success when making hardware purchasing decisions.  This is supposed to be the best buy for the money in the $100 range, and likely in the last round of cards for AGP interface.

There is a known driver issue with the AGP version of this card, but since it's been around so long there are many fixes out there for it.  After installing the card, installing the drivers, and applying the official ATI hotfix for AGP, the card seems to be working properly.  However, my framerate in WoW has actually dropped by about 7 frames per second on average, and the general performance of the PC is slower than it was with the old card.

Using ATI's Catalyst interface I can see that while WoW is running the video card is at around 10-20% utilization.  I was never able to see how much the old card was being utilized.  I just can't understand why a card that is supposed to be so much faster would cause my system to slow down...

Other Hardware components are:
- AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Newcastle 2.0GHz Socket 754 Single-Core Processor Model ADA3000AXBOX - Retail
- MSI K8N Neo Platinum 754 NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
- 3x Crucial 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory Model CT6464Z40B - OEM
- HITACHI Deskstar 7K250 HDS722516VLSA80 (13G0254) 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Pertinent Software:
- Windows XP (32 bit) SP2
- Avast Antivirus (freeware)

Since installing the new card I have also updated DirectX to the latest version.  I believe the last time I upgraded DirectX was in 2006.

Any thoughts as to what could be the problem?  When I bought the hardware listed above (Processor, MB, Memory, HDD) I brought the video card over from an older computer.  The old video card is 5-7 years old and is by far the oldest component in the system, so naturally I assumed it was the bottleneck in my system performance.  I noticed that it seems like the HDD is being accessed a lot now that the new card is in, much more so than before.  Might the rest of the system be struggling to get the data to the Video Card now?

I had intended for this purchase to extend the life of the system for a few more years, but now it seems as though I just threw my money out the window.  Any advice is appreciated.

[Calum]

That seems odd, your new video card is much more powerful than your old one.
Check your chipset drivers and see if you can update them.
Also, defragment your hard drive.
Got the latest drivers for your graphics card?

[patio]

PSU ? ?
Ran the HDD diagnostics lately ? ?

[ryanbarrier]

Interesting thoughts.  I did read in some forums that the card is a power hog.  It actually has its own molex power connector.

The Catalyst Control Center (CCC) has an "Overdrive" section used for overclocking the card.   If the power connector is not attatched, this section is grayed out and is not an option.  When I first put the card in, this section was greyed out even though it was plugged in.  I have several case fans daisy chained on that power line, so I grabbed the connector straight from the PSU and plugged it in instead and now I have access to the overclocking features.  This did not have any impact on my gaming or general performance though.

I did run disk defragmenter when I noticed the excessive HD access.  The analysis said defragmentation was not necessary, but I did it anyway.  It did not seem to help.

Strangely enough, the latest version of video card drivers was actually on the disk that shipped with the card.  I'm going to try to download the drivers from ATI again, and try with and without the hotfix.  But as of right now I believe I do have the latest drivers for the card, and I have the AGP hotfix from ATI applied as well.  Neither are WHQL verified or digitally signed. 

I have not tried updating the MB chipset drivers.  I'll do that tonight.

It would be my luck that I just happen to have a HD failure in process and this is all coincidence...

Does anyone know what would happen if my PSU were underpowered for the system?  I have 2 DVD drives, a floppy drive, the video card, and the SATA HD all pulling from the PSU.  Everything seems to be running fine, just slow.  I thought if the PSU were underpowered that I would get a BSoD or the system would just shut off, but I don't really know.

I think my PSU is an Antec Basiq 350 Watt Power Supply (23350) from Circuit City.  They have a very limited supply, and I had to buy one from them because my old 500W PSU failed a few months ago.  I think I'm going to hit up Newegg again and get a decent PSU and see if that helps too.

[Calum]

I think you may need a better power supply.
350W should be OK for that system, but if that card's a power hog it may be wise to get one that gives a little more juice.

[ryanbarrier]

Updated CPU driver for MSI motherboard, as well as onboard LAN driver and some of the software utilities that came with the motherboard.  Now I'm getting errors with LiveUpdate (MSI's updating software), and the performance is not any better.  BIOS and NB chipset drivers had no updates available.

Interestingly, the voltage for CPU, AGP, RAM, etc, are all 5-10% below target.  I'm pretty sure they are within allowable tolerance, but it just reinforces the theory that the PSU is contributing to the problem.  I would think that if the Video card had insufficient power that it would just fail to work, but it's a pretty sophisticated card and I wouldn't be surprised if it scaled back its own performance to match the capabilities of the PSU. 

New PSU is in the mail from newegg (CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail).  Hopefully bumping up from a barebones 350W PSU to a decent 520W PSU will make a noticeable difference.  But at $119, my "cheap upgrade to extend the life of my old PC" is now topping the scales at $260.  (Note: Theoretically I have $40 in mail in rebates coming my way, but I never count those as I only actually get about half of the ones I submit)

The video card is "exchange only", meaning I'm stuck with it.  The PSU is a standard return item, so I can send it back for a refund if necessary.  I figure that if I end up biting the bullet and buying all new parts for a whole new system (PCIe here I come!) then this PSU will be a nice addition to that system.  So, it's not all in vain.

[Spoiler]

I think your new PSU will help. Its seems to be the weak link in your system.

Let us know how it goes.

[soybean]

(Note: Theoretically I have $40 in mail in rebates coming my way, but I never count those as I only actually get about half of the ones I submit)

Well, something is wrong there.  Make sure you comply with the all requirements for submitting the rebate, and followup if you don't receive it.  Rebate processors have been going gradually more online.  Some of them send out an email notices acknowledging receipt of your rebate submission and they may also send an email notice  when the rebate has been approved for payment and a check has been issued.   

Make copies of everything.  If you don't receive the rebate within the time frame stated on the rebate form, contact the rebate processing center and/or the manufacturer.