Power supply?

[xxc00lmanxx]

Hey,

Iv had my computer for just over a year now and i just started to have some issues with it. I have a AMD 6400 3.2Ghz, 9600GT, 2GB of ram, and a Termaltake 430Watt power supply. My problem is when ever i play game which i could play with no problem AT all before. i get drops of fps to lows of 20 and even 15 at points. Im lead to think that its my power supply thats slowing me down. Tomorrow im going to clean the inside of my computer and re apply my arctic silver to see if that helps.. any thoughts on what might be wrong

Thanks

 

[Grantofhell]

Background applications, maybe. Check for resource usage on your RAM too.

 

[nevermind1534]

I'd say almost definitely not your PSU. I'd go with what the Grantofhell said.

 

[63083]

An old or under-powered PSU will not cause a computer to physically slow down but rather cause unexpected power-downs when it can't supply appropriate power.

Most likely a RAM issue though. Check for RAM usage.

If you are using a 32-bit OS, a good chunk of your RAM will be used during installation and will not be available for use.

Have you heard any clicking noises coming from your hard drive lately? Oftentimes, a failing hard drive can dramatically slow down a computer...especially during intensive tasks like games.

 

[freestyler105]

Well, if there's a lot of dust in there, it might be as simple as that. See how it runs after cleaning.

 

[nevermind1534]

Some CPUs will scale down if they get too hot (if you have a whole dog on the heatsink, it can get pretty bad), but that probably isn't the problem.

 

[xxc00lmanxx]

Alright thanks for the feed back guys. Im not too sure what my RAM usage should if its normal but right now with just firefox and MSN open im useing 1.10GB of ram too me its seems kind of high. If this is the problem what do you think i can do to lower the usage other then reformatting. BTW i keep my computer on standby i almost never turn it off, might that be why its so high?

Thanks

 

[foothead]

Yeah, you have to turn the computer off to clear the RAM.