Should my computer be performing better?

[Devils6258]

Specs:

CPU: Phenom x4 9750
GPU: Radeon 5770 cucore
Ram: 8 gigs of ddr 2

I've installed a 600 watt power supply, and I have a terabyte hard drive that came stock with the computer. The original rig was a gateway dx4300 before I changed the CPU, GPU, and Power supply.

I run the computer with very few unnecessary programs running in the background. My process tab can't even be scrolled. Starcraft II is recommending I use ultra settings for everything. The only problem is that it actually can't play at those settings; at least not well. I get 63 FPS when the game starts, but as the game progresses and more things start appearing on the screen the FPS drops to 30-40. During big battles it can dip into the 20s, sometimes even the teens. So my question is: is this normal? Should I be seeing better performance from Starcraft II at these settings?

Also, a little unrelated, but I installed my first "unnecessary" program the other day: Rainmeter. It's a desktop customization tool. What are your opinions of this program? Is it worth it? Does it eat too many resources? I'm normally a minimalist when it comes to my computer, but I figured one program couldn't hurt that much. I have noticed that my computer takes a minute to load the desktop, which it never did before. It's the reason I don't normally use programs like this.

This is my current desktop. Too much?

 

[Indigo]

Your system is doing fine. Just because it does 60FPS when nothing is on the screen, doesn't mean it should carry across into the other moments. From my time in SCII, if you really want to get high frame rates at ultra settings, you need to be running a card faster than the one you have. The 5770 is a fine card, but it's not going to handle a lot of on screen firepower. You'd need at least a 5850 or a 5870 for that kind of setting (I have the 5870, it does fine at ultra, but the frame rates do tend to settle into the 30-40 range when I have a lot going on)

Also, the processor you have is about a generation behind AMD's current Phenom II, and while they're fine CPUs for most things, heavy gaming they are not.

I haven't used Rainmeter before, but logic says, if you change your computer and something doesn't work right, change it back and see how it does.