GPU Problem/Question

[Paperbag_Writer]

Hey Guys,

So I am in the process of buying parts to build myself a new pc. I just picked up an XFX Radeon 4850 GPU and installed it in my current machine (an HP btw) just until i finish shopping for parts. I've got it installed using the latest drivers and such, but im noticing my FPS fluctuating wildly. I just joined the TF2 Warpath server and noticed my FPS was at 140ish right out of spawn, but when i got to the frontlines it dropped all the way down 30-40. Im assuming that my CPU is maybe bottlenecking my GPU. Just curious what you guys think.

Current System:
e6400 core 2 duo 2.13ghz
3gb of ram
vista premium 32-bit
antec earthwatts 430w psu (maybe not enough?)

Thanks!

 

[HardHat]

Just about all the Source based games are still heavily CPU dependant. Try overclocking the e6400 to ~2.8 - 3.0 Ghz

Your PSU is fine...what resolution/settings are you playing at?

 

[Paperbag_Writer]

Thanks for the input. My monitor is 1680x1050 and im using the auto configuration which is high on about everything. The only problem is that i cant really overclock because my pc is a pre-built hewlitt packard. There is a software based overclocking program calles SetFSB that works with my motherboard, but i dont think i could get anywhere near that high with it. So its possible that my cpu just cant keep up?