Lol blinK, you probably spent 10x as much time in mulch_dm back in the day. You can't escape your past! :P

Setsul the Xeon you showed there is only 4 cores/4 threads, so really it shouldn't be any benefit in streaming over the 4670, it would actually be lower performance due to lower clockrate.

Edit: just found that i7-4770k is only 249.99 @ microcenter.. If you want to stream I'd really recommend that as it gives you 4c/8threads, as compared to the i5-4670 which is just 4 cores/4 threads.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/413248/Core_i7_4770K_35GHz_Socket_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor

If you opt for 4cores/4threads i5-4670k is allegedly $179.99 @ microcenter:
http://www.microcenter.com/product/413251/Core_i5_4670K_34GHz_Socket_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor

For streaming and future proofing a bit more I'd really go with the i7.

P.S. if you want to go insane Intel is releasing an 8 core/16thread desktop processor end of this year (along with 2 6 core/12thread offerings). It will use DDR4 though and the platform cost will be way expensive, lol.

The reason why I asked what you are getting in that benchmark is that there are two samples from people with FX-8350's in that thread. FX-8350 @ 4.0ghz @ 87fps using dx9frames. FX-8350 @ 4.4ghz @ 107fps using dx9highframes. TF2 is heavily CPU centric so if you are getting similar results your CPU is likely performing as expected.

What are you getting when running the benchmark in this thread?

http://teamfortress.tv/forum/thread/7598-tf2-benchmarks

Cool, thanks that clears up some questions.
Yeah it will be much easier to help if the baseline for what has already been done is clear and up to date.

Sorry that you are still having problems, but there's still some low hanging fruit to go through that I think could help.

Edit: on your Latencymon can you look at the Drivers Tab and sort by 'Highest execution (ms)'

Okay, to be sure I'm interpreting your response correctly: The issue started once you initially switched from WIN8 to WIN7? How did you do this switch? Full formatting of hard drive in between so that none of your files were preserved, right?

And now you are back on windows 8, I'm assuming after once again formatting of your hard drive which completely wiped every single file on it?

Sorry I just want to make sure I'm on the same page. You've ignored some questions in the past, which I am not sure whether to take as confirmation or not.

Regarding your hard drive: Hitachi actually has above industry average for reliability...unlikely that is the issue right now. Rule out other basic driver related stuff first.

Can you please run latencyMon, and then while it is running play a game or do something where you experience the issue (watch a video?)?
It can indicate a specific driver that could be causing issues.

If it shows something, that's a possible lead.

Whether it shows something or not, goto Device manager...I will quote the following:

If there is a device that you disable and it fixes the performance issue...well obviously that's the culprit.

ALSO: Please ensure your power settings are set to 'high performance' in windows.
In Windows 8 search for 'choose a power plan' -> Change advanced power settings -> and then change the dropdown to 'high performance' if it is not already.
In your bios under ' CPU configuration' you can also change 'enhanced Halt State(C1E)' to disabled. You already disabled speedstep which you mentioned seem to improve things a little.

I earlier linked a DPC latency checker but apparently that has bugs and doesn't work in windows 8.

Looks like the below supports windows 8:
http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon_whatsnew
Download and run that

Did the problems occur back on windows 7 as well?

The current frag rating of a post, whether consciously or not, colors the perception of how people view it and interpret it themselves.

This doesn't ensure good posts gets upvoted and bad posts gets downvoted- it mostly just feeds into a bandwagon effect.
Ideally you would have a system that would initially hide +/- frags until X amount of time has passed so that you're not constantly influencing people's perceptions of how they should view a post before they have made their own unbiased assessment.

after you wiped your graphics drivers and then restarted I'm assuming windows automatically installed a driver upon startup (unless you booted into safe mode).

Did you then manually install your ATI driver after that occurred? Have you tested the performance before manually installing the ATI driver?

In my situation the act of installing the ATI catalyst driver after the automatically installed windows driver caused issues. I had to run driver sweeper a few times and reboot into safe mode...I finally discovered that not manually installing ATI catalyst driver at ALL was the only way I avoided issues. For me the driver windows automatically installed was sufficient and was the only thing that didn't cause video playback to be so laggy and to have tons of artifacts and hitching in games. (i tested each time with a benchmark...I think 3D mark, certain video tests would lag like crazy)

If you have not used safe mode I would recommend repeating the process but booting into safe mode after you run driver sweeper. This will prevent windows from automatically installing a display driver...then you can try to install the ATI driver from safe mode.

If that doesn't work you could try to go with only the automatically installed windows driver for your card (after wiping all drivers just boot normally).

http://66.226.78.22/downloadsite/manual/H61M-HVS.pdf

Page 34 is beginning of bios section

Goto Page 37

Goto the OC Tweaker screen.
You May try disabling SpeedStep technology, just because.

To look at DRAM can you goto
OC Tweaker -> Load XMP setting -> Profile 1

If you select Profile 1 does it then let you see and set the timing? (as seen on page 38).

Other random shit to try:
Look at windows event viewer for anything unusual
http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/win8/windows8-event-viewer.htm

Check for previously mentioned driver conflicts
edit: one way is to check DPC latency on your system: http://blog.tune-up.com/windows-insights/title-poor-jerky-performance-fixing-unacceptably-high-dpc-latency-issues/
http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

I'm assuming all malware scans come up empty since you blanked your hard drive. May want to check for a rootkit anyway http://www.malwarebytes.org/antirootkit/

I switched back to 144hz from 120hz lightboost as it seemed like it affected my mouse responsiveness and the 144hz mode was already pretty dang clear. I'm not sure if it is something to do with the specific hack on my system or what. There is very small increase in input lag when using lightboost but I wouldn't think it would be noticeable to the degree I experienced.

A massive effing tangent, lol. Anyway I kinda want to make a map specifically for this mode now, hopefully the 4v4 game mode doesn't die before it gets off the ground.

I will try to better describe what can be fun about faster pace in CTF. Noone dies 50 times before accomplishing something, and I would not find that fun either. You can accomplish something every run regardless of whether you actually bring the flag home. The question is was that offensive attack fun? Is getting a lot of opportunities to make a big play, test your opponent, or try for the flag fun? Advanced movement is not a requirement for CTF, but some potential to bypass a defender or grab a flag without killing everything first results in more action centered around the flag, and more interesting engagements with defenders. In traditional CTF you do not always have to DM everything and wipe the enemy defense to get the flag, whereas it is almost a requirement in TF2.

I can only speak to what I find fun in CTF from playing TFC at a top level for too many years. Defining what’s ‘fun’ is not easy and obviously subjective, so forgive me if I do not explain it well. I’m not saying what you should find fun, I’m just relating some things that myself and others who played organized TF enjoyed about it that are not present in TF2 CTF.

Some enjoyable elements in CTF on offense: you’re not constantly concerned about dying to the point of shying away from taking risks. If you fail to do much on one run the other team doesn’t gain advantage to push back and assault your own flag. Dying is not without consequences, but it is not so great as to deter aggressive play- you can fairly quickly return to the enemy base. As a consequence you have a lot more freedom and opportunities to try for a spectacular individual play, or help a teammate get a clean grab of the flag even if it means you die. You have multiple tools (conc jumps, movement, straight DM) to alter your approach throughout the round, with more potential to make plays despite health or numbers disadvantages (i.e. you do not have to wait for perfectly ideal situations to make your attacks). I personally like more opportunities to correct my play, test my opponent, and attempt higher risk plays, even if they may fail. I like how getting a clean flag pull is the exception rather than being the norm– I like how more action is centered around the flag than in TF2 CTF. Some of this is simply due to the pace, some is due to specific mechanics.

On defense I enjoy countering those attacks from those players. Pace contributes to my enjoyment here as well- I have a lot of opportunities to adapt to an attacking offense over the course of a round, and they have multiple tactics to use to bypass me and they are constantly testing my abilities. I’m trying to counter guys that try to get by me, guys that want to dm me, or conc or move a certain way. I’m making decisions about whether to chase someone or stay in position for the next attacker who is coming quickly, or whether to move up to a choke point to counter players that have been trying to conc by me. Is the guy that just got past me still a threat to get the flag? Is our backline defense overwhelmed, do I need to fall back to help? If I need to worry about guys dm’ing me AND guys that try to make a ‘finesse’ move to get by me I am constantly changing my own tactics and positioning. I like that variety and trying to learn opponents and behaviors: every engagement is a chess match that has a unique outcome. Down time is almost non existent and I enjoy the constant action.

CTF in Tf2 often feels like a two point CP match with flag props thrown in for kicks, the normal meta game is just not well suited to what I and many others found fun in CTF. I can’t think of anything that CTF in TF2 offers better than CP maps (which I enjoy).

I'm probably glossing over needed explanations as it's something I've been involved in for so long, but I'm not sure that I need to explain that TF2 is slower than TFC CTF. I provided an example of a round of TFC CTF which show that it is faster- that is not 'simply saying that it is'. I also mentioned specific things that contribute to a faster pace in the aforementioned game. Some things could possibly be improved upon to make CTF more enjoyable in TF2, some likely cannot.

Can you clarify what you mean exactly? I'm not sure why you provided random quotes out of order, what are you getting at?

TF2 rewards slow controlled pushes due to the mechanics surrounding movement, respawn times etc. You can't finesse your way around defenders, you must use brute force (dm) every time. This leads to less variety and less fun in CTF modes in TF2.

Fast pacing in CTF is one aspect that TF2 cannot achieve due to these mechanics, as compared to TFC.

Providing perspective on the kind of pace common in TFC CTF rounds, (which are a freaking blast) seems pretty well connected.

CTF really needs a lot of help to be fun in TF2, it doesn't work with the current maps and game mechanics.
There's no conc jumping in TF2, movement is heavily restricted, you can't throw the flag, and dying is punished so heavily (spawn times++) that you miss all of the fun aspects of prolonged flag pulls and breaking through a layered defense from previous fortress games. There's no finesse in the meta game in TF2, it's all brute force. You need to clear the defense in a slow, controlled push to get the flag, and then it's usually a coast to coast pull if you get it. It's just not very fun.

For perspective in typical 4v4's in TFC the offensive players often each make 35-50 individual 'runs' during a 15 minute round. You die 35-50 times from attacking the enemy base in 15 minutes and that's not at all viewed as a negative. (example: http://www.blarghalyzer.org/parsedlogs/l1121000/). It's not out of the question to see 50 flag touches by the offense in a single 15 minute round in TFC...I'm not sure there's been 50 flag touches for all the TF2 CTF matches in a given week combined.

The only way a more enjoyable CTF can be achieved in TF2 is with specially created maps geared for O vs D.
I played around with a map with a built in O vs D game mode before that had shorter spawn times for offense and defense (offense was instant), but it was still too slow.

I last was experimenting with an O vs D CTF map that had some areas with 'conc jump pads' that introduced some ramp sliding and finesse options in certain areas of the map. I may revisit it if this 4v4 gamemode is a popular thing as it could be a good match for it.

TL;DR TF2 CTF sucks, you need specially catered maps to make it fun in 4v4