Getting sub par gtx 760 performance...I feared this upgrade

ushy86

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2008
347
0
18,780
So I replaced my 560ti and got a geforce gtx 760 boost and was very stoked to get it up and running. However, I am barely noticing big changes in terms of fps and performance. I expected a lot more out of this card honestly for the money I spent. Could my CPU be bottle knecking me like HARD here? In dense battle scenarios in games, I tend to stutter and have frames drop really low. In Marvel heroes, putting aside its terrible optimization issues which everybody complains about, I am only seeing a slight improvement in max fps, whereas it dips to the same MIN value fps as before with the 560ti. I also just hopped on that trash of a game D3 just to see the comparison, and I stutter a lot with the 760, both with v-sync on and off.

What do you guys recommend? Do I return this card? I really don't feel I'm getting nowhere near my moneys worth right now unless getting a new cpu and mobo will magically make all my issues go away.

Here are the current specs:

gtx 760 2gb boost, windforce cooled
phenom II X4 955 be @ 3.85ghz
asus m4a79xtd evo mobo
650w corsair psu
older 500gb hdd
24" synaps lcd
wind 7 64bit
8gb ripjaws

Would getting an I5 , fx 6300 or 8350 fix my issues? If not, I have to figure out what to do here.

Thank you. Any feedback would be appreciated here.
 
Your processor is pretty decent, but most benchmark sites post their GPU reviews paired with a super overclocked i5/i7, so that might be why you aren't getting what you are expecting. A 6300 would be a waste of time, 8350 or K series i5 would be good, preferably the i5 as they are faster in almost all scenarios, especially poorly optimized games that don't use multiple threads well.

Also its unlikely but there may be the possibility the card isn't clocking up properly, it happens to me once in a while where it only clocks up to 575Mhz for no reason and I have to restart the system to get it to work. Check with MSI Afterburner what the core clock is at when gaming.
 

ushy86

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2008
347
0
18,780
Afterburner suggests a straight line with core clock running at 1084. Could it be drivers? Last thing I want to do is cough up another $300+ and not see improvement. I just figured the jump from a 560 to this would be substantial, this is at least what I was told. I found another thread about a 780 and its lack of performance and people suggested it could be outdated mobo bios or something? I am by no means savvy, so where and how could I update my MB drivers for an asus m4a79xtd evo? And which files am I looking to update exactly if you could.
 
560ti to 760 is certainly a large jump, twice as fast in a best case scenario. 1084Mhz is a fine core clock.

What is your resolution? Also use a purely GPU based benchmark and see if performance is roughly 2x better than the 560ti, Unigine Valley and Unigine Heaven will do this.
 

ushy86

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2008
347
0
18,780
First off, thank you for sticking around, as I'm in need of some advice... I'm not typically used to this. And as far as your comment, that is exactly what I was told in regards to the performance I should expect when I was asking the community.

I have a few questions if you don't mind:
1. How long do the Heaven benchmarks last? How long do I run it?
2. Can my older hard drive cause all this nonsense?
3.Which nvidia driver in your opinion is currently best for the 760?

I'll leave it at that for now... thank you once again.



EDIT: just saw that AFTERBURNER is displaying that my card is running @ 47% gpu usage while in game. What can cause this? As I'm testing out D3 its fluctuating between 33-45tops... this can't be right.. It randomly dips to like 7% at times as well I'm now noticing.
EDIT2: Now that I turned v-sync off the usage is high, but once I'm in combat it jumps like crazy from 7% to 99.. guessing there is a bottle kneck now...
 
1. A few minutes, http://unigine.com/products/heaven/, http://unigine.com/products/valley/.
2. Nope.
3. The newest beta driver, as always.

Low GPU usage is usually indicative of a CPU bottleneck, you can confirm this by lowering the resolution, if framerate remains the same, you have a CPU bottleneck. Also, if you are at anything but 1080p (or above), you wont really get much out of the 760, its intended for 1080p, lower resolutions don't need much more than a 560ti.
 
You could certainly try doing a clean installation of the newest drivers (where all your control panel settings will be set to default)

Either that or completely cleaning out your older one through unstalling, then Driversweeper (now also known as Driver Fusion), and then doing a clean installation of any of the newer drivers

That quad core is fairly decent so even with a bottleneck you'd at least see a fair improvement over the 560 Ti
 

ushy86

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2008
347
0
18,780
Hmmm... we'll I'm currently running @ 1920x1080 on a 24". Let me try lowering the resolution in Marvel Heroes to see if it all has the same outcome.
Nobody really told me my cpu would bottle kneck my card so hard if this is indeed the case. Everybody said if anything it would be minimal at best.

If I do happen to have to upgrade though, I'd need a decent cpu and mobo at a fair price. Maybe it would be a good idea to wait on the Christmas sales as well. And I have always went the AMD route, maybe it is time to pick up and i5. Yet still, I'd rather somehow fix this without having to spend more money.
 

ushy86

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2008
347
0
18,780
So i tried lowering the resolution to 1024x768 and it imroved a bit in terms of fps, but did not shoot up drastically... is it supposed to? Also playing marvel heroes im also noticing gpu usage goes to like 70-75% max but is typically at 40-50. So what is all this info I have posted suggesting guys?
 

ushy86

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2008
347
0
18,780
So right now Im using Fusion and its taking awhile ot get rid of the Nvidia based drivers.. its at 7% and says 'backing up family driver entries' at the moment.
But I have a question to you guys. I still have a few days to return the card. If this problem of mine isn't fixed should I return my card which this this:
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=43_1200_557_559&item_id=061697

AND GET the 7950 which is on sale? I'd have to add 30 bucks

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=43_1200_557_558&item_id=059130
 

ushy86

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2008
347
0
18,780
Dang it really? And yes IDK why this is taking so long, it just kept spinning @ 7% and it was backing up files like I mentioned. I'm going to pick up the older version and use the youtube vid. Sorry this is taking this long, I'll post up shortly... and thank you again.
 

ushy86

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2008
347
0
18,780
Installing 331.93 zzzzzz .. and yes, If nothing works i'm just going to have to return this card and step it up to a better one. Rather return it while im within the store warranty. Anyways few more mins and restart.
 

ushy86

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2008
347
0
18,780
Well... did as you suggested with the sweeper and installed the 331.93 drivers. The game still doesn't run well. My gpu usage when standing is like 70 tops.. then as I move into combat near other people fps drops to the low 20s and gpu usage plummets and rockets back up. So it drops to like 2 when I am stuttering and goes back up to an average of 40ish, where high 50-60 is usually tops it reaches.

Typically, is my gpu usage supposed to be like a solid 90-100% ? I have never actually had to monitor it before.
 

ushy86

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2008
347
0
18,780
It definitely doesn't reach nowhere near that with v sync OFF. Any other resources to explore? Am I to assume it is a card issue or a hardcore cpu bottle kneck? I don't know if my next move should be a new mobo/cpu or to return the card for another one completely.
 
It may be another component going bork, what are your maximum CPU temps with that overclock? that could be a cause of throttling :S

You also list that you have an older 500GB HDD, I personally had a failing HDD which slowed down my games and replacing it fixed my problems (or sometimes a reinstall of Windows but that would be a last resort since getting everything back up and running is a fuss)
 

ushy86

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2008
347
0
18,780
My phenom is @ 55 C at 3.7ghz. And how likely would it be really an Hard drive causing all of this? I mean, I could replace it but I'd rather not spend money on a new HDD if I'm not sure that's an issue. Priority would be to fix this obviously if possible, but if it isn't solved, get a new card, perhaps a 280x or 770, or get a cpu and mobo come christmas time.