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What does low performance on a new gaming build mean?

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  • Components
Last response: in Components
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April 22, 2014 10:11:06 AM

I just bought and assembled a brand new PC, which should be great for gaming. Here are the components:
- ASUS Sabertooth Z87 Motherboard
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3 GB Superclocked Graphics Card
- Intel Core i7 4770k Processor @ 3.5 GHz (not overclocked)
- 16 GB of Ballistix 1600 RAM
- Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler / Fan
- Crucial 240 GB SSD
- Seagate Barricuda 2T Hard Drive
- Seasonic 850W 80 plus Gold Power Supply

Now i think most would agree that i would be able to play most hardware intensive games with high settings, no? Well thats what i thought as well. So i tried out this game War Thunder, and i SHOULD be getting well over 100 frames per second on optimized settings (very high), and... well... i am not. I get around 30-50 frames in game, which is playable, but i would be wasting my money if i continue to accept this underachieving performance. I spent hours troubleshooting, with no successful diagnosis of a problem. Even in minecraft, a friend of mine has a GTX 760, and is getting 500-600 frames. While i on the other hand, with a better processor and graphics card, (on the same server) am getting anywhere between 150 - 260 frames. This just does not make sense. I made sure that the correct connecters were linking the card to the power supply, and this did not fix anything. I also called NVIDIA tech. support and they helped me change my 3D display settings, which hardly did anything.

My main questions are:
- Is the problem with my GRAPHICS CARD, or with my CPU?
- Are these signs of a defective Graphics Card? (Remember, I just bought all of the components and also registered the card for warranty)

I have already installed and updated all driver software, and i run my games and the operating system on separate hard drives.

I am beginning to lean more towards the problem being that the "Graphics card is defective", because of the enormous difference between what my performance should be, and what it currently is.

I would greatly appreciate advice, or a COMPLETELY VALID diagnosis for the problem at hand. But if you do think you know what the problem is, I would prefer you give ample support that proves why the problem is what you think it is. I dont want to have to replace any components IF I DONT HAVE TO.

THANKS A BUNCH!
-(Sesametush)

More about : low performance gaming build

April 22, 2014 10:21:47 AM

Are you running multiple monitors? at what res? and monitor the temps / usage during your games to see if either the cpu or gpu is limiting you. If neither reaches 100% and stays lower than 60 fps then there is some other issue.
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April 22, 2014 10:26:09 AM

bob hays said:
Are you running multiple monitors? at what res? and monitor the temps / usage during your games to see if either the cpu or gpu is limiting you. If neither reaches 100% and stays lower than 60 fps then there is some other issue.


Thanks for replying. Anyway, I have a 1080p 24 inch monitor,
how can i view the usage of my hardware in game, or just in general. Is it throught the control panel?
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April 22, 2014 10:27:10 AM

For cpu you can use the task manager built in to windows. For the gpu you can use GPU-Z. Its a software that monitors temperature, usage, and some other useful data for gpu's.
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April 22, 2014 10:31:07 AM

bob hays said:
For cpu you can use the task manager built in to windows. For the gpu you can use GPU-Z. Its a software that monitors temperature, usage, and some other useful data for gpu's.


Alright, is GPU-Z isntalled with the NVIDIA driver software, or just graphics drivers in general, or is it an aditional software component?
Also, if my graphics card/ cpu is not running at full capacity, does this mean that there is a defect, or some type of damage? These are all brand new hardware.
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April 22, 2014 10:36:54 AM

It is an additional software you will have to get. (don't get it from cnet/download.com, they have terrible software add-ons) If it is at max temp/usage then there is likely a defect. If it isn't then I'd assume it was a driver issue or something of the likes. When I built a computer for my friend LoL ran at only 10-15 fps until he updated drivers and it ran at 200. I know you said you updated drivers but maybe try going to the latest standard version instead of beta drivers. (If that's the issue im not really sure what's wrong so i'm just telling you to try stuff that I would've tried).
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April 22, 2014 10:42:35 AM

try turning off Hyperthreading, that can hurt performance in games. great for renders though.
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April 22, 2014 10:48:26 AM

If you have to turn off hyperthreading to get reasonable performance then there is something wrong with your cpu because hyperthreading should be a maximum of a couple percent higher or lower than without.
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April 22, 2014 11:14:26 AM

bob hays said:
It is an additional software you will have to get. (don't get it from cnet/download.com, they have terrible software add-ons) If it is at max temp/usage then there is likely a defect. If it isn't then I'd assume it was a driver issue or something of the likes. When I built a computer for my friend LoL ran at only 10-15 fps until he updated drivers and it ran at 200. I know you said you updated drivers but maybe try going to the latest standard version instead of beta drivers. (If that's the issue im not really sure what's wrong so i'm just telling you to try stuff that I would've tried).


bob hays said:
If you have to turn off hyperthreading to get reasonable performance then there is something wrong with your cpu because hyperthreading should be a maximum of a couple percent higher or lower than without.


So far, i checked cpu usage while playing minecraft, and it averaged about 15 %
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April 22, 2014 11:15:34 AM

also where should download GPU-Z
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April 22, 2014 11:20:05 AM

Sesametush said:
bob hays said:
It is an additional software you will have to get. (don't get it from cnet/download.com, they have terrible software add-ons) If it is at max temp/usage then there is likely a defect. If it isn't then I'd assume it was a driver issue or something of the likes. When I built a computer for my friend LoL ran at only 10-15 fps until he updated drivers and it ran at 200. I know you said you updated drivers but maybe try going to the latest standard version instead of beta drivers. (If that's the issue im not really sure what's wrong so i'm just telling you to try stuff that I would've tried).


bob hays said:
If you have to turn off hyperthreading to get reasonable performance then there is something wrong with your cpu because hyperthreading should be a maximum of a couple percent higher or lower than without.


So far, i checked cpu usage while playing minecraft, and it averaged about 15 %


well minecraft runs on one thread i thought, so thats not a good way to test the CPU. 15% load would seem to make sense, but i dont play minecraft.

make sure the BIOS and chipset drivers are all up to date, also windows updates?
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April 22, 2014 11:24:12 AM

Beezy said:
Sesametush said:
bob hays said:
It is an additional software you will have to get. (don't get it from cnet/download.com, they have terrible software add-ons) If it is at max temp/usage then there is likely a defect. If it isn't then I'd assume it was a driver issue or something of the likes. When I built a computer for my friend LoL ran at only 10-15 fps until he updated drivers and it ran at 200. I know you said you updated drivers but maybe try going to the latest standard version instead of beta drivers. (If that's the issue im not really sure what's wrong so i'm just telling you to try stuff that I would've tried).


bob hays said:
If you have to turn off hyperthreading to get reasonable performance then there is something wrong with your cpu because hyperthreading should be a maximum of a couple percent higher or lower than without.


So far, i checked cpu usage while playing minecraft, and it averaged about 15 %


well minecraft runs on one thread i thought, so thats not a good way to test the CPU. 15% load would seem to make sense, but i dont play minecraft.

make sure the BIOS and chipset drivers are all up to date, also windows updates?


okay, so i downloaded GPU Z, and it is showing everthing, except it is showing 0% for video engine load, is this bad?
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April 23, 2014 10:25:45 AM

What does it say for GPU load during gaming (it might be on a different tab so look around).
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April 23, 2014 2:11:09 PM

NVM.

Well i'm going to ask anyway after looking at some video's of those games,

Did you by any chance attach the monitorcable to the motherboard instead of the 780 ti?
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April 23, 2014 5:48:45 PM

bob hays said:
Are you running multiple monitors? at what res? and monitor the temps / usage during your games to see if either the cpu or gpu is limiting you. If neither reaches 100% and stays lower than 60 fps then there is some other issue.


So bob, I finally realized that while just idling on the desktop home screen, my GPU was still running at FULL POWER USAGE!!! So I'm assuming that this means i have received a defective product, and I think i am going to get it replaced. Thank you so much for your advice.
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April 23, 2014 5:53:53 PM

My friend Sesametush has shown me his graphics cards power consumption. Running at 158% this should not be normal with just Skype running. I have compared his graphics card to my (working) gtx770 to his 780 ti in a semi-intensive game called War Thunder. The benchmark for my PC came to 100 fps. His was 28 fps. For some reason a 770 is beating a 780 ti with every game we compared to. His task manager for his CPU and ram usage was normal for just running basic programs. Obviously this cannot be related towards either CPU or ram. My friend's card must be defective as I have ran through other possible factors.
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April 23, 2014 8:17:58 PM

This looks very strongly like a driver issue. I would uninstall all drivers, reinstall, and if not try a clean install of windows. Seems like a lot of work but it's much less than RMA'ing something especially if it was fine in the first place. When looking at gpu usage is a game running in the background? Even if it's not on display your gpu will still be running the game.
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April 24, 2014 3:12:53 AM

bob hays said:
This looks very strongly like a driver issue. I would uninstall all drivers, reinstall, and if not try a clean install of windows. Seems like a lot of work but it's much less than RMA'ing something especially if it was fine in the first place. When looking at gpu usage is a game running in the background? Even if it's not on display your gpu will still be running the game.


Trust me when I tell you, there wws nothing running.and if there was a game running, it would not be burning through all of that power. And when you say a clean install of Windows, do you mean reinstall it?
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April 24, 2014 4:31:14 AM

Did you try you card in the pc of your friend?
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April 24, 2014 9:05:30 AM

Vic 40 said:
Did you try you card in the pc of your friend?


No but that's what I'm planning to do this weekend
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April 24, 2014 9:55:39 AM

Oké,let us know how it did.
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April 24, 2014 10:05:01 AM

Yes i meant to reinstall windows and ya try out his card and tell us what happens.
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!