R9 280X won't go over 50% usage.

games_maxed

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Jul 21, 2013
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Hey guys, so I've had this card for a while now, but it was being used to mine crypto's in a friend's computer because my PSU wasn't big enough to support it. I finally got the bigger PSU and now I'm trying to get a good overclock for some really high framerates.

Here's my card: http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/product_index.aspx?pid=2022&lid=1

I use MSI Afterburner and usually set the settings accordingly:

Core Voltage (is greyed out and therefore I can't use it) Why is that?

Power limit: +0

Core Clock: 1020

Memory clock: 1500

Fan Speed: (Usually) 60%+-

What's really bothering me though is that I've been running Cinebench and can only get about 65 FPS average throughout the Open GL test. And I monitor the GPU usage during the benchmarks and it usually hits a high of 30%.
BF4 runs smooth as well as any other games that I have, but they will never run over 60 FPS.

For example, I was playing Borderlands 2 windowed so I could see Afterburner, and at the same area my old graphics card (GTS 450) would exceed 100 FPS, this one just sits steady at 60. And once again, during this game, the GPU usage won't exceed 50%.

What's going on? How can I control my GPU better? I ran a Cinebench test in my friend's computer and this thing got about 120 FPS. Why is it different now?
 

games_maxed

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Jul 21, 2013
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This is interesting. Apparently my computer is confused. I don't use an actually monitor, but a TV instead. The TV itself has a 120Hz refresh rate but my computer recognizes it as 60. I'm guessing there's no way around that? Thanks for the suggestion though! I was getting about 150 FPS on Borderlands 2 at times. Awesome :)
 

CrispyChips

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Feb 16, 2014
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The second time you've corrected me..and been dead wrong.

His card is an R9 280x,which is AMD. MSI is just a vendor. They put their heatsinks on and tweak the clocks but its still an AMD card.
 

cklaubur

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Power Play/Power Tune is an AMD driver feature which can be controlled through MSI Afterburner. Assuming the OP has up-to-date drivers for his card (either from AMD or Sapphire, which uses modified AMD drivers), it is a valid question.

I'm still curious as to what the rest of the computer's specs are.

Casey
 

CrispyChips

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Feb 16, 2014
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Correct




Yes,its proprietary AMD software not MSI(we're using MSI to disable it),yes it is on his card,yes it can(and usually does) cause performance issues,so

Incorrect.
 

games_maxed

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Jul 21, 2013
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His was a Sabertooth z87 mobo with an I7 4770K I believe.

Mine is some biostar mobo with an AMD Phenom II X6 1045T.

Do you think the PCI-E 2.0 slots on my mobo could be limiting the card a little bit? I was told before that I wouldn't notice a difference because modern graphics cards are just now making full use of PCI-E 2.0.

I have been planning on upgrading my mobo and processor when I can. My question is, what should I go with? AMD? Or Intel? I'm also going to be using this computer for audio editing (I'm a guitarist) and Intel's speed step tech is bad for audio whereas AMD just sends a constant stream of info.
 

games_maxed

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Jul 21, 2013
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Well, VSync was doing some of the damage. I got significantly higher framerates in Borderlands after turning it off. I thought VSync would be 120fps because that's the Hz of my TV, but my computer doesn't recognize it as being 120 Hz, only 60.

My CPU is overclocked by 12%. I do plan on getting my Mobo and CPU upgraded next. Thanks.