Poor i5 2500k @ 4.3GHz performance?

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TheDoctorIsIn

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Jan 9, 2014
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Hello, fair denizens of THW. I have run into a slight dilemma. A while back, I made the upgrade to a 2500k from an i5 2300, due to a mix of inability to overclock, and overall horrid bottlenecking. My GTX 670 SLI setup was getting a mere 40% usage on both cards. Enter: the 2500k. It arrived, I slapped it into my PC, over clocked it to 4.3GHz, and the performance gain I got was met with a resounding "Eh?"

For example. Team Fortress 2. Lows of mid 20s (!!!) in heavy fights on the 2300 changed to mid 30s in those same fights.

Battlefield 4. Average framerate of about 35 changed to an average framerate of around 45.

The only game that I actively play that had a noteworthy improvement was Skyrim, whose FPS now stays at 60 a good portion of the time, due to a framerate cap.

What gives? Why is a brand new, over clocked 2500k almost being outperformed by a 4 year old 2300? Heat isn't an issue, as liquid cooling prevents it from getting any hotter than 55°C. Most cores are either sitting around at 75-80% usage, or fluctuating like mad, all over the place. Could it perhaps be an issue of power? My PSU is one that I got a few years back when first using SLI on my old 450s and (I believe) 850w from some random company who I wish was Corsair (those are some seriously good looking PSUs they have) which I think I paid around $80 USD for. The i5 2500k is supposed to be an overclocker's dream, so why could it be giving me less-than-stellar results? My total setup is as follows:

Galaxy GTX 670 SLI
12 GB DDR3 @ 1333MHz
1 TB HDD
Intel i5 2500k @ 4.3 GHz (fairly certain stable OC)
42" Vizio TV
Alienware 046MHW mobo (never buy anything from AW. Seriously.)

Any help? Are my worries correct, or am I just expecting too much from this little 2500k?

P.S. On a slightly less related, yet still possibly relevant note, what could be a reason for physics simulations of any kind tanking my framerate? In 3DMark, the gaming netbook benchmark (the name of which escapes me) yielded me frame rates near 2k fps. Understandable, as my rig isn't exactly entry-level. When it did the physics simulation, my framerate dropped to 15, (presumably) destroying my score, and possibly giving me incorrect results. Why would my setup tank so hard on something made for a glorified calculator? (No offense to those of you using gaming netbooks, of course.)
 
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Bit of an update:

After digging around a bit, I managed to find the box for my current PSU, which is an "Ultra Professional LSP 750W". After doing a bit of research on the company, I saw that they weren't exactly a reputable company, be it their business practices or the quality of the PSUs themselves.

I looked around for a bit, and saw a PSU by Corsair that a lot of people seemed to be very happy with, and that is the AX760 ATX Power Supply. I decided to go with it, and, while I was buying tech, decided to also go for some of the other stuff that I had my eye on for a bit. Which brings me to my next update.

The motherboard I purchased is an ASUS P8P67 EVO motherboard, as after doing a bit more in-depth research on my current 046MHW...
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bicycle_repair_man

bicycle_repair_man

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Jan 10, 2014
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How about your SLI setup? Did you see similar results in the same games back when you had the i5 2300? How about if you disconnect one of the GPUs, do you see the same result?

For those games on a GTX 670 SLI, 40% usage would be pretty normal, so I wouldn't concern yourself with that. As I'm sure you know, not all games play nicely with multiple GPUs so having the latest drivers and patches is an absolute must.
 
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americanbrian

americanbrian

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You state that Skyrim got a significant improvement. That is the most platform bound title in your list. I suspect you are running at ultra high graphics settings that the GPU's are only just capable of running. What res? what AA settings. Those cards have 2gb of onboard GDDR. That is not much for hi-res high AA.

I suspect the CPU is working fine and you were expecting more than would realistically be achieved. Frame buffer on the 670's are too small for ultra settings on high res.
 
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TheDoctorIsIn

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Jan 9, 2014
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To clarify, since a certain someone decided to be a tad overly-hostile:
Yes, I did perform a hard clear of the CMOS.
Yes, I am running the latest version of my motherboard's BIOS. They haven't updated it since 2011, which is why I'm looking to get a new motherboard.
I have 12 GB of RAM because I have 3 sticks. I upgraded from just one stick of 8 GB and added on an extra 4 GB which was supposed to be 1 4 GB stick, but instead got 2 2 GB sticks. There was no difference in whether I used one, two, or all three, no matter the order I had them plugged into my mobo in.
When I said that I slapped it in, it was merely hyperbole: not meant to be taken at face value.
I do use CPU-Z. As for thermals, they are pretty much my #1 priority. I make sure my system is clear of dust by carefully removing each component and dusting them monthly. I have a custom fan profile set up to keep my GPUs cool, system fans to keep the chassis cool, liquid cooling to keep the CPU cool, and an external fan going in an attempt to improve airflow.
I said "fairly certain stable overclock" because I have yet to run into any problems with it. No abnormalities, Intel burn test reported that it was stable, but I hold a "nothing is 100% for certain" mentality. It was merely amchoise of words that you took and applied ad hominem to, but I digress. Questioning my intelligence helps no one.

As for the people who responded calmly and courteously, namely RobCrezz and bicycle_repair_man, SLI being on or off had no difference, I swapped both cards, used each individually, everything was the same, save Skyrim, as I use an ENB and need all the power my rig can muster. I will look into some new power supplies. I was never really happy with the current one anyway. Any suggestions?
 
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TheDoctorIsIn

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Jan 9, 2014
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I also forgot to mention, I was referring to Battlefield 4's multiplayer; single player works without a hitch.

I run most of the games at max, because as far as graphics goes, they've never really had a problem. It isn't until AI, other players or similar things that are calculated by the CPU are thrown into the mix that I begin to have framerate issues. For Skyrim, as an example, standing on a mountain, looking out into the world, nothing going on, I get 60 fps with my ENB. Same with empty caves and crypts. However, if that same crypt was actually filled with enemies, my framerate takes a dive. The only time I have any problems with framerate as far as the graphics cards go, are if they throttle because they get too hot, which is understandable. When that happens, I simply take a break for a bit and let the cards cool off. This only happens in graphically demanding games. Older titles or less demanding games such as Counter Strike: Global Offensive, or Star Wars Battlefront 2 do not have this problem, with the cards sitting around 50°C. The temps are due to SLI, I'll be changing my chassis to one with better airflow in the near future.


I will also try your suggestion of a fresh install of Windows. Thank you.
 
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bicycle_repair_man

bicycle_repair_man

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Jan 10, 2014
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Sounds like you run a tight ship, man after my own heart.

I'm inclined to agree with RobCrezz about the PSU now. If you're in the market for a new one, a known brand is always the way to go; Corsair, XFX and CoolerMaster are all good. I'd recommend something around 750W with 62A on a single +12V rail for your SLI set up. A minimum Bronze 80+ rating is also good to have and should be standard for most branded PSUs.
 
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americanbrian

americanbrian

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I still believe it is to do with Anti-Aliasing settings and the low frame buffer. Turn it down to 8X from 16X and I bet everything runs far better. When new enemies come into the frame they need to be anti-aliased too. they are moving and this takes a lot of memory/frame buffer.
 
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TheDoctorIsIn

Honorable
Jan 9, 2014
30
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10,540
Bit of an update:

After digging around a bit, I managed to find the box for my current PSU, which is an "Ultra Professional LSP 750W". After doing a bit of research on the company, I saw that they weren't exactly a reputable company, be it their business practices or the quality of the PSUs themselves.

I looked around for a bit, and saw a PSU by Corsair that a lot of people seemed to be very happy with, and that is the AX760 ATX Power Supply. I decided to go with it, and, while I was buying tech, decided to also go for some of the other stuff that I had my eye on for a bit. Which brings me to my next update.

The motherboard I purchased is an ASUS P8P67 EVO motherboard, as after doing a bit more in-depth research on my current 046MHW from Dell, I learned that, to put it bluntly, it sucked.

I also got a cheap chassis that would suit my needs better, and also looked better, for less than the price of a retail game, which was nice.

As for your suggestions, we'll see how the new PSU and motherboard play out, and as for Americanbrian, changing AA in my games didn't yield me any real performance gain (perhaps since they are in SLI?), but it did teach me that FXAA makes everything ugly, so I'll be sure to turn that off when the opportunity presents itself from here on out. The new tech should be here some time next week, will update the thread once everything is set up and I see how it all plays out.
 
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