Low FPS with R9 290

Brandon_1877 · Aug 22, 2014

Hey guys, so I recently picked up a new gpu, namely the Sapphire R9 290. On BF4 I am averagin 60-70 fps. On some maps it dips to high 50's, but never for too long. I have been able to get to 80 fps but that is only for a couple of seconds. The benchmarks I have seen for this card have led me to believe it should be getting a higher fps, stable 80-90 fps.

My specs are
AMD FX-8350 Oc'd to 4.6 MHz
Sapphire R9 290 Tri-X
8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600
Corsair HX 750w psu Gold rated
1080p monitor

I know my cpu is not bottle-necking as it runs at about 40% usage during the game, and putting it back to stock gives no impact on performance at all, so the OC is stable. GPU usage stays at 100%, sometimes going to 99%, and temps stay below 70 degrees.

Are these normal numbers or is something wrong?

Also on another game, which is quite old now, Killing Floor, which uses the unreal engine, the fps stays at 60fps contantly, it never goes higher or lower, ever. I know V synch is off, so I don't know why I am not getting 100+ fps.

kunthakenthe · Aug 22, 2014

no the temps are fine. the cpu is a major part of bf4 have you put on mantle.

Brandon_1877 · Aug 22, 2014

kunthakenthe :

I have the latest drivers, I am not sure how to enable mantle, but I know the CPU is not bottle necking at all.

Edit, I enabled it in game and fps dropped by 3.

kunthakenthe · Aug 22, 2014

yeah the cpu probably isnt going to destroy your fps as it is still a good cpu. go into bf4 settings and turn on mantle thats where your seeing that performance.

kunthakenthe · Aug 22, 2014

Brandon_1877 :

wtf.

kunthakenthe · Aug 22, 2014

try this

http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/forum/threadview/2955065219324626233/

Brandon_1877 · Aug 22, 2014

kunthakenthe :

I don't know, but I took a look at Tomshardware and their single player benchmark was 66 fps, and multiplayer is much more demanding and I am getting 60-70 fps, so I think I am alright. I read a benchmark that was high 90's, and nowhere else I find that high, all else is high 60's on single player.

Mouldread · Aug 22, 2014

Hey,

most benchmark results you have seen are usually from single player campaign of the game which is very misleading.

When playing BF4 online that's a different story and it's normal to get FPS drops.

But you can try and see if Mantle helps. Look at the pics below how to enable it:

Brandon_1877 · Aug 22, 2014

I did enable it, and fps dropped by 3.

kunthakenthe · Aug 22, 2014

Brandon_1877 :

yeah in multiplayer it will drop in heavy seens and the likes. dont enable mantle i think this is normal.

Brandon_1877 · Aug 22, 2014

I think people are misunderstanding. I run stable at 60-70 fps. In intense firefights and areas where foliage is quite high it dips to 55-60 fps. Some places it spikes to 80 but generally stays around 60-70 fps. I just wanted to know if these numbers for this card are normal and are nothing to worry about. Reason I ask is because of this video I saw, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpq8m54Baag

I also checked in Skyrim my fps, I am also getting only 60 fps, never more, never less. Anyone know what is going on here? This is happening in two different games where I am locked at 60 fps.

Mouldread · Aug 22, 2014

Hey,

I understood you completely the first time and told you it is normal to get FPS drops in certain situations, especially in multiplayer.

About you not being able to get more than 60 FPS in Skyrim then my guess is that you have V-Sync enabled in the game. V-Sync limits your frame rate to the number of the refresh rate of your monitor i.e. if you play on a 60 Hz monitor with V-Sync on the max FPS you will ever get is 60 FPS. Respectfully 120 Hz would give you a max of 120 FPS etc.

If ingame there is no option to disable V-Sync you can force it from your Catalyst Control Center by going to Gaming>3D Application Settings>Wait for Vertical Refresh and chose to be Off.

kunthakenthe · Aug 23, 2014

I dont even think v-sync works on amd cards. Yeah in those dips its normal and every gpu(even the strongest as in your case) will have dips nothing bad and as long as its not all the time constant its okay.

Brandon_1877 · Aug 23, 2014

Ok, thanks guys, much appreciated.

And

Looking into it Skyrim has an cap of 60fps, unlocking it causes bugs to happen, but the same can't be explained for Killing Floor, a 6 year old game. I checked if vsync is turned off, but it still gets capped at 60fps. In menu and loading screens though I get up to the 3000+, in game goes back to 60. I also looked around to see if it also had a cap, but it doesn't. People are getting 120+ fps running the game on older 570's and such. This is a Direct3d 9 game by the way.

Also, in a year I'm planning on adding a another 290 in, but I am afraid I will bottleneck, do any of you think I will bottleneck with this cpu? Sorry for all the questions.

kunthakenthe · Aug 23, 2014

Yeah the cpu might not be able to keep up but next year skylake is out with ddr4 ram and native 6/8 core cpus. The r9 290 by that time might even suck believe it or not but probably wont. Let me look up your skyrim issue im mean 570 vs a r9 290 is a no brainer.

kunthakenthe · Aug 23, 2014

maybe your monitor is capping the fps. or somethinge else so you dont get tearing.

Brandon_1877 · Aug 23, 2014

kunthakenthe :

Is there an option outside of the game for Vsync? Maybe Catalyst Control is forcing something, but BF4 runs at higher fps though, so I don't think that's the case.

kunthakenthe · Aug 23, 2014

Brandon_1877 :

yeah i still recommend checking catalyst control however. can you post all the in game setting of skyrim if i can see what may be stopping it. i think skyrim has a fps cap limit that way less screen tearing/glitches.

smeezekitty · Aug 23, 2014

The AMD drivers force cap old games at 60 FPS even with vsync forced off

kunthakenthe · Aug 23, 2014

oh lol yeah i guess the game is to old.

Brandon_1877 · Aug 23, 2014

kunthakenthe :

I wasn't talking about Skyrim, skyrim engine caps itself at 60 to prevent bugs, I am talking about Killinf Floor, it's a 6 year old game that is Direct3d. (Not being rude.)

Sneezekitty, so it's the drivers that are forcing 60 fps, I see, I guess that makes sense. How does the drivers actually do this? Is there no way to change it? I am getting a 120hz monitor soon, so I want to be able to play all games above 60fps.

smeezekitty · Aug 23, 2014

Sneezekitty, so it's the drivers that are forcing 60 fps, I see, I guess that makes sense. How does the drivers actually do this? Is there no way to change it? I am getting a 120hz monitor soon, so I want to be able to play all games above 60fps.

I don't know if it is vsync or a hard cap. I only have a 60 hz monitor so I have no way to tell.

What I do know is that many less intense and old games are locked to 60 FPS on my AMD card.
Perhaps to keep old games from unnecessarily loading the GPU and/or creating whine from the buck converter

kunthakenthe · Aug 23, 2014

Brandon_1877 :

kunthakenthe :

I wasn't talking about Skyrim, skyrim engine caps itself at 60 to prevent bugs, I am talking about Killinf Floor, it's a 6 year old game that is Direct3d. (Not being rude.)

Sneezekitty, so it's the drivers that are forcing 60 fps, I see, I guess that makes sense. How does the drivers actually do this? Is there no way to change it? I am getting a 120hz monitor soon, so I want to be able to play all games above 60fps.

check for frame control and take a look at this to see if its enabled.

http://www.radeonpro.info/features/dynamic-frame-rate-control/

Brandon_1877 · Aug 23, 2014

Tried the frame rate control using radeon pro, no fix. I'm guessing this is hardwired into the drivers.

kunthakenthe · Aug 23, 2014

Brandon_1877 :

yeah i think it is the drivers. I guess the game is so old it doesnt even know what 60fps+ is. lol

Low FPS with R9 290

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