Is my CPU bottlenecking my graphics cards?

sasquatch727 · Aug 25, 2014

Hi!

So I'm running a pair of R9 290X's with a 9370 series core at 4.4ghz. Ever since I got the second card, I get an extremely minimal performance increase in games and benchmarks (<10FPS). Something that has also led me to believe a CPU issue is at fault is that during physics tests with 3D mark, which supposedly rely heavily on the CPU, I get less than 20 frames. So my basic question would be is there a definitive way to tell if it's a bottleneck/is it very likely that it is?

Here are my specs

Asus 990FX Sabertooth
2x R9 290X
9370 Vishera Series Core @ 4.4Ghz
1TB Caviar Blue Drive
1200W Corsair PSU
16 GB Corsair RAM (Not sure model)

i7Baby · Aug 25, 2014

You can check it by running the GPUs hardand seeing if the CPU %usage gets near 100% in Task Manager.

What cpu cooler you got for the cpu?

sasquatch727 · Aug 25, 2014

I have done just that. In most games, like BF4 which gets a shocking 10FPS on ANY graphics settings, it will hit 30 percent at the very most. On 3dMark 11 it will hit 100 percent in about half a second, but in every other game based application it does not come even close.

Additionally, I'm running an H80i cooler.

i7Baby · Aug 25, 2014

Then its not bottlenecking your 290x's in BF4; just 3D Mark11.

The colder you can get the FX the better it will run. Maybe try a H100i - http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1921742/cooling-amd-9370.html

sasquatch727 · Aug 25, 2014

That's good news, but why am I getting such a minor performance boost in games, and a complete devastation in BF4, when I added in a second graphics card?

i7Baby · Aug 25, 2014

XFire Scaling will be some eg 2 cards gets another 50% fps more than one - not 100%

Then some games just don't work real well with XFire.

For BF4, try - http://bf4only.com/battlefield-4-other-news/5-battlefield-4-tweaks-guide-how-to-get-more-performance

sasquatch727 · Aug 25, 2014

Fair enough, but shouldn't most games be able to run at least 60FPS with two fairly powerful cards on ultra, or am I mistaken? Most games (MetroLL, Far Cry 3, Black Flag, Watch_Dogs) only get 45-50 fps or less maxed out, and my 3dMark scores are quite a bit lower than the majority of the ones that I see online for this setup.

i7Baby · Aug 25, 2014

Compare what you're getting with what other people with 2 x 290x's are getting. Make sure you can copy the settings they use to get any better results

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