3DMARK Performance (Ice Storm) Lower After Win 10 ?!

Ransome

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Jul 24, 2012
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Why is this happening:

My specs:
X2 Gigabyte G1 Gaming Geforce GTX 980 SLI
Core i5-3570K (running @ 4.2 Ghz auto voltage OC)
Asus Sabertooth Z77 Motherboard
16 GB of G.Skill Ripjaw-X DDR3 1600Mhz (x.m.p profile)
SSD 256GB Crucial M4
HD Western Digital Black 2TB
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Case: Corsair CC600T Graphite White Special Edition
PSU: Corsair 850AX Gold
Running Windows 10 64bit. Pro
Monitor: Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q 2560 x 1440p 144 MHz + Nvidia G-Sync.
Secondary Screen: 55" TV: Samsung UA55D6400 TV1080p 60 MHz
Connected via Pioneer VSX-823-K AV Receiver

OK - please mind the Ice Storm test's scores mainly:

So these are the 3D Mark Scores on Windows 8.1 64 bit Pro. GTX 980 SLI:
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/7124288?

These are the scores on Windows 10 64 bit Pro. GTX 980 SLI:
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8105306?
(includes OC on GPUs +130 core, +250 mem).

Finally the most BIZZARE THING:
This is Win 8.1 64 bit, SAME SETTINGS, but NO SLI (Before I connected a 2nd GPU):
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/6738888

Please look at the Ice Storm 1.2 and the Cloud Gate 1.1 !
How come:
No SLI 980 win 8.1 > SLI 980 win 8.1 > SLI 980 win 10 on both?
Especially the ICE STORM 1.2 - which is supposedly CPU BASED:
It is MUCH higher on the single gpu.
HERE:
single 980 = 173,525 > SLI 980 = 110805 > SLI 980 win10 = 74071 ONLY!
??

How could this be?
The setup and programs on all 3 examples are 100% the same (aside from Win 8.1/10 default program differences).
On all 3 I have basically: NVidia drivers, steam, Logitech gaming software, MSI afterburner, windows defender, (malwarebyes-scanner only!), 4.2ghz CPU setup with 1600mhz ram.

Power options set to balanced by defaults.

There really ain't any other 3rd party programs, no viruses or malware, no pirate software or junk running in the background.
All 3 installs were clean, fresh and constantly maintained by CCleaner and m.b scans.

MY CPU can't really get "older" now can it? Maybe it is a compatibility issue when running SLI and even worse on win10 that lower the 3dmark score?

Please help explain this, if there is something hampering my performance or reducing my cpu power, I need to know!
 

Ransome

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Jul 24, 2012
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Long story short - why is my 3dmark scoring lower, (especially Ice Storm and Cloud Gate tests) whenever I upgrade my stuff?
I am not sure if the ICE STORM test is GPU or CPU heavy..
How come it's lower on the SLI setup and MUCH LOWER on win10?
Other settings have also reduced a bit.

Also cpu and gpu don't overheat.
Running the latest drivers too.