New Cpu, still bad performance.

Jordan Watts · Aug 10, 2016

So I just upgraded my cpu to something I was told works well with my fairly new gpu as I was having what I thought was a big cpu bottleneck, but even after Changing the cpu it hasn't changed at all. Still runs just as bad. Is the gpu just dodgy? If so then I'll never buy an AMD gpu again. This has got me really confused and frustrated. Any help or insight would be great

bLyXi · Aug 10, 2016

Jordan Watts :

Hi can you please specify what CPU and what GPU you have?
Amount of RAM, HDD or SSD and Wattage of PSU would be nice...
Thanks, Kristian

fixxxer113 · Aug 10, 2016

Can you share your previous and current specs?

Jordan Watts · Aug 10, 2016

bLyXi :

Amd ATHLON X4 880K (old cpu was an A8 7650K Apu)
MSI Radeon R9 380
8gb ddr3 1600
1Tb Seagate hdd
XFX TS 550w PSU

sizzling · Aug 10, 2016

[strike]If that's your new CPU it's still very weak[/strike]edit after your update.

I think you got bad advice on a new cpu

Jordan Watts · Aug 10, 2016

For some reason it just doesn't run as it should, the strangest part being gpu usage goes crazy hardly ever sit at or near 100% even with the new cpu. Something isnt right and I can't figure it out. Never has these problems before

Jordan Watts · Aug 10, 2016

Well I didn't want to.replace everything. Money is tight right now and I didn't want to.have to change the motherboard as well. I wanted something better on the same socket that wasn't an apu

Jordan Watts · Aug 10, 2016

Anyway my point is that something isn't working right, regardless of my cpu, it should still work.better than it does

fixxxer113 · Aug 10, 2016

Check out the comparison on the PassMark site

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp%5B%5D=2747&cmp%5B%5D=2489

The 880K has only slightly higher single thread performance than the 7650k. So, in tasks that don't benefit by the APUs Radeon cores, the two processors are almost identical. It really depends on what you run, but it seems that one CPU having a higher clock and the other having the assistance of Radeon cores, are benefits that might cancel each other out.

Jordan Watts · Aug 10, 2016

I'm trying to find out whether it's the gpu, cpu or some other issue I don't need peoples opinions on what I should or.shouldnt have bought

fixxxer113 · Aug 10, 2016

You said your problem is that you have the same performance with both CPUs and we are trying to explain the possible causes. What application/game exactly are you running and expecting better performance?

bLyXi · Aug 10, 2016

Jordan Watts :

Change of CPU was not really needed, since there is only like 10% perf difference.
Thats weird, can you check your temperatures? You can use CoreTemp or Open Hardware Monitor...
And also how do you see that the performance is bad? Some game? Or an application?

In December I built budget gaming rig for my little cousin with Athlon 860K Stock cooler and clock, ASUS R9 380 2GB, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1TB HDD and 500W Corsair PSU, and the performance of that is quite nice...
You can almost compare the performance to my rig:
FX-6300 OCed to 4.8 GHz stable on Corsair H110i
Sapphire R9 280X 3GB Vapor-X
32GB RAM
1TB SSDs (4*256GB)
600W PSU

Jordan Watts · Aug 10, 2016

fixxxer113 :

Well I found a site the bottlenecker that said my old 7650K was too weak for.my gpu but that the 880K worked well with my gpu, I guess it was lying to.me? Also the 880K is between the 2 top A10 processors just with igpu removed

Jordan Watts · Aug 10, 2016

fixxxer113 :

Every game, I'll put.it this way, my games ran better when I.used to have a GTX 750ti and a worse cpu. R9 380 should be way better than that

Jordan Watts · Aug 10, 2016

Something is definitely not running right and I want to find it. Just to at least know what my problem is. And all my temps are fine, everything is at stock. And cpu has an aftermarket cooler, doesn't go above 45c while gaming

bLyXi · Aug 10, 2016

Jordan Watts :

The rig I built for my cousin is basicaly the same and It can runs most of games at High or Max settings FullHD with like 40-60 FPS... So what you are saying looks weird... Maybe try checking your BIOS for PCIe speed settings, it can be set for lower that x16 and that could be the issue.
Also what Exact Motherboard you have?
If you want to I can connect with TeamViewer and check your PC settings, but only in the Evening in like 8 or 9 hours...

Mark_209 · Aug 10, 2016

Hello Jordan,

You GPU decent however CPU is fairly low performance wise. I suggest you try the following:

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/AMDSystemMonitor.aspx

Download AMD System Monitor, then run a game you usually play then switch back to the System Monitor and see the performance info. If the CPU is on 100% but GPU is less then it means that you have a CPU bottleneck. If this is the case you can try overclocking the CPU to gain a bit more performance.

Another usefull tool to see how your system ranks compare to similar gaming rigs:
https://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark/all

Download 3DMark, run the benchmark to get an idea of your systems performance.

You never know, it might be operating at its limit already.

Another thing I wanted to mention, some games are badly optimized and the only way to get them working smoothly is dropping the graphics settings a little, even most powerful systems will struggle to run them and you will see frame drops. Try leaving AA on x2 and lower Particles/Post FX/Tessellation/Ambient Occlusion one setting down. Also only 1 type of AA should really be used so if using AA disable others and vice versa.
Most big name games have optimization articles to help with this.

Good luck

Dustybin · Aug 10, 2016

Hi, can you describe the problem in a little more detail. Is the problem that the fps is generally just low or do you get spikes/stutters? If your CPU usage is going crazy, is that just in game or does the PC seem sluggish in general when using it? What games are you playing at the moment and is the problem consistent across all games or just some?

You should download AMD overdrive, I haven't used it in a long time but I believe you can log your temps and things while you're gaming. It might help you identify if the card is throttling ditto for your CPU. If you're running an OC on anything then reset to the defaults. I would also download DDU and completely clean off the drivers from the system (works better than just an uninstall) and download the latest non beta from AMD.

The CPU isn't the strongest so comparing R9 380 benchmarks from reviews with your system may give you a false perspective of expected performance. Most hardware websites use a minimum of an i7 when doing a review supposedly to remove the CPU factor from the review.

Oh final thoughts, what is your motherboard and what version of BIOS is on it at the moment? Finally if all else fails (and you haven't already) consider a completely clean install of windows, your drivers and your game of choice and see if the problem still exists.

Jordan Watts · Aug 10, 2016

fixxxer113 :

bLyXi :

The pcie is running correctly as gpu-z shows it on pcie 3.0 @ x16 when it's on load.
The motherboard is an Asus A88XM-A.
I am currently trying the only thing I haven't done which is re install windows 10. If it doesn't help then I'll try installing windows 7 and see If that changes anything. If not I'd be open for any assistance

bLyXi · Aug 10, 2016

Jordan Watts :

Try DDU first to uninstall all the drivers, then Install first the AMD Chipset Drivers and then the AMD Display Drivers...
And check if there is some change...
Also the GPU-Z Bus Interface is PCI-E 3.0 x16 @ x16 3.0 ??

Jordan Watts · Aug 10, 2016

bLyXi :

I've tried DDU and different drivers already, I haven't tried the crimson Chipset drivers though, to.be honest I don't really like the crimson software but I'll try that also, I have just finished re installing windows so in the process of setting everything up

Jordan Watts · Aug 10, 2016

Windows re install didn't help. It can't be the cpu as I've seen reviews of it with similar gpu and it performs decently. Mine doesn't, I've seen that it should be able to run at 1080p anywhere between 40-60fps, I am only running at 1600x900 and most of my games dip well into the 30fps mark. That shouldn't be happening regardless of my cpu with this gpu. I'm starting to think there may be something wrong with the gpu itself. Looks like I'll have to save for an nvidia card. Amd are nothing but problems. I just wish they weren't so expensive here

bLyXi · Aug 10, 2016

Jordan Watts :

I will send you a private message here on toms hardware with my contact details...
Maybe you have a friend nearby who has a desktop to try your GPU there? The fault can be with motherboards PCIe slot...
I never really had an issue with AMD GPUs or CPUs... And I had quite a few of them...

Jordan Watts · Aug 10, 2016

bLyXi :

Sadly I don't have anyone close by to test my gpu in their pc. I suppose it could be the slot but the hard part is finding out if it is or not. The last time I had an AMD system was a couple years ago, I had an fx 6300 six core that was very disappointing, I replaced that with an Intel build and was much better. Sadly here Intel/nvidia is so much more expensive than amd so it's hard to want to change over. I have other GPUs here but they're both worse than the R9 380 so there's no point using either of them

bLyXi · Aug 10, 2016

Jordan Watts :

Bad thing is that your MB has only one PCIe x16...

New Cpu, still bad performance.

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