What is bottlenecking my 8800gtx? Help please!

[szederp]

Hi there,

I think the thread title covers it all. I recently bought an ASUS NV8800Gtx video card and I would like to know if everything is okay with it. I need you expertise

My configuration is:

Asus P5KC motherboard
Core 2 Duo E6750 CPU (running on 3.1 Ghz)
2x1 Gig Geil Value 800 RAMs
FSP Bluestorm 400W Power supply
and the above mentioned videocard.

Platform: Windows XP Service pack 2

So my problem is: after having paid a lot of money for this config I would like to know why am I getting lower framerates on particular benchmarks and games than those with almost the same rig.

3Dmark06: 11400 points

As I heard that is more or less okay, but when it comes to gaming I'm quite disillusioned. There are a couple of test on youtube, especially the ones by seahawk which show me that sg is not quite right here.

http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=8800gtx+tests&search=Search

I compared a lot of games benchmark results with his rig and in every case I got fewer points. I'm not trying to compete with anyone but having paid a lot of cash for the gtx I would really love to know what is "holding it back"

Please help me, any comments on any part of my configuration is welcome.
Many thanks in advance

 

[blade85]

hmmm, for some reason i feel you should have gone for a better power supply with this rig. Im not 100% sure, but a low power supply maaaaaaay cause a slight reduction is performance. Personally i would have had a 500W or higher psu.

Appart from that its the usual stuff of checking your drivers and making sure they are the latest ones.

If you had an ATI card before this, you will need to make sure none of its files are left behind.

Defrag your hdd

virus scans, spyware scan...etc etc.

cant really think of anything else just now.

 

[szederp]

Thank you very much for your comment. This is an entirely new system, so there cannot be ati driver pieces left behind, and the hdd is good. I have the latest Nvidia forceware drivers.....
No viruses detected yet....

 

[blade85]

as in the other post, the only thing i can think of is power supply. Got any friends that be willing to lend a more powerfull one?

you may be better off just buying a new one, and sell this one you currently have.

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

Dude I cant believe you used that PSU and have not gotten a pop yet

 

[jonnyli]

They power supply may not be feeding your videocard enough power. Get a 500-600W psu and you problems should be gone.

 

[pchoi04]

Yeah... after spending that much money on a new system you don't want to go cheap on a PSU... You'll end up spending more money in the long run.

 

[michiganteddybear]

one thing to add.. besides the need for a power supply..

a lot of them bench's you see/read are done on very highly optimized systems. if your running with the plain jane normal windows load, with the expected added crap that windows as well as other applications add to the background processes, you will get lower results.

clean up the system (software wise) after a new ps and you will likely see a big improvement


ps.. my store stopped getting them supplies because of failures..

 

[mike99]

That card can peak at 165W! (that's nearly 14A) FSP are very good quality, but you are really pushing that PSU to its limit.

Mike.

 

[chookman]

The 3dmark06 score is high enough to justify that the GTX is running ok mid 11k is about right really... are you having problems in games?

 

[szederp]

Yes I do..... I mean game benchmarks. Doom3 timedemo 1 (I know it is old but still useable for benchm purposes) Fear performance test.
They run smoothly but at a much lower fps than expected.
Just for comparisonthese tests can be found on youtube, search for 8800 gtx benchmark)
Seahawk with a similar rig got 55 fps in doom3, I got 43

Fear test, on his config lowest fps in 1600x1200 is around 32
on my system it is 23 in 1280x1024!!!
(16x quality anti-aliasing enabled of course.)
I'm only curious because I recenty bought this new system, and I want high performance for the money. But it looks like I have to get a new PSU first......

 

[systemlord]

Dude your PSU doesn't even meet the minumum recommended spec's for the 8800 GTX. My system as it is now is using 472 watts and I only have a 7800GTX and not even the 8800 GTX.

 

[bildo123]

Yes I do..... I mean game benchmarks. Doom3 timedemo 1 (I know it is old but still useable for benchm purposes) Fear performance test.
They run smoothly but at a much lower fps than expected.
Just for comparisonthese tests can be found on youtube, search for 8800 gtx benchmark)
Seahawk with a similar rig got 55 fps in doom3, I got 43

Fear test, on his config lowest fps in 1600x1200 is around 32
on my system it is 23 in 1280x1024!!!
(16x quality anti-aliasing enabled of course.)
I'm only curious because I recenty bought this new system, and I want high performance for the money. But it looks like I have to get a new PSU first......

If your on a tight budget,check out this beautiful Thermaltake 500Watt PSU. Has nicely wrapped wires for good airflow (make sure your case is getting airflow, heat can and will steal frames off your game)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153052..

bottom line $35 AR, cant beat that with a stick for this type of quality and power.

 

[Falken699]

PSU man, change it FAST

 

[HyperBladeST]

As other said : Change that PSU. 500W +
Try the Corsair HX520 or HX620. I got one and I'm perfectly happy with it but it's a lil bit ... ok quite expensive so if you find something else that can do the job for cheaper go for it ... as long as it's not a noname brand.

 

[systemlord]

Don't forget about AMPS, there very important! Get a PSU with at least 30 amps on the 12v rail. Meaning on one 12v rail and not combind amps.

 

[4745454b]

While systemlord disagrees, it is safe to get one that has 30A across a series of rails. There is nothing wrong with doing it this way. Just make sure you don't add "straight across." If you have a PSU that can output 18A on two rails, that doesn't mean it can do 36A across both at the same time. The area in the PSU that generates the power for the 12V rails can usually only output a fraction of that. Check the psu label carefully to make sure you are getting a real 30A PSU. Remember, the label WON'T say 18A + 18A = 264W, but 12v1 + 12v2 = 264W. This means together, each rail can now only supply 11A. (on average, one might be suppling 15A while the other is supplying 7A.)

 

[MagicPants]

Fear test, on his config lowest fps in 1600x1200 is around 32
on my system it is 23 in 1280x1024!!!
(16x quality anti-aliasing enabled of course.)
I'm only curious because I recenty bought this new system, and I want high performance for the money. But it looks like I have to get a new PSU first......

Well that sounds like the issue right there. 16x AA is not fast. Do you know if the 1600x1200 test was using anti-aliasing? You should try a more reasonable setting like 4x. To me it doesn't make much sense to use AA below the native res of your monitor, just increase the res instead.

That aside yes you need a bigger power supply. If you don't know how to read a power supply label go with something that has 600w or more. If you knew exactly what you were doing you might get away with a very good 500w. The 400w psu will work for a while but sooner or later it's going to blow out. I have roughly the same setup and I use a 700w ocz gamexstream.

 

[szederp]

The test was using 4x AA in the game, and 16QA in the Nvidia control panel..... My native resolution is 1280x1024 (TFT monitor only allows up to this figure)
I hope getting a new PSU will resolve this problem of mine
Again thank you for all your comments guys!

 

[elbert]

First let me say an E2180 can OC to 3.4GHz and score about what a E6750 at 3.1GHz can. The E6750 should get 3.5GHz with no problem for the price. If you only wanted to OC to 3.1GHz you should have went cheap or gotten the Q6600. The Q6600 would do much better on most benchmarks at 3.1GHz.

So you think a 400W PSU is good enough for a 8800GTX and OC your CPU? Better be the Zen 400 and even then you better watch your drive count.

Now whats holding you back is a record setting PC requires the best of parts and the best knowledge to use those parts to their max. I would guess from your E6750 OC you dont have the +3 bin needed. Those guys may have went though several just to get that 1 +3 bin. Possible tried several 8800GTX's for getting a great OC. Can you say restocking fee several times real fast. You dont have PSU or the memory needed to get near the top. Those guys could be OC'ed 1:1 on memory using 1250 (PC2 10000) memory. $671 good lord.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145171


To make matters worse your like most of use and not the 1 in a million thats lucky enough to get a +3 bin CPU and GPU from 1 buy. Don't worry about those high scores because your system costed maybe half as much and your score isn't the lowest by far. Some have stuttering problems and extreme low FPS.

 

[szederp]

Great, now could somebody explain to me the 1 +3 bin part? I really do not get it...What is a +3 bin cpu?
Thanks

 

[Sparky6string]

Setting up your computer correctly could help a great deal. When running 3DMark06 have all AA and AF off with Texture Filtering set at Quality. Make sure there are no programs running in the background. Similarly for the games if you're going to compare your card to someone else's at least have the settings the same.

Also the card you're comparing to might have been overclocked.

 

[systemlord]

So you think a 400W PSU is good enough for a 8800GTX and OC your CPU?

HUH??? 400 watts for a 8800 GTX are you nuts? Nvidia recommends a minumum 450 watt PSU, and with my spec's I use 472 watts with the rig in my sig and I only have a 7800GTX. You should look at most of the post here because almost everyone agree's that his problem is his PSU. Remember amps are very important to here.

 

[grieve]

The 3dmark06 score is high enough to justify that the GTX is running ok mid 11k is about right really... are you having problems in games?

I have to agree, i think you should get 11500-12000 3dmark06 score.

change the PSU out... you can always return it if it isnt the problem.

 

[Guest]

its probably your power supply...

I get 12000 3dmarks with c2d e6420 @ 3.2 and 8800 gts 640...
.
I had a system power supply of 550.... and it wasn't enough for this build... don't ask me why but it wasn't... and I upgraded to a 880... and it no longer stutters as often.... and its much more energy efficient which is a bonus