GTX 580 not performing like it should

Are you sure it's not the psu that's making the noise under load?

positive, i cracked open the case and its the video card

Is it a whining noise? Could be the infamous transistor whine. Only fix for that is to RMA the thing. Not sure if the noise is directly related to the poor performance. It's definitely a possibility.

Do you have the most recent drivers from Nvidia's website installed?

Is your PSU capable of powering this card properly?

I imagine your GPU Core and Memory frequencies are so low because the card is at Idle during this snapshot? Do these clock speeds increase correctly under load?

#1: The Physics Test is supposed to be laggy. Don't sweat that. It always is with 3DMark.

#2: Try reducing your CPU speed and see if that impacts your score. If it does, then your CPU is bottlenecking. You should be able to OC a Q9650 by around 600MHz on stock voltage. With water cooling, even Corsair H50, you shouldn't have an issue getting near or past 4.0GHz.

#3: You should be looking at the Graphics Score because the Physics score varies too much between systems and there are too many variables (although mostly CPU).

What is your RAM setup? I assume 4x1GB sticks? If it's 6GB, remove your two 1GB sticks and just run two 2GB in slots of the same color. Check your RAM timings in your bios and make sure they're not set strangely slow. You've now eliminated your RAM as a possible bottleneck.

Did adjusting CPU speed affect your Graphics score?

EDIT: I ignored the thing about your graphics card noise. Is it really strangely loud or whining or does it just sound like it's moving more air than you're used to? You can install MSI Afterburner and setup a linear fan profile (30% @ 30C, 100% @ 90C). Careful about playing around with Afterburner's other settings. Btw, it works with all NVidia cards.

#1: I do have a GT240 as dedicated physx card...

#2:hmm ill try that, i do have the H50 on it

#3: 4783 is the graphics score

#4: and this is the ram im running
Module 1
2048 MB G.Skill 7 @ 400 MHz
Module 2
1024 MB G.Skill 7 @ 400 MHz
Module 3
2048 MB G.Skill 7 @ 400 MHz
Module 4
1024 MB G.Skill 7 @ 400 MHz

#1: I still think the Physics is supposed to look terrible. Also, a GT240 is an underpowered physX card that often decreases single high-end graphics cards running PhysX themselves. You want a minimum GTS 250/9800GT. Try removing the GT240.

#2: Try CPU at stock or even at 2.8GHz and at 3.4GHz

#3: Yeah...the GTX 580 should be pulling around 6000 points.

#4: 4GB RAM in two slots in dual channel mode is faster than 6GB RAM in four slots in mixed mode. Run Memtest86+ from a flashstick and look at RAM data speed to verify.

If you run that 580 all by it'self, you should find yourself with a much better score. In tests where's it's testing physics only, the 580 will rape that 240.

In my experiences with re-using older cards as a dedicated physics card..... Anything less than a 260/216 or 280 will just not hang with todays benches or games.

In most cases, more ram is always better. But in your case with different ram sizes, remove the 1gigs sticks and re-run the tests.

I know that your Q9650 is bottlenecking your 580. Because my last rig was a Q9550 with x2 260 core216 SC's in sli with 8 gigs of ram, and my cpu was bottlenecking those cards until I OCed it to 3.4ghz, up from 2.83ghz.

Considering that a single 580 is much faster, I would say that you would need around 3.8-4.0ghz on your cpu to eliminate any bottleneck. If your not sure any a cpu bottleneck, then re-run your test to get a baseline, then OC your cpu 100mhz at a time until your score stops increasing. Once you have found your GHZ requirement, run OCCT for 30 minutes, or prime95 for 24 hours to ensure system stability.

Dude, I just said 95% of that!

I guess I didn't say to stability test after the OC, but I wasn't bothering with OC instructions. If we're doing that...

Make sure you set all voltages to manual and default when you start your OC and set RAM to its slowest timings while you OC the CPU, then turn it up after you have your final CPU OC.

ok this is 3Dmark11...most of new graphics cards will look like the were made 10 years ago....it's a very demanding benchmark

almost forgot....screen resolution plays a bing part, also so does your V sync....if V sync is enabled your card's precessing power is limited to your monitors refresh rate

@Dalauder,

Sorry man! I just skimmed the replies. Good suggestions to the OP, I wish i thought of them! lol.

To the OP, yea, what HE said.

Sniper 2606, did any of this help?

holy shi...... lol well i removed the gt 240 card and 2 memory sticks left the pc with 4gb of ram, ran the test again and got a way better score 4352.... how crazy u guys were right, im going to put the cpu back to stock ran again then OC

actually i was mistaken it is coming from the PSU when on hard load, is this a psu issue?

When PSUs are under load they get hotter. When they get hotter the fan spins up and gets louder. If it is load though, that is a little odd. What PSU do you have? You should have a 550W or maybe larger to use a GTX 580.

As far as OC'ing--make sure not to increase voltages too high. It's best to leave them on manual defaults until it starts having stability issues. If you leave it on Auto, sometimes motherboards scale voltage with clock speed and will overvoltage components. Let me know if you'd like an OC'ing crash course (I am not responsible if you fry your system, not that I've ever damaged components).

its def not the fan, it sounds like eeeeee something like that, i have a 750w psu. i just purchase a xfx 850w black edition

whats your solution?

oc the processor or get a new cpu/mb

What do you get on Graphics only PsychoSaysDie? With different CPUs, we can't compare the composite score.

From what I've seen, most i7-9XX's will get around 6000 on graphics. If you can get near that with your Q9550, then you're fine.

blah PsychoSaysDie is right, my mobo and cpu are pretty damn old, i will buy a new mobo cpu and memory

this is what i bought

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB ddr3
Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W
MSI Big Bang-XPower LGA 1366 Intel
XFX black edition 850w psu

grand total $600, i think thats very cheap

what do you guys think?

I think you made a big mistake. You should have gotten a i5-2500k/i7-2600k, both are faster than what you bought and both overclock to about 4.6-4.8ghz.

The i5-2500K is only $229.

Oh well, what's your score now?

well i got the i core 7 new "open box" for only $209.... and plus isnt the i5-2500k LGA 1156?

2500K is the NEW socket. s1155.

Nice, any idea of how much i can sell my mobo cpu and memory for? i still see that the Q9650 is $339... thats insane

knew that......not really...... lol

That's because some people with older boards will pay that to upgrade. I'd say you can get at least $250 on ebay for the cpu.

There's yet another coming soon, s2011.

technology always doing this to us...lol anyways well the price was nice for the i7 and the motherboard per reviews i can push the OC button and it should OC very nicely and stable

Check Ebay, the cpu alone is going for over $250, USED. Yes there are idiots out there.

Well the one at $255 has 23 bids   and there is still 6 days left in the auction. LOL

http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Core-2-Quad-Q9650-3-GHz-BX805...

Turkey....lol....cutting edge technology for them.

You can sell a Q9650 for over $150 I think. But you really could've gotten full performance out of the GTX 580 with it if you wanted.

You REALLY should return what you just purchased and start a new thread here for building a system. We'll get you the best possible build for your buck. $600 is a decent price for that stuff, but it's nothing special.

would the i5-2500k fit the mobo i bought? the msi big bang xpower ??