Upgraded video card - worse performance?

[mikiej459]

Hi,

I upgraded from a Geforce GTX 260 to a Geforce GTX 560 Ti (superclocked) and noticed that games seem to "stutter" more often. I'm not really noticing any performance increase - if anything it has decreased. I usually play games at 1440x900, with either medium or high - and the stuttering is occuring even in games where I have no turned settings up.

Here's my current specs:

Intel E7500 C2D 2.93 ghz
Geforce GTX 560 Ti 1GB GDDR5
8 GB 1066MHZ DDR2 RAM (Kingston / G-Skill)
Seasonic 550 PSU
WD 300 GB HD

I assumed I would receive a notable upgrade in performance but if anything I feel things have gotten worse.

My overall 3D marks score improved slightly after upgrade, but for some of the individual tests it actually performed worse.

Any insights would be appreciated!

 

[jitpublisher]

You did reinstall the drivers? (sorry, but since you have not told us what you have done, we start with the basics!) Check to make sure the PCIe slot is running in 16X mode in the BIOS.

 

[deadlockedworld]

What game? Honestly the 260 was still a pretty powerful card for 1440x900 ... you shouldn't notice a huge performance jump.

Your CPU/DDR2 is the weak link in this build .. so if its a CPU intensive game ...

 

[mikiej459]

Thanks for the responses. Uninstalled drivers before putting the new card in, then I reinstalled after. I'll have to check the BIOS for 16x.

Is it worth overclocking my CPU then?

 

[Mousemonkey]

Thanks for the responses. Uninstalled drivers before putting the new card in, then I reinstalled after. I'll have to check the BIOS for 16x.

Is it worth overclocking my CPU then?

Yes, although your resolution is still a bit on the low side things should be improved a bit by a CPU OC.

 

[subcutaneous]

How about posting up some real FPS numbers?

It's possible that you have a faulty card, or that it is overheating. Try downloading the utility "speedfan" and run it as an administrator. It will be able to show your temperature for your GPU and CPU aswell in case anything is throttling due to heat. A 560 ti should show siginificant improvement in any game and the rest of your system should not be producing a significant bottleneck effect, even with the updated graphics card.

 

[mikiej459]

When idling my GPU is at about 35-40C, while playing a game such as Diablo 3 Beta I can get up to 65C.

The CPU idles around 35 and gets up to a max of about 55C.

Sustained FPS doesn't seem to be a problem (I'm around 60 or so most times playing D3 beta) it just seems to "stutter" alot. Could this be due to overheating?

 

[Mousemonkey]

The 560Ti can easily run at 80+ without throttling, mine do on a regular basis.

 

[mikiej459]

Ok, so I downloaded CPU-Z and GPU-Z to do some testing. Also, my graphics code is running in 16x mode.

In WoW, I'm getting about 20 FPS with all settings maxed, at 1440x900 resolution. However, checking GPU-Z, I see that even at max settings and 20 FPS I'm only hitting 50% max GPU load, with about 600 MB used.

Does this mean that the other hardware (probably processor) is holding me back?

 

[mikiej459]

By the way, the 20 FPS is in a very crowded area in the game (lots of characters / models). I can get up to 60 in instances / less crowded areas.

 

[Supernova1138]

Yeah, your CPU is holding you back, your GPU is waiting for the CPU to pass data to it before it can do any work, hence the 50% usage. As said above, try overclocking your CPU, that should help your framerates.

 

[subcutaneous]

Yeah at least with a good air cooler that CPU should be able to gain a decent % overclock.

 

[mikiej459]

Best answer selected by mikiej459.