Would a AMD FX-8120 (@3.1GHz) bottleneck a GTX 560 2gb?

[Payne500]

Lately I've been noticing a huge performance decrease in newer games. I was wondering what could be bottlenecking my build.
Naturally, my first thought was my CPU. Thanks for the responses.

My Specs:
AMD FX-8120 (@3.1GHz)
GTX 560 2gb Superclocked
8 GB RAM
1 TB HD

 

[obsama1]

Well, try using the latest GPU drivers. Those could help performance.

 

[Payne500]

Well, try using the latest GPU drivers. Those could help performance.

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm running the latest drivers. Version 206.23 if I'm not mistaken.

 

[obsama1]

Try the latest Windows updates and BIOS. But be cautious when updating the BIOS, and follow all instructions.

 

[Payne500]

I was considering updating the mobo's BIOS. Thanks for the idea though. I'll definitely try it now.

 

[Payne500]

As for anyone else, I'm still open for suggestions. This performance is just awful. For example, I should be able to max out Borderlands 2. When I have BO2 auto-detect settings, it sets the screen to the lowest resolution and sets a bunch of stuff at low. There's something wrong somewhere.

 

[obsama1]

Try the Bulldozer Windows hotfixes. They improve FX's performance on Windows.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2646060
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2645594

 

[Payne500]

Try the Bulldozer Windows hotfixes. They improve FX's performance on Windows.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2646060
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2645594

I'll try those too. Thanks again.

 

[jacobsta811]

You've got a problem, but it isn't your CPU in normal operations. Benchmarks I see http://www.techspot.com/review/577-borderlands-2-performance/page6.html suggest that while your CPU does impact performance on Borderlands 2, in normal operation you should be seeing 30FPS+ at 1080p, Max settings with your graphics card. I'd actually suspect the card first. Check out something like SiSoft Sandra or other benchmarking tool and see if one of your components tests drastically slow. You almost certainly have an issue with something not functioning correctly - is your CPU or Graphics card throttling because of a thermal issue (clogged cooler, non-working fan, Cooler seated with removable plastic still attached or with no thermal paste) ?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

You've got a problem, but it isn't your CPU in normal operations. Benchmarks I see http://www.techspot.com/review/577-borderlands-2-performance/page6.html suggest that while your CPU does impact performance on Borderlands 2, in normal operation you should be seeing 30FPS+ at 1080p, Max settings with your graphics card.

Except he doesn't have a 680...

That 560 couldn't handle 1080p maxed out. Trust me.

 

[obsama1]

The 560 does 59FPS at 1200p.

http://www.techspot.com/review/577-borderlands-2-performance/page3.html

It's the CPU. A lot of games just don't know what to do w/ BD, resulting in lower performance.

 

[Payne500]

You've got a problem, but it isn't your CPU in normal operations. Benchmarks I see http://www.techspot.com/review/577-borderlands-2-performance/page6.html suggest that while your CPU does impact performance on Borderlands 2, in normal operation you should be seeing 30FPS+ at 1080p, Max settings with your graphics card. I'd actually suspect the card first. Check out something like SiSoft Sandra or other benchmarking tool and see if one of your components tests drastically slow. You almost certainly have an issue with something not functioning correctly - is your CPU or Graphics card throttling because of a thermal issue (clogged cooler, non-working fan, Cooler seated with removable plastic still attached or with no thermal paste) ?

Yeah, the more I look into this the more I suspect my card is defective somehow. I'm not noticing anything strange with the fan or temps wise, though. I do plan on updating my mobo BIOS, however. I'll post back with the results.

 

[Payne500]

Except he doesn't have a 680...

That 560 couldn't handle 1080p maxed out. Trust me.

I know the 560 can handle it, two of my friends have 560's with i5's and they can max without a problem. They only have the 1gb version too, without my overclock.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

The 560 does 59FPS at 1200p.

http://www.techspot.com/review/577-borderlands-2-performance/page3.html

It's the CPU. A lot of games just don't know what to do w/ BD, resulting in lower performance.

Eh, I actually thought it was a DX11 capable game, but upon further research it's not (not even an option), and it's only DX9 (which nearly any decent card can play). A shame, really. Kinda disappointed.

If DX11 were an option, that would change things, though.

Edit: I should add that I don't own the game (obviously) and don't really care about it, so I haven't put much effort into researching its performance.

 

[obsama1]

If it were DX11, this game would be a lot more stressing.

I think it's due to the CPU. An i5 gets 15FPS more than an 8150 and that's w/ a 680. With a 560, you will get less performance,but the games setting the res. so low is unusual.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Well, let's ask this. How do other games perform?

If you only have poor performance in Borderlands 2, then we can rule out the GPU and CPU.

My gut tells me that this is a software issue (drivers or game).

Edit: I see in your first post that you say poor performance in "newer" games. Which ones?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

The reason that I think that it's software related is that failing hardware shouldn't really cause poor performance without other things happening too (crashes, artifacting, etc.).

If it's just slow, but nothing else happens, that doesn't scream out failing hardware.

 

[Payne500]

Well, let's ask this. How do other games perform?

If you only have poor performance in Borderlands 2, then we can rule out the GPU and CPU.

My gut tells me that this is a software issue (drivers or game).

Edit: I see in your first post that you say poor performance in "newer" games. Which ones?

To be honest, I haven't played a whole lot of newer titles on this rig yet. By saying "newer" titles I was referencing Spec Ops: The Line (a pretty graphically intense game.) But even then, I was getting about 25 fps and it seemed playable. Would outdated BIOS point to poor performance in newer titles?

 

[Payne500]

The reason that I think that it's software related is that failing hardware shouldn't really cause poor performance without other things happening too (crashes, artifacting, etc.).

If it's just slow, but nothing else happens, that doesn't scream out failing hardware.

I should also mention I've gotten a blue screen pretty infrequently that may point to hardware failure. At this point, I've narrowed it down to my mobo and my graphics card. Not completely sure about this though. This could still be a software issue.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Would outdated BIOS point to poor performance in newer titles?

It shouldn't, but updating is worth a shot, at this point.

My next recommendation after that is to try an older driver. Something in the 29xx.xx area. I use 295.73 and it seems to be flawless with my own 560 (and that's why I haven't updated it).

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

I should also mention I've gotten a blue screen pretty infrequently that may point to hardware failure. At this point, I've narrowed it down to my mobo and my graphics card. Not completely sure about this though. This could still be a software issue.

Hmm. Try Furmark. If it's a hardware problem, that should make it very apparent. Nothing will stress it as much as Furmark will.

 

[Payne500]

It shouldn't, but updating is worth a shot, at this point.

My next recommendation after that is to try an older driver. Something in the 29xx.xx area. I use 295.73 and it seems to be flawless with my own 560 (and that's why I haven't updated it).

Interesting. But do you think it could just be my cpu bottlenecking performance? Even if everything was running as it should?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Interesting. But do you think it could just be my cpu bottlenecking performance? Even if everything was running as it should?

Seeing the benches linked here, at least for Borderlands 2, it shouldn't be.

A 560 shouldn't be bottlenecked by a 8120, anyway. If anything, they're a relatively close match for each other (unlike my 560 with my OC'd 2500K, lol. My 2500K is definitely bottlenecked by my 560, even though I have it OC'd too).

I expect lower gaming performance from both the 560 and the 8120 (neither are particularly great. Decent, but not great), but the performance shouldn't be god awful either. Somewhere on the lower end of acceptable.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Actually, after looking over the benches linked here again, I think I agree with jacobsta811 to an extent. You should probably be seeing somewhere around 20-30 FPS in Borderlands 2 @ 1080p maxed out.

It's hard to extrapolate that from the info there, but the GPU tests were done with a 3960X, so they're a bit skewed, and the CPU tests were done with a 680, so they're skewed, as well. It's just an educated guess that 20-30 FPS with a 8120 and 560 would be just about right.

If that's the case, then there is a relatively major CPU bottleneck going on (59 FPS for a 560 with a 3960X and a guess of 20-30 with a 560 and a 8120).

I know I'm contradicting myself a bit there (from my post above), but I had to do some mental work to work out what the performance should really be.

You might want to try overclocking the CPU.

 

[Payne500]

Seeing the benches linked here, at least for Borderlands 2, it shouldn't be.

A 560 shouldn't be bottlenecked by a 8120, anyway. If anything, they're a relatively close match for each other (unlike my 560 with my OC'd 2500K, lol. My 2500K is definitely bottlenecked by my 560, even though I have it OC'd too).

I expect lower gaming performance from both the 560 and the 8120 (neither are particularly great. Decent, but not great), but the performance shouldn't be god awful either. Somewhere on the lower end of acceptable.

Hmm, then I'm leaning towards either the BIOS update or a graphics card issue.