Upgraded GPU -- Lower FPS

[SicEmBaylor]

Can someone help me with a problem? I just upgraded from an HIS IceQ X 6950 2GB to a Sapphire R9 280X Dual-X (3GB), and now I'm experiencing drastically lower framerates. For example, Crysis 2 is down to about 40fps with maxed out settings. AC3 drops down into the 20s...BF3/4 are almost unplayable. I'm running at a resolution of 1900x1080.

I've removed every relevant driver and re-installed. I made sure my MoBo has the latest BIOS. I've tinkered with the OC settings on my CPU and the GPU. All of the games are fully updated....I'm running out of ideas.

MoBo: Gigabyte 970a-D3
CPU: AMD FX-8350
RAM: 8GB Corsair
GPU: Listed Above
OS: Windows 8.1 (64bit)

I'm thinking of going back to my old GPU.

 

[smyler]

What PSU do you have?

 

[SicEmBaylor]

What PSU do you have?

A fairly new (just a few months old) Apevia Warlock 750w. I should also mention that clean swept the drivers. My only theory right now is that maybe the CPU is bottlenecking, but wouldn't that result in performance equal to the old card but not necessarily better? A bottleneck wouldn't cause the performance to drop this much I wouldn't think...

I upgraded to 8.1 right over Windows 7 (which originally had the old GPU). I never do that, but I didn't have time to do a fresh install. Something always goes quirky when I do that, so maybe this is the "quirky" lesson to do a clean install of Windows.

 

[smyler]

I just looked at your board specs, and I don't see a reason it couldn't handle that gpu, and your psu has more than enough amps on the +12v rails, not to mention redundant rails. The only thing I can thing of is maybe cooling? Or you could have shorted a rail or two on the PSU, though with redundant rails, you would have to short 3 of them on that psu for it to start doing what you are claiming. The only other thing I can think of is you might be right about the fresh install. Have you updated windows 8.1 yet? There were a few problems with mice/gpu's and some drivers in the early release of 8 and 8.1.

 

[smyler]

Also, I correct myself, you'd have to short 2 as I first stated not 3, however if that were the case, you would usually physically witness it happen. Though it is possible without sparks or even really knowing about it, though it's such a rare occurence anyway that I highly doubt that as being a factor. Btw, that 280x blows your old card out of the water, I'd find a solution before reverting back.

 

[SicEmBaylor]

I just looked at your board specs, and I don't see a reason it couldn't handle that gpu, and your psu has more than enough amps on the +12v rails, not to mention redundant rails. The only thing I can thing of is maybe cooling? Or you could have shorted a rail or two on the PSU, though with redundant rails, you would have to short 3 of them on that psu for it to start doing what you are claiming. The only other thing I can think of is you might be right about the fresh install. Have you updated windows 8.1 yet? There were a few problems with mice/gpu's and some drivers in the early release of 8 and 8.1.

Aye, I doubt it's the PSU -- the old 6950 was running great just a couple of days ago before I swapped cards. I really am thinking that maybe a fresh install will do the trick...unless the CPU is bottlenecking.

One other thing I might try is to make sure I actually have the card seated well and the power cables are properly connected. Maybe I connected a power cable incorrectly. :shrug: This simply makes no sense to me.

 

[SicEmBaylor]

55fps on BC2 with maxed out settings. 55fps....on BC2....with this card. :smh:

 

[smyler]

Occlusion in BF lowers fps considerably so if you maxed the settings, you will see that happen, here is an example from exactly that game actually. Lower gpu though, but the vid is old... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBN5MNpYWlY

Though I would agree, check your seating, and connections. Though honestly, I'd say it's most likely your install. However thats another 100 bucks atleast, so I'd make sure everything is connected first. Did you check temps and see if you're over heating?

 

[SicEmBaylor]

Well, I wiped my HDD clean and installed a fresh Windows 8.1. Fully updated...drivers are all ready to go, etc. etc. and it looks like that did the trick! I'm getting drastically better FPS. Crysis 2 is now running at about 70fps maxed out I turned v-sync off which helped quite a bit though...BF3 is smooth as silk. BF4 is much improved.

It just goes to show that the old advice of always doing a fresh install of Windows when updating is very very good advice.