Question 3080TI usage is really low, causing bad performance.

[OGrabMe]

Hi there, i just helped my brother with a gfx install, and i think something fishy is up, he had a 2080 in his machine that he upgraded to a 3080TI FE.
Since the install, even though he have gotten better fps in the games he play, it puzzled me seeing as his gpu never is at 100%ish usage while gaming ? it jumps from 50%-70% really much. causing fps to jump quite a bit. We tried in different games like Pubg, World of tanks, no mans sky - all results are seemingly the same In firestrike extreme there does not seem to be a problem, and his score is in the 97th percentile is says, but i would expect games to run better/more stable ?

I am not really experienced in Nvidia cards, as i have a Radeon 6800xt myself, but in the previously stated games, i run much more stable and better fps than him. We both tried Pubg in 1440p with all details on ultra, and tried both direct x11 and 12 He runs 80-200 fps and it fluctuates very much, in menus and when jumping parachute he has great fps, and gpu usage.... As soon as there seem to be alot to render (getting closer to the ground in pubg, gpu usage goes down to the before mentioned 50-70%) , i stay much more stable at around 160 with 98-99% gpu usage at all times....

Gpu usage jumps on his machine jumps between 50-87 % or something like it, and cpu says 30-40% usage so i would not expect a cpu bottleneck. Our cpu's is quite equal in 'power' and his ram is faster speed than mine, his gpu should also have the edge. Yet i beat him in everything, except benchmarks like 3Dmark, where he has the edge (probably cause his card actually works at full power ?)

His setup is:
Windows 10
Intel i9 9900k - stock speeds
msi mpg z390 gaming pro carbon
3080Ti founders ed
Corsair dominator 32GB @ 3200 MHz
Seasonic 750W 80+ bronze
Antec 240 aio cooler - in games cpu max temp is 65-70c

windows and games are installed on ssd drives.

My setup:
Windows 11
Intel i5 10600 - stock speeds
ASUS TUF GAMING B460-PLUS
Rx 6800xt Merc
Corsair vengance 64GB @ 2666 MHz
Chieftec Proton Series BDF-850C
Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L

windows is on a m.2 and games are installed on ssd drives.

We made sure that his gpu isnt daisy chained, and the software seems to indicate that it pulls 350-400 ish watt when in games. we tried changing the power settings in both windows and nvidia software to max performance - didnt do anything.
tried different drivers, to no awail.
Added loads of fans blowing directly on the card to make sure his vrm isnt cooking, (around 90c) when card is running without the extra fans - didnt change anything to cool them more
tried to change lane speed to 3.0 manually in bios to make sure it aint running at 2.0 in auto.
made sure vsync isnt on, same with gsync
Disabled discord and nvidia overlays - no change
deleted and reinstalled drivers with ddu from safe mode - didnt change anything.
updated bios to latest version, and updated all other mobo related drivers


I am not really sure what the deal is. I have googled and googled and alot of people seems to have the same issues, mostly old threads though.... Any idea what is up with the usage ? seems wierd it only would run 100% on bench, and not in games when vsync and g sync is turned off ?

When installing his ram, i noticed they are 2 different kits, we couldent seem to find the ones he had, or at least we thought we had, but the timings are different between the 2 sets, so we manually set them to run 3000mhz, as letting xmp do its thing makes games shut down. dont seem to be any issues now though, and we did try running with only 1 of the sets, didnt seem to do any difference. - we checked the new 2 sticks with memtest 86 to be sure they were not faulty when we saw the crashes, it ran the test without problems


We will in a couple of days try with a 1000w gold power supply, just to make sure it isnt anything with that, also considering adding a m.2 to his machine and installing win 11 on it, if i can get the secure boot to work, (pc keeps booting into bios when enabling that and tpm 2.0)

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

Often issues with RTX3080/ti cards on an MSI mobo can be resolved with a bios update. Although, you've done that, have you cleared CMOS after the update? This is essential.

 

[RodroX]

Exactly which Seasonic 750W 80+ bronze PSU does your borther have ?, How old is this PSU?

RTX 3080 TI does need at least a 750 watts PSU, but not all PSU are made the same way.

 

[drivinfast247]

Did you remove old drivers with DDU prior to installing new card and updated drivers?

 

[OGrabMe]

Hey there,

Often issues with RTX3080/ti cards on an MSI mobo can be resolved with a bios update. Although, you've done that, have you cleared CMOS after the update? This is essential.

Yes we did clear the cmos with the battery removal, also checked bios settings while fiddling with the secure boot stuff...

Exactly which Seasonic 750W 80+ bronze PSU does your borther have ?, How old is this PSU?

RTX 3080 TI does need at least a 750 watts PSU, but not all PSU are made the same way.

It is a seasonic ss-750am m12II bronze
half modular i would call it
- it is probably 4 years old now

Did you remove old drivers with DDU prior to installing new card and updated drivers?

yes, we did DDU from safe mode with the ethernet cable disconnected.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

I think @RodroX is right here. That Seasonic, although a really decent PSU back in the day, is not entirely suitable for new builds. Specially with the transient power spikes for RTX GPU's. Maybe a good 850w gold unit would be good to throw in there. Seasonic Focus Plus, EVGA G2/G3, Corsair RMx/RMi are all decent prices.

 

[OGrabMe]

I think @RodroX is right here. That Seasonic, although a really decent PSU back in the day, is not entirely suitable for new builds. Specially with the transient power spikes for RTX GPU's. Maybe a good 850w gold unit would be good to throw in there. Seasonic Focus Plus, EVGA G2/G3, Corsair RMx/RMi are all decent prices.

Interesting, i was under the impression that if the psu was too small, the pc would restart or crash ?

- i have a Gigabyte P1000GM 1000W gold cert on hand that i will try in there in a couple of days

 

[RodroX]

Interesting, i was under the impression that if the psu was too small, the pc would restart or crash ?

- i have a Gigabyte P1000GM 1000W gold cert on hand that i will try in there in a couple of days

Is not an awesome PSU either, but it does have extra 250 watts.

 

[OGrabMe]

Is not an awesome PSU either, but it does have extra 250 watts.

Allright, but if the issue is power related i would think it should be able to show, the gigabyte is a friends that we will try, just to see if my brothers is faulty or just dont have the juice anymore

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

my Dark Power Pro 11 Platinum 750w couldn't handle my ASUS RTX 3080 Ti.
would boot and function fine but with any demanding game it would cause the GPU to crash.
the FE editions use slightly less power and a good 750w is all they need.

if you are using 6/8pin PCIe cables to a 20pin converter, make sure you are using separate PCIe power cables and not daisy chained connectors.

 

[OGrabMe]

my Dark Power Pro 11 Platinum 750w couldn't handle my ASUS RTX 3080 Ti.
would boot and function fine but with any demanding game it would cause the GPU to crash.
the FE editions use slightly less power and a good 750w is all they need.

if you are using 6/8pin PCIe cables to a 20pin converter, make sure you are using separate PCIe power cables and not daisy chained connectors.

yeah we used the 20 pin that goes into 2 x 8 pins that we connected seperately to the psu

 

[RodroX]

yeah we used the 20 pin that goes into 2 x 8 pins that we connected seperately to the psu

And very important, even if it sound stupid, remember you need to change each and every single internal power cable when testing a different PSU.

Modular plugs may be similar but cable pinout will most likely be different!

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

cable pinout will most likely be different!

and even if the cable pins are the same/similar and fit correctly it will still more than likely cause damage to possibly both the PSU and connected devices.

 

[OGrabMe]

Allright, we will try the cables for the gigabyte with it, just to make sure it does not damage anything, and to be sure the cables are not the issue.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Allright, we will try the cables for the gigabyte with it, just to make sure it does not damage anything, and to be sure the cables are not the issue.

Yeah, @RodroX & @JohnBonhamsGhost hit the nail on the head. Not using the cables that come with the PSU is probably one of the biggest reasons that people have issue with new PSU's. Cables are not transferable from one PSU to the next (although it's possible to get lucky). Hopefully swapping them out will identify the issue for you, and you can move from there.

 

[OGrabMe]

I hope so, i will return when we tried it out.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Interesting, i was under the impression that if the psu was too small, the pc would restart or crash ?

- i have a Gigabyte P1000GM 1000W gold cert on hand that i will try in there in a couple of days

Sometimes the can be true. The thing about PSU's, as @RodroX mentioned, is that they are not all made equal, even comparing one Gold unit (or Platinum, Bronze or whatever) to another, is really based on the quality of the PSU and it's components. One might be gold rated, but made with less than quality parts. The other will be one of the aforementioned models which are pure quality (with some small issues here and there), but with a long warranty,, because the manufacturer can stand by it. It's not about more wattage. It's much more about quality.

My system for example, I've a Corsair TXM, whilst not the very best, it's made with quality parts. I'd much rather that, than an 850w made by some spurious vendor, with low quality components. My system draws less than 550w (in fact a lot less, even at load - I think about 420w) but I got the 650w to allow for future upgrades, more power hungry parts.

The PSU is the heart of your system, it should always be considered as the first and most important thing you choose for a build. You don't want crap in there, or an old PSU not designed for modern systems, that 'could' potentially fry your system, or cause issues in general.

 

[OGrabMe]

So... we tried adding a m.2 to his system, where we restartet from scratch, with a new install of windows 11 instead of windows 10, just to make sure that there wasnt all kinds of bloatware that messes with something. We at the same time tried with the 1000w gigabyte psu. No change at all, gpu usage in games is still wierdly low, and fps horrid tbh. My 6800xt crushes his 3080ti.... No idea what to do about it.