3DMark11 Score Help

[itzhalo]

Hey everyone. Recently I ran through 3DMark11 with my current build. My friend recommended it to me after I noticed my frames not really being where they should. Here is my test score on Fire Strike:
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3894846

It is really not as high as most of the others. I don't know what could be wrong since everything in my system seems like it should be running just fine. Any help on what you guys think is keeping my score so low? If I could figure this out it would help my fps in a good amount of games (Battlefield 4 around 50-70 average). I also did a full scan on my PC for any hidden viruses.

Specs:
AMD FX 8350 Stock
EVGA GTX 970 SC
8 GB Ram @1600mhz
Asrock Fata1ity 990fx Killer
Corsair 750m 750 watt PSU
Corsair H80i CPU Cooler

 

[Quasty]

Perfectly normal. Its just the fx8350 thats dragging the score down

 

[jimthenagual]

That score isn't too bad for your system. A little overclocking and your score will shoot up the scale easily.

 

[itzhalo]

Perfectly normal. Its just the fx8350 thats dragging the score down

That's what I thought until I compared and tried to find others with almost relative specifications as me:
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3861436
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3882145
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3251606
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3588755
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3646742

 

[jimthenagual]

You are comparing your score to an overclocked system. The ones linked are clocked much higher than yours, both the CPU and the GPU.

 

[itzhalo]

You are comparing your score to an overclocked system. The ones linked are clocked much higher than yours, both the CPU and the GPU.

So in order to fix my fps problems and stuttering should I just give overclocking my GPU a try? I most likely will use precision X but have any tips regarding the power target, clock offset, and memory offset?

 

[jimthenagual]

You shouldn't be having FPS/stuttering issues with your system. That's a really nice high end gaming machine you have there.

What resolution is your monitor?

 

[itzhalo]

You shouldn't be having FPS/stuttering issues with your system. That's a really nice high end gaming machine you have there.

What resolution is your monitor?

1080P 60hz and on Battlefield 4 I get low GPU Usage and my frames drop a lot. The first thing that I thought about was since Battlefield multiplayer is cpu intensive I thought the 8350 was the one to blame. I recorded some videos of what I mean. Also in the video on BF4 it stays above 60 which is surprising because half the time it is dropping to mid 50's:
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X02oqGSfJYc"][/video]
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laG2P53Xd5U"][/video]

 

[jimthenagual]

Have you checked your temperatures for both CPU and especially your GPU? Your gpu may be thermal throttling.

 

[itzhalo]

Have you checked your temperatures for both CPU and especially your GPU? Your gpu may be thermal throttling.

Suprisingly not at all. Max safe temp on my CPU is around 61-62c and my temps under load is 47c and idle around 22-30c. On my GPU I get about 41c idle and under load it never surpassed 70c. To my suprise temperatures are out of the question. Its very odd and concerning.

 

[jimthenagual]

Try running GPU-Z and take a look at the sensor graphs. Take a look at the "PerfCap Reason" graph and see what it reports.

 

[itzhalo]

Try running GPU-Z and take a look at the sensor graphs. Take a look at the "PerfCap Reason" graph and see what it reports.

Ok I used EVGA overclock scanner to stress test and ran gpu-z:

I noticed as well that my gpu usage was changing between 96% and 97% it never stayed constant but I don't think that matters. Notice anything?

 

[itzhalo]

Also what does VRel,VOp mean? I am just clueless right now :/

 

[itzhalo]

I ran another test for about 5 mins and exported the log. If you would like to download it here it is:
http://goo.gl/Rj0Uc5

 

[jimthenagual]

vRel = Performance is limited by reliability voltage.
VOp = Performance is limited by max operating voltage.

May be a power supply issue. Sensors are never all that reliable though, they are just handy to get possible hints as to what is happening. It's not 100% a power supply issue, but it is pointing to it. Is it by chance a CX model?

 

[itzhalo]

vRel = Performance is limited by reliability voltage.
VOp = Performance is limited by max operating voltage.

May be a power supply issue. Sensors are never all that reliable though, they are just handy to get possible hints as to what is happening. It's not 100% a power supply issue, but it is pointing to it. Is it by chance a CX model?

You are correct. A Corsair cx750m PSU. Was it a bad choice for my build?

 

[jimthenagual]

They are known to have some cheaper capacitors in them is all. They're decent PSUs for entry level, but not really ideal for high end gaming machines. Again, it might not be the problem as CXs can typically put out their stated wattage, it's just at higher temperatures they can become unstable. I don't want to say run out and get a new PSU at risk of it not being the problem and you wasting money, although it's never really a waste to have a good PSU.

 

[itzhalo]

They are known to have some cheaper capacitors in them is all. They're decent PSUs for entry level, but not really ideal for high end gaming machines. Again, it might not be the problem as CXs can typically put out their stated wattage, it's just at higher temperatures they can become unstable. I don't want to say run out and get a new PSU at risk of it not being the problem and you wasting money, although it's never really a waste to have a good PSU.

I doubt this is possible but there isn't any such sort of way to allocate more power to the GPU? I do have to agree with the cheap capacitors because typically I hear whine coming from them here and there. I wish there was some sort of way I could test it out because I don't want to invest into a whole new PSU just to find out that was not the issue.

 

[jimthenagual]

Technically there is a way to 'overvolt' a GPU, but it's not recommended, and shouldn't be needed unless attempting aggressive overclocking. I don't think it addresses the problem anyways.

From the videos I saw above, it looked like your FPS was hanging in there pretty good to be honest. I'd try overclocking that CPU and see if that clears up the drops you are experiencing first before buying a new PSU. BF4 at ultra is a monster of a game. You're ranging between 70-85 on average judging by the video you linked. As you can see in the link I'll give below, the 970 is benchmarking at about that level on ultra, dropping into the 60s. Your firestrike score also seems to be in line.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/6

 

[itzhalo]

Technically there is a way to 'overvolt' a GPU, but it's not recommended, and shouldn't be needed unless attempting aggressive overclocking. I don't think it addresses the problem anyways.

From the videos I saw above, it looked like your FPS was hanging in there pretty good to be honest. I'd try overclocking that CPU and see if that clears up the drops you are experiencing first before buying a new PSU. BF4 at ultra is a monster of a game. You're ranging between 70-85 on average judging by the video you linked. As you can see in the link I'll give below, the 970 is benchmarking at about that level on ultra, dropping into the 60s. Your firestrike score also seems to be in line.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/6

Yeah it most likely is my CPU because when I played the single player campaign at ultra I had 0 problems with drops, fps, or usage (Had a constant 97-98%) yet when I head into multiplier you can definitely see in the video that it might be limiting. Yet I have spoken to others about their usage with the 970 and 8350 paired up and they have good usage but their overclocked as well. What would you say is a good ghz to overclock to? I don't want to go too overkill but I just want to be right in the middle. I know my motherboard can handle it because my friend reached 4.8ghz with his on the same motherboard I have but he has custom loop cooling.

 

[jimthenagual]

I'm not too familiar with AMD cpu's and what they are capable of to be honest. I won't attempt to give pointers on OCing an FX cpu, as there are a lot of tutorials out there that can do it better than I can. Maybe start a new thread on it and see if you get someone who can point you in the right direction. Good luck, I hope you get a solid OC!

 

[itzhalo]

I'm not too familiar with AMD cpu's and what they are capable of to be honest. I won't attempt to give pointers on OCing an FX cpu, as there are a lot of tutorials out there that can do it better than I can. Maybe start a new thread on it and see if you get someone who can point you in the right direction. Good luck, I hope you get a solid OC!

Alright thanks for the help!