Better cannot be worse... (ATI 5870)

somedood4

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Well, the holiday season has been good to me, however, it seems luck has a bad sense of humor.
My new graphics card, an XFX ati 5870, doesn't seem to want to live up to its name as a monstrous powerhouse of a card. In playing a game such as tf2 with all the CCC settings set to performance/let application decide, i consistently drop below 60fps (i always have v-sync on) in any sort of load, such as a fire fight, pyro bonfire etc.
But here's the thing. My old card, an nvidia 8800 GTS 512, ran tf2 under the max settings perfectly. Even during the pyro update, i never dropped below 60fps. Both cards are housed in the same computer with the same hardware, except for the RAM.
Computer specs: (new and current)
intel core 2 quad extreme Q6850 @ 3.00ghz
g.skill 2GB x4 DDR2 800 ram (4 CAS)
XFX ati radeon HD 5870 (its the XXX edition)
asus striker extreme LGA775 w/ nvidia nForce 680i SLI

Computer specs: (old)
intel core 2 quad extreme Q6850 @ 3.00ghz
crucial ballistix RAM 1GB x4 DDR2 800 RAM (5 CAS)
EVGA nvidia Geforce 8800 GTS 512
asus striker extreme LGA775 w/ nvidia nForce 680i SLI

In all honesty, im hoping it's just bad drivers (i have already tried removing and reinstalling everything ATI/AMD on my system, to no avail) or just some software hiccup.

In other information, i also changed my creative soundcard from an X-fi xtreme gamer pro (the PCI one) to a titanium pro. (The PCI-e x1 one).
 
Solution
While it is generally believed that not many videocards can saturate the x8 PCI slot, the 5870 would be one of them, heh. Indeed, try it on a blue x16 slot.

JofaMang

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Try running everything in CCC as application settings or off. I don't lett CCC decide anything, heh.

Also, the 5870 will be drawing more power than your 8800gts. Do you have an older PSU that meets ratings, but perhaps has lost some of it's oomph?

Are you having any temperature issues?, Normally a high temperature is more prone to cause artifacting and crashes, but it can't hurt to be sure.

Try running it with V-sync off, if only for diagnosis.
 

somedood4

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I've tried running everything with "let the application decide", or as many settings as CCC would let me.
As for power, i doubt it, i went the extra mile when i built this and bought a 1000w power supply, so i', sure i would have power to spare. Unless using the 6 pin connectors from the same cord is a bad idea.
As for temperature, i have the fan speed set to 55% at all times, so it runs nicely at 30c.
And as to without v-sync, ive also tried that, it runs at around 80fps (from the ingame net_graph 3) where my old card would run at 120.
 

JofaMang

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What is the brand of your 1000w PSU? Even if drastically overrated, it should have enough juice. It could be that you are powering the card off the same rail, and using a different strand for the second power connection may help.
 

somedood4

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It's a cooler master, i got it since i heard alot of good about them at the time of building it.
And let me try using two seperate rails, that might be the issue.
 

edeawillrule

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I always use v-sync, without it the screen tears and that drives me insane. And I have an LCD.
And that scissoring is the same thing as screen tearing on an lcd.
 

somedood4

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Yeah, that's my PSU, but it is not being run off of the same rail as far as i can tell.
 

somedood4

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Just a thought, but could my performance be being bottlenecked by an older DVI cable? (im currently using a single link digital DVI cable, since it is all i have right now, to connect to a 1920x1200 monitor) Should i look into grabbing a dual link cable?
 

JofaMang

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Yeah, it comes with 6x PCI power connectors, so each one probably runs off a different rail, come to think of it.

I have heard of some people having performance issues with a soundcard installed. perhaps try disabling it/removing it for diagnostics?
 

JofaMang

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A single DVI cable shouldn't be an issue at those resolutions, and it's age shouldn't be causing trouble either. It is an after-the-fact part that shouldn't cause performance issues as far as FPS goes, it either works or it doesn't, and if you aren't getting screen flickering or no-signal power-outs, it shouldn't be suspect.
 

somedood4

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Alright, ill try removing all my soundcard drivers and the soundcard itself and try running TF2. If that doesnt work, ill try installing my older one and giving that one a try as well.
 

somedood4

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On yet another note, in order to install my GPU and soundcard, i had to install my GPU in the secondary PCI-E slot (the mother board has 3) instead of my preferred top slot. The slot i would have normally used is colored blue, and the one the card is in is colored white. Could the white slot be slower or just useless than the blue slot? (MOBO: http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=G7JoxzAEXsQwDt7G)
EDIT: Now i see the problem, the white slot is an x8 speed. I guess that would slow me down, wouldn't it?
 

edeawillrule

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Yep that's your culprit right there.
 

somedood4

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Alright, i've gotten all my cards sorted into their slots, my soundcard (pci-e x1) is in a pci-e x16 and working brilliantly and everything is rightfully working. Thanks a million everyone.
 

JofaMang

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Hah, good to hear you solved your issue and added another solution to the archives. Enjoy and happy hollidays~

Feel free to give a best answer out, as a reward to us who like to help, and to aid others who may come across the thread in a search for their own issues.