Computer Underperforms ONLY In Games

[usphinx]

Hey everyone at Tom's! Lately I've been going through hoops trying to get a new PC to perform as well as it should. I bought it from IBUYPOWER and got a pretty great deal. I'm now realizing that my PC is getting worse fps in most games than it should, by a lot. My specs are as follows:

CASE (AZZA Solaris)
CPU (AMD FX-8350 CPU (8x 4.00GHz/8MB L2 Cache)))
GPU (AMD Radeon HD 7970 - 3GB - Single Card))
Mobo (Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 -- AMD 970))
Primary HD (64 GB ADATA SP900 SSD - Single Drive))
Secondary HD (2 TB HARD DRIVE -- 64M Cache, 7200rpm, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive)) <-bad idea as second
PSU (650 Watt -- NZXT HALE82N-SI / 80+ Bronze))
RAM (8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - G.Skill Ripjaws X))
Cooling (Corsair Hydro Series H60 Liquid CPU Cooling System)

I've tinkered with it after realizing I had a problem and I've turbo boosted the CPU to 4.2GHz(tried manually OCing but there were stability issues) and got my RAM back to it's correct speed and timings(it had defaulted at 1333 and 11-11-11-30).

Nonetheless I still have massive framerate issues in games such as Far Cry 3(30-80fps) and Metro: Last Light(20-40fps). I've ran multiple benchmarks and my GPU and CPU perform above or in par with similar systems. The RAM was performing lower, but my tweaks fixed that. Everything I've benchmarked is on par with similar systems, so what could be the problem? I've done a lot of research and found nothing like this. Also interestingly enough in Far Cry 3 High setings, Very High and Ultra all run at the same(ish) fps and then at Medium settings I get perfect fps.. My temps are all good as well. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[Jay_83]

I dunno, if you're running 1080p, seems to me like you're more or less fine. Check Tom's benchmark for Far Cry 3 here (includes 7970):
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/far-cry-3-performance-benchmark,3379-6.html

So what IS your res? How high do you crank up AA? Log your GPU load with Afterburner, see if the card gets to stretch its legs. Your CPU is decent, but it WILL bottleneck a 7970 from time to time, more than an Intel chip would. It's possible your expectations are what needs to be adjusted, but if you're sure the rig isn't performing up to scratch, give us more details, beginning with how exactly you're testing.

 

[usphinx]

I dunno, if you're running 1080p, seems to me like you're more or less fine. Check Tom's benchmark for Far Cry 3 here (includes 7970):
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/far-cry-3-performance-benchmark,3379-6.html

So what IS your res? How high do you crank up AA? Log your GPU load with Afterburner, see if the card gets to stretch its legs. Your CPU is decent, but it WILL bottleneck a 7970 from time to time, more than an Intel chip would. It's possible your expectations are what needs to be adjusted, but if you're sure the rig isn't performing up to scratch, give us more details, beginning with how exactly you're testing.

My expectations are based on a few friends machines they seem to run *almost* every game better with lower end components. I do run 1080p, yet a friend with lower specs runs constant at 60fps with 1080p. AA is set to 4x, but even when turning it off I get the same fps. My real worry is that even lowering so many graphics settings I get the same fps. I've tested with Passmark(I know it's old 😛), Heaven Benchmark, MSI Afterburner and I've used multiple game benchmarks(Metro, Bioshock, etc.). The only reason I can think of that my fps would stay so similar when dropping my graphics settings is some kind of bottleneck. But even so an fx 6300 should have the same problems yet a friend gets 60 fps on that. Thanks for the reply! :]

EDIT: Also, lowering the resolution helps few games, in Far Cry 3 I get the same fps on 1600x900 as 1080p. And as a side note most AMD optimized games run perfectly.

 

[photonboy]

Your problem likely just has to do with certain settings that are processing expensive.

A few tips:

FAR CRY 3:
1) Disable Anti-Aliasing (normally I wouldn't do this but it looks fine without it; it must already be doing some AA; and AA is very expensive)

2) VSYNC and GPU buffer (forget names) should be ONE buffer only (or you get stuttering)

3) Use RADEONPRO and force 50FPS (if your monitor supports it; many do at 1920x1080 and 1280x720). With an HD7970 and AA disabled you SHOULD be able to achieve 50FPS most of the time (VSYNC'd).

METRO:
I don't have this game, but in Metro 2033 the FAR DISTANCE setting or similar was very expensive. Like any game, you really want to tweak all the quality settings. If possible, again use RadeonPro to force 50FPS VSYNC'd then tweak the quality settings to achieve 50FPS most of the time.

OTHER:
The only way to confirm you don't have a severe issue is to find a repeatable benchmark scenario and use the EXACT SAME SETTINGS.

From what you've said though, I think your PC likely works fine. Your FC3 numbers are typical.

 

[usphinx]

Your problem likely just has to do with certain settings that are processing expensive.

A few tips:

FAR CRY 3:
1) Disable Anti-Aliasing (normally I wouldn't do this but it looks fine without it; it must already be doing some AA; and AA is very expensive)

2) VSYNC and GPU buffer (forget names) should be ONE buffer only (or you get stuttering)

3) Use RADEONPRO and force 50FPS (if your monitor supports it; many do at 1920x1080 and 1280x720). With an HD7970 and AA disabled you SHOULD be able to achieve 50FPS most of the time (VSYNC'd).

METRO:
I don't have this game, but in Metro 2033 the FAR DISTANCE setting or similar was very expensive. Like any game, you really want to tweak all the quality settings. If possible, again use RadeonPro to force 50FPS VSYNC'd then tweak the quality settings to achieve 50FPS most of the time.

OTHER:
The only way to confirm you don't have a severe issue is to find a repeatable benchmark scenario and use the EXACT SAME SETTINGS.

From what you've said though, I think your PC likely works fine. Your FC3 numbers are typical.

That's the thing though lowering my settings hardly ever helps, it's odd. Thanks for the reply!