Question EVGA 970 to RTX 3060 - Screen-tearing, stuttering, and terrible FPS ?

[zakrauto]

Edit: A tremendous thank you to everyone that has responded. I am truly grateful for all the advice and support. Looks like the most cost efficient option is to buy a used desktop with the i7-7700 cpu in it. Swap the cpu's and give the second machine away.


***Original Post***
Went from EVGA 970 4gb SSC to a RTX 3060 12gb. The new GPU doesn't perform any better than the 970 did. In some way it actually performs worse. Games have terrible screen tearing, stuttering / lagging, and crashes. Typically I am seeing FPS in the 30's and 40's when not moving anything on screen. As soon as I try to take an action FPS drops to the teen's and single digits.

I have followed Youtube videos of how to adjust settings in the Nvidia Control Panel, lowering game settings, and reducing the screen resolution from 4k down to 1080p (The monitor was so blurry on 16:9 - 1920 x 1080 that I switched back to 356:192 - 4096 x 2160) for the sharp image on the rest of the machine. As best as I can tell in the 4 or so hours I got to tinker with my machine last night, it's just games that run sub par. YouTube plays fine. Text on webpages is sharp and easy to read. I did reduce the scale option in windows from 300% down to 150% or 175% for the size I liked best.

Below is my system information. Any ideas on what the fix is for this why this gpu is performing so badly are greatly appreciated.


System Information

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home

Version 10.0.19045 Build 19045

Other OS Description Not Available

OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation

System Name COMPUTER

System Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.

System Model H170-Gaming 3

System Type x64-based PC

System SKU To be filled by O.E.M.

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6500 CPU @ 3.20GHz, 3201 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. F4, 11/2/2015

SMBIOS Version 2.8

Embedded Controller Version 255.255

BIOS Mode UEFI

BaseBoard Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.

BaseBoard Product H170-Gaming 3

BaseBoard Version x.x

Platform Role Mobile

Secure Boot State Off

PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible

Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS

System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32

Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2

Locale United States

Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.2728"

Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 64.0 GB

Total Physical Memory 62.1 GB

Available Physical Memory 56.4 GB

Total Virtual Memory 71.1 GB

Available Virtual Memory 62.4 GB

Page File Space 9.00 GB

Page File C:\pagefile.sys

Kernel DMA Protection Off

Virtualization-based security Not enabled

Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not Modern Standby, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable

Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes

Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes

Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware Yes

Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

 

[XxDarkMario20xX]

Have you done bios update and what PSU have you gotten because you did a huge jump on gpu and would your CPU your running now will play nice with 3060 since its a 4 core and 4 thread cpu

 

[kizo]

Went from EVGA 970 4gb SSC to a RTX 3060 12gb. The new GPU doesn't perform any better than the 970 did. In some way it actually performs worse. Games have terrible screen tearing, stuttering / lagging, and crashes. Typically I am seeing FPS in the 30's and 40's when not moving anything on screen. As soon as I try to take an action FPS drops to the teen's and single digits.

I have followed Youtube videos of how to adjust settings in the Nvidia Control Panel, lowering game settings, and reducing the screen resolution from 4k down to 1080p (The monitor was so blurry on 16:9 - 1920 x 1080 that I switched back to 356:192 - 4096 x 2160) for the sharp image on the rest of the machine. As best as I can tell in the 4 or so hours I got to tinker with my machine last night, it's just games that run sub par. YouTube plays fine. Text on webpages is sharp and easy to read. I did reduce the scale option in windows from 300% down to 150% or 175% for the size I liked best.

Below is my system information. Any ideas on what the fix is for this why this gpu is performing so badly are greatly appreciated.


System Information

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home

Version 10.0.19045 Build 19045

Other OS Description Not Available

OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation

System Name COMPUTER

System Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.

System Model H170-Gaming 3

System Type x64-based PC

System SKU To be filled by O.E.M.

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6500 CPU @ 3.20GHz, 3201 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. F4, 11/2/2015

SMBIOS Version 2.8

Embedded Controller Version 255.255

BIOS Mode UEFI

BaseBoard Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.

BaseBoard Product H170-Gaming 3

BaseBoard Version x.x

Platform Role Mobile

Secure Boot State Off

PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible

Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS

System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32

Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2

Locale United States

Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.2728"

Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 64.0 GB

Total Physical Memory 62.1 GB

Available Physical Memory 56.4 GB

Total Virtual Memory 71.1 GB

Available Virtual Memory 62.4 GB

Page File Space 9.00 GB

Page File C:\pagefile.sys

Kernel DMA Protection Off

Virtualization-based security Not enabled

Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not Modern Standby, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable

Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes

Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes

Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware Yes

Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

It is possible the CPU is to blame.
Too huge bottleneck.
Well at 1080p that should be a problem.
At 1440p?
Maybe,maybe not.
At 4K?
It shouldn't.
At least not to same extent.

YouTube and Webpages work fine on most integrated graphics solutions,so that's not much od an accomplishment and bottleneck is irelevevant here.

 

[zakrauto]

Have you done bios update and what PSU have you gotten because you did a huge jump on gpu and would your CPU your running now will play nice with 3060

I am not sure if a bios update was done. I am operating under the assumption that all updates should have been done. Over the weekend I became so frustrated at the lack of ability for my machine to play Baldur's Gate 3 that I took it to a PC shop yesterday and dropped it off. They said they ran some updates and had it running beautifully in their shop.

I got it home last night and still have the same problems. You can imagine my surprise and dismay last night.

I have a 600w psu and the shop said it's putting out plenty of power. I did specifically ask them if it needed to be upgraded when I dropped the machine off to them and they said it's fine for now.

I picked up a 4k hdmi cord this afternoon as I am not 100% sure the hdmi cord I have hooked up now is a 4k compatible cord. Working to eliminate all possibilities one at a time.

Edit: Fixed Typos and added more info.

 

[XxDarkMario20xX]

I am not sure if a bios update was done. I am opertaion under the assumption that all updates should have been done. Over the weekend I became so frustrated at the lack of ability for my machine to play Baldur's Gate 3 that I took it to a PC shop yesterday and dropped it off. They said they ran some updates and had it running beautifully in their shop.

I got it home last night and still have the same problems. You can imagine my surprise and dismay last night.

I have a 600w psu and the shop said it's putting out plenty of power. I did specifically ask them if it needed to be upgraded when I dropped the machine off to them.

Think its possable like above said its CPU to blame because both off them needs to work toghther and maybe there issues since CPU specs are small and 3060 specs are huge

 

[zakrauto]

Think its possable like above said its CPU to blame because both off them needs to work toghther and maybe there issues since CPU specs are small and 3060 specs are huge

Oh shoot! I misread the comment. CPU's are a foreign language to me at this point. I have only done research into the gpu's.

This CPU is from when I built the machine back in 2018. Any recommendations for what a sufficient cpu to run this system?

 

[zakrauto]

It is possible the CPU is to blame.
Too huge bottleneck.
Well at 1080p that should be a problem.
At 1440p?
Maybe,maybe not.
At 4K?
It shouldn't.
At least not to same extent.

YouTube and Webpages work fine on most integrated graphics solutions,so that's not much od an accomplishment and bottleneck is irelevevant here.

I never thought about the CPU not being compatible with the new GPU. I'll have to do some researching into what is compatible with the new gpu.

 

[kizo]

I never thought about the CPU not being compatible with the new GPU. I'll have to do some researching into what is compatible with the new gpu.

I didn't say they aren't compatible, just that bottleneck is very significant.
Average framerates at 4K can match much stronger CPUs because at 4K bottleneck is for the most part on GPU.
Because of it it can be a waste of money to go with super expensive, super powerful CPUs when 4K is a goal.
Sometimes few hundred dolars mure won't make significant enough difference.
However, your CPU is ancient.

If the difference between the highest and lowest fps is extreme it can be very problematic even if average framerates themselves are good ,regardless of resolution.

 

[XxDarkMario20xX]

Oh shoot! I misread the comment. CPU's are a foreign language to me at this point. I have only done research into the gpu's.

This CPU is from when I built the machine back in 2018. Any recommendations for what a sufficient cpu to run this system?

Checked part picker and your motherboard only supports upto Intel Core i7-7700K and it has more cpu ghz and 8 threads and 4 cores but then again will still might bottleneck

 

[zakrauto]

I didn't say they aren't compatible, just that bottleneck is VERY significant.
Average framerates at 4K can match much stronger CPUs because at 4K bottleneck is for the most part on GPU.
However, if the difference between the highest and lowest fps is extreme it can be very problematic even if framerates themselves are good ,regardless of resolution.

I am out of my depth here. I didn't think about it and explore all the details before jumping in. Learning a ton through this process. The biggest takeaway is that to play a game in 4k and at a stable fps is going to take continuing to replace components of this machine until everything has been upgraded.

 

[kizo]

Checked part picker and your motherboard only supports upto Intel Core i7-7700K and it has more cpu ghz and 8 threads and 4 cores but then again will still might bottleneck

It would be much lower bottleneck, but in modern games 4 cores are becoming a problem.
Plus 4 cores from start of 2017 are no match for 4 cores from 2023.
Like i3 13100F.
So if he can upgrade to something more modern,that would be probably be for the best.

 

[XxDarkMario20xX]

It would be much lower bottleneck, but in modern games 4 cores are becoming a problem.
Plus 4 cores from start of 2017 are no match for 4 cores from 2023.
Like i3 13100F.
So if he can upgrade to something more modern,that would be probably be for the best.

Yeah agree that would be best to get more modern with new motherboard and cpu that can support more cores

 

[stonecarver]

• MINIMUM:
  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 10 64-bit
  • Processor: Intel I5 4690 / AMD FX 8350
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Nvidia GTX 970 / RX 480 (4GB+ of VRAM)
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 150 GB available space
  • ------------Additional Notes: SSD required-----------

• RECOMMENDED:
  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 10 64-bit
  • Processor: Intel i7 8700K / AMD r5 3600
  • Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Nvidia 2060 Super / RX 5700 XT (8GB+ of VRAM)
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 150 GB available space
  • -----------Additional Notes: SSD required--------------

Just a question are you running game off a SSD hard Drive.

 

[zakrauto]

Yeah agree that would be best to get more modern with new motherboard and cpu that can support more cores

• MINIMUM:
  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 10 64-bit
  • Processor: Intel I5 4690 / AMD FX 8350
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Nvidia GTX 970 / RX 480 (4GB+ of VRAM)
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 150 GB available space
  • ------------Additional Notes: SSD required-----------
• RECOMMENDED:
  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 10 64-bit
  • Processor: Intel i7 8700K / AMD r5 3600
  • Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Nvidia 2060 Super / RX 5700 XT (8GB+ of VRAM)
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 150 GB available space
  • -----------Additional Notes: SSD required--------------

Just a question are you running game off a SSD hard Drive.

The OS and games are on the SSD. Everything else is on the HDD.

 

[zakrauto]

I do believe the problems have been found!

I don't know how to attach the photo I took when running the Nvidia GeForce Performance Overlay. It showed that even at 1080p I am using 100% CPU Utilization and 99% GPU Utilization. Something is SUPER wrong. At this point my thought process is to hire one of the IT guys from work to come to my house and take a look at this machine / setup.

 

[thestryker]

The nvidia overlay isn't necessarily accurate so I wouldn't suggesting taking that at face value. If you're looking to see what your performance is actually like use MSI Afterburner/HWInfo/HWMonitor as those will give you reliably accurate information on usage.

Your system is quite low end spec for a lot of modern games and you'll easily max out both the CPU and GPU depending on game and settings. Running at 4k with the hardware you have is a non starter and the vast majority of games aren't going to run well on it even if you drop settings. The description you gave for what you're experiencing is what happens when your hardware is maxed out and is giving you everything it can.

 

[zakrauto]

The nvidia overlay isn't necessarily accurate so I wouldn't suggesting taking that at face value. If you're looking to see what your performance is actually like use MSI Afterburner/HWInfo/HWMonitor as those will give you reliably accurate information on usage.

Your system is quite low end spec for a lot of modern games and you'll easily max out both the CPU and GPU depending on game and settings. Running at 4k with the hardware you have is a non starter and the vast majority of games aren't going to run well on it even if you drop settings. The description you gave for what you're experiencing is what happens when your hardware is maxed out and is giving you everything it can.

 

[zakrauto]

I do understand it's an older system. The intent is to upgrade components over time. With the addition of the ssd, upgrading to 64gb of ram from the previous 8gb, to now upgrading the gpu, I wanted to be able to play games at a higher setting than Low to Medium with shadows and particle effects disabled / reduced.

While 4k may not yet be attainable, I don't feel a stable 1080p is an unreasonable expectation. I was mad and decided to drag the steam window around my screen and noticed it left 2 to 4 black afterimages of the window as I was dragging it around. It would periodically smooth out like you expect for a few seconds and then go back to leaving the afterimages behind again.

The same thing happened with the afterimages being left behind when moving the larian launcher window.

It's incredibly frustrating and disheartening when the system now runs poorer in every aspect compared to before the gpu upgrade.

 

[thestryker]

It'd be worth investigating to make sure your new card is being properly utilized as that sounds like software redrawing. You could try using DDU to fully uninstall the video drivers and then install fresh. There just isn't a lot anyone else can do for you without more investigation.

Also taking a look at CPU-Z to make sure the DRAM is running as expected, I believe it's 2133 for your CPU (may show ~1066 as DDR runs half rate). Also worth checking GPU-Z to make sure the video card is showing up correctly and PCIe is running as expected (should be PCIe 3.0 x16).

 

[stonecarver]

Intel Core I7 7700 Processor (3.60 GHz, 4 Cores, FCLGA1151) - SR338 for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Intel Core I7 7700 Processor (3.60 GHz, 4 Cores, FCLGA1151) - SR338 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

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Intel SR327 Xeon E3-1240 v6 Quad-Core 3.70GHz 8MB L3 Cache Socket LGA1151 CPU | eBay

L3 Cache Size. E3-1200 v6. E3-1240 v6. CPU Socket Type. Processor Type. Processor Family. Core Model Type/ProcNo. Core Stepping.

www.ebay.com

Intel Core i7-7700 vs Xeon E3-1240 v6

www.cpu-world.com

Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1240 v6 (8M Cache, 3.70 GHz) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1240 v6 (8M Cache, 3.70 GHz) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

www.intel.com

GA-H170-Gaming 3 (rev. 1.0) Specification | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

And a FYI your motherboard manual says a bios update is required to run the i7 7700

Two options to get up to speed. I put your motherboard page up for you to give a look if need be. About $80.00 last upgrade and your where you felt you would be already.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdNyCoknN3o


And a video showing you same results you seem to be getting now. Get that i7 7700 and your done.

 

[zakrauto]

It'd be worth investigating to make sure your new card is being properly utilized as that sounds like software redrawing. You could try using DDU to fully uninstall the video drivers and then install fresh. There just isn't a lot anyone else can do for you without more investigation.

Also taking a look at CPU-Z to make sure the DRAM is running as expected, I believe it's 2133 for your CPU (may show ~1066 as DDR runs half rate). Also worth checking GPU-Z to make sure the video card is showing up correctly and PCIe is running as expected (should be PCIe 3.0 x16).

I do truly appreciate you taking the time to look this over and share your thoughts with me.

I have decided to take the machine in to the shop again and I’m going to sit down with them and have them show me it running “perfectly and flawlessly” in their shop.

Thank you to everyone who responded!!!

 

[stonecarver]

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I had forgotten about this CPU you will be up tp 6 core 12 threads $32.00 free shipping. I hope shop gives you some good news

 

[SkyNetRising]

I have decided to take the machine in to the shop again and I’m going to sit down with them and have them show me it running “perfectly and flawlessly” in their shop.

What model monitor are you using?

RTX 3060 is not 4k gaming capable and never will be.
But it should not be worse than GTX 970.
It should give ~2x more fps with same settings (resolution/image quality).

For 4k gaming you'd need at least RTX 3080, 4070 or better.

 

[zakrauto]

Intel Core I7 7700 Processor (3.60 GHz, 4 Cores, FCLGA1151) - SR338 for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Intel Core I7 7700 Processor (3.60 GHz, 4 Cores, FCLGA1151) - SR338 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Intel SR327 Xeon E3-1240 v6 Quad-Core 3.70GHz 8MB L3 Cache Socket LGA1151 CPU | eBay

L3 Cache Size. E3-1200 v6. E3-1240 v6. CPU Socket Type. Processor Type. Processor Family. Core Model Type/ProcNo. Core Stepping.

www.ebay.com

Intel Core i7-7700 vs Xeon E3-1240 v6

www.cpu-world.com

Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1240 v6 (8M Cache, 3.70 GHz) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1240 v6 (8M Cache, 3.70 GHz) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

www.intel.com

GA-H170-Gaming 3 (rev. 1.0) Specification | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

And a FYI your motherboard manual says a bios update is required to run the i7 7700

Two options to get up to speed. I put your motherboard page up for you to give a look if need be. About $80.00 last upgrade and your where you felt you would be already.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdNyCoknN3o


And a video showing you same results you seem to be getting now. Get that i7 7700 and your done.

Thank you so much for this list! Thank you so so much!

 

[zakrauto]

What model monitor are you using?

RTX 3060 is not 4k gaming capable and never will be.
But it should not be worse than GTX 970.
It should give ~2x more fps with same settings (resolution/image quality).

For 4k gaming you'd need at least RTX 3080, 4070 or better.

Thank you for the plain truth that this gpu isn't going to run games at 4k. As you may have guessed, the computer shop assured me it would and that they had it running in 4k.

Currently I have an appointment where they are going to send a tech to my house on Friday to tune the setup to run at my house like they claim it did in their shop. They have set the expectation that my machine runs BG3 "perfectly and flawlessly in 4k".

Thanks to your post my expectations are now adjusted to when they are at my house tinkering on my machine and eventually says 'I don't understand / I don't know why it's not running like it did at the shop', I will not be surprised. I am going to have him to take the machine with him and call me when it's ready for pickup when they get it back to running "perfectly and flawlessly in 4k".

The best way I can explain why I am so disappointed is the way it was framed and presented to me from the computer shop. They said this specific gpu, that was over my budget, was the one I would need to "future proof" my computer.

I bought into the hype and am paying for it. Lesson learned. Next time I will come here FIRST to ask questions and THEN buy equipment.