GTX 560 SC awful BF3 performance

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specialDFX

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May 3, 2011
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Recently upgraded from an 8800GTX and it's barely an improvement. BF3 is tearing me a new one. All AA off, mixture of medium/low settings and I average 30fps but often dip, sometimes as low as 16fps. Frustrating.

1680x1050
EVGA GTX 560 SC
Phenom II X2 3.2Ghz
4GB DDR2 800
520W no-name PSU

The only thing I can think of is that the PSU is inadequate, but I'm 70W over the 450W minimum...thoughts?
 
Solution
dalauder
Have you gone into your bios and tried the core unlocker? What speed is your CPU overclocked to? You're in the perfect situation for learning how to overclock now as it can actually provide a tangible benefit for you. There's around a 50% chance you can get a quad core running at 3.6GHz if you unlock and OC--so look into it.

Also, if you upgrade to a Phenom II x4--go for the Phenom II 960 Zosma (Black Edition) because it's pretty much the same price as the 955BE with similar stock...
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800MHz is just the idle downclock to save on power usage. It'll ramp up to the stock 3.2Ghz (or whatever it is) when it's under load. I use LinX to stress the CPU: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?201670-LinX-A-simple-Linpack-interface
It's a little quicker and simpler than Prime95, while generating plenty of heat. Prime95 is worth some run throughs after you think you've got stable settings though.

With HWMonitor, it should show Core #0 and Core #1 and temps next to both. There's often a CPU_TMP or something similar that is the socket temp, or something else CPU temp related, that is a certain offset from your Core Temps. Record the offset (sometimes it's adjustable in your bios) because this is the only temp reading you will have if you unlock. It's offset setting is what causes it to read a strange and unrealistic 0°C...well, I'm assuming this changes with load even with your cores. If it doesn't, it's probably a bad reading.

You want to keep the actual Core temps out of the sixties (degrees C) for the most part. It's okay if it gets that high briefly.

If you can't find an unlocking guide, feel free to start your own thread.

EDIT: When overclocking/unlocking...Do not overvoltage. Do not allow your system to overheat. This is my disclaimer that if you break your machine through negligence or any unforeseen causes, I am not responsible.
 
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Heh, even that's a little technical for me with the offsets and what-not. Maybe this will help

cputemps.png
 
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I've been so busy, I forgot to check this thread. Now that is strange that it's not recording your CPU temps. In that case, try Speedfan. One thing to note with Speedfan--it tends to put a little *Fire* symbol next to your computer parts even though they're not actually burning up yet.

After looking at that screenshot, I'm 81% sure that TMPIN0 is your CPU. You can try running LinX for 20 seconds (you have to manually cancel) and if your temps jump 15C immediately, then that reading is for your CPU.
 
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Can anyone chime in on that reading? I've left speedfan on and it sometimes jumps to 99°C. I'm about ready to remove the mobo and inspect the heatsink/thermal paste situation on the NB chip.
 
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It wouldn't hurt to check the NB heatsink. But you probably don't have to remove the mobo to do it. Just tip your case on its side and remove the graphics card and there should be plenty of room (unless it's stuck under a large CPU cooler).

But don't do that unless you have thermal compound to reapply. I use Arctic Silver Ceramique for throwaway applications because the 25G tubes are cheap and will last me a year or so (I reapply A LOT of heatsinks): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arctic-Silver-Artic-Ceramique-2-High-Perf-New-25g-Tube-/220887954741?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item336df2b535#ht_5248wt_1139
I prefer something better on the CPU, but this works fine when I'm out of better stuff and I like how it's non-conductive, unlike Arctic Silver 5.

I'm 75% sure your NB temp is fine and that your readings are all screwed up. Your bios should have a "Health Settings" tab or something like that where it'll show all your temperatures. Obviously it will only show idle, not load, temps, but it should still be somewhat useful since those temps above were at idle.

Let me know what your bios says.
 
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Yeah it's possible that the BIOS is not setup to display the readings right. There's certain options - and I don't know if it's specifically these - but things like VT-d and virtualization and other sorts of stuff that may need to be enabled to allow readings from windows.
 
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BIOS only has 2 readings, CPU temp and system temp, neither of which are anywhere close to the Temp2/TMPIN1 reading that HWMonitor and speedfan are telling me.

Temp2/TMPIN1 are at 91°C right at startup. I'll most likely be getting some TIM and inspecting the heatsink in any case.
 
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Assuming I have a problem, and it's that the NB is overheating, this won't solve it.
 
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127C might not actually cause catastrophic failure...it would if it were the CPU or maybe GPU, but possibly not the NB. If you open up your case, is your NB even hot though (don't burn yourself, just put your finger close to the heatsink). But I'm pretty sure it's a misreading. You could consider flashing your bios. But I'd reset it first.

What kind of temps are your CPU temp and System temp in the bios? TMPIN0 or TMPIN2 might be close to the bios temp for both of these, repsectively.

The Phenom II x4 might fix your Core #0 & #1 temps, but they should show up normally. But I'd definitely try unlocking your CPU to a quad core before spending that much on an upgrade.
 
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CPU 32°C
SYS 17°C

The NB heatsink (or any heatsinks for that matter) feel relatively cool to the touch. Not an issue touching them at all.
 
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A quick Google search for that motherboard shows a lot of people having the exact same issue with wonky temp readings. Hard to say what to do since it's pretty important to know you're not burning your computer up when overclocking.

I think right now the only thing is to try all the temp reading programs and see what happens - HWMonitor, speedfan, real temp, core temp, everest, cpu thermometer... maybe one of them will read properly.
 
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I would take the heat-sink off. And put a new thermal paste on there. My south bridge was doing the exact thing that yours is, after i put the new thermal paste on there. It was smooth sailing and cool temps.

You could also use a twisty tie and tie a fan to something in your case and hang it right in front of the heat-sink. But this is jimmy riggen it. If you don't mind, than that would be a good first option!
 
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Off to grab a tube of paste now.
 
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Cleaned reapplyed the paste and no change in readings. Still the dreaded flame icon on speedfan. I ended up using AS5.

It looked to me like the chip barely had anything on it, and what was there was crusty, pink and near impossible to remove. I'm not sure I really was able to get all the residue off the heat sink. Also I messed up the foam rubber padding a bit.

Oh well, I'm guessing it's a misread but who knows. I may try updating the BIOS but I think I have the latest version already. Might just try to unlock and see what happens.
 
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