GTX 980 SLI not performing well in 3dMark Firestrike

[williaml573]

I downloaded 3dMark basic, and I ran firestrike on it. I have 2 GTX 980's in SLI. I ended up getting 18373, but I read that most GTX 980 SLI score 19000 or higher. Does this mean that my 980's are performing worse than they should? They are EVGA Reference cards clocked at 1241 mhz.
Computer specs:
i7-4790k
ASUS Maximus VII Hero
8 gb 2400 mhz ram
2 GTX 980 SLI
512 Samsung 850 PRO SSD
860w PSU

 

[Jim90]

You'll never get the same results - you'll need your PC hardware components to match between you and each reviewer (unlikely) and even then, the results will never exactly match.
However, if you can, try comparing other benchmarks. That way you'll get a better idea of how things stand with your system (980's) and whether you need to take things further. You could also try benchmarking each card separately for more info / peace of mind.

If you want to max performance then since the 980/970 have good overclocking abilities, give this a go...same with your 4790K.