i5-7600K Problems - Newbie builds an expensive computer

[kennyp123]

Thanks in advance to all of you being a wonderful resource for learning! You guys are great! I built an expensive new computer about 8 months ago, and I have yet to enjoy it fully. It "works" but not to its full potential. Games often run into ~15 fps on highest settings. Running Windows 10 build 16299, here are the specs:

ASUS Prime Z270-A (Motherboard)
Intel Core i5-7600k (CPU)
ASUS GeForce GTX 1070 08GB Dual-fan (GPU)
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 (Memory)
Crucial MX300 275GB SATA (main SSD)
WD Blue 1TB SATA (additional HDD)
EVGA SuperNOVA GOLD 750W (PSU)
Phantom 410 case has three fans, with Cooler Master CPU cooler

Cinebench says cpu ran 696 cp which is what it normally should be. Curiously when scrolling over the ranking it says my system is running windows 8, while this is definitely Windows 10 Home. Could this be a clue to the problem? (Open GL scored 131.10 fps.)
CPU-Z raises red flags. 505.1 for CPU single thread and 1864.6 for Multi thread. These scores are one fourth what they should be!
www.userbenchmark.com says almost everything is running fine, except curiously, the memory kit which is running at 75%. I comfirmed with my motherboard manual that they were plugged into the correct DIMM_A2 and DIMM_B2 slots.
Real Temp says cpu is under 50*C during the lagging.

Here is what I tried around *five months ago*, though it is possible I made a mistake as I'm new to a lot of this. So far I have:
Re-installed and check drivers with device manager
Changed power settings
Reset CMOS by removing motherboard battery for 10 minutes
I confirmed Windows 10 had completed all updates.
Confirmed with ASUS my BIOS was compatible with CPU
I installed from ASUS, the apropriate chipset Driver which "successfully repaired" Intel(R) Management Engine Interface and Local Management Service
I tried the Intel Processor Identification Utility but it says, "processor is not supported by the Intel Processor Identification Utility. The utility is designed for Intel(R) Pentium(R) and later processors.
Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool 64 bit says all tests PASSED

I am left really confused. I'd be very grateful for any suggestions.

Updates:

1) Link to userbenchmark results: http://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/7128886
2) Passmark says everything checks out with an overall score of 5452. CPU Mark 9196 which actually slightly exceeds the average score of 9162 for the i5-7600K.
3) Freed up space and I now have 92 GB free on my main SSD.
4) Removed graphics card, installed mobo graphics driver. Browsing/light/internet stuff seems normal. Fallout 4 now 15 fps at most.
5) With no graphics card: Reran CPU-Z and got 509.5 single thread, and 1993.8 multi thread. A little bit better? Cinebench cpu 696 cp again, but with 60.16 fps. Userbenchmark: http://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/7137214

 

[kennyp123]

Does this happen in all games? What games are you playing exactly?

I've been using fallout 4 and Stellaris for testing because those are two newer games I've been wanting to play. Sometimes I do anyway, but it isn't satisfying at all going from 15 - 60 fps all the time. I DO often play older games like CivCity Rome and KOTOR and they run perfectly. Absolutely no problems whatsoever.

It almost sounds like the FPS has been capped to 30FPS somewhere in settings.

Possibly, but let me be clear, the frame rate is always moving around and seems to respond to the "load" a game will place on it. Increasing speed, or mobs, or anything complex will tend to decrease frame rate, while removing it will tend to increase the frame rate. It acts just like a perfectly running, but inferior computer would. But why!?!

Vsync cap FPS.

I think I played around with all that, but I will test and retry ***anything*** you suggest. You've been really helpful this far, and I do appreciate that very much!

 

[jr9]

Oh, so it isn't running at 15FPS max but rather is jumping around between 15-60FPS based on load? I'd expect max framrates in in the high 80s still with that graphics card. Drops down 20FPS would be expected as Fallout 4 is poorly optimized and coded in general compared to a lot of games. Stellaris also is known for having bad FPS drops even worst than Fallout. With some games, even having a good PC you will still get shaky performance. You should not be getting any kind of bottlenecks from a 1070GTX+Skylake i5 though. You may want to consider trying another recent game and see if you get more consistent performance.

- Open Nvidia Control Panel, Manage 3D settings, Program Settings and find Fallout 4.exe. Set the Power management mode to prefer max performance.

- Try turning to low the 2 biggest things that cause FPS drops in Fallout 4 which are shadows distance and godrays.

 

[kennyp123]

You may want to consider trying another recent game and see if you get more consistent performance.

I don't think these two games would have become popular if it took a higher end computer to get barely playable fps. Even so, I'll try a wider selection of games and those settings as soon as I get the chance. Off the top of my head Banished doesn't seem like a very demanding game, and it gets under 60 fps in the late stage and scrolling.