[SOLVED] I7 9700k and 2070 Super Performing Way Below Expectations UserBenchmark

[cbruksch]

I have been getting really bad FPS in games recently and have tried a ton of different things to fix it. I just fully wiped my computer, fresh install of Windows 10 running now and I got this benchmark: Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark
Before I wiped the PC this was my benchmark: Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark (Before)

Here is 3d mark benchmark: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-9700K Processor,ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. PRIME Z390-A (3dmark.com)
In this benchmark CPU maxed at 62C package 65C Cores, GPU maxed at 74.2C and 92.8C on the hotspot.

I play competitive FPS games and play all low settings and still get bad fps, CS:GO I get 200-300 when I used to get 700+ same with Valorant, Overwatch I used to get 400, and now I am struggling to get 200 sometimes. Graphics Drivers are up to date and BIOS up to date. I am not overclocking but I wasn't in the past either.

I am running a 1000W PSU that is only about a year old now so I do not think power is an issue, but I honestly don't know how to confirm that.

My CPU is cooled by NZXT Kraken and during games and benchmarks temps look normal.

When I play games the FPS doesn't drop over time either it just instantly starts bad and there are usually no random dips in performance.

I really don't know what else to try, I have tried everything I know with software and firmware, and I am going to try and start unseating and reseating the graphics card and blow out any dust. Is it possible that my parts have just degraded this much this quickly?

Sorry if I provided any unnecessary information, thank you for the help.

 

[Bob.B]

I have been getting really bad FPS in games recently and have tried a ton of different things to fix it. I just fully wiped my computer, fresh install of Windows 10 running now and I got this benchmark: Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark
Before I wiped the PC this was my benchmark: Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark (Before)

Here is 3d mark benchmark: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-9700K Processor,ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. PRIME Z390-A (3dmark.com)
In this benchmark CPU maxed at 62C package 65C Cores, GPU maxed at 74.2C and 92.8C on the hotspot.

I play competitive FPS games and play all low settings and still get bad fps, CS:GO I get 200-300 when I used to get 700+ same with Valorant, Overwatch I used to get 400, and now I am struggling to get 200 sometimes. Graphics Drivers are up to date and BIOS up to date. I am not overclocking but I wasn't in the past either.

I am running a 1000W PSU that is only about a year old now so I do not think power is an issue, but I honestly don't know how to confirm that.

My CPU is cooled by NZXT Kraken and during games and benchmarks temps look normal.

When I play games the FPS doesn't drop over time either it just instantly starts bad and there are usually no random dips in performance.

I really don't know what else to try, I have tried everything I know with software and firmware, and I am going to try and start unseating and reseating the graphics card and blow out any dust. Is it possible that my parts have just degraded this much this quickly?

Sorry if I provided any unnecessary information, thank you for the help.

You might want to visit the mobo site and review your bios and drivers.
Looks like your a little behind.

 

[cbruksch]

You might want to visit the mobo site and review your bios and drivers.
Looks like your a little behind.

I updated BIOS and believe I updated all drivers.
The same issues are persisting.
Here are my new benchmarks:
Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-9700K Processor,ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. PRIME Z390-A (3dmark.com)

 

[Bob.B]

I updated BIOS and believe I updated all drivers.
The same issues are persisting.
Here are my new benchmarks:
Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-9700K Processor,ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. PRIME Z390-A (3dmark.com)

Try this.
Download UBM.
Reboot and wait a few mins then run UBM with the browser closed.
Post a link to the results.

 

[cbruksch]

Try this.
Download UBM.
Reboot and wait a few mins then run UBM with the browser closed.
Post a link to the results.

Alright, I did two:

One before stopping unnecessary programs: Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark
One after stopping unnecessary programs: Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark

 

[Bob.B]

Alright, I did two:

One before stopping unnecessary programs: Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark
One after stopping unnecessary programs: Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark

It's showing you have a lot of background stuff running.
Make your startup group skinny.

 

[cbruksch]

It's showing you have a lot of background stuff running.
Make your startup group skinny.

I took more programs off of start up but in the second test there was 4% background and there was still poor performance.

 

[Bob.B]

I took more programs off of start up but in the second test there was 4% background and there was still poor performance.

UBM gets a little wonky when there is background stuff running.

Only you know what is running so review that area and see if you can stop unneeded stuff from loading at startup.

Make sure you reboot/wait/browser off then run UBM.

 

[mdd1963]

The first post says the 'computer was fully wiped, fresh install of WIn10'....

There should be no unneeded junk, extraneous stuff installed. (Was that accurate, or, was Win10 simply reinstalled, with 'keep all my apps and files' option selected, which effectively does....very little.
----

If you install/run HWMonitor, and CPU-z/bench/'stress CPU' for 15 minutes (be sure to hit 'STOP' when done testing), what clock speeds are sustained on all cores as indicated within HWMonitor... (The 9700K should sustain 4.6 GHz all core) What core/package temps do you see?

Within CPU-z/bench, there is a 'Bench CPU' widget; hit it, and see what scores are achieved in both single core and multicore after the ~20 second benchmark.....

 

[cbruksch]

The first post says the 'computer was fully wiped, fresh install of WIn10'....

There should be no unneeded junk, extraneous stuff installed. (Was that accurate, or, was Win10 simply reinstalled, with 'keep all my apps and files' option selected, which effectively does....very little.
----

If you install/run HWMonitor, and CPU-z/bench/'stress CPU' for 15 minutes (be sure to hit 'STOP' when done testing), what clock speeds are sustained on all cores as indicated within HWMonitor... (The 9700K should sustain 4.6 GHz all core) What core/package temps do you see?

Within CPU-z/bench, there is a 'Bench CPU' widget; hit it, and see what scores are achieved in both single core and multicore after the ~20 second benchmark.....

I did a complete fresh wipe and didn't keep files, after the wipe was done, I installed Discord, Steam, and Blizzard Client and installed some games. Those are the only programs that I downloaded, and I closed all of those programs for the second test I sent, everything else that was running was running from windows, my startup has mostly everything disabled now. I did this test earlier and temps were normal, but I will do it again after work and send the results... should be about 4 hours from now.

 

[mdd1963]

Were Asus' Z390 Prime chipset drivers installed form their website? (Most also use their provided LAN, VGA, and RealTek sound drivers as well)

PRIME Z390-A｜Motherboards｜ASUS USA

ASUS Prime motherboards are expertly engineered to unleash the full potential of AMD and Intel processors. Boasting a robust power design, comprehensive cooling solutions and intelligent tuning options, these ASUS motherboards provide daily users and DIY PC builders a range of performance tuning...

www.asus.com

WIll await report of attained/sustained clock speeds as reported on HWMonitor during CPU-Z/bench/stress CPU

 

[cbruksch]

Were Asus' Z390 Prime chipset drivers installed form their website? (Most also use their provided LAN, VGA, and RealTek sound drivers as well)

PRIME Z390-A｜Motherboards｜ASUS USA

ASUS Prime motherboards are expertly engineered to unleash the full potential of AMD and Intel processors. Boasting a robust power design, comprehensive cooling solutions and intelligent tuning options, these ASUS motherboards provide daily users and DIY PC builders a range of performance tuning...

www.asus.com

WIll await report of attained/sustained clock speeds as reported on HWMonitor during CPU-Z/bench/stress CPU

Just did it and watched the whole time, both package and core temps were at 57 - 58 C the whole time. During the test, all cores were at usually 4.4 - 4.5 GHz. In the beginning, they were at 4.6 for like 2-3 mins then were at 4.4-4.5 for the rest. When I ran the 15 min stress test the score started at around 3950 and ended at around 3880.

The score for the CPU-Z bench was: 537.7 for single and 3956.8 for the multi thread.

 

[mdd1963]

The CPU-z/bench scores seem about right, and the clock speed behavior seems normal; certainly your CPU temps are actually better than expected, at least compared to a 9700K w/ Noctua NH-D15 and Asus Z390 Prime I built for a friend about 2-3 years ago, which ran at about 75-80C at stock clocks, for whatever reasons...(No MCE mode for him!)

On a side-note ....in fact, your temps are so good at 57C, I'd personally consider enabling MCE (Multi Core Enhancement) within the BIOS, which will attempt to run all cores under load (assuming in Balanced Power plan) at max turbo of 4.9 GHz. (If you feel this is a tad much, installing Intel's XTU will allow you to tweak the desired all-core turbo speeds up or down somewhat, tweak core voltage up or down, or, apply an AVX offset, where an AVX workload will select lower max turbo speeds by 100, 200, 300 MHz, or more, as desired. In the event of any failed clean shutdown, such as might happen in a lockup due to instability, the XTU will default to factory default settings upon next boot.) At the higher max turbo speeds, your temps will likely be closer to 70-75C, and, certainly your scores will increase as the all core turbo is boosted by 300-400 MHz, barring any mainboard-induced VRM throttling...

As you said the substandard behavior sometimes starts even at the beginning of gaming, if no malware or resource hogging application is to blame, we'd then need to worry if the GPU is underperforming for whatever reason (power or temp throttling) You might double check that the GPU is supplied it's two external power inputs by two separate modular cables from the PSU, and, not by one connector with a doubling /Y -adapter that allows it to feed both PCI-e external power inputs from a single PSU output..

Assuming you have all WIndows 10 updates installed/applied? (You'd not want any updates being downloaded/installed while in the middle of gaming, to be sure...)

 

[cbruksch]

The CPU-z/bench scores seem about right, and the clock speed behavior seems normal; certainly your CPU temps are actually better than expected, at least compared to a 9700K w/ Noctua NH-D15 and Asus Z390 Prime I built for a friend about 2-3 years ago, which ran at about 75-80C at stock clocks, for whatever reasons...(No MCE mode for him!)

On a side-note ....in fact, your temps are so good at 57C, I'd personally consider enabling MCE (Multi Core Enhancement) within the BIOS, which will attempt to run all cores under load (assuming in Balanced Power plan) at max turbo of 4.9 GHz. (If you feel this is a tad much, installing Intel's XTU will allow you to tweak the desired all-core turbo speeds up or down somewhat, tweak core voltage up or down, or, apply an AVX offset, where an AVX workload will select lower max turbo speeds by 100, 200, 300 MHz, or more, as desired. In the event of any failed clean shutdown, such as might happen in a lockup due to instability, the XTU will default to factory default settings upon next boot.) At the higher max turbo speeds, your temps will likely be closer to 70-75C, and, certainly your scores will increase as the all core turbo is boosted by 300-400 MHz, barring any mainboard-induced VRM throttling...

As you said the substandard behavior sometimes starts even at the beginning of gaming, if no malware or resource hogging application is to blame, we'd then need to worry if the GPU is underperforming for whatever reason (power or temp throttling) You might double check that the GPU is supplied it's two external power inputs by two separate modular cables from the PSU, and, not by one connector with a doubling /Y -adapter that allows it to feed both PCI-e external power inputs from a single PSU output..

Assuming you have all WIndows 10 updates installed/applied? (You'd not want any updates being downloaded/installed while in the middle of gaming, to be sure...)

I have an up to date Windows 10 installation. I have never overclocked my components before but I will definitely enable MCE and install XTU, thank you for the advice.

I believe my GPU is powered by two separate cords, but I will double check when I get home, my PSU is way overpowered for my build(1000W) so I don't think I have any power issues unless there is something wrong with it but it is the newest part in my build so I feel like the chances are slim. I also don't think GPU is thermal throttling either, when I did benchmarks thermals looked good.

Is there any way to check for VRM throttling? I feel like the fact that both my GPU and CPU are performing so below expected it might be a mainboard issue is it possible there is VRM throttling happening now? How would I check for this?

 

[cbruksch]

Here is a UBM after enabling MCE: Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark

 

[mdd1963]

Is there any way to check for VRM throttling? I feel like the fact that both my GPU and CPU are performing so below expected it might be a mainboard issue is it possible there is VRM throttling happening now? How would I check for this?

Often, in UserBenchMark and similar, your CPU will be compared to all 9700K models in the database, including all those running at 5.1 GHz on all cores, etc..so, do not be alarmed about being in the bottom 10-15% of CPUs if/when running stock clockspeeds, as placing in the bottom half would be normal and expected, and, serves only to alarm some who think theirs must be 'broken' if running stock

Check your temps and sustained clockspeeds on HWmonitor with MCE enabled for another 10 min CPU-Z/bench/stress CPU run, just out of curiosity, as not all CPUs will run this under 75C without very good cooling....(CPU-Z load is likely a few degrees warmer than most gaming loads will ever generate anyway, but, is at least 3-4 degrees less stressful than P95/small FFTs/no AVX)

2666 MHz RAM clocks will be competing against a very large crowd utilizing 3200 MHz or above, the latest defacto 'OC' goal/standard even before the 9700K launched...; ergo, your CPU scores will never stray towards any upper half segments although the are clearly 'in/towards the middle of the green'

 

[cbruksch]

Often, in UserBenchMark and similar, your CPU will be compared to all 9700K models in the database, including all those running at 5.1 GHz on all cores, etc..so, do not be alarmed about being in the bottom 10-15% of CPUs if/when running stock clockspeeds, as placing in the bottom half would be normal and expected, and, serves only to alarm some who think theirs must be 'broken' if running stock

Check your temps and sustained clockspeeds on HWmonitor with MCE enabled for another 10 min CPU-Z/bench/stress CPU run, just out of curiosity, as not all CPUs will run this under 75C without very good cooling....(CPU-Z load is likely a few degrees warmer than most gaming loads will ever generate anyway, but, is at least 3-4 degrees less stressful than P95/small FFTs/no AVX)

2666 MHz RAM clocks will be competing against a very large crowd utilizing 3200 MHz or above, the latest defacto 'OC' goal/standard even before the 9700K launched...; ergo, your CPU scores will never stray towards any upper half segments although the are clearly 'in/towards the middle of the green'

Did stress test, temps on core and package both maxed at 75C holding around 4.7 - 4.9GHz on all cores.

I did a bench as well and the single thread got 562.3 and multi got 4274.6

I understand on UBM there are people who are overclocking more, but in games, I am down a lot of FPS from what I should have. CS:GO now that I am overclocking I was getting around 280-300 but I used to get like 500+ at least with no overclocking.

Also, GPU is powered by 2 separate cords, and did a GPU stress test and 70C and 86C on the hotspot.

 

[Bob.B]

Did stress test, temps on core and package both maxed at 75C holding around 4.7 - 4.9GHz on all cores.

I did a bench as well and the single thread got 562.3 and multi got 4274.6

I understand on UBM there are people who are overclocking more, but in games, I am down a lot of FPS from what I should have. CS:GO now that I am overclocking I was getting around 280-300 but I used to get like 500+ at least with no overclocking.

Also, GPU is powered by 2 separate cords, and did a GPU stress test and 70C and 86C on the hotspot.

Your last ubm run does not show a problem.

Just for yuks.
The 970 is the OS.
I'll guess the games are on the crucial.

Unplug all other disk and run your games.
Any diff?

 

[cbruksch]

Your last ubm run does not show a problem.

Just for yuks.
The 970 is the OS.
I'll guess the games are on the crucial.

Unplug all other disk and run your games.
Any diff?

Unplugging all disk drives has resulted in a 50-100 fps increase in CS:GO

Here is a UBM after unplugging all HDDs and now only using 2 sticks of ram.
Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark
CPU performing WAY better.

Going to test one more with 4 sticks of RAM and no HDDs as I forgot to before taking out RAM.

The high background CPU is from the WMI provider host, I have to restart it everytime I start my computer or else it randomly shoots up to 100% CPU

Here is one after restarting WMI Provider Host with low background CPU: Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark

 

[cbruksch]

After putting the other two sticks of RAM back in I can no longer enable XMP. When I do enable XMP it keeps booting and getting stuck on DRAM then restarting. Here is the UBM with 4 sticks and no XMP and no HDDs: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/52700048

Here is a test with all drives plugged in and only 2 sticks of RAM with XMP enabled. Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark

Seems like RAM might have been causing CPU issues... but still bad GPU scores.

When I have drives plugged in and 2 sticks of ram I get about 50-100 more FPS with a lot of volatility, when I have drives unplugged and 4 sticks of ram I was also getting 50-100 more FPS with a lot of volatility. If I have drives unplugged and 2 stick of RAM then I am getting 75-150 more FPS with less volatility. I am getting like 350 low usually and 450 on the high. This is way better but not as good as it used to be.

 

[Bob.B]

After putting the other two sticks of RAM back in I can no longer enable XMP. When I do enable XMP it keeps booting and getting stuck on DRAM then restarting. Here is the UBM with 4 sticks and no XMP and no HDDs: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/52700048

Here is a test with all drives plugged in and only 2 sticks of RAM with XMP enabled. Asus PRIME Z390-A Performance Results - UserBenchmark

Seems like RAM might have been causing CPU issues... but still bad GPU scores.

When I have drives plugged in and 2 sticks of ram I get about 50-100 more FPS with a lot of volatility, when I have drives unplugged and 4 sticks of ram I was also getting 50-100 more FPS with a lot of volatility. If I have drives unplugged and 2 stick of RAM then I am getting 75-150 more FPS with less volatility. I am getting like 350 low usually and 450 on the high. This is way better but not as good as it used to be.

Just to make the pot smaller.
Do you really need all those disk?
Make it skinny.

2x16 ram should be ample for just about anything you might run.

There is an OC'ing button beside the gpu readout.
Click on it and do some reading.