Issues with home built gaming PC. Please help. I've tried everything I can think of.

[theycallmeIRISH]

Hello, I am currently having terrible graphics issues with my PC and I don't understand why. I built it myself from parts ordered through Amazon and Newegg. Based on my understanding of computers and the parts I have bought my machine should be a monster capable of eating though any game currently on the market. However, it has terrible issues when it comes to game graphics and lags terribly even while playing games such as The Sims 3 or Empire Total War. I've talked to many people about the problem and run many tests, but all the tests come back without fault so I do not know what the problem is. I have already done a clean install of my system once and am considering doing it again since I am still experiencing problems.
Specs for my computer are as follows:
OS is Windows 8 64 bit OEM
Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 7970 3072MB GDDR5 GPU crossfired with a Saphire AMD Radeon HD 7950 3072MB GDDR5 GPU
4x 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM
ASUS Sabertooth x79 Motherboard
Intel i7-3820, 3.60Ghz, 10MB Cache LGA2011 CPU
OS on a Samsung 840 500GB SSD with additional Western Digital Velociraptor 600GB HD and Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB HD
Power supply is Corsair AX1200 and the CPU is cooled by Corsair H100 water cooling system
I have two cougar case fans exhausting through the roof of the case, one fan exhausting out the back of the case, one fan exhausting out of the side of the case over the GPUs, one intaking air over the motherboard from the side of the case, and two fans intaking air from the front of the case. The case is a Colossus case from bitfinix and all wires are secured and not blocking airflow.

 

[_Cosmin_]

Those are the only games you tried, or system performs badly only in those games?
Could be bad coding in that games... just try skyrim, crysis3, battlefield4... which can put stress on your system and see how they perform.

 

[theycallmeIRISH]

Those are the only games you tried, or system performs badly only in those games?
Could be bad coding in that games... just try skyrim, crysis3, battlefield4... which can put stress on your system and see how they perform.

I've tried other games such as GTA IV and have had similar issues. All calibration tests say I can run the game at max quality with no problem, yet I experience many issues. I do not have skyrim, but I have tried fallout new vegas and my system crashed before the tutorial was even over. I haven't tried again. Also I do not have battlefield 4 yet, but I did play battlefield 3 and it did alright most of the time with a few issues here and there. I attempted to play the battlefield 4 beta, but it crashed on me every time I tried to play so I just gave up. I'm currently downloading Bf4 so I will repost it is any better.
Games such as Starcraft II, CIV V and XCOM Enemy Unknown do fine on my PC, but for the money I've put into my PC i feel it should be able to eat any new game which comes out alive (seeing as how it's several times more expensive than upcoming next-gen consoles).

I just recently updated the Catalyst software to v 13.8 and attempted to play Farcry 3 again. The game was still a bit jittery, but it didn't crash on me for the 50 minutes I was playing it and I didn't notice any odd textures/lighting which have recently plagued me while playing the game.

My hypothesis is that Windows 8 just doesn't have the support or stability that Windows 7 does for desktop machines and that is resulting in incompatibility issues with the hardware.. but the only way to truly check would be to clean install Windows 7 on my desktop which would mean purchasing a copy of Windows 7 and I have no intention of giving Microsoft any more of my money.

 

[coozie7]

Sounds more like a software than hardware issue.
Is your Windows 8 or 8.1? I'm fairly sure the upgrade to 8.1 is a free download.
Check the Task Manager, see if there's anything eating into the CPU/memory, a new install can get infected seconds after it's connected to the 'net if you're unlucky-it's just the kind of install they like to target-unpatched and with no AV protection.
Download and run GPU-Z, it's a great little utility for the GPU, and use it to monitor GPU use and temperatures. Don't be surprised if it reports the PCI-E links as something like PCI-E 1.1@x1 or x16, it's normal because the card goes into 'doze' mode when idle.
Best fix for FC3 is to download and install Radeonpro then set a profile for FC3, capping the framerate, 45FPS worked for my 7950 so you should look at 50 to start with, and turn Vsync off, both ingame and in the drivers. My Steam copy seems to 'crash' with this fix running, if yours crashes to the Uplay/FC3 screens, just close the Uplay window and click on play in the main FC3 window.

 

[theycallmeIRISH]

Sounds more like a software than hardware issue.
Is your Windows 8 or 8.1? I'm fairly sure the upgrade to 8.1 is a free download.
Check the Task Manager, see if there's anything eating into the CPU/memory, a new install can get infected seconds after it's connected to the 'net if you're unlucky-it's just the kind of install they like to target-unpatched and with no AV protection.
Download and run GPU-Z, it's a great little utility for the GPU, and use it to monitor GPU use and temperatures. Don't be surprised if it reports the PCI-E links as something like PCI-E 1.1@x1 or x16, it's normal because the card goes into 'doze' mode when idle.
Best fix for FC3 is to download and install Radeonpro then set a profile for FC3, capping the framerate, 45FPS worked for my 7950 so you should look at 50 to start with, and turn Vsync off, both ingame and in the drivers. My Steam copy seems to 'crash' with this fix running, if yours crashes to the Uplay/FC3 screens, just close the Uplay window and click on play in the main FC3 window.

I am currently running Windows 8, and yes Windows 8.1 is a free upgrade. However I am scared that if I upgrade to 8.1 then i will experience the same kind of issues since 8.1 is even newer software than 8 and may have less driver support which I believe would cause more issues.

When running FarCry3 on Ultra settings.. my CPU is at 20-25%, and memory is at about 10%.. but yet there is odd square pixilation (i have not checked to see if this appears in other games yet like Bf4), and the game is jittery. No screen tearing, Just like the character will be running for two seconds, then miss a frame like a millisecond. It's barely noticeable.. but it is noticeable and it concerns me.

I have used GPU-Z, but nothing stands out as being out of the ordinary. It reads both of my graphics cards for what they are and reports they are putting out the correct processing they should be..

 

[coozie7]

That skipping if FC3 is a known issue-try running or driving a vehicle and it gets worse, use Radeonpro and cap the frame rate-worked like a charm for me.
Run Dxdiag, perhaps the DirectX install is corrupted.
Not to sure how to find it in Win 8 but in win 7 it's available through the search feature.

 

[_Cosmin_]

Well, you could install windows7 without paying the money: without a key will let you try for 30 days... then you will need to buy a key and activate it or delete it...
It looks to me to be a graphic driver issue... maybe crossfire issue.

 

[theycallmeIRISH]

Well, you could install windows7 without paying the money: without a key will let you try for 30 days... then you will need to buy a key and activate it or delete it...
It looks to me to be a graphic driver issue... maybe crossfire issue.

Well since updating all the drivers for my system again everything appears to be doing much better. I can play Battlefield 4 on Ultra settings with minimal issues and it has only crashed on me once. Additionally the other games I was experiencing issues playing seem to have been resolved. I'm not sure that my PC is operating at 100% it's potential, but it is definitely doing better than it was before the driver updates. My concern is that I built this PC in January, and I am just now receiving the drivers necessary for it to operate correctly.

I may try installing Windows 7 as a trial and see if that improves performance.

Thank you for all your help!