Question My 3090 runs the same / worse than a 3080

Squeezit

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Apr 23, 2021
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So I'm fairly familiar with computers, but this has me stumped.
I've brought this to other IT people and they've been stumped. I've gone to r/techsupport r/overclocking and r/gpumining and never been able to get an answer (though people did attempt to help).

Here's my issue, please see my benchmark scores:
https://www.3dmark.com/compare/pr/1006968/pr/994218/pr/994237/pr/996740

Now this issue started on my old pc. I noticed my 3090 started performing...worse. (I don't know how much crypto mining is enjoyed / hated here, but that's where I first noticed it).
Running a couple benchmarks confirmed it as well as my gaming performance had dropped. I never push it very hard while mining, but usually hit 110mh. Now I hit 90 - 95mh which is the same as a 3080.

So I was already planning on building a new PC. So once my new pc was built, I noticed that my benchmark scores were still bad.
Assumed my GPU must be bad, contacted EVGA whom sent me a new 3090 to replace mine. Day 1 scores are the good scores from the above posted link.
The other 2 scores are a few days after. No crypto mining has been done on this card up to that point. No overclocking, everything was default in all of those benchmark tests.
I've also tried leaving it turned off for a whole day, then immediately doing a benchmark test to see if it just had issues running for long periods.

My current PC specs are shown in the 3dmark test but just for reference:
z590 taichi
11900k (I know)
evga ftw3 ultra 3090
CPU is water cooled, GPU is air cooled.

While running benchmark / crypto mine, GPUz and hwinfo both show no throttling,
My temperatures never hit any crazy numbers (I don't have anything written down unfortunately, I'll try and watch it again next time I test).

I'm at a complete loss at this point. A completely brand new computer doesn't resolve it. I thought maybe it was my power supply since I salvaged only that and my ram from my previous PC. Replaced the PSU today but still no success.

Anyone have any other tips for me? Thanks in advance

After vBIOS update from evga:
(basically no difference)
 
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When did you update windows to the new build version? It came out May 20th. New builds have a really nasty habit of reversing some of your choices, like disabling Xbox DVR and gamebar helper etc. It can also affect gpu drivers until nvidia gets a fix out.

I'd take a peek at all that's set in the settings, wouldn't be surprised to see some things taking up gpu resources that were there prior or have changed with the clean install.
 
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When did you update windows to the new build version? It came out May 20th. New builds have a really nasty habit of reversing some of your choices, like disabling Xbox DVR and gamebar helper etc. It can also affect gpu drivers until nvidia gets a fix out.

I'd take a peek at all that's set in the settings, wouldn't be surprised to see some things taking up gpu resources that were there prior or have changed with the clean install.
On my old PC I'm not sure when I updated, but I noticed the issue start happening maybe a month before I changed to the new PC.
After switching to the new PC I updated everything right away (due to some other issues I was having). This was about 3/4 days after the release of the 11900k that I unfortunately pre-ordered.

Again, I don't know how people feel about crypto mining here, but this is a great example (my hashrate is equal to a 3080 but sometimes it performs worse). I mine when I'm not gaming (sometimes) and right now when I came home I see that it's only at 73% utilization for the GPU (normally at 100 while mining).

Its worth mentioning that day 1 after RMA, card worked.
I didn't use it for several days after (for gaming or mining), but let my PC idle.
After noticing it running a game a lot worse than before, I tested via benchmark and crypto mining to see it was doing the exact same thing as my last card.
Of course, the chances of getting 2 bad cards in a row exists, but this is such a weird issue that no matter how much I google I can't find anyone else with the same issue. So I find it more likely that it's my computer.
Previously the perfcap would show a very scattered vREL and vOP which told me something was definitely going on there. And my power consumption was at 85% on my 850w, so I figured I was A. using too much power and B. my PSU was going bad (as it started suddenly but previously worked).
Today I replaced the PSU with a 1000w PSU, and the power consumption is still 85% so I'm not sure whats up with that. My PSU is using anywhere from 320 - 335w looking at my history


3080 and 3090 are extremely similar cards.

I wouldn't be surprised to see some performing worse than 3080s in some cases.

Yeah, the 3090 isn't that much better than a 3080 but it IS about 15% better, and I'm running 13% worse than I should be.
But what's throwing me off is I can't find ANYTHING wrong. Even when mining my thermal temps never get hot enough for thermal throttling.
 
On my old PC I'm not sure when I updated, but I noticed the issue start happening maybe a month before I changed to the new PC.
After switching to the new PC I updated everything right away (due to some other issues I was having). This was about 3/4 days after the release of the 11900k that I unfortunately pre-ordered.

Again, I don't know how people feel about crypto mining here, but this is a great example (my hashrate is equal to a 3080 but sometimes it performs worse). I mine when I'm not gaming (sometimes) and right now when I came home I see that it's only at 73% utilization for the GPU (normally at 100 while mining).

Its worth mentioning that day 1 after RMA, card worked.
I didn't use it for several days after (for gaming or mining), but let my PC idle.
After noticing it running a game a lot worse than before, I tested via benchmark and crypto mining to see it was doing the exact same thing as my last card.
Of course, the chances of getting 2 bad cards in a row exists, but this is such a weird issue that no matter how much I google I can't find anyone else with the same issue. So I find it more likely that it's my computer.
Previously the perfcap would show a very scattered vREL and vOP which told me something was definitely going on there. And my power consumption was at 85% on my 850w, so I figured I was A. using too much power and B. my PSU was going bad (as it started suddenly but previously worked).
Today I replaced the PSU with a 1000w PSU, and the power consumption is still 85% so I'm not sure whats up with that. My PSU is using anywhere from 320 - 335w looking at my history




Yeah, the 3090 isn't that much better than a 3080 but it IS about 15% better, and I'm running 13% worse than I should be.
But what's throwing me off is I can't find ANYTHING wrong. Even when mining my thermal temps never get hot enough for thermal throttling.
Did it (when it worked normally) ever thermal throttle while mining?
Are you mining with NiceHash or something else?
Do you use MSI afterburner or any other app that controls fan speed clocks etcc...on the GPU?
 
Did it (when it worked normally) ever thermal throttle while mining?
Are you mining with NiceHash or something else?
Do you use MSI afterburner or any other app that controls fan speed clocks etcc...on the GPU?

I'm using Trex, without nicehash or anything. (I am using a client to manage it, but all its doing is opening Trex via cmd)

run www.userbenchmark.com, will atlest show us somthing
So the reason I was using 3dmark/port royal is because I have a before and after. Without having a before/after score I'm not sure how useful UB will be.
Nonetheless, here is my score:
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/42363473
 
I'm using Trex, without nicehash or anything. (I am using a client to manage it, but all its doing is opening Trex via cmd)


So the reason I was using 3dmark/port royal is because I have a before and after. Without having a before/after score I'm not sure how useful UB will be.
Nonetheless, here is my score:
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/42363473
Can you confirm what your ram speed is from what you set and what CPU-Z memory tab says? userbenchmark is showing some weird data.
G Skill Intl F4-3600C19-16GTRS 2x16GB
2 of 4 slots used
32GB DIMM DDR4 2000 MHz clocked @ 3600 MHz
 
3090 is better in games than a 3080, not crypto-mining. Nivida deliberately throttled the CUDA cores in the RTX series to make them less attractive for miners. If you're buying a $1000+ GPU for crypto mining, you're doing it wrong I'm sorry to say. Invest in ASIC miners instead, you get far more hash for your dollar.
 
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have to systematically trouble shoot each component, the machine is only as powerful as its weakest link.
Take everything out of the machine and test each part. Does it still do that with only one stick of ram one hd and the cpu installed?
perhaps you have a faulty motherboard?
really just a step by step thing to see which part is faulty.
Also is it all installed correctly I mean physically.
 
have to systematically trouble shoot each component, the machine is only as powerful as its weakest link.
Take everything out of the machine and test each part. Does it still do that with only one stick of ram one hd and the cpu installed?
perhaps you have a faulty motherboard?
really just a step by step thing to see which part is faulty.
Also is it all installed correctly I mean physically.

Did you even read this thread before posting that? He's asking why he's getting around the same hash rate on crypto mining on an RTX 3090 as he does on an RTX 3080.

Removing components from the PC won't answer that. This is some of the worst advice I've ever seen.

The fact is, those two cards perform very similar for Crypto Mining, so there is no hardware issue. The 3090 is a gaming card, not a crypto mining card. Nvidia charge extra for special cards optimised for crypto mining, so its in their interests to make sure the 3090 doesn't perform better than them
 
Can you confirm what your ram speed is from what you set and what CPU-Z memory tab says? userbenchmark is showing some weird data.
G Skill Intl F4-3600C19-16GTRS 2x16GB
2 of 4 slots used
32GB DIMM DDR4 2000 MHz clocked @ 3600 MHz
That is super weird, Yeah I'm running two 3600mhz of the trident royalz. 16gb x2
I'm not overclocking my ram...or anything atm. I'd like it to work on stock settings before I bother OC anything.

3090 is better in games than a 3080, not crypto-mining. Nivida deliberately throttled the CUDA cores in the RTX series to make them less attractive for miners. If you're buying a $1000+ GPU for crypto mining, you're doing it wrong I'm sorry to say. Invest in ASIC miners instead, you get far more hash for your dollar.
I didn't buy it for mining...or gaming. In fact, I didn't pay full price for it is the only reason I decided to keep it (I originally was building a pc for someone who wanted a pc built for them, but they canceled).
But that aside, it WAS running great. Then all of a sudden it stopped. No idea why.
Replacing it via RMA worked, for a whole day. Then that stopped working too (I didn't try mining with it, so I can only speak for gaming).
When I first got my 3090 it was performing around 115 - 119mh for mining. Gaming was great too.
 
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Sorry for the double post, I wanted to add an image. (I know thermals are high, but they aren't usually like this. I'm going to be replacing some temporary fans I had in the case. Even when temps are in the 90's, it still throttles).
I noticed my power draw seems pretty low, though. I temporarily set my power limit to 100% for mining to see what difference it would make
mpxjmxczv5v61.png
 
But that aside, it WAS running great. Then all of a sudden it stopped. No idea why.

When I first got my 3090 it was performing around 115 - 119mh for mining.

I think I see a link here 🆒

You use the card for bitcoin mining when you aren't using it for gaming, in fact you say one of the first things you did when you got it was use it for bitcoin mining, so its running hot pretty much all the time. Maybe you dried out the thermal paste a little, and now it's thermal throttling?

Most likely the card you got back from RMA was your card after being tested and found to be working ok, they don't normally do a stress test on it and see if it's operating at max performance, just that it's working. Maybe they slapped a new cooler on it and sent it back to you.

But yeah these cards aren't designed for mining.
 
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I think I see a link here 🆒

You use the card for bitcoin mining when you aren't using it for gaming, in fact you say one of the first things you did when you got it was use it for bitcoin mining, so its running hot pretty much all the time. Maybe you dried out the thermal paste a little, and now it's thermal throttling?

Most likely the card you got back from RMA was your card after being tested and found to be working ok, they don't normally do a stress test on it and see if it's operating at max performance, just that it's working. Maybe they slapped a new cooler on it and sent it back to you.

But yeah these cards aren't designed for mining.
I currently have two 3090's in my house.
The original one (which I did open up and see the thermal pads seemed fine).
And my RMA replacement, which again worked for 1 day, though I can't speak for mining. Only gaming and benchmarks.


I don't really care too much how this card is performing mining. It's only for some extra cash on the side and I'm providing the info specifically for more info. I'm more worried about the fact that its performing about as good as my previous 3080 I had.
 
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I currently have two 3090's in my house.
The original one (which I did open up and see the thermal pads seemed fine).
And my RMA replacement, which again worked for 1 day, though I can't speak for mining. Only gaming and benchmarks.


I don't really care too much how this card is performing mining. It's only for some extra cash on the side and I'm providing the info specifically for more info. I'm more worried about the fact that its performing about as good as my previous 3080 I had.
I see several components in your system performing at the lower end of the range.
I feel there is possibly a bigger problem than a specific component.
I had similar results at Userbenchmark when I was running my RX 6800.
I never did fully diagnose the issue.

Hopefully you can!
 
I see several components in your system performing at the lower end of the range.
I feel there is possibly a bigger problem than a specific component.
I had similar results at Userbenchmark when I was running my RX 6800.
I never did fully diagnose the issue.

Hopefully you can!
Which components?
I noticed userbenchmark claimed my ram was being overclocked from 2000mhz though it wasn't.
Other than that and my GPU, I'm not sure what else is on the lower end.

If I ever dare to overclock my GPU for gaming, it will without fail crash in the first 10 - 15 minutes. Even if I follow Precision and only overclock to its recommended specifications.
 
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Which components?
I noticed userbenchmark claimed my ram was being overclocked from 2000mhz though it wasn't.
Other than that and my GPU, I'm not sure what else is on the lower end.

If I ever dare to overclock my GPU for gaming, it will without fail crash in the first 10 - 15 minutes. Even if I follow Precision and only overclock to its recommended specifications.
Your ram and your hard drives are under average.'
You think this is bad look at how mine looks with the 3080.

https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/42378199

I have some serious issues evidently.
After I get back home Ill be doing some serious troubleshooting on my own system.
I know my single SSD is almost full and could be a bottleneck, but there's something else going on for sure.
 
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Your ram and your hard drives are under average.'
You think this is bad look at how mine looks with the 3080.

https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/42378199

I have some serious issues evidently.
After I get back home Ill be doing some serious troubleshooting on my own system.
I know my single SSD is almost full and could be a bottleneck, but there's something else going on for sure.
Not sure whats going on with my ram. Task manager shows its performing at 3600 like normal. And in bios, xmp is enabled.

As to my harddrives, aren't they all performing well except the samsung t5? That's just an external ssd, I don't expect that one to perform amazing. One of the ssd's is even pcie 4.0
 
11th gen brought in XMP Gear 1 and 2. That's likely what that discrepancy is.



Sorry for the double post, I wanted to add an image. (I know thermals are high, but they aren't usually like this. I'm going to be replacing some temporary fans I had in the case. Even when temps are in the 90's, it still throttles).
I noticed my power draw seems pretty low, though. I temporarily set my power limit to 100% for mining to see what difference it would make
mpxjmxczv5v61.png
Geezus... those memory thermals are through the roof. No wonder miners have their eyes on the 3080 more than the 3090.
The safe limit is below 95C last I read about it...


Gpu PCIe +12V Input Power: If that reading is accurate, that's running out of spec. The slot should be rated for 75w.
This is a 3x 8pin card, but why is #3 only doing like 80w max? Some of the excess going through the PCIe slot should be going through this.
WTH did EVGA do to this card???
 
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11th gen brought in XMP Gear 1 and 2. That's likely what that discrepancy is.

Geezus... those memory thermals are through the roof. No wonder miners have their eyes on the 3080 more than the 3090.
The safe limit is below 95C last I read about it...
According to nvidia its safe until it hits 115c...but of course thats without assuming its for long periods of time

Gpu PCIe +12V Input Power: If that reading is accurate, that's running out of spec. The slot should be rated for 75w.
This is a 3x 8pin card, but why is #3 only doing like 80w max? Some of the excess going through the PCIe slot should be going through this.
WTH did EVGA do to this card???
Ok, that confirms something I was suspicious about, thank you
 
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