My gtx 970 3dMark score is lower than average

[snipen108]

My Gtx 970 isn't living up to the respected average scores others seem to get with ease.
Some of these scores are done with relatively the same hardware besides the fact I dont have a SSD. Is that a major factor when scoring these?

My 3dMark(Firestrike) Score is 8983, with 11601 graphical, 8292 physical, and 3499 combined.
My Specs:
CPU: Amd Fx-9370
GPU: Asus Strix gtx 970
Mobo: Crosshair V Formula-Z
Memory: Kingston KHX1600 4gb (I have 3 of these sticks but its dual slot... could that be a problem?)
Hard drive: Western Digital WD Blue WD10EZEX 1TB
Psu: Coolmax ZU-1000B


I must add that I have good cooling for my pc. My GPU temps usually staybetween 50c-60c when running the benchmark(Only because I set my own fan curve).
Any suggestions? Any RECOMMENDED settings i should have set to get the most out of this GPU? I have overclocked as well with 8010Mhz memory and 1329 Clock speed as a stable set.

 

[middlemarkal]

you MUST put your RAM in PAIR, not odd numbers, it will run the RAM much slower.

 

[snipen108]

you MUST put your RAM in PAIR, not odd numbers, it will run the RAM much slower.

Is that really a Big issue? Ill try it now see if it improves thanks.

 

[snipen108]

you MUST put your RAM in PAIR, not odd numbers, it will run the RAM much slower.

I removed a Ram stick, and actually I got the opposite of what I was expecting from this post, It actually gave me a lower score, either way probably just a coincidence? Any other suggestions?

 

[christosms]

The gpu score is fine for a stock non reference score. To put it on perspective my score when my card is at 1500MHz is 13870. The reason your overall is low is because you have a poor cpu.

Bottlenecks in general don't really exist per se but getting an AMD cpu over an i5 is generally a poor choice is gaming is your primary use.