Question My PC is underperforming in almost all games

Aug 17, 2022
7
1
15
Hello everyone!

Here is my PC specs:

CPU: i7 3770k
MOBO: ASROCK Z77 Pro4-m
RAM: EVGA Superclocked 2x8GB
Cooler: Deepcool Gammax 400
PSU: Seasonic Focus 750 Watt Gold plus
SSD 1: Sandisk 240 GB
SSD 2: Samsung 860 evo 500 GB
HDD: Samsung 320 GB
GPU: EVGA GTX 970
Cooler: deepcool matrexx 55 mesh
Monitor: HP Zendesk 27 resolution 1920x1200

Let me start with my problem. I am receiving lower than expected FPS in almost all games. For example my friend almost exact PC build. Difference is that he has non K version CPU and Monitor is 1920x1080 for resolution. Graphics card on both monitors I mean my friends and mines are connected using the HDMI cable. He is receiving 60 FPS in Forza 4 on High, I get about 40 on Medium settings, He is receiving 50 FPS in Marvels Spider Man on medium settings I am getting under 30 on very low, Dying light 2 he gets about 60 on medium I get 30 on low. I am really confused. I did clean Windows 10 install, updated all graphics drivers but problem is same. Only thing that I noticed is that when I checked my hard drives using crystaldisk, my HDD has Caution state.

I tried to run PC without HDD connected but problem stayed. Bios is up to date, I have just changed thermal paste for both CPU and GPU, it is not overheating, I have installed riviastastictuner and as I can see temperatures are not going high in games. Also GPU usage is about 98% in all games and CPU usage is about 60 %. I also checked RAMS and they are in dual channel, XMP is enabled and they are set to 1600 Mhz profile.

I know it is old generation but I just don't understand why my friend is able to get that good performance on the same PC. I also checked performance of this build on Youtube and everyone seems to be getting better experience than me.
 
Hello everyone!

Here is my PC specs:

CPU: i7 3770k
MOBO: ASROCK Z77 Pro4-m
RAM: EVGA Superclocked 2x8GB
Cooler: Deepcool Gammax 400
PSU: Seasonic Focus 750 Watt Gold plus
SSD 1: Sandisk 240 GB
SSD 2: Samsung 860 evo 500 GB
HDD: Samsung 320 GB
GPU: EVGA GTX 970
Cooler: deepcool matrexx 55 mesh
Monitor: HP Zendesk 27 resolution 1920x1200

Let me start with my problem. I am receiving lower than expected FPS in almost all games. For example my friend almost exact PC build. Difference is that he has non K version CPU and Monitor is 1920x1080 for resolution. Graphics card on both monitors I mean my friends and mines are connected using the HDMI cable. He is receiving 60 FPS in Forza 4 on High, I get about 40 on Medium settings, He is receiving 50 FPS in Marvels Spider Man on medium settings I am getting under 30 on very low, Dying light 2 he gets about 60 on medium I get 30 on low. I am really confused. I did clean Windows 10 install, updated all graphics drivers but problem is same. Only thing that I noticed is that when I checked my hard drives using crystaldisk, my HDD has Caution state.

I tried to run PC without HDD connected but problem stayed. Bios is up to date, I have just changed thermal paste for both CPU and GPU, it is not overheating, I have installed riviastastictuner and as I can see temperatures are not going high in games. Also GPU usage is about 98% in all games and CPU usage is about 60 %. I also checked RAMS and they are in dual channel, XMP is enabled and they are set to 1600 Mhz profile.

I know it is old generation but I just don't understand why my friend is able to get that good performance on the same PC. I also checked performance of this build on Youtube and everyone seems to be getting better experience than me.
Does your CPU hit it's boost frequency ? Hyper threading enabled ?
 
Aug 17, 2022
7
1
15
Does your CPU hit it's boost frequency ? Hyper threading enabled ?
Hello, I don't really know how to check boost frequency but hyper threading is enabled.

I hate to be one of 'those people' but when you say almost exactly the same, you don't by any chance mean completely different?

The dumb stuff to get out the way, do you have the latest Nvidia drivers, is the GPU PCI-E link state x16 ect..(GPU-Z can tell you)

Can you tell me how it is completely different? I wanted to emphasize that his specs are little worse and he still gets better performance.
And yes, I have latest drivers and GPU-Z shows that it is x16.

Here are screenshots for more information.


View: https://imgur.com/oQLb9M1

View: https://imgur.com/iXs3Udr

View: https://imgur.com/AZVsDIQ

View: https://imgur.com/rvKpqXH

View: https://imgur.com/Xszlj9V

View: https://imgur.com/dfoVSwO


Here are bench results

View: https://imgur.com/a/77N2xWf
 

Zerk2012

Titan
Ambassador
Hello everyone!

Here is my PC specs:

CPU: i7 3770k
MOBO: ASROCK Z77 Pro4-m
RAM: EVGA Superclocked 2x8GB
Cooler: Deepcool Gammax 400
PSU: Seasonic Focus 750 Watt Gold plus
SSD 1: Sandisk 240 GB
SSD 2: Samsung 860 evo 500 GB
HDD: Samsung 320 GB
GPU: EVGA GTX 970
Cooler: deepcool matrexx 55 mesh
Monitor: HP Zendesk 27 resolution 1920x1200

Let me start with my problem. I am receiving lower than expected FPS in almost all games. For example my friend almost exact PC build. Difference is that he has non K version CPU and Monitor is 1920x1080 for resolution. Graphics card on both monitors I mean my friends and mines are connected using the HDMI cable. He is receiving 60 FPS in Forza 4 on High, I get about 40 on Medium settings, He is receiving 50 FPS in Marvels Spider Man on medium settings I am getting under 30 on very low, Dying light 2 he gets about 60 on medium I get 30 on low. I am really confused. I did clean Windows 10 install, updated all graphics drivers but problem is same. Only thing that I noticed is that when I checked my hard drives using crystaldisk, my HDD has Caution state.

I tried to run PC without HDD connected but problem stayed. Bios is up to date, I have just changed thermal paste for both CPU and GPU, it is not overheating, I have installed riviastastictuner and as I can see temperatures are not going high in games. Also GPU usage is about 98% in all games and CPU usage is about 60 %. I also checked RAMS and they are in dual channel, XMP is enabled and they are set to 1600 Mhz profile.

I know it is old generation but I just don't understand why my friend is able to get that good performance on the same PC. I also checked performance of this build on Youtube and everyone seems to be getting better experience than me.
Because of the lower monitor resolution!
 
Can you tell me how it is completely different? I wanted to emphasize that his specs are little worse and he still gets better performance.
And yes, I have latest drivers and GPU-Z shows that it is x16.
It wasn't clear to me if your friend was using the same GPU or not. Your link state is showing as x1 not x16. Click on the question mark next to the PCI-E interface and click 'Start Render Test'. While that's running hover the mouse over the PCI-E interface again. It should come up with a little speech bubble, take a screenshot of that, for example:
View: https://i.imgur.com/bhQac9c.png
 
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Aug 17, 2022
7
1
15
You say his specks are lower than yours what exactly is he using?

You also said GPUZ says your card is running @ X16 but your first pick clearly shows X1
Bus interface X16 2.0 @ X1 1.1 (that should change to X16 if you click the blue ? right after that.

So he is using following specs:

CPU: i7 3770
MOBO: Asus Z77 VLX
RAM: Samsung 2x8 GB
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212
PSU: Deepcol DA 700 W
SSD 1: Kingston 240 GB
SSD 2: Samsung 860 evo 500 GB
GPU: EVGA GTX 970
Case: Deepcool Matrexx 50
Monitor: Samsung 23 inch, resolution 1920x1080

regarding GPUZ test here is the screenshot:
View: https://imgur.com/a/v3VClRz


Is there any way I can improve that? I tried to install graphics drive in the PCIE slot again to check if it was loose, it is sitting in the first PCIE slot.

It wasn't clear to me if your friend was using the same GPU or not. Your link state is showing as x1 not x16. Click on the question mark next to the PCI-E interface and click 'Start Render Test'. While that's running hover the mouse over the PCI-E interface again. It should come up with a little speech bubble, take a screenshot of that, for example:
View: https://i.imgur.com/bhQac9c.png

I thought it should have shown PCIE x16 which is showing in the beginning. Any way I can improve that?

A clean windows install can sometimes help.

Performance aside, that is a fairly aged system, almost 9 years.

Might be a good time to upgrade, if you aren't happy with performance. Parts are pretty cheap right now.

I have done clean install, updated all drivers and scanned for viruses but still all is the same.

I know that system is aged and I am planning to upgrade it in about one year, prices are low but can't really afford to upgrade now )
 
It's either going to be an issue with the slot itself (like a hair or dirt between gpu and socket), or a bios issue.

Try reseating the gpu, and try resetting bios back to defaults and see if it helps.

last resort would be to use the lower pcie x4 slot on your board, which would give 99% performance of a full x16 slot
 
I thought it should have shown PCIE x16 which is showing in the beginning. Any way I can improve that?
So yes that's not right what you have there and looks to be the cause of your problem. Do you have any other PCI-E slots populated?
I've had this before with my GPU running in x2, it was a bios issue. Clearing the CMOS resolved it, this will reset all your bios settings though. If you have compressed air it might also be an idea to clear any dust that maybe in the PCI-E slot.
 
Aug 17, 2022
7
1
15
It's either going to be an issue with the slot itself (like a hair or dirt between gpu and socket), or a bios issue.

Try reseating the gpu, and try resetting bios back to defaults and see if it helps.

last resort would be to use the lower pcie x4 slot on your board, which would give 99% performance of a full x16 slot

Thank you, I will clean the slot, I don't think that it is an bios issue, I did CMOS reset, I will also give another slot a try.
So yes that's not right what you have there and looks to be the cause of your problem. Do you have any other PCI-E slots populated?
I've had this before with my GPU running in x2, it was a bios issue. Clearing the CMOS resolved it, this will reset all your bios settings though. If you have compressed air it might also be an idea to clear any dust that maybe in the PCI-E slot.
I cleaned the case 5 days ago, so there is no dust issue for now )
Will give another slot a try.