My system is performing far slower than other systems with similar specifications.

[nowlin34]

I will preface this with my computer specs:
i5 2500k at 3.7Ghz (this is with the "overclock" that my chipset is capable of)
B75a-G43 MSI Motherboard
8Gb DDR3 (2x4Gb) 1600Mhz, limited at 1333Mhz
HIS R9 290 IceQ x2 4Gb
120Gb SSD
1Tb HDD
700W Thermaltake Toughpower (old but it works)
Windows 7 64-bit

Okay, so now that that is over with, I will make a post-preface-preface: I've tested the power supply with a voltage tester and all the rails read fine and I haven't had any issues with my computer that would definitely signify a failing PSU. I would also like to point out that, while the R9 290 usually uses an 8-pin and 6-pin power connector, the HIS uses two 8-pin connectors. I assumed that the extra two were for overclocking reasons, so I'm currently only using the usual 8-pin and 6-pin connectors for it. Sorry if that is incredibly stupid and that's actually my problem and I just wasted your time. I have assumed it's not, though, as I figured it to be for extra overclocking headroom (if that's even applicable, I hardly know what the different pins are for in the cables).

Anyways, yes: my systems seems to be performing considerably worse in similar scenarios and I can't figure out why. I just performed the passmark benchmarks of both my CPU and my GPU, and the average score matchs up with the ones on the website, if not slightly higher (+50 points for CPU +100 for GPU). Interestingly enough, though 3dMark 11 benchmarks tell a different story about my performance.

http://www.3dmark.com/compare/3dm11/7942731/3dm11/8245239/3dm11/11930984/3dm11/8480628/3dm11/8513999

If you view that link, you'll see that my computer, which is the computer with the 3DMark score of 9,439, is way below the performance of the other computers. I really have no clue why! Is my GPU dying? Is it merely not getting enough power? Have I bungled up some settings? I would like to point out that those benchmarks are much older than mine with drivers much less up-to-date. Could this make such a large contribution to the performance disparity? It's almost half.

I'd also like to say that I use a piece of software a while back (I can't remember the name of it for the life of me. If I do I will edit the post) that ran through and thoroughly checked my CPU. The software said that my CPU faulted in the fourth core, meaning that there was some sort of minor hardware failure. I'm not sure how much that relates, but my computer operates fine for the most part and the software said itself that the error could be negligible, but there is most definitely a hardware fault occurring there.

To close, I feel like it's important to not as well that I have gotten several BSODs in the past that had failures relating to atikmpag.sys. I've also had several machine_check_exception BSODs while putting my computer under stress. I've also had several computer crashes where my display just does the thing where lines go across and my computer buzzes if there was sound playing, the whole thing requiring the power button to be held or power disconnected to turn the computer off.

Anywho, sorry for posting such a large thing. Please, help me figure this out. Or at least tell me how big of an idiot I am and how obvious the solution is.

 

[maxalge]

I will preface this with my computer specs:
i5 2500k at 3.7Ghz (this is with the "overclock" that my chipset is capable of)
B75a-G43 MSI Motherboard
8Gb DDR3 (2x4Gb) 1600Mhz, limited at 1333Mhz
HIS R9 290 IceQ x2 4Gb
120Gb SSD
1Tb HDD
700W Thermaltake Toughpower (old but it works)
Windows 7 64-bit

Okay, so now that that is over with, I will make a post-preface-preface: I've tested the power supply with a voltage tester and all the rails read fine and I haven't had any issues with my computer that would definitely signify a failing PSU. I would also like to point out that, while the R9 290 usually uses an 8-pin and 6-pin power connector, the HIS uses two 8-pin connectors. I assumed that the extra two were for overclocking reasons, so I'm currently only using the usual 8-pin and 6-pin connectors for it. Sorry if that is incredibly stupid and that's actually my problem and I just wasted your time. I have assumed it's not, though, as I figured it to be for extra overclocking headroom (if that's even applicable, I hardly know what the different pins are for in the cables).

Anyways, yes: my systems seems to be performing considerably worse in similar scenarios and I can't figure out why. I just performed the passmark benchmarks of both my CPU and my GPU, and the average score matchs up with the ones on the website, if not slightly higher (+50 points for CPU +100 for GPU). Interestingly enough, though 3dMark 11 benchmarks tell a different story about my performance.

http://www.3dmark.com/compare/3dm11/7942731/3dm11/8245239/3dm11/11930984/3dm11/8480628/3dm11/8513999

If you view that link, you'll see that my computer, which is the computer with the 3DMark score of 9,439, is way below the performance of the other computers. I really have no clue why! Is my GPU dying? Is it merely not getting enough power? Have I bungled up some settings? I would like to point out that those benchmarks are much older than mine with drivers much less up-to-date. Could this make such a large contribution to the performance disparity? It's almost half.

I'd also like to say that I use a piece of software a while back (I can't remember the name of it for the life of me. If I do I will edit the post) that ran through and thoroughly checked my CPU. The software said that my CPU faulted in the fourth core, meaning that there was some sort of minor hardware failure. I'm not sure how much that relates, but my computer operates fine for the most part and the software said itself that the error could be negligible, but there is most definitely a hardware fault occurring there.

To close, I feel like it's important to not as well that I have gotten several BSODs in the past that had failures relating to atikmpag.sys. I've also had several machine_check_exception BSODs while putting my computer under stress. I've also had several computer crashes where my display just does the thing where lines go across and my computer buzzes if there was sound playing, the whole thing requiring the power button to be held or power disconnected to turn the computer off.

Anywho, sorry for posting such a large thing. Please, help me figure this out. Or at least tell me how big of an idiot I am and how obvious the solution is.

an 8-pin is rated to deliver twice the power of a 6-pin


99% it is the issue, especially with a power hungry card like a 290 on a mediocre power supply

 

[nowlin34]

an 8-pin is rated to deliver twice the power of a 6-pin


99% it is the issue, especially with a power hungry card like a 290 on a mediocre power supply

Yeah, OK, honestly that's what I've been think, I just don't wanna spend $10 on an adapter cable because I'm that stingy. As a side question, should I get an 8-pin adapter that comes from two 6-pins? That's what I would think, intuitively. Also, the reason I had and still have my doubts that this will work is that all of the other R9 290s are 8-pin and 6-pin connections. Why would the HIS card require two 8-pins? What did the card manufacturer do to make the card require so much more power? Also, if you care to answer this many questions, is there a feasible likelihood that I've damaged my card by running it without sufficient power for so long? I've probably had the card for about a year now, running with this set-up.

 

[SinxarKnights]

Have you checked your CPU temps recently? Your CPU score is extremely low compared to even stock 2500k's

 

[maxalge]

an 8-pin is rated to deliver twice the power of a 6-pin


99% it is the issue, especially with a power hungry card like a 290 on a mediocre power supply

Yeah, OK, honestly that's what I've been think, I just don't wanna spend $10 on an adapter cable because I'm that stingy. As a side question, should I get an 8-pin adapter that comes from two 6-pins? That's what I would think, intuitively. Also, the reason I had and still have my doubts that this will work is that all of the other R9 290s are 8-pin and 6-pin connections. Why would the HIS card require two 8-pins? What did the card manufacturer do to make the card require so much more power? Also, if you care to answer this many questions, is there a feasible likelihood that I've damaged my card by running it without sufficient power for so long? I've probably had the card for about a year now, running with this set-up.

if you have two spare 6-pin cables on that power supply then yes dual 6-pin to single 8-pin is good

some require more power because they may be overclocked at the factory, or have a custom PCB

probably not, although that psu might have been put on tremendous strain and outputting voltages that were not within spec. That could have damaged something

 

[nowlin34]

nowlin34 said:

Quote:
an 8-pin is rated to deliver twice the power of a 6-pin


99% it is the issue, especially with a power hungry card like a 290 on a mediocre power supply

Yeah, OK, honestly that's what I've been think, I just don't wanna spend $10 on an adapter cable because I'm that stingy. As a side question, should I get an 8-pin adapter that comes from two 6-pins? That's what I would think, intuitively. Also, the reason I had and still have my doubts that this will work is that all of the other R9 290s are 8-pin and 6-pin connections. Why would the HIS card require two 8-pins? What did the card manufacturer do to make the card require so much more power? Also, if you care to answer this many questions, is there a feasible likelihood that I've damaged my card by running it without sufficient power for so long? I've probably had the card for about a year now, running with this set-up.

if you have two spare 6-pin cables on that power supply then yes dual 6-pin to single 8-pin is good

some require more power because they may be overclocked at the factory

probably not, although that psu might have been put on tremendous strain and outputting voltages that were not within spec. That could have damaged something

One the second answer I agree, but as you can see my card is at stock clock, 947Mhz. While not listed, my GPU's RAM is also at a clock similar to other manufacturer's card's stock RAM clock. What else could draw enough power to warrant two 8-pins and otherwise severely gimp my performance?

Also, should this be taken to pm's at this point?

 

[maxalge]

Have you checked your CPU temps recently? Your CPU score is extremely low compared to even stock 2500k's

good catch, damn near ~2000 points slower

OP do you monitor cpu temps?



also you are not limited to 1333 ram, go into the bios and load XMP profile so it will run at its proper timings and speed

 

[nowlin34]

Have you checked your CPU temps recently? Your CPU score is extremely low compared to even stock 2500k's

good catch, damn near ~2000 points slower

OP do you monitor cpu temps?



also you are not limited to 1333 ram, go into the bios and load XMP profile so it will run at its proper timings and speed

Yeah, I check my temps regularly. They're fine, never had an issue with them. By CPU score, SinxarKnights, do you mean my Physics score? If so, yeah I noticed that, too. I wasn't entirely sure how it would relate. The odd discrepancy here that I'm struggling to fathom is that my Passmark software scores for both my GPU and CPU are perfectly in line with Passmark's averages for those specific parts.

 

[nowlin34]

Have you checked your CPU temps recently? Your CPU score is extremely low compared to even stock 2500k's

good catch, damn near ~2000 points slower

OP do you monitor cpu temps?



also you are not limited to 1333 ram, go into the bios and load XMP profile so it will run at its proper timings and speed

Also, yeah this has been a long running issue for me. I realize that I'm not limited to 1333Mhz, but even after enabling X.M.P. and restarting, the changes seemingly don't take effect. My RAM stays right at 1333Mhz. I have 1600Mhz RAM just if you were wondering by the way. Using MSI's "OC Genie II" software does nothing as well, which is the standard theme with that program. It wouldn't be the chipset, would it?

It's like it turns out that all the problems I'm having or coming from some sort of hardware failure in my motherboard. lol

 

[RobCrezz]

I wonder how that motherboard is doing the overclock on your CPU? Can you check your BCLK? If its overclocking using that, then that could be causing problems also.