Problem with Gigabyte GTX 970 Gaming G1

[El_BuRRo_MeX]

I just got my GTX 970 yesterday, I have the same problem as many others have: Low FPS due to low GPU usage. I have tried the following:

1- A clean SO install (I switched from Windows 8.1 Pro 64 bits to Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bits so i think it is not an OS specific issue nor any I had installed before because of the clean install).
2- Install the most recent drivers from nvidia directly:

GeForce Game Ready Driver
Version 347.52 - WHQL
Release Date Tue Feb 10, 2015
Operating System Windows 7 64-bit

3- Set Windows' power settings to maximum performance and every advanced option in the profile's settings accordingly.

4- Set Nvidia control panel to "prefer maximum performance", multi threading on" and "single display performance mode"

So I guess is not a software related issue, my specs:

-Motherboard: ASUS M5A 78L-M LX PLUS
- AMD FX 8350 4.0ghz 8 core
- Ram Corsair CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10 8GB 1600mhz DDR3
- HDD Seagate 500GB (working since 2009)
- HDD Toshiba 2TB brand new
- PSU Cooler Master Silent pro m2 720 80 plus bronze
- GPU Gigabyte GTX 970 Gaming G1 brand new.
- Case Corsair Graphite series 230T brand new.

I have an idea of what the problem is: my CPU temperature on idle reaches even 70 C° and gaming reaches 80 C° or so but the cooler fan sounds like a jet engine, even just browsing the internet.

My FX 8350 is at default 4.0 ghz and I've had it for almost a year and a half, with factory cooler and i have never changed or applied more thermal paste since new, also the case has just 1 fan active. So this overheating can be causing the issues? if so, is there a way (like leave the case open and turn off the air conditioner in the room) to cool the processor and see if it fixes the issue? meanwhile i get the adapters for the case fans and a good CPU cooler because my MB just have 1 case fan connector (and 1 CPU cooler connector). Thanks in advance. 🙂

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Board is a bad fit for the 8350 and the GTX 970 doesn't pair well with the 8350 , it's a common issue..

 

[bignastyid]

CPU is running kinda hot and I have seen a few 960g boards that have throttling issues with the 125w 8-core FX cpus.

 

[Quentin Chalmers]

Your CPU is definitely running way too hot. A safe maximum temperature for an AMD FX-8350 is 62 degrees celcius! I have an FX-8320 cpu and I only once ran over 62 degees celcius, which caused the game I was playing to stutter and experience an fps drop.

I can tell you right now that pairing an FX-8350 with a GTX 970 is in no way a bad match. I own a Gigabyte 970 myself and get great performance in games.

I would highly suggest you buy an aftermarket cpu cooler to replace the stock one and apply some new good thermal paste.

Depending on your budget you could go with a low price cooler such as Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

or something more expensive like a Corsair H80i which are still a great price when bought refurbished:
Corsair H80i

Some new thermal paste like this would be nice:

Arctic MX-4

The more money you pay, the better your CPU temps will be. It would also help to buy some nice case fans to get the air flowing. Leaving your case open is risky because it lets lots of dust in to the components.

The great thing about a new cpu cooler is that your computer would be a lot quieter as well.