R9 280x Toxic underperforming in 3Dmark?

Julius Canter

Honorable
Dec 19, 2013
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10,510
Hello,

So I've recently built a gaming pc and I'm a little frustrated with the results. Here is my build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2hKYR


I've ran the 3dmark bench test a few times. Here is basically what results I've received from running the demo:

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/1896461


Compared to other scores I've seen with the r9 280x Toxic, my card is definitely under performing. I believe I see 280x Toxic Fire Strike scores over 8,000 easily.

Also, the 2nd time I ran the 3dmark, there was major artifacting and the screen went black when it went into the Fire Strike test. I restarted the pc and then this didn't happen afterward, just the low scores. I did see that my graphics score is a bit higher than the physics score. Most people I've seen post have said that there shouldn't be any way that the i5-4670k should bottleneck the GPU. However, I have seen where some people say that the physics test is often limited by the CPU. I am not overclocking btw. Also, when I've checked the cpu temps, they are in the 40 degree celsius range, which seems fine.

Any thoughts? I really don't want to have to send anything back and wait a month for a replacement.. but this is frustrating considering the money I put into this build. I'm also confused where to even begin.. if I send back the gpu and get a new one and get the same results, then I'll know it's the CPU or motherboard, or ram.. ugh! Help would be appreciated. :)
 


Where can I check the GPU temperature? And what would be a normal temp?
 
GPU-Z should suffice. I cannot say for the specific card, but about ambient or 20-30C should be idle, and under load it can be anywhere from 50-90, depending on your case's airflow, ambient temperatures, and the cooling for the specific card.
 


I will go ahead and check temps this evening and report back. What are your thoughts on the crazy artifacts during the benchmark. Is this reason to return the card? Or could it just be a fluke instance.. like I said, after I restarted the computer, it did not artifact during the next test.

 
So I've been doing some reading about the 3dMark benchmarks, and apparently the physics test is a test of your CPU. So for whatever reason, the cpu appears to be contributing to the low score. I plan to upgrade my processor to an i7-4770k and see if that helps. Still, the graphics score is below 8,000 which is a bit concerning. Does anyone know what the graphics score for this card should be on average?