Radeon HD 7970 Not Performing as it should

[Agonylord52]

Hey everybody. first time posting on here!

Anyways, my problem is this: My games are lagging. I don't know why, and I've tried everything my small amount of technical experience can help me with.

I just recently switched out my several-years-old HD 4850 512 MB card for the shiny new, apparently proven HD 7970 from Sapphire. I'd previously tried the GTX 670, but it had been buggy and made my computer boot-loop, so I got my new Radeon card.

What's been happening is wI'm getting the same performance as I was getting from my old HD 4850! I tried Sacred 2 on it, and it lags the same amount as it does now with the 7970. Not to mention other games, like Fallout New Vegas and Skyrim. Though, surprisingly, Crysis 2 works fine, tho there are still a few, barely noticeable visual snags here and there.

Is there a problem with the drivers? I just uninstalled the ones I had and updated to the 12.6 that released a week ago, but nothing changed.

I have a 3.00 gigahertz Intel Core2 Quad, 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, a Cooler Master 750 Watt GX power supply.

Could anyone give me some tips? I'd be very grateful

 

[vmem]

your CPU is rather out dated and could be causing a bottleneck. though it really shouldn't be this bad. to know for sure. please download GPUz here:
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/
then run it while running a few games. and report back with your GPU usage %. if you're only using like 50% of your GPU, then it's definitely your CPU bottlenecking it

 

[yehia7000]

your cpu bottleneck heavily your card you have to upgrade your cpu to ivy bridge or sandy bridge try one of those ( i5 3570k,i52500k,i72600k,i73770k) , dont try to buy
gtx 670 because you will get the same poor performance . i know that you will trust me when you see this http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/49?vs=287

 

[Sunius]

Guys stop telling that non sense. 3 GHz Core 2 Quad is more than capable CPU for gaming. Hell, it's better than most newest AMD chips.

Anyway, I'd suggest reinstalling windows. AMD drivers don't like changing graphics cards. I know you reinstalled the driver, but it's not enough. Trust me, once you reinstall windows it will work like a charm.

 

[yehia7000]

yeah yeah Sunius you are right but there is the better check out this and see the difference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiqS341ibbc&feature=related and i respect your opinion but please dont argue with me like intel or amd fanboys

 

[nao1120]

I have a Q9550 @ 2.83 - I noticed a noticeable difference from a 4870 to a 6870 then to a 6950 recently (sale for 199, why not). Anyways... The difference from the 6870 to the 6950 was marginal. The only difference i could see is the "odd" game that lagged a little at 1080p no longer has a slight lag. Also with that, it seems the 2 GB card allows for maxed settings on everything where before i could only use a custom high level.

Agreed with Sunius - Unless you spanning the resolution at 2560*1600 whatever it is, it should run everything fine at reasonable rates.

Reinstall the OS - Get the latest motherboard, and video card drivers after the install from the vendor sites... Should perform fine. I wouldnt expect miracles - But you should of seen at least a 20-30% (at least over the 4850) boost in performance.

I would expect at least 60 FPS in almost every game with the only exception of BF3 - Although with the 7970 it'll be a toss up. I haven't had the chance to try it yet, But i expect 45-60 with high settings with my 6950.

 

[akamrcrack]

My 965BE at 4.0ghz caused games to lag with my 6950s. Upgrading to a 2500K 4.5ghz fixed that.

With 965BE's and dual 6950s I was getting 60fps vsync in BF3 but it wasn't steady. Got the i5 and it became very steady all of the sudden.

 

[yehia7000]

AGREED WITH akamrcrack

 

[Temile]

Run 3DMark11 and look at the benchmark scores. That should give us a basic idea if your computer/card is running at expected speeds in games. I am in the camp that is unconvinced your CPU is the bottleneck.

 

[vmem]

3DMark11 isn't the best way to diagnose a CPU bottleneck as different games have different needs. run a CPU heavy game like skyrim or BF3 multiplayer (big maps) and check your CPU usage against your GPU usage. if you're maxing out your CPU but GPU usage is like 50-60%, then you definitely have a bottleneck

 

[Temile]

Do both. And turn on framerate reporting in the games and see how framerates compare to what others are seeing. Even with a good graphics card you are liable to see occasional glitching/lagging as other parts of the system do work, the game loads new textures, etc. Game engines are complex beasts and running glitch free at consistent framerates is tricky.

 

[deathengine]

Are you placing the video card in the correct 16x pcie slot on your Mobo?

 

[Agonylord52]

Lol, oh wow. Lotsa replies.

From reading these, I think I might just stick with my current processor. I'll download both GPU-Z and 3dMark11 and compare framerates and usage of the hardware, then report back. I'll also try updating my CPU and motherboard drivers. I have never done that before, so that might be the only problem. I'll also try a fresh install of W7 64 bit.

And I only have 1 PCI-e slot on my motherboard (It's a Gigabyte GA-EP43-UD3L). It's pretty old, now, but I'll try to find drivers for the both of them.

Thanks for the replies, btw!