Screen tearing/FPS drop due to bottlenecking?

[Vincent04]

I have read in numerous threads that an FX 8320 won't bottleneck a GTX 970, MSI 4G Gaming to be exact, but performance during gameplay says otherwise.

Massive FPS drop from a steady 70-80 FPS to a 16-20 FPS, and occasionally 10-15 FPS, followed by a very annoying screen tearing.

FPS drop -> Screen tear usually happen during gameplay. During cutscenes, however, its just screen tearing. To add, during cutscenes, FPS only caps up to 30, regardless whether V-sync is turned on/off.

Games tested:
Crysis 3 Very High Settings (45-64FPS | Drops to 15-20FPS then screen tear then FPS goes back up)
Battlefield 4 Ultra Settings (78-93FPS drops to around 28FPS then tears then goes back up)
COD Advanced Warfare Extra Settings (86-110FPS drops almost the same as BF 4)

System Specs:
Complete System specs are listed by hovering on my pic or on my forum sig

FX 8320 running @ stock 3.5ghz / stock heatsink
MSI GTX 970 4g Gaming single card
Gskill Ripjaws X 8gb 1866 @ 9-10-9-28 (rated timings)
No overclocking/tweaking done to any of the components

P.S.
My Rig is not yet a month old. 🙁 I need expert help please.

 

[Undying89]

Thats the problem, not average fps but minimum. 8320 does bottleneck 970, overclocked little less. Just get a decent cooler and overclock it, those 3.5ghz on FX chip is kinda slow.

 

[13thmonkey]

i'd suggest that the cpu might be overheating and throttling.

 

[thetechy]

Please share the motherboard model as some motherboards are not able to run FX 8 cores properly.

 

[Vincent04]

@thetechy I did state my complete rig is available via signature or hovering on my pic. Nonetheless, its a GA 990FXA-UD3 Rev 4.0

 

[Vincent04]

@Undying89 According to this thread "http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2314222/gtx-970-bottleneck-8320.html" there'll be no bottleneck. But with what's happening, I guess I'm leaning more towards the idea that my CPU is a bottleneck for my current GPU.

@13thmonkey I'm not so much aware with my CPU, since all the while I thought there is no bottleneck, temps when I'm doing my gameplay. But I think my temps are around 60-65c during gameplay. And the FX 8320's stock HSF, at load, are noisy. And isn't a noisy fan, or loaded CPU, an indication that throttling is leaning more towards the CPU being on-load rather than on-idle? Also, is there a way to permanently, without overclocking since i haven't any aftermarket heatsink/cooler yet, to have my CPU run at rated or boosted speeds via bios settings? Like, is there a way to turn off/on the CPU throttling?

 

[thetechy]

The motherboard should work fine with your CPU. Try running some benchmark tests like furmark on GPU to identify if it is throttling or not. You may also run benchmarks on CPU as well like hot cpu tester to check if it is culprit. Monitor the temperatures and also clocks while running tests to get a rough estimate of cause.

 

[13thmonkey]

@Undying89 According to this thread "http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2314222/gtx-970-bottleneck-8320.html" there'll be no bottleneck. But with what's happening, I guess I'm leaning more towards the idea that my CPU is a bottleneck for my current GPU.

@13thmonkey I'm not so much aware with my CPU, since all the while I thought there is no bottleneck, temps when I'm doing my gameplay. But I think my temps are around 60-65c during gameplay. And the FX 8320's stock HSF, at load, are noisy. And isn't a noisy fan, or loaded CPU, an indication that throttling is leaning more towards the CPU being on-load rather than on-idle? Also, is there a way to permanently, without overclocking since i haven't any aftermarket heatsink/cooler yet, to have my CPU run at rated or boosted speeds via bios settings? Like, is there a way to turn off/on the CPU throttling?

The loud fan is an indication that the fan is working at full blast trying to bring the temp down, the cpu will have also slowed (but still be at 100% of a slower speed) so that it can protect itself

 

[Vincent04]

I guess imma get myself an aftermarket cooler by next year, choosing between a Corsair H60 or CM Hyper 212x (any suggestion on which would be better? please take into consideration that we are living in a tropical country, gets really hot at times and I don't have the privilege to use the AC 24/7).

Another question, since the multiplier on the FX 8320 goes from x7-x20, x20 being @ 4.0ghz while on turbo mode, is it safe to just tweak the multiplier settings in bios to x20 without altering the voltages? Also, please advise which software would be necessary for me to use to monitor what I have to monitor. Only thing that comes to mind as of now is the Prime95 (I've been reading much prime95 usage when it comes to CPU overclock) Also, please tag how that software is being used, e.g. Prime95 - stressing , this software - temps, this software - etc...

I only ask because I really am a novice when it comes to overclocking. Every little thing I know only comes from this forum and/or from watching a bit of youtube vids regarding overclocking, though I'm still having a hard time understanding.

Thanks,

 

[13thmonkey]

hyper 212 will be much better that the H60, it will challenge a H100.

as to OCing the FX, you'll have to wait on someone else, or start a new thread off, I'm not experienced enough in AMD OCing.