So.... Where's my bottleneck?

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jhondidfool

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Jun 22, 2012
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CPU: AMD-FX 8150 @ 3.6GHz (Stock, tried to OC, but it's not stable).
MoBo: Gigabyte GA-990X-UD3 rev. 1.1
RAM: Single 8GB G-SKILL 1600MHz
GPU: MSI R9 290 Gaming 4GB
PSU: 80 Plus Silver Templarius 850W
SC: SoundBlaster Z
SSD: OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA-III
HDD: 512 GB 7200rpm SATA-III Seagate Barracuda

So, here is the deal, I have ^That^, and by all accounts I should be getting good FPS, but the moment I throw an ENB at Fallout NV or Skyrim, it slows down to 20-25 fps. Whenever I try to make Arena Commander run, I get 20-25 fps also. I've checked my fps in many games, and I can't get past 30 in ARMA III, or more than 45 average in Bioshock Infinite.

It irks me because I see people with older and slower graphics cards getting 40-50 or even 60 fps in those sceneries, using the same settings.

So I think I have a bottleneck. CPU too weak? (I know, it is) Not enough RAM? (8GB should be enough...) Maybe I need a second 290? I've done everything I've thought of; drivers, fresh installs... you name it. It is now when I turn to this comunity and humble myself before those who know more of hardware than this mere mortal and ask you: Where is my bottleneck? Do I have one? Did I get bad luck with my components? Did I choose the HW combination in an extremely poor fashion?

Thank you for your answers :)
 
Solution
plywrlw
This plus an extra stick of whatever RAM you have. Buy the RAM first though to see what happens, nobody seems to have any other suggestions unfortunately.

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CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($113.99 @ Newegg)
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The 8150 is very weak in comparison to your GPU though I'm surprised it struggles so badly. If you use cpu-z to track your processor's behaviour whilst playing your games you should be able to see if its running at 100% usage. Also, how are your temperatures when running games? Have you tried moving the games on/off the SSD to eliminate any possible issues there?
 
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My temps stay around 50-55ºC when full gaming, and SSD seems to do nothing for my framerate. Is hould add that I get these fps in Arena Commander and Arma regardless of the graphics settins and resolution.. I did track the CPU during several Arena Commander Matches and it tops at 60% use of every core. The only way I've found to max it out is Prime 95 (that's where those temps come from).
 
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Any one else has an idea? Currently at work, so I can't give much more info, but it'd be nice. I know people running 770s getting 40 fps in medium in Arena Commander, and I get 20-25 both on low and on very high. BTW, for those who don't know what Arena Commander is, it's the first part of THIS -> https://robertsspaceindustries.com/
 
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If it's only topping out at 60% on every core then its probably not your cpu. Are you sure none of the cores are at a higher percentage as many games will hammer one core far more than others. Is 55 degrees your CPU or gpu or both? You only have one stick of ram so you are running in single channel mode, an extra identical stick might help. Does your GPU have a switch on it to change modes? If so, try it on the other setting....
 
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Arena Commander is prety well threaded (Crytek 3.4 base), all cores register similar use. 55º is CPU, GPU is OCd to 1250 MHz, and reaches 70-75ºC, far from the max ~90ºC the card starts to throttle down; the usage us around 70-80%, so it's not being hammered too badly... Maybe another stick in the RAM, making it dual channel? That can be done :) These figures repeat in Arma III, Skyrim and Fallout with ENB and other graphically highly demanding titles (Elite Dangerous drops down to 40 on stations, Battlefield 4 runs at 50 with everything maxed, Tomb Raider gets just to 35...). I game on a 1080 60Hz display.

About the temps, I have a Watercooling solution (Antec Khooler H20 60, I know, not the best radiator out there...) mountd outside the box, so it keeps the processor way bellow room temperature while iddle, and at very low temps while on load.

I am currently pondering switching MB and CPU to mount an i7 4770k (And a new memory stick), but I'd like to know where my bottleneck is so I don't spend money in something I don't need.

And no, the 290 DOES have a switch, but it does nothing (Confirmed by the vendor).
 
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I know what you mean, there's no point throwing money at it hoping to fix the problem. Your setup sounds pretty nice. Another thing you could try is see if there are any BIOS updates for your motherboard. Your PSU is an unknown factor to me, there aren't any reviews and the manufacturer is not known for quality. How many amps does it supply on the 12v rail(s)?
 
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I thought about BIOS and all that, it's all in the latest version for the MoBo, GPU... even the DVD player has the latest BIOS. It didn't change a thing.

This is the PSU http://www.aerocool.com.tw/index.php/templarius/power-supply/47-power-supply/templarius10/420-imperator-850w-information
 
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Mind you explaining me how is that? I've provided the technical specifications for the PSU. I'm not a PSU expert, but to my understanding, the 80 plus silver qualification ammounts for some reliability.
 
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I'm getting good temps, so nothing suggests voltage problems. How does this then affect my framerate for being so poor? No component of my PC is starved or having voltage spikes (Had those with my old PSU, that didn't even have a brand, so I know how to detect them). The unit is less than 6 months old, I'm genuinely curious.
 
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I'd be amazed frankly if the problem was the PSU. If you run some benchmarks like unigene heaven and 3d mark and see how your setup compares to other systems like yours then we can see how your system performs under load with the GPU stressing the PSU.
 
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I'll look into PSUs, but I'd like to be ABSOLUTELY sure before I spend on something. I have some disposable cash, but not enough to buy myself a whole new PC :/
'But unigine and 3DMark, I'll run them when at home and tell you the results. Currently at Work.
 
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Managed to have the Unigine from home. Screen.
IMG-20140805-WA0000.jpg
 
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OK, nothing wrong with that heaven score. Slight bottleneck of the r9 290 by the 8150 but the minimum fps do look like an issue. I'd get a RAM stick if it were me though the R9 290 already has 4Gb of vRAM so I'm not sure if it can really be a bandwidth issue but maybe?

It could be that the ENB's you're installing are so full of textures and effects they're bringing your system to its knees. I take it the games you initially mentioned run fine without them?

I'm hoping if we keep this thread alive someone will just come along and say "ah I know know what the problem is" and save us!
 
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Oh, I'm getting the second stick alright! :)
How is that the minimum fps are an issue? I get they're low, is that because of the CPU? I'll pass 3dMark as soon as I crash home and it downloads.
 
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