Question Suprisingly low performance gtx 1060 6gb AMP

[AqwBroders]

Hello, asking for a friend that knows not much about PC's and even this one has me absolutely lost. He has a while ago bought a gtx 1060 6GB Zotac AMP Used together with a ryzen 5 2600, 16gb 3000mhz ram etc, the usual.
He has been having some issues with the GPU itself performing way below average, in GTA V benchmark, he gets an average of 42 FPS, in Userbenchmark, he scores 40% (70% is avg for the 1060) etc. I've gone through a lot and everything adds up but there's just a hole in the performance.

I've tried to check if it's fake but there is no way for me to know and he can't open it up since he's not knowledgable and I live too far away to help.

I've tried everything from updating drivers, look at GPU-z, run benchmark and look at GPU usage (which is at 100%), I've also gotten plenty of pictures of the GPU itself and compared to others and everything from each tiny little chip on the backside is as it's suppossed to be. He bought it used so he cant return it.

Please if you can help me help him, I'd appreciate it.
Kind regards.

 

[Darkbreeze]

How old is his Windows installation? That is to say, how long has it been since he did a clean install of Windows?

What Windows VERSION is he running? If he's running Windows 10, what BUILD version of Windows 10?

Has a CLEAN install of the Nvidia drivers been done? And by CLEAN, I do not mean simply installing the latest drivers.

Does his motherboard have the latest BIOS version installed?

What is the EXACT model of his power supply? This is important and if neither of you know for certain, then it would be advisable to remove the side panel and look at the specifications decal on the PSU itself and find the model number or at least the series and brand. Knowing the brand and the series, along with the capacity, will likely tell just as much in most cases as knowing the full model number, but it's always better if we know the exact model.

 

[AqwBroders]

How old is his Windows installation? That is to say, how long has it been since he did a clean install of Windows?

What Windows VERSION is he running? If he's running Windows 10, what BUILD version of Windows 10?

Has a CLEAN install of the Nvidia drivers been done? And by CLEAN, I do not mean simply installing the latest drivers.

Does his motherboard have the latest BIOS version installed?

What is the EXACT model of his power supply? This is important and if neither of you know for certain, then it would be advisable to remove the side panel and look at the specifications decal on the PSU itself and find the model number or at least the series and brand. Knowing the brand and the series, along with the capacity, will likely tell just as much in most cases as knowing the full model number, but it's always better if we know the exact model.

He has a Cooler master 500w, not exactly sure which but it says "Cooler Master MWE 500"
He's running Windows 10, build 1803 and his motherboard was brand new when he got it with latest BIOS.
Nvidia drivers are 431.36.
Windows is fresh with the build itself, so not old at all. Everything is stored on a 500gb 860 evo.

 

[Darkbreeze]

When did he build this system? What is his current BIOS version? Ryzen 2600 has been out for nearly a year and half, and there have been two major Windows versions released since then, not to mention about 16 Nvidia driver version releases and probably seven or eight BIOS versions depending on the board model.

Which, by the way, what IS his motherboard model?

Has he checked to see that the memory IS actually running at 3000mhz, rather than at the default value of 2133mhz, and that they are installed in the A2 and B2 slots which are the second and fourth slots over from the CPU socket, AND that it is running in dual channel. He should download CPU-Z and take screenshots of the memory tab and you should post them here. He should also take screenshots of the SPD tab, which the correct slots for his installed memory selected from the top left drop down menu, and post those here as well.

It would be highly recommended that a CLEAN install of the Nvidia drivers using the DDU be done, before anything else. As follows:

How To - How to perform a CLEAN install of your video card drivers.

Updated 9-19-19 How to do a CLEAN install of your graphics card drivers using the Wagnard tools Display Driver Uninstaller A major issue on many systems is the presence of multiple graphics card drivers or drivers that have been incompletely uninstalled followed by the installation of...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[DMAN999]

If I had to guess I would say that GPU was probably used for mining which would mean it probably has a modified BIOS specific for mining.
If that is the case he would need to either return it OR try flashing the original BIOS from whatever company manufactured that card (EVGA/MSI/ASUS/etc).

 

[Darkbreeze]

That's probably a good initial guess. Very possible if he bought the card used. Probably want to try and verify that first though.

 

[AqwBroders]

That's probably a good initial guess. Very possible if he bought the card used. Probably want to try and verify that first though.

So some update:
We have gone through Uninstalling the video card drivers with DDU and all that and had them freshly installed, he gained about 2-3% more performance from this, a step in the right direction.
He has also updated to build 1903 of windows 10.
His memory is indeed running in dual channel 3000mhz, that was one of the first thing I made sure when he built the PC.
I would recommend him to freshly install windows 10 but due to him living in egypt with awfully slow download speed of less than 10/10, it could take days to reinstall everything.
It could in fact be a mining BIOS but is there any ways to check this? because the procedure to flash the GPU is not something within my range as I've never done that, and I have to guide him through the stuff.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

You can use a benchmark tool and check what the clock speed of the gpu is under load, and also check the cpu under load. it is quite possible thermal throttling. The heatsink may need to be re-seated with new thermal paste.