Why does my GTX 970 underperform?

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Spearsmen620

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Aug 12, 2014
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So I built my CPU in January last month, and decided to go all out with a GTX 970 from Zotac as I heard good things from them. I bought the stock one they had since I heard that you can easily overclock your cards. I've been getting pretty good frames in games on 1080, but I've noticed that in games where other people with 970s would get 80+, I would only get 60+. So I decided to use 3DMark and use the Firestrike benchmark.

ANYWAYS, I got a REALLY low score in my opinion compared to other GTX 970s. My score is here http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4040731 and I know the physics test bottlenecks my score, but I noticed that other people's graphics score was at least 10,000, mostly ranging from 11-12k, but my score was only 9533. This was my highest score as well!

My rig is:
i5 4440
h97 ASrock mini itx wifi
ZOTAC GTX 970 (Overclocked: http://puu.sh/fLlIR/a7070f49f0.png )
RVZ01 Case
120 SSD
1tb HDD
8gb TEAM ELITE (1 stick 1600 MHz)

I am using the latest drivers as you can see. Latest updates on Windows 8.1 64 bit.

If you need any more information, I can provide it.
 
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One thing I noticed is that you are using a single channel 8GB memory right ?? Duel channel RAM can boost performance considerably. Also what is your current RAM speed ? The benchmark reports a worrying figure 800mhz is it true ?? All you have to ensure is that, two 1600mhz RAM installed in duel channel mode and your system will work as intended.
 
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I am currently using ONE stick of 8GB ram, and it is at 1600mhz. I am not sure how to check the actual speed of it, but in the UEFI bios, it says 1600mhz. I went with one stick of 8GB for now since my motherboard only has two ram slots because I am using a MITX build and I did not want to be limited by two sticks of 4GB ram. I decided this so that, in the future, I would be able to buy another 8GB ramstick should I need to to fully utilize my motherboard.
 
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It does say 800mhz in benchmark tests mine does to and its 1600mhz, that's not the problem, my 970 hasnt Been performing properly either for the past few days, my first firestrike score was around 11000 and when I checked last it was 9800. It might be the drivers
 
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ive read that the cpu you're using should be fine and not bottleneck, here is my 970 score from today http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/5874160?. id make sure all cables are in correctly and that you have put the cooler on properly too.
 
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Thats not really good logic, as you are esentially cutting your system memory bandwidth in half, just for future upgradability (when you could just remove the 2x4gb, sell them and get 2x8gb).

Check your CPU and GPU load temps aswell. Its possible your CPU is throttling a bit due to (tiny case, low airflow, stock cooler).
 
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An i5-4440 is not a bottleneck, it will easily push SLI 980s. I still got graphics scores in the 11000s at stock with my GTX 970 even when paired with a G3258 (with physics scores in the 2000s lol) in Firestrike on a cheap H81 board with a PCIE-2.0 slot. This was also with only one DIMM populated with a 4GB stick of RAM, so the memory isn't the bottleneck either. So my system was about worst case you can get and my graphics score was still way higher.

Putting in a Xeon E3-1231v3 and a second 4GB stick of RAM (so it's running in dual channel) did absolutely nothing to my graphics score, though of course my physics shot way up (to 10200) with a hyperthreaded quadcore running at 3.6GHz. Something is very wrong in your system for you to only get 9500 graphics score. It should be at least 1000 points higher. Did you uninstall the drivers you had with your previous card? Or do you have VSync or perhaps some kind of antialiasing setup system wide in your Nvidia Control Panel or GeForce Experience? Or do you have antivirus running and bogging your system down? A lot of crapware or some virus?
 
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With absolutely no overclock my rating is http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/5885137?

I don't have VSYNC enabled and my frame limiter is at 120(from rivatuner) even though my monitor is 60hz. This is a new build, so no leftover drivers from old cards. I am pretty sure I don't have a virus as I have malwarebytes and Avast.

I am sure my connectors are good, I cleaned the wires and such earlier that day.

My GPU is running at around 75~80(MAX) degrees C. I have an intake fan blowing directly onto the card so it shouldn't be that hot.

I didn't really notice anything when I first built my system because I was able to get a high stable overclock, but do I just have a bad performing ZOTAC card?

I am worried because I saw other benchmarks(in games) where my card would get around 10-20 fps less than the average. For example, my SoM benchmark said only 50~55FPS average where other benchmarks with 970's were over 70+. My Tomb Raider benchmark was only about 60FPS average and other people were reporting 80+.
 
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That is quite hot for a 970, especially at stock. So GPU-Z reports it never going above 80C when gaming or benching? Because it shouldn't throttle at that kind of temperature. Are you running the antivirus while benchmarking and gaming? That graphics score is ridiculously low for a 970, and you should consider RMAing it. I have never heard of a Zotac 970 performing anywhere near that. I have heard nothing but good things about that card. Unless that mini-ITX case is causing the card to cook itself I can't see what the problem is. An i5-4440 should easily push a 970 to its full potential.
 
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agree with the above comment, my 970 does touch 75 sometimes but very very rarely, normally around the 66 mark. the i5 should be fine but that physics score doesnt assure it, what are your other temps ie cpu. i think a 770 can get around 8000 on firestrike so you really do have a problem, its either a bottleneck somewhere or your gpu is screwed. have you got a friend who will let you try the 970 in his pc to do a firestrike score? if the score is good on another pc then you have narrowed down the culprit.
 
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The physics score seems right on the money. But here is an example of the kind of score one should expect with an i5-4440 and a GTX 970 with a small out the box overclock:

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/4811621

The i5-4440 won't bottleneck a GTX 970. There is absolutely no way this is caused by a bottleneck. I mean I got much better Firestrike graphics scores on my GTX 970 when paired with a lousy Pentium G3258 at the 3.2GHz stock and a single 4GB stick of RAM.

Here's a score from a GTX 770 + i5 4440 combo:
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/3683761
 
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Also, are you always running with that 20mV voltage bump, even in the stock benchmark you did? If so, put that back to stock. Also, try turning off your frame limiter in RivaTuner and rerun at stock settings. If nothing changes that card really needs to be RMAed, as that is horrible performance for a 970. There is no way a stock 970 should lose to a 770 in Firestrike.
 
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In games, my GPU would never hit that high of a temperature as it usually goes to around 70-77 C. The fans on the GPU never goes above 40% speed though(it's on auto-fan settings). I have a friend who has a desktop so I'll try and ask him to put my 970 in his desktop and run the benchmark. AVAST is always running, and I don't have any bloatware running in the background besides KakaoTalk, which is a simple messenger program. Steam and dropbox are the only other big programs running in the background.

I reset everything for the stock test that I ran. It was at STOCK everything for that run.

I've never done an RMA though, and overclocking voids the warranty does it not? Although I didn't buy a warranty with newegg anyway. How would I RMA the card should it end up being the problem?
 
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Mines underperforming too. I'm getting like mixed FPS on Battlefield 4 and major dips in Advanced Warfare. Here are my specs:
CPU: AMD FX8320 OC'D TO 4.0GHZ- HYPER 103 COOLER
GPU: EVGA GTX 970 ACX2.0 SC EDITION
MOBO: GIGABYTE 78LMT-USB3
RAM: 8GB HYPERX
CASE: ZALMAN Z11 PLUS
Whether this is even to do with you issue I'm not sure, but its really getting on my nerves when everyone is playing at straight 90FPS.
 
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What's your Firestrike score with Avast completely shut down?
 
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Ah, okay thanks, my friend is doing something today so I'll give him my card tomorrow or later tonight. I'll report back with results. How long does it take to RMA a card by the way? Do I also need everything that came in the package? I put some of the cords in another box and don't remember which ones my card came with.
 
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Are you 100% you have all your chipset drivers installed? Because I'm just finding your graphics score puzzling. At the clock your initial post was done with your Firestrike graphics should have been around 12500 or better. You're only getting 75% of what that card should be giving. Just call newegg and explain that the card isn't performing up to specs. There is no good reason for you to be pulling 9500 Firestrike graphics at the clock you have. Also, overclocking only voids your warranty if you go and load a custom BIOS or something to allow you to push voltage higher than the 37mV over stock limit. If this card turns out to perform up to spec in your friend's system though, it has to be chipset drivers on your own. It's the only thing that makes sense since your temperatures aren't bad enough to throttle the card.
 
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