FPS Issue with GTX 660 Ti (replaced Radeon HD 4870)

[Matta114]

this is an odd one, the performance difference going from a 4870 to 660ti is huge. I would try another game to see if you're getting the same results. Or try a benchmark like 3DMark. We need to make sure it's not just the game.

You should also fill out your full system specs.

I actually did try another game (Archeage) on the 660 ti and it definitely had significantly lower FPS than the Radeon HD 4870. Radeon was like 60 fps, and 660 ti was like 20-30.

So the plot thickens... I ran the Geekbench 3 Tryout Benchmark on my GTX 660 ti (pci-e 3.0). I also tried my friend's old GTX 560 ti (pci-e 2.0) in my computer to compare. It appears the 560 actually got better scores. However, both provide me with lower FPS than my old Radeon HD 4870.........

Also, right now in terms of FPS in game it's: Radeon HD 4870 > GTX 560 ti > GTX 660 ti .. lol

Please click my System Specs, I filled these out. See below for the Benchmark scores:

GTX 560 ti : http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/5595217

GTX 660 ti: http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/5595437

Please help!

 

[Mussels]

whats your CPU temps like at load? the new GPU could be using more CPU power, and making it run hotter until it throttles.

 

[LightningJR]

whats your CPU temps like at load? the new GPU could be using more CPU power, and making it run hotter until it throttles.

This could be a possibility, but.. look at the benchmark.

See below for the Benchmark scores:

GTX 560 ti : http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/5595217

GTX 660 ti: http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/5595437

Geekbench seems to be a pure CPU benchmark. The score drops a lot when the 660ti is in his system. This doesn't make any sense if the GPUs are idling....

You could run that benchmark again and watch CPU usage and the CPU clock to see how it's acting. Use hwinfo or something similar, I think rivatuner has cpu clock and usage you could use that since it has a graph. A screenshot of that after the benchmark is done could help.

Either something really odd is happening between your PCU/Mobo/660ti or there's a software/driver issue that's hiding in windows somewhere. A format may be in order.

 

[Mussels]

if he's got an overheating issue due to a dusty cooler or bad thermal paste, a simple change in ambient temps explains the score difference between GPU's. It had time to cool down when the system was offline.

 

[chuck216]

This may sound stupid but make sure your 660ti is actually reaching full clocks while running that particular game, run in windowed mode while having the sensors tab of GPU-Z open and monitor your GPU core clock.

I have an issue with a certain game where because it's a more CPU intensive section GPU use drops and it lowers Core clock to 2D speeds causing a drop to below 15FPS with my R9 390.

you might be experiencing the same thing.

 

[little cat]

First of all , is the GPU load = 100% ?If not , what caps the performance - overheating , bad or not adequate PSU , software issue and etc. ?

Edit : GTX 660 ti has similar TDP as HD 4870

 

[Matta114]

This could be a possibility, but.. look at the benchmark.



Geekbench seems to be a pure CPU benchmark. The score drops a lot when the 660ti is in his system. This doesn't make any sense if the GPUs are idling....

You could run that benchmark again and watch CPU usage and the CPU clock to see how it's acting. Use hwinfo or something similar, I think rivatuner has cpu clock and usage you could use that since it has a graph. A screenshot of that after the benchmark is done could help.

Either something really odd is happening between your PCU/Mobo/660ti or there's a software/driver issue that's hiding in windows somewhere. A format may be in order.

Okay I am attaching more reports... if no one see's anything odd here I think the next step is going to be a reformat?

FYI - the drop off on usage on the Afterburner report was when I minimized the game (it runs at lower performance)

 

[Matta114]

This may sound stupid but make sure your 660ti is actually reaching full clocks while running that particular game, run in windowed mode while having the sensors tab of GPU-Z open and monitor your GPU core clock.

I have an issue with a certain game where because it's a more CPU intensive section GPU use drops and it lowers Core clock to 2D speeds causing a drop to below 15FPS with my R9 390.

you might be experiencing the same thing.

I ran the above reports in Windowed mode while running the game.

 

[little cat]

So , GPU load around 40%

 

[Matta114]

So , GPU load around 40%

Yah, and my CPU usage will spike from like 60% to 90%+ randomly when I'm playing the game. Not sure what that means.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Ok, two things haven't been mentioned that I see, and I had a year's worth of experience on the 660Ti.

1. It has boost 1.0, which only throttled based on temperature, unlike 2.0 which throttles due to temp and power limit. Without a good fan profile, the 660Ti will heat up quickly, and then aggressively downclock. A good fan prifile will stop this.

2. Remember the issue about the 970 3.5GB VRAM from January last year? The whole 660 family had it. The VRAM on 2GB versions had a 1.5GB portion, and then a separate .5GB partition.

It was not a big deal back then, because few titles maxed out midsize cards' VRAM. This issue will be more pronounced with modern titles, which is why 3GB versions of the 660 family do better now (1.5 and 1.5 portions).

My money is on the aggressive downclock though.

 

[little cat]

With another game ?

 

[Matta114]

Ok, two things haven't been mentioned that I see, and I had a year's worth of experience on the 660Ti.

1. It has boost 1.0, which only throttled based on temperature, unlike 2.0 which throttles due to temp and power limit. Without a good fan profile, the 660Ti will heat up quickly, and then aggressively downclock. A good fan prifile will stop this.

2. Remember the issue about the 970 3.5GB VRAM from January last year? The whole 660 family had it. The VRAM on 2GB versions had a 1.5GB portion, and then a separate .5GB partition.

It was not a big deal back then, because few titles maxed out midsize cards' VRAM. This issue will be more pronounced with modern titles, which is why 3GB versions of the 660 family do better now (1.5 and 1.5 portions).

My money is on the aggressive downclock though.

I wanted to test this theory in game in a crowded area with a lot of players and my graphics settings on HIGH. See the attached reports.

Also, I am pretty sure my fan profile is fine. This is my friend's old comp who was a pro-gamer. My temps don't ever get high.

With another game ?

No, same game. On high in a crowded area the cpu usage jumps from 60% to around 93% - The attached SS caught it at 81%.

 

[rtwjunkie]

I wanted to test this theory in game in a crowded area with a lot of players and my graphics settings on HIGH. See the attached reports.





No, same game. On high in a crowded area the cpu usage jumps from 60% to around 93% - The attached SS caught it at 81%.

Well, it doesn't look like 1 or 2.

 

[little cat]

The GPU load is even worse . Try another game

As far as I remember Arma 2 Operation AH had such an issue .

 

[LightningJR]

The GPU seems fine, it's just not being used. I noticed the CPU is at 2Ghz in Realtemp. It's suppose to be at 3Ghz. Looks like you may have a CPU heat issue and it's downclocking. Run the game again and check the CPU clock , temps, I bet it's that.



You guys are horrible troubleshooters hhaaha. jk love youuuuu

 

[rtwjunkie]

You guys are horrible troubleshooters hhaaha. jk love youuuuu

Hangs head in shame.....

In all fairness though, I did focus in too quickly on just the 660Ti issues, since it sounded awfully familiar.

 

[Matta114]

The GPU load is even worse . Try another game

As far as I remember Arma 2 Operation AH had such an issue .

See Capture15 - this is while running Archeage on High graphics settings. The CPU and memory usage %'s were around the same as well in resource monitor.

The GPU seems fine, it's just not being used. I noticed the CPU is at 2Ghz in Realtemp. It's suppose to be at 3Ghz. Looks like you may have a CPU heat issue and it's downclocking. Run the game again and check the CPU clock , temps, I bet it's that.


You guys are horrible troubleshooters hhaaha. jk love youuuuu

See Capture 14 - Wow your right, it is at 2 ghz... I ran this screenshot while in Archeage as well. However, it also said 2ghz while not running any game at all. Why would this be / how do you fix it?

 

[little cat]

Make sure in the power options of Windows , max CPU state is 100% . Also look at some settings in the BIOS .

 

[LightningJR]

Make sure in the power options of Windows , max CPU state is 100% . Also look at some settings in the BIOS .

Yes do this. But the question is why it's at 2Ghz and not 3Ghz, your temps in Realtemp is hitting 55C and Intel says ~65C is the limit, maybe that's fine, idk. Do what little cat says, your multiplier should be 9, not 6.

Play a game and log your cpu clock and temps. I wonder if it goes higher or lower than 2Ghz.

 

[Mussels]

x6 is the idle multi on those sockets. we need to see what its at, during CPU load.

 

[OneMoar]

x6 is the idle multi on those sockets. we need to see what its at, during CPU load.

its only showing 6x and 6.5 as available multis something is wrong in the bios

 

[Mussels]

its only showing 6x and 6.5 as available multis something is wrong in the bios

good catch. Didn't see that.
So yeah either the BIOS has the multi set wrong, or windows has its CPU power saving stuff turned on (power saving mode, slider set wrong in advanced power settings)

 

[Matta114]

Yes do this. But the question is why it's at 2Ghz and not 3Ghz, your temps in Realtemp is hitting 55C and Intel says ~65C is the limit, maybe that's fine, idk. Do what little cat says, your multiplier should be 9, not 6.

Play a game and log your cpu clock and temps. I wonder if it goes higher or lower than 2Ghz.

its only showing 6x and 6.5 as available multis something is wrong in the bios

Guys, I think this may have fixed it! I went into BIOS and changed the multiplier to 9 instead of 6. Looks like it fixed the CPU issue, which is at 3 GHZ now.

I am getting 50-60 FPS depending on if I'm on Ultra high or medium graphics settings in game (black desert), and in a crowded city (with a lot of players) it drops to 20-30 FPS, which is much higher than 9-10 I was getting before in a city.

See the attached screenshots (these were taken while the game was running), are these temps / stats okay? It appears my CPU is still bottlenecking, but I could probably overclock and fix that if I wanted to.

I appreciate everyone's help!

 

[little cat]

A step closer but still GPU load =56% . CPU load 74% .

i remember a boy with FX 4100 (7% slower than x9650 ) and a slower video card and had bottleneck . But here the difference is too much for me to believe that it is only a bottleneck .