Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti seemingly underperforming?

[t1337dude]

I just upgraded from a reference EVGA 980 Superclocked. According to Guru3d, I should get around 78 FPS with a GTX 980, and I got about 81 (probably because mine was a SC model). Then, it says with a Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti, I should be getting around 115 FPS. Instead, I'm only getting 88. That's not much a performance gain. In Heaven, max settings 1200P, I'd get 60 FPS with my GTX 980, and I got 81 with my 980 Ti, so I know I get a decent boost in some games. GTA V feels much smoother to me, and so do other games (at 1440P) on my Acer 144Hz, but I didn't get any benchmark measurements in those. For all I know, I should be getting much better FPS.

 

My first guess is my CPU could be bottlenecking. I have an i7 930 overclocked to 4.0 Ghz. I could push it to 4.15 Ghz, it runs a little warm, but not dangerously so. It just adds about 8c to my temps for that measly 150MHz. But from what I gather, my CPU isn't that bad when it's overclocked. Sure, it's old, but is it old enough to diminish the majority of the FPS gain I should be getting in some games? Should I be picking up one of those Xeon's that are so popular? I have a Swiftech H240X AIO, so I can do some overclocking.

 

EDIT: Silly me, I forget to mention I was talking about Mordor. I was in a rush to get out of the room because there was a large spider

[Lord_Karango17]

Check the gpu usage in those scenarios if the card is being used to the fullest/ if the cpu is limiting performance

[Speaker1264]

I just upgraded from a reference EVGA 980 Superclocked. According to Guru3d, I should get around 78 FPS with a GTX 980, and I got about 81 (probably because mine was a SC model). Then, it says with a Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti, I should be getting around 115 FPS. Instead, I'm only getting 88. That's not much a performance gain. In Heaven, max settings 1200P, I'd get 60 FPS with my GTX 980, and I got 81 with my 980 Ti, so I know I get a decent boost in some games. GTA V feels much smoother to me, and so do other games (at 1440P) on my Acer 144Hz, but I didn't get any benchmark measurements in those. For all I know, I should be getting much better FPS.

 

My first guess is my CPU could be bottlenecking. I have an i7 930 overclocked to 4.0 Ghz. I could push it to 4.15 Ghz, it runs a little warm, but not dangerously so. It just adds about 8c to my temps for that measly 150MHz. But from what I gather, my CPU isn't that bad when it's overclocked. Sure, it's old, but is it old enough to diminish the majority of the FPS gain I should be getting in some games? Should I be picking up one of those Xeon's that are so popular? I have a Swiftech H240X AIO, so I can do some overclocking.

 

According to guru3d you should be getting 115 fps in what?  What program are you only getting 88 fps in?

[Tim Drake]

I just upgraded from a reference EVGA 980 Superclocked. According to Guru3d, I should get around 78 FPS with a GTX 980, and I got about 81 (probably because mine was a SC model). Then, it says with a Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti, I should be getting around 115 FPS. Instead, I'm only getting 88. That's not much a performance gain. In Heaven, max settings 1200P, I'd get 60 FPS with my GTX 980, and I got 81 with my 980 Ti, so I know I get a decent boost in some games. GTA V feels much smoother to me, and so do other games (at 1440P) on my Acer 144Hz, but I didn't get any benchmark measurements in those. For all I know, I should be getting much better FPS.

My first guess is my CPU could be bottlenecking. I have an i7 930 overclocked to 4.0 Ghz. I could push it to 4.15 Ghz, it runs a little warm, but not dangerously so. It just adds about 8c to my temps for that measly 150MHz. But from what I gather, my CPU isn't that bad when it's overclocked. Sure, it's old, but is it old enough to diminish the majority of the FPS gain I should be getting in some games? Should I be picking up one of those Xeon's that are so popular? I have a Swiftech H240X AIO, so I can do some overclocking.

Overclock it as high as you can to eliminate any bottlenecks.

[t1337dude]

According to guru3d you should be getting 115 fps in what?  What program are you only getting 88 fps in?

Sorry, I was in a rush making my post, it was in Mordor.

 

Overclock it as high as you can to eliminate any bottlenecks.

Unfortunately I don't think that extra 150MHz is going to make up for that 27 FPS I should be getting, if a bottleneck is indeed the issue.

 

That's why I'm considering upgrading to the Xeon X5670. I was going to wait for Sklyake, but if I'm missing out on a ton of performance now, I could upgrade to that and wait awhile on Skylake before diving in...

[Speaker1264]

Sorry, I was in a rush making my post, it was in Mordor.

 

In that case that game isn't very cpu intensive at all, so it's not your cpu bottlenecking you.  On the review on Guru3d's website they had a boost clock of 1291 mhz. Is that close to what yours is boosting to? 

 

Edit: Actually I think that was just the regular boost clock, the dynamic boost put them up to 1452-1477 depending on the game.  So your card would have to hit close to that frequency if you expect to get close to their numbers.  You should also open GPU-Z, run the render test, and see if you get anything in "PerfCap Reason" under sensors.  If it says PWR then you simply need to increase the power target, if it says VRel or VOP then simply increase the voltage, if it says Thrm then you have a temperature issue.

[t1337dude]

In that case that game isn't very cpu intensive at all, so it's not your cpu bottlenecking you.  On the review on Guru3d's website they had a boost clock of 1291 mhz. Is that close to what yours is boosting to?

It should be. I mean, I haven't measured it with an app measuring it in the background or anything like that, but that's what I have it set to (the OC mode that ships with the card)

[Speaker1264]

It should be. I mean, I haven't measured it with an app measuring it in the background or anything like that, but that's what I have it set to (the OC mode that ships with the card)

 

Each card will boost differently.  Read the edited portion of my previous post.  The sensor tab in gpu-z will tell you exactly how high it is boosting, and if there is anything limiting it from boosting higher.

[Badger906]

Sorry, I was in a rush making my post, it was in Mordor.

Unfortunately I don't think that extra 150MHz is going to make up for that 27 FPS I should be getting, if a bottleneck is indeed the issue.

.

150mhz? I've got a 500mhz overclock on my reference 980ti without touching voltage, I could push it further but as it's like 35c inside at the moment it was hitting 87c under full load so didn't want to push it too much.

mine boosts to about 1600mhz

[t1337dude]

 

150mhz? I've got a 500mhz overclock on my reference 980ti without touching voltage, I could push it further but as it's like 35c inside at the moment it was hitting 87c under full load so didn't want to push it too much.
mine boosts to about 1600mhz

I don't think you overclock the GPU to eliminate a CPU bottleneck. I think he meant the CPU.

 

In that case that game isn't very cpu intensive at all, so it's not your cpu bottlenecking you.  On the review on Guru3d's website they had a boost clock of 1291 mhz. Is that close to what yours is boosting to? 

 

Edit: Actually I think that was just the regular boost clock, the dynamic boost put them up to 1452-1477 depending on the game.  So your card would have to hit close to that frequency if you expect to get close to their numbers.  You should also open GPU-Z, run the render test, and see if you get anything in "PerfCap Reason" under sensors.  If it says PWR then you simply need to increase the power target, if it says VRel or VOP then simply increase the voltage, if it says Thrm then you have a temperature issue.

 

I really don't think difference in dynamic boosting should account for differences of 20+ FPS. Sounds like a major stretch. Our cards, at stock settings, should be getting within a few FPS of each other. That's always been the typical case, anyway, for cards of the same make and model. I will test this though.