PC slightly under-performing in all benchmarks (results included)

[BloodyWaters]

Hey all! I've had this PC for a few months now, and I noticed that it under-performs in a lot of stuff that I throw at it. Not by a huge margin, but enough that I notice it under certain circumstances. It is also remarkably consistent in it's under-performing. Does anyone have any advice?

Specs:

PCPartPicker Part List

 

CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor
CPU Cooler	Deepcool AK620 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard	Asus Prime B450M-A II Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Storage (Boot drive)	Samsung 980 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card	Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4070 12 GB Video Card
Power Supply	SeaSonic FOCUS Plus 750 Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 11 Pro OEM - DVD 64-bit

 

Benchmark Results:
https://imgur.com/a/w58nJ57

As you can see my results are typically 3-10% worse than the same hardware. I have also watched benchmarks of games that I play with the same specs and I have noticed a similar disparity in framerate while using the same settings.

 

Things I have tried:

• Completely wiping drivers and reinstalling them (both GPU and Chipset)

• Monitoring temps (CPU never gets over 80c, GPU never gets over 75c)

• Completely fresh Windows reinstall (from USB drive)

• Confirming BIOS settings (XMP/DOCP on, etc)

• BIOS update

• Making sure no programs are running in background hogging performance

• De-bloating and optimizing Windows for performance
   

Possible theories:

• Motherboard is a bit older in terms of chipset and PCIe

  • My CPU supports B550M, whereas my motherboard is B450M

  • My GPU supports PCIe 4.0, whereas my motherboard can only do PCIe 3.0 speeds

• Windows 11 vs Windows 10

  • I am running 11 which may yield worse performance than 10

• I am just unlucky

  • This would suck if it's true, but maybe my CPU and GPU are just slightly worse than average and it's something I gotta deal with
     

If you made it this far I really appreciate it!

[Alvin853]

Is the RAM in the correct slots?

 

Your results show both the CPU and the GPU underperforming individually. That's pretty weird, PCIe or Chipset issues wouldn't be causing the CPU to underperform. The only component that affects pretty much every single benchmark is the RAM. Can you post CPU-Z data for your RAM config?

 

On 2nd thought: It looks like it is mostly your CPU, can you post subscores for 3DMark? 

What are your CPU temps like?

[problemsolver]

Great write, and super easy to read! I feel obligated to respond

• It looks like it's mostly a CPU/RAM "bottle neck" (if you can even call it that)
• As @Alvin853 mentions, your RAM my not be running in dual-channel mode, or timings may be off
• You can try disabling all fast boot settings, clearing the CMOS, and enabling XMP/DOCP again
  • This might help the motherboard dial-in better RAM training (it may also do absolutely nothing)
• Do you have any CPU overclocking enabled? PBO will likely increase scores, as would RAM @ 3600Mhz with the tightest timings your RAM can run
  • You can also run a negative offset PBO voltage curve
  • There is a huge caveat here, that if you want a truly stable system, this requires substantial testing (think like a week or more of non-stop tests)
  • However, if you're meticulous enough to write the OP, you're likely meticulous enough to setup a very nice, stable, overclock, with a undervolted PBO curve
• I didn't see you mention Resizable BAR/Above 4G decoding anywhere, is it enabled? (won't help CPU scores, but might bump up GPU scores)
• For best CPU processor performance, you would want to downgrade the UEFI to Version 3810, prior to all of the security patches for CPU vulnerabilities (The risks/pros/cons are for another discussion entirely.). I'm not sure your motherboard supports this or not. I haven't researched it yet.
• For Windows 11 performance, you would need to disable most security features if you're trying to go for best possible scores. Specifically, you'd want all of these items off as seen in the screenshot. The risks/pros/cons are for another discussion entirely.
  Spoiler

  

   

[RONOTHAN##]

There's a fair bit of stuff that can cause stuff like this, so the hail mary troubleshooting option is probably warranted. Download HWInfo64, open it in "sensors only" mode, and create a log (one of the buttons in the bottom right corner) while running each of those benchmarks and send the resulting files. That will give all the hardware sensor data (temps, clock speeds, usage figures, etc.) in one convenient file that can then be read back through a program like GenericLogViewer to see what is going on without having to ask for dozens of different sensor readings individually. 

 

Also for 3DMark specifically, include both the CPU and GPU scores. It's possible for one part to be carrying the other, so while the overall score might be slightly below average, the GPU could be performing great while the CPU is performing terribly or vice versa, and the one is just carrying the other to a high score. 

 

My first thought is that this is going to be motherboard related in some fashion, something along the lines of power throttling, though I'd want to see sensor data before saying that specifically. 

[BloodyWaters]

23 hours ago, Alvin853 said:

Is the RAM in the correct slots?

 

Your results show both the CPU and the GPU underperforming individually. That's pretty weird, PCIe or Chipset issues wouldn't be causing the CPU to underperform. The only component that affects pretty much every single benchmark is the RAM. Can you post CPU-Z data for your RAM config?

 

On 2nd thought: It looks like it is mostly your CPU, can you post subscores for 3DMark? 

What are your CPU temps like?

I have 4 8gb sticks of RAM, and they occupy all 4 RAM slots of my motherboard. Here is a link containing screenshots of a 3DMark run as well as my CPU-Z RAM info: https://imgur.com/a/7wCjGth

My CPU temps max out at 81C during a Cinebench run and it does not appear to thermal throttle.

[BloodyWaters]

23 hours ago, problemsolver said:

Great write, and super easy to read! I feel obligated to respond

• It looks like it's mostly a CPU/RAM "bottle neck" (if you can even call it that)
• As @Alvin853 mentions, your RAM my not be running in dual-channel mode, or timings may be off
• You can try disabling all fast boot settings, clearing the CMOS, and enabling XMP/DOCP again
  • This might help the motherboard dial-in better RAM training (it may also do absolutely nothing)
• Do you have any CPU overclocking enabled? PBO will likely increase scores, as would RAM @ 3600Mhz with the tightest timings your RAM can run
  • You can also run a negative offset PBO voltage curve
  • There is a huge caveat here, that if you want a truly stable system, this requires substantial testing (think like a week or more of non-stop tests)
  • However, if you're meticulous enough to write the OP, you're likely meticulous enough to setup a very nice, stable, overclock, with a undervolted PBO curve
• I didn't see you mention Resizable BAR/Above 4G decoding anywhere, is it enabled? (won't help CPU scores, but might bump up GPU scores)
• For best CPU processor performance, you would want to downgrade the UEFI to Version 3810, prior to all of the security patches for CPU vulnerabilities (The risks/pros/cons are for another discussion entirely.). I'm not sure your motherboard supports this or not. I haven't researched it yet.
• For Windows 11 performance, you would need to disable most security features if you're trying to go for best possible scores. Specifically, you'd want all of these items off as seen in the screenshot. The risks/pros/cons are for another discussion entirely.
    Reveal hidden contents

  

   

• I believe my RAM is running in dual channel. I am not very familiar with RAM timings, so I am currently doing research. So far I have found that my RAM die is Hynix 8Gbit AFR, if that is useful! This link contains screenshots of the memory section of CPU-Z if you want to double check speeds/DC. https://imgur.com/a/7wCjGth
• I have PBO enabled, however I have not messed with it further than that (I don't even see a setting for any curve in my BIOS unfortunately)
• I have 4G decoding enabled as well as Resizable BAR.
• I downgraded my BIOS to 3810, which has not appeared to meaningfully affect scores (same thing with the Windows settings)

[BloodyWaters]

23 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

There's a fair bit of stuff that can cause stuff like this, so the hail mary troubleshooting option is probably warranted. Download HWInfo64, open it in "sensors only" mode, and create a log (one of the buttons in the bottom right corner) while running each of those benchmarks and send the resulting files. That will give all the hardware sensor data (temps, clock speeds, usage figures, etc.) in one convenient file that can then be read back through a program like GenericLogViewer to see what is going on without having to ask for dozens of different sensor readings individually. 

 

Also for 3DMark specifically, include both the CPU and GPU scores. It's possible for one part to be carrying the other, so while the overall score might be slightly below average, the GPU could be performing great while the CPU is performing terribly or vice versa, and the one is just carrying the other to a high score. 

 

My first thought is that this is going to be motherboard related in some fashion, something along the lines of power throttling, though I'd want to see sensor data before saying that specifically. 

Here are two CSV files from HWInfo. One is from a Cinebench run and the other is from a 3DMark run: https://file.io/0Up3XbyBx67D

I also have screenshots of the temps during the 3DMark run: https://imgur.com/a/7wCjGth

I forgot to take screenshots of the CPU temps for the Cinebench run but it hovered around 81c the entire time.

[problemsolver]

9 minutes ago, BloodyWaters said:

• I believe my RAM is running in dual channel. I am not very familiar with RAM timings, so I am currently doing research. So far I have found that my RAM die is Hynix 8Gbit AFR, if that is useful! This link contains screenshots of the memory section of CPU-Z if you want to double check speeds/DC. https://imgur.com/a/7wCjGth
• I have PBO enabled, however I have not messed with it further than that (I don't even see a setting for any curve in my BIOS unfortunately)
• I have 4G decoding enabled as well as Resizable BAR.
• I downgraded my BIOS to 3810, which has not appeared to meaningfully affect scores (same thing with the Windows settings)

RAM seems fine might be able to decrease bank cycle time, but given you've got 4 DIMMS populated, tweaking RAM is generally more difficult.

Have you tried disabling PBO to compare scores?

I'm surprised that there weren't measurable CPU performance increases with the BIOS downgrade & Windows security disabled. That is odd. It's not a lot, but it should have improved performance slightly because there is a performance hit from the CPU security mitigations and Windows security systems.

[RONOTHAN##]

7 minutes ago, BloodyWaters said:

I also have screenshots of the temps during the 3DMark run: https://imgur.com/a/7wCjGth

OK, looking at that, the GPU score is within 100 points of average, while the CPU is 700 points below average. Think this confirms a CPU/BIOS issue of some sort. 

 

Looking through the CSV for Cinebench, the effective clock is way lower than it should be, a phenomenon usually referred to as "clock stretching." It does make sense as clock stretching usually worsens as CPU load increases, so lighter loads like games won't show up too much, but Cinebench slows down a fair bit

This can be caused by a dozen different things, but they mostly all boil down to some sort of instability in the system. Are you running any sort of voltage offsets, for instance? Either way, do a clear CMOS, don't touch any BIOS settings afterwards (don't enable XMP, PBO, etc., leave everything at stock), and see if that helps anything. 

[problemsolver]

12 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

OK, looking at that, the GPU score is within 100 points of average, while the CPU is 700 points below average. Think this confirms a CPU/BIOS issue of some sort. 

 

Looking through the CSV for Cinebench, the effective clock is way lower than it should be, a phenomenon usually referred to as "clock stretching." It does make sense as clock stretching usually worsens as CPU load increases, so lighter loads like games won't show up too much, but Cinebench slows down a fair bit

This can be caused by a dozen different things, but they mostly all boil down to some sort of instability in the system. Are you running any sort of voltage offsets, for instance? Either way, do a clear CMOS, don't touch any BIOS settings afterwards (don't enable XMP, PBO, etc., leave everything at stock), and see if that helps anything. 

Not sure if you saw, but OP has PBO enabled & I asked them to turn it off. Supposedly there weren't any PBO voltage options in the UEFI, haven't checked myself yet.

[RONOTHAN##]

15 minutes ago, problemsolver said:

Not sure if you saw, but OP has PBO enabled & I asked them to turn it off.

Didn't look at your post before I made that one, though figure disabling XMP at the same time wouldn't hurt as well. 

 

Still, I'm very suspicious of the voltage values, since AFAIK this is not normal, and 50mV lower than what the CPU is requesting is enough to cause these levels of performance loss. 

 

This to me looks like a negative voltage offset or a not aggressive enough LLC (usually a weaker LLC results in better voltage regulation, though with PBO it's more of a hinderance). 

[problemsolver]

9 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Didn't look at your post before I made that one, though figure disabling XMP at the same time wouldn't hurt as well. 

 

Still, I'm very suspicious of the voltage values, since AFAIK this is not normal, and 50mV lower than what the CPU is requesting is enough to cause these levels of performance loss. 

 

This to me looks like a negative voltage offset or a not aggressive enough LLC (usually a weaker LLC results in better voltage regulation, though with PBO it's more of a hinderance). 

I was thinking similarly, that PBO might be causing a negative affect on performance instead of a positive one.

[BloodyWaters]

2 hours ago, problemsolver said:

I was thinking similarly, that PBO might be causing a negative affect on performance instead of a positive one.

 

2 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

OK, looking at that, the GPU score is within 100 points of average, while the CPU is 700 points below average. Think this confirms a CPU/BIOS issue of some sort. 

 

Looking through the CSV for Cinebench, the effective clock is way lower than it should be, a phenomenon usually referred to as "clock stretching." It does make sense as clock stretching usually worsens as CPU load increases, so lighter loads like games won't show up too much, but Cinebench slows down a fair bit

This can be caused by a dozen different things, but they mostly all boil down to some sort of instability in the system. Are you running any sort of voltage offsets, for instance? Either way, do a clear CMOS, don't touch any BIOS settings afterwards (don't enable XMP, PBO, etc., leave everything at stock), and see if that helps anything. 

 

So I did a complete hail mary and took apart the PC (replacing thermal compound etc) and put it back together. I then installed BIOS 3810, and wiped the CMOS. I changed no BIOS settings, keeping the defaults.

Attached are new Cinebench and 3DMark scores: https://imgur.com/a/vB86dmu

 

This caused a significant boost in CPU performance (even with the RAM running at 2133!) Going to try to tweak BIOS settings when I have time later.

[RONOTHAN##]

7 minutes ago, BloodyWaters said:

 

 

So I did a complete hail mary and took apart the PC (replacing thermal compound etc) and put it back together. I then installed BIOS 3810, and wiped the CMOS. I changed no BIOS settings, keeping the defaults.

Attached are new Cinebench and 3DMark scores: https://imgur.com/a/vB86dmu

 

This caused a significant boost in CPU performance (even with the RAM running at 2133!) Going to try to tweak BIOS settings when I have time later.

OK, those scores look normal now. It does seem like there was some sort of BIOS problem. Go through settings one at a time when you enable them to see what helps and what breaks it.