SLI G1 980's... Majorly under-performing!

[Callump01]

Alright, this has had me scratching my head for some time now. I first started noticing the small scaling in games such as Battlefield Hardline; where other people with the same setup would have 110+ FPS on Ultra 1080p and I was only getting 60-70 FPS on the same maps - then I took things to Star Citizen and saw the same type of fps difference when comparing my FPS to others.

 

Here's my system specs:
 

Gigabyte Z87X-D3H

Intel i7 4770K @ 3.5 Ghz (stock)

2x Gigabyte G1 GTX 980 Windforce

32GB 1600 Mhz Corsair Vengeance RAM

 

And here's my 3dmark scores, you can see that I only gain roughly 3000. This seems super small.

 

Single Gigabyte GTX 980 (Firestrike):

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4341776

 

SLI Gigabyte GTX 980 (Firestrike):

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4348858

 

SLI Gigabyte GTX 980 (Firestrike Extreme):

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4349045

 

Any ideas on what could be causing this kind of issue guys? I'm really clueless as to what could be hindering my system here.

 

Thanks!

[Critizin]

Yah thats not right i get better scores then you on a single GTX 980

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4376546

[ablangc]

Ouch, your SLI score is lower than my single 980 score.  Check GPUz and see if you are running at PCI-3 x8

 

Single Card

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4172087

 

SLI

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3761401

 

FS Extreme 980 SLI

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4175478

 

 

 

I have a good feeling that GPUz is showing PCI-2 for your setup.  If so, change the settings in your bios.

[TechnoBacon]

Just make sure your motherboard has two 16x pci3 slots and that you are using a sli cable I guess

[Callump01]

Ouch, your SLI score is lower than my single 980 score.  Check GPUz and see if you are running at PCI-3 x8

 

Single Card

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4172087

 

SLI

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3761401

 

Ouch... that hurts considering the money I spent on these two GPUs.

Here's my CPU-Z stuff, I'm a little unsure on how to check if it's running at PCI-3 x8 since I haven't used CPU-Z much.

 

 

 

[ablangc]

Check GPUz not CPUz and post screen shots

[Callump01]

Check GPUz not CPUz and post screen shots

 

Whoops, sorry.

 

 

[ablangc]

Hmmmmm, it is showing up correctly.  I have encountered this error and you can try two things.  If you did not install the drivers for your motherboard, do so.  If you did that already, you can also reset the bios to default settings, reboot.  Go back into bios, load optimum settings, reboot.  Run Fire Strike and see if you get an improvement.

 

I also hope you are running a decent PSU even though you did not state it; however, I do not think that is the problem.

[ablangc]

Forgot to mention if you did not install your motherboard drivers, download the latest ones for your motherboard on Gigabyte's website.

 

Also, follow your topic so you get constant updates.  It is found  close to the upper right hand corner of this web page

[ManIkWeet]

Any ideas on what could be causing this kind of issue guys? I'm really clueless as to what could be hindering my system here.

What's the temperature of your graphics card?

(Use GPU-Z to check)

[Callump01]

Hmmmmm, it is showing up correctly.  I have encountered this error and you can try two things.  If you did not install the drivers for your motherboard, do so.  If you did that already, you can also reset the bios to default settings, reboot.  Go back into bios, load optimum settings, reboot.  Run Fire Strike and see if you get an improvement.

 

I also hope you are running a decent PSU even though you did not state it; however, I do not think that is the problem.

 

PSU should be good, it's a relatively new Corsair RM 1000W.

Installing drivers now and i'll go reset the bios to default afterwards.

 

 

What's the temperature of your graphics card?

(Use GPU-Z to check)

 

Airflow is excellent since I upgraded to my new case, CoolerMaster HAF X. Slapped in a few more fans to make sure everything is cool.

I never see above 73-ish degrees whilst gaming on maximum settings for a demanding game.

 

As I type this, I'm at 45 degrees for the top card and 34 degrees for the bottom card; keeping in mind that I run 3 monitors with one at 144Hz.

[Callump01]

Forgot to mention if you did not install your motherboard drivers, download the latest ones for your motherboard on Gigabyte's website.

 

Also, follow your topic so you get constant updates.  It is found  close to the upper right hand corner of this web page

 

Done, cheers.

 

After updating all my drivers and resetting my BIOS back to the optimized defaults, here is my score -

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/6497176

 

Sadly, there appears to be no change.

[ablangc]

Give a minute to think if there is something else I missed.

li connector 

[ablangc]

 

Verified it is not thermal thottling,

Decent PSU,

Updated/installed your motherboard drivers

Reset your bios to optimized defaults

GPUz shows PCI-E 3.0x16 @8 Bit3.0

 

 

Rerun GPUz, click on the ? next to Bus interface, make sure the check is selected for Render in full screen (for crossfire/sli), start render test, look at the bottom left hand corner and verify it is running correctly.  They should both say 3.0 

 

Also, relocate your SLI bridge to the next set of fingers on your GPU.  Make sure there is no debris inside the s

[ablangc]

Just for shits and giggles, did you enable SLI in the nVidia Control Panel?

[Callump01]

 

 

Verified it is not thermal thottling,

Decent PSU,

Updated/installed your motherboard drivers

Reset your bios to optimized defaults

GPUz shows PCI-E 3.0x16 @8 Bit3.0

 

 

Rerun GPUz, click on the ? next to Bus interface, make sure the check is selected for Render in full screen (for crossfire/sli), start render test, look at the bottom left hand corner and verify it is running correctly

 

Also, relocate your SLI bridge to the next set of fingers on your GPU.  Make sure there is no debris inside the s

 

 

Both read PCI-E 3.0 x16 @ x8 3.0

GPU 1 seems to be at 100 percent whilst GPU 2 stays at around 20 - is that normal?

 

The SLI bridge I have is brand new and I bought it from here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ASUS-Republic-of-Gamers-ROG-12CM-120MM-SLi-Bridge-Flexible-SLi-Connector-Bridge-/321711586530?- I have confirmed there is no debry and I have relocated it and will run a new test now.

 

 

Just for shits and giggles, did you enable SLI in the nVidia Control Panel?

 

Yup

[Texhnlyze]

Is your SLI enabled in NVidia control panel?

[ManIkWeet]

Just for shits and giggles, did you enable SLI in the nVidia Control Panel?

It's even shown in his GPU-Z images...

 

GPU 1 seems to be at 100 percent whilst GPU 2 stays at around 20 - is that normal?

No, no it's not

Can you try a different PCIe slot?

[MrTiC]

Try each card separated, if each run at 100% its probably your mainboard

[Callump01]

It's even shown in his GPU-Z images...

 

No, no it's not

Can you try a different PCIe slot?

 

Sadly I believe my motherboard only has one x8 and one x16 and, to my knowledge, the cards wont run on any lower than x8.

 

Switched the SLI bridge to the next slot, turned it around and checked for debris.

No change with Fire Strike.

 

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/6497716

[ablangc]

It's even shown in his GPU-Z images...

 

 

Yeah no kidding, but I am having him/her check it out after installing all the motherboard drivers and resetting the bios to make sure it did not disable itself during the process.  Those GPUz shots are from prior to them doing that; therefore, asking whether or not if it is enabled.

[ablangc]

Try each card separated, if each run at 100% its probably your mainboard

 

Definitely try this.  Remove one video card and run the becnchmark.  Swap and run it again.  

[SteveGrabowski]

Done, cheers.

 

After updating all my drivers and resetting my BIOS back to the optimized defaults, here is my score -

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/6497176

 

Sadly, there appears to be no change.

 

Your physics score is horrible. I run a similar CPU clocked 100 MHz lower than a stock 4770k (Xeon E3-1231v3) and my physics score is usually around 10200-something.

 

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/5896552

 

Check to see if Hyperthreading is disabled in your BIOS, because that CPU score looks more like the score of an overclocked i5 than even a stock i7. Also, is this on a fresh install of Windows? Because maybe you have a bitcoin miner or something else running and killing your performance.

[Critizin]

Your physics score is horrible. I run a similar CPU clocked 100 MHz lower than a stock 4770k (Xeon E3-1231v3) and my physics score is usually around 10200-something.

 

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/5896552

 

Check to see if Hyperthreading is disabled in your BIOS, because that CPU score looks more like the score of an overclocked i5 than even a stock i7. Also, is this on a fresh install of Windows? Because maybe you have a bitcoin miner or something else running and killing your performance.

I agree with this, my physics score is 13090 and we have the same CPU while urs is in the 9000's.

[ablangc]

Possible CPU thermal throttling?