1090T bottlenecking 6870?

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happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
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Skyrim only uses two cores. The per core performance of the X6 is similar to the E8200, so you will get similar performance.

This is right :thumbsup:
Thats why.

A 6870 can max Skyrim............. paired with a overclocked Sandybridge cpu..
 
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Vesku

Diamond Member
Aug 25, 2005
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Fraps, process explorer and GPU-Z on my 1090T@3.8GHz 2600FSB 1600 DDR3 Radeon 5870. Selected Ultra (was using High), pegs 1 full core and has some small processes that use up a third to half of a second core but can obviously be tossed around by Win 7. This is basically a single thread game. GPU steady at ~85% usage which seems reasonable for the engine. It's only Furmark and such (BF3? SC2 Menu screen pre patch?) that can fully peg a GPU, correct?

I get similar FPS to Techreports 6950 review results: http://techreport.com/articles.x/22048/5
which seems reasonable for the 5870 on a title that isn't using under 1GB of GPU RAM. They test with a i5-750. These Techspot results are within the same ballpark http://www.techspot.com/review/467-skyrim-performance/page6.html and that's on a 2600K.

Conclusion: My 1090T does not appear to be starving my 5870 at 1080P on Skyrim.
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
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The better your cpu's IPC, the better SKyrim will run.

1090t's have 6 cores but shitty IPC vs a Sandybridge.

1090t IPC is on par with a q6600.

A gtx4601gb can max SKyrim with a slightly overclocked Sandybridge but not with a Phenom/thubian cpu, even overclocked @ 4.0.

1090t is bottlenecked by Skyrim not a 6870 :).
 
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Vesku

Diamond Member
Aug 25, 2005
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How do explain my being within 10% of a review using a 5870 and a 2600K? Also a 460 and 6850 will not max Skyrim at 1080P Ultra 4x MSAA 16x AF regardless of what CPU is driving it. Unless ~30-40FPS average is what you consider maxed out.

I'm going to reiterate my suggestion to run a bandwidth test to ensure it isn't the lack of chipset drivers.
 
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eltocliousus

Member
Oct 29, 2011
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How would I do that Vesku? And thanks mate!
Our setups are bordering identical so surely we should get very similar performance, if you really want to go the extra mile Veskus, set the game to max with everything turned up to the highest (AA, AF etc) with FXAA and port to whiterun in the middle of the day and monitor GPU usage and FPS, when you port to whiterun don't move your mouse if possible, it already points you in the centre.
 
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Magic Carpet

Diamond Member
Oct 2, 2011
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http://benchmark3d.com/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-benchmark

After playing a lot of Skyrim I noticed that sometimes, especially in Dwemer Caverns, there are huge performance drops and stutter, the game becomes unplayable and FPS goes to below 5. While this happens the CPU at 100% usage and the GPU load goes to 30%. The reason behind this huge problem is that the shadows are “rendered” by the processor, a childish move from Bethesda. After lowering shadows detail to something lower than Ultra, the issue was gone completely, CPU usage was normal at about 40-50% while the GPU load went up to 99%. I advise those who have frame rate issues to lower shadows to anything lower than Ultra.
The game is awfully programmed as well. If.. the game devs could actually make *proper* use of PC Hardware.

Saaad times :\
 
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happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
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How do explain my being within 10% of a review using a 5870 and a 2600K? Also a 460 and 6850 will not max Skyrim at 1080P Ultra 4x MSAA 16x AF regardless of what CPU is driving it. Unless ~30-40FPS average is what you consider maxed out.

I'm going to reiterate my suggestion to run a bandwidth test to ensure it isn't the lack of chipset drivers.

Yea your right ,you would need a overclocked gtx460/6850 or 6870 to max the game with a Sandybridge cpu. 38 min to 48 fps avg, which would be smooth in this game.

TrAA%201920.png
 
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LiuKangBakinPie

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
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Getting 35 - 55% gpu usage in SLI, I tried all the fancy AA settings and I got my gpu usage up to 50 - 70% but it ran crappier and didnt look much lot better.
So I poked a bit and found one card had better FPS than three cards!
The game is hugely cpu limited cause of the poor threading and when you throw a lot of gpu power at it your cpu gets more bogged down. Thats what I experienced.
I'm running a 2600k@4.8
 

eltocliousus

Member
Oct 29, 2011
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1080p, I honestly wouldn't mind anything more than 24fps, It's just 10-15fps in cities really ruins immersion tenfold.
 
Dec 30, 2004
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1080p, I honestly wouldn't mind anything more than 24fps, It's just 10-15fps in cities really ruins immersion tenfold.

I have a hard time believing a 4ghz Ph2 with 2.8ghz CPU-NB can't put out more than 10-15fps. There's got to be something else wrong....
 

eltocliousus

Member
Oct 29, 2011
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Oh gosh, as I was doing the PCI-E test CPU-z and Coretemp had my CPU clock and HT link bouncing around, around 5.2ghz to 8ghz, must be false but was freaking me out.

Best I got was 1.7gbps or something like that on the test then closed it due to my computer getting messy.
 

Vesku

Diamond Member
Aug 25, 2005
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Sounds like it's the lack of chipset drivers to me. My 5870 starts to average about 6GB/sec once the test gets to the larger file sizes. With your CPU and card you should be hitting around 25-30FPS on that port into Whiterun at max settings + FSAA.

I can't see this game engine even being well optimized for consoles. THe XBOX 360 has 3 cores doesn't it? The game itself makes up for it mostly but it's disappointing on the hardware appreciation level.
 

eltocliousus

Member
Oct 29, 2011
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I installed chipset drivers (890GX, it was eerily similar to a GPU driver installation which felt strange but anyway) and nothing changed unfortunately, even with my switch card in or out, still no dice, thanks for the suggestion though.
 

ocre

Golden Member
Dec 26, 2008
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something must be wrong. I have been playin skyrim 1080 on ultra AF16 but with the aa slider put to 2x instead of 4aa. I get 50 to 60 fps with an very seldom dip to 45fps. And it is very seldom it dips.

q6600 @ just 3.25ghz (1.3vcore)
a 1gb gtx 460 overclocked to 850core.


Your system should have no issue at all. I swear my results are true. we got to figure out whats up.

Also i selected ultra preset. AF16 ans lowered the AA to 2x.
I have never tried ultra 4aa but i am about to, then i will get back....
 
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eltocliousus

Member
Oct 29, 2011
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It is a very annoying issue, it has to be my CPU, it just has to be.
The "Skyrim only utilizes two cores" is most likely true but even then I should be getting better performance regardless.
 

fourdegrees11

Senior member
Mar 9, 2009
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Seriously, I'm running 8xAA, 8xAF, shadows on high, everything else maxed (fxaa not checked whatever that is), and the lowest i've seen is 25fps, averaging 40fps. Yes I am at a lower 1680x1050, but thats with a 512mb 4850 at stock clocks!
 

Vesku

Diamond Member
Aug 25, 2005
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Maybe try a bit of downclocking? 3.8GHz and 2400FSB see if there is any change? Is the PCI-E locked at 100?
 

AtenRa

Lifer
Feb 2, 2009
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I installed chipset drivers (890GX, it was eerily similar to a GPU driver installation which felt strange but anyway) and nothing changed unfortunately, even with my switch card in or out, still no dice, thanks for the suggestion though.

Try a different PCI-e 16x or 8x port with your graphics card and see if you will see a difference in performance.
 

ocre

Golden Member
Dec 26, 2008
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With the system i spoke of above, I tried ultra default settings with 16af and 4aa. I gstill get 50-60fps. te lowest it dips to is in the 40s and it rarely does this for only a glimpse and then back to the 50s. Its mostly 60-61fps.

Have you tryed to disabled the catalyst completely and run the game so only the application settings are used. No optimizations, just straight up. Its got to be something.

Do you know how to check the even viewer to see if your getting telling errors? Your system may be running into problems you arent aware of.
 

eltocliousus

Member
Oct 29, 2011
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I've installed chipsets and changed my card between lanes, with and without the switch card and it doesn't change anything, still a no go sadly.