New build = mediocre results (?)

[silentcrs]

Kind of confused about this one. Any insight would be helpful.

Parts

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
ASUS P8P67-M PRO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
HITACHI Deskstar 7K3000 HDS723020BLA642 (0f12115) 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Benchmarks

http://3dmark.com/3dmv/2993712
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/859618

I'm a little confused as to why I'm towards the bottom of the bell curve, as this isn't exactly crappy hardware. Nothing is overclocked, which may have something to do with it. Any ideas?

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Your gtx 570 is the weakest link. Sorry to say man but a gtx 570 ain't all that. I have a gtx 580 and I've overclocked the piss out of it just to get it where I needed it. Even overclocked to hell my 580 is underwhelming in some games especially when I'm using it for 3D.

 

[digitaldurandal]

Your 570 is fine. It is essentially the the third fastest single GPU solution in the world currently. Anyone who says it is a problem for you is hitting from some good stuff.

The issue is that the people who already have scores on 3dm11 are people who have overclocked every aspect of their system.

It is almost pointless for you to purchase the new generation i7 and not overclock it. I think if you look at the people with like systems you will find their i7 sandybridge is near 5 ghz.

Also the 570 is an overclocker as well. It can reach near 580 speeds. Both of mine will go to 800 without any voltage tweaking and I have not tried over that. It may also make a small impact what settings is your RAM running at?

You can see that you are approximately in line with this http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-560-ti-gf114,2845-5.html

 

[notty22]

Yes , your scores are correct for those test. I agree with above. Some are very competitive with Vantage benching. And people that have the highEST scores often have sponsorship from the hardware makers. Or allowed to experiment with loaned tester parts.

How are your games running and what did you have before for comparison ?

 

[Arkadrel]

Take your i7 2600k to 4.5ghz via overclocking if possible to get it stable there.
Take your 570, get its core clock upwards of 900mhz.

Re bench your system and it should be a good bit faster.

 

[bryanW1995]

Don't worry about comparative scores in 3d mark, as mentioned the higher scores are out of reach for a conventional air-cooled home rig. Overclocking a 2600k is a breeze, however, you should at least bump it up to 4.2 or so.

 

[AtenRa]

You will see a substantial gain in the 3D Mark Vantage score by OC your CPU, not to mention your GPU as well.

3D Mark 2006 and 3D Mark Vantage needs lots of CPU power and you will see that at default clocks the CPU is the limiting factor and not your GPU.

Try OC your CPU first and see the score go up

 

[dust]

Just fire up some games and see the performance for yourself, that rig should be fine for at least 1920x1080.

If you are interested in having better 3DMark score, you need to oc that CPU,the 570 doesn't care much for 1280x720.

 

[DaveSimmons]

What is your goal?

Are you trying to "win" at benchmarks, or to enjoy playing some games?

 

[Black96ws6]

I think those are decent, I'll post my numbers just to give you something to compare to.

I have a less powerful system with a 768MB GTX 460 budget card from Pallit (card is overclocked to 830mhz) and a Phenom X6 cpu (OC'd to 3.8Ghz with a slight voltage offset increase of + .006250 for 1.404V using stock heatsink and fan):

Phenom X6 1090t@3792MHz, GTX 460 768MB, 8GB DDR3@1367, Cool N Quiet Enabled
17565 3DMarks
50266 CPU
14435 graphics
Jane Nash 43.86FPS
New Calico 40.65FPS

Settings: 18.5x CPU, 205Mhz bus, 1.404V, +.006250 voltage offset

 

[Soccerman06]

You should be able to push that 2600k to 4.2-4.3ghz no problem with stock cooling, but if you have aftermarket air cooling you can push 4.8ghz.

 

[Idontcare]

Welcome to the forums Black96ws6! :thumbsup:

To the OP: You bought a really nice brand new top of the line, fully equipped Honda Accord and then proceeded to take it down to the local race track and watched it get smoked by all the other highly tuned ferraris and lambos at the track in a 0-60mph speed test.

Nothing to worry about unless you paid the equivalent of a Ferrari to get your Honda or if you have a Ferrari that is performing like a Honda.

But it sounds like you are getting exactly what you paid for, so that's a good thing, right?

 

[DaveSimmons]

You should be able to push that 2600k to 4.2-4.3ghz no problem with stock cooling, but if you have aftermarket air cooling you can push 4.8ghz.

but why bother, unless there is some game that needs the extra power?

 

[RussianSensation]

A lot of those higher scores have overclocked GPUs & CPUs as well as GTX570s in SLI too. OP, your scores on their own look completely reasonable for a stock system given the components you have. What system have you upgraded from? Play some games and you will see your system is plenty fast.

Your gtx 570 is the weakest link. Sorry to say man but a gtx 570 ain't all that. I have a gtx 580 and I've overclocked the piss out of it just to get it where I needed it. Even overclocked to hell my 580 is underwhelming in some games especially when I'm using it for 3D.

How is this helping exactly? Someone can just as well come in and say a GTX580 is "crap" because he or she owns a HD6990. I think the OP is simply comparing his 570's performance to the higher scores of other systems in arriving at the conclusion that his setup is underwhelming. Of course those other systems are not running at stock speeds.

 

[Black96ws6]

Welcome to the forums Black96ws6! :thumbsup:

To the OP: You bought a really nice brand new top of the line, fully equipped Honda Accord and then proceeded to take it down to the local race track and watched it get smoked by all the other highly tuned ferraris and lambos at the track in a 0-60mph speed test.

Nothing to worry about unless you paid the equivalent of a Ferrari to get your Honda or if you have a Ferrari that is performing like a Honda.

But it sounds like you are getting exactly what you paid for, so that's a good thing, right?

Definitely. Right now the video card is holding me back. When I can I am upgrading to a more powerful GPU.

I think he's in the same boat though. Unless he's gaming at low resolution, his video card is the bottleneck at higher resolutions (I game at 1920x1200 currently).

So not sure what OC'ing the CPU will do for him when the GTX 570 is limiting his FPS (except in say SC2 or Civ5 where more CPU Ghz and Cores come into play).

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

A lot of those higher scores have overclocked GPUs & CPUs as well as GTX570s in SLI too. OP, your scores on their own look completely reasonable for a stock system given the components you have. What system have you upgraded from? Play some games and you will see your system is plenty fast.



How is this helping exactly? Someone can just as well come in and say a GTX580 is "crap" because he or she owns a HD6990. I think the OP is simply comparing his 570's performance to the higher scores of other systems in arriving at the conclusion that his setup is underwhelming. Of course those other systems are not running at stock speeds.

I wasn't comparing e-peen sizes. Just letting a little reality into the picture. I even said my GTX 580 was underwhelming in some games. I'm really needing a gpu upgrade myself but I'm a single card only guy.

 

[tincart]

I wasn't comparing e-peen sizes. Just letting a little reality into the picture. I even said my GTX 580 was underwhelming in some games. I'm really needing a gpu upgrade myself but I'm a single card only guy.

The GTX 580 is underwhelming compared to what?

 

[MentalIlness]

OP, you have built a very nice pooter. Forget about synthetics and play some games. Id be willing to bet "aside from Metro 2033" you can max any game out. So just play some games, and enjoy.

What resolution are you running ?

 

[MentalIlness]

The GTX 580 is underwhelming compared to what?

Id like to know this as well ? A GTX 580 underwhelming ? What resolution are you running ?

 

[RussianSensation]

I wasn't comparing e-peen sizes. Just letting a little reality into the picture. I even said my GTX 580 was underwhelming in some games. I'm really needing a gpu upgrade myself but I'm a single card only guy.

But is the OP:

1) Disappointed that his GTX570 isn't performing as well as an "other" GTX570s do based on a sample size of 3DMark benchmarks (not real games)?

OR

2) Disappointed that his GTX570 just isn't fast enough for his settings/resolution in actual games and he desires to have a faster card?

I think he was referring to point #1.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Id like to know this as well ? A GTX 580 underwhelming ? What resolution are you running ?

I'm at 1080p but I have a 120hz screen. Doing 60 fps does nothing for me. The games look really nice the higher the fps goes. Also when I play in 3d my framerates are cut in half. I'm currently playing Bc2 and GTA4. I average mid 50's fps in GTA 4 maxed and that's in 2D!! In BC2 the 580 isn't enough for 1080p maxed in 3d. I even had a reference GTX 580 at one point and returned it so I could get the asus direct 2 cu 580 so I could overclock it more. That did help significantly. I went from a 830mhz oc reference to 902mhz with the asus direct. I'm not a overclocking fanatic. I'd rather not destroy my gpu for a few MHz so I settled in at 902mhz at 1.1v. I could probably get 950mhz or more on the core with more voltage but I'd have much higher temps, more fan noise, and sucking electricity like there is no tomorrow. I refuse to go sli due to the problems that poses so here I am. I do love my 580 having said all that but in my situation yes the 580 can be underwhelming.

 

[AtenRa]

I'm at 1080p but I have a 120hz screen. Doing 60 fps does nothing for me. The games look really nice the higher the fps goes. Also when I play in 3d my framerates are cut in half. I'm currently playing Bc2 and GTA4. I average mid 50's fps in GTA 4 maxed and that's in 2D!! In BC2 the 580 isn't enough for 1080p maxed in 3d. I even had a reference GTX 580 at one point and returned it so I could get the asus direct 2 cu 580 so I could overclock it more. That did help significantly. I went from a 830mhz oc reference to 902mhz with the asus direct. I'm not a overclocking fanatic. I'd rather not destroy my gpu for a few MHz so I settled in at 902mhz at 1.1v. I could probably get 950mhz or more on the core with more voltage but I'd have much higher temps, more fan noise, and sucking electricity like there is no tomorrow. I refuse to go sli due to the problems that poses so here I am. I do love my 580 having said all that but in my situation yes the 580 can be underwhelming.

I believe you are the minority, nice to see someone needs more than a GTX580 at 1080p ehehehe

 

[RussianSensation]

I'm at 1080p but I have a 120hz screen. Doing 60 fps does nothing for me.

It's not that 580 is underwhelming, your expectations are completely unrealistic. Even an HD6990 can barely exceed 100 fps at 1080P 4AA/16AF in non-3D mode in BF:BC2 (et al).
So there is no way you will ever be able play the latest modern games in 3D @ 120 fps with 4AA at 1080P. Plus I thought 3D works at 60Hz only? Either way, you will need to wait 3-5 years to be able to play today's modern titles in 3D at 120fps. Of course future titles will continue to push cards to their limits (as should be).

Just think about, could you play Doom 3, Oblivion, Far Cry 1, Crysis 1, Metro 2033 on the best single GPU at the time at 1080P 4AA at 120 fps? No.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

It's not that 580 is underwhelming, your expectations are completely unrealistic. Even an HD6990 can barely exceed 100 fps at 1080P 4AA/16AF in non-3D mode in BF:BC2 (et al).
So there is no way you will ever be able play the latest modern games in 3D @ 120 fps with 4AA at 1080P. Plus I thought 3D works at 60Hz only? Either way, you will need to wait 3-5 years to be able to play the latest modern titles in 3D at 120fps.

Just think about, could you play Doom 3, Oblivion, Far Cry 1, Crysis 1, Metro 2033 on the best single GPU at the time at 1080P 4AA at 120 fps? No.

3d is at 60hz but like you said a 6990 is barely over 100fps on BC2. I don't get anywhere near that so you cut 60-70fps in half for some scenes and you got slow motion gaming.
I don't expect 120fps in every game. Maybe just 100?lol

 

[RussianSensation]

3d is at 60hz but like you said a 6990 is barely over 100fps on BC2. I don't get anywhere near that so you cut 60-70fps in half for some scenes and you got slow motion gaming.
I don't expect 120fps in every game. Maybe just 100?lol

I think YOU are the primary target market for SLI my friend. :awe: