Require help with my setup

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Hello!

I need some help as I'm trying to figure out why my computer doesn't perform as well as I think it should do. Ever since I've built my setup, I've never managed to get the same levels of performance compared with those seen on benchmarks.

I've got GTA V on steam and when playing it, I only manage to get around 40 - 60 FPS assuming I have expensive settings such as MSAA and Anisotropic Filtering turned off or to the minimum setting. I don't understand why this is happening considering that I have a reasonably good setup from what I can tell.


The following are the components that I have:
http://prntscr.com/n3pect

None of my components are overclocked yet and I have two monitors both at 1680x1050. When running GTA V I only have Discord on one monitor and GTA on the other. I've seen youtube videos of people getting over 100 fps with both the 1080 & the 6700k but I don't know why my machine fails to get this.

Below are images of the settings I have for the game as well as CPU/GPU stats while playing the game.
http://prntscr.com/n3pz2w
https://prnt.sc/n3pz86
http://prntscr.com/n3pzcn
https://prnt.sc/n3pzga
http://prntscr.com/n3pzka
https://prnt.sc/n3pzol

Some people I know have suggested that maybe my Motherboard is causing it however I don't really know. According to the stats of my CPU, I'm using almost 100% but I don't understand why. I checked on Bottlenecker and the 6700k doesn't bottleneck the 1080 so I'm unsure as to why this is causing the CPU to be at almost 100%.


Any and all help is very much appreciated!
 
Soldato
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Welcome aboard.

With that CPU there should be eight CPU graphs in Task Manager, so at least Hyper Threading might not be working.

And that motherboard sounds like very low end model, so it's possible that its CPU VRM is overheating.
But that should cause CPU clocks dropping.
Have you monitored if those stay stable?
 
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@EsaT I appreciate your support!

I can see the 4 graphs within task manager (as shown in the image) but I'm not sure how to get those 8 you were talking about. I've not noticed drops in the CPU's clock speed that much. Only between 10-30 Mhz every now and then.

How can I tell if there is a problem with hyper threading and how can I enable it or get it to work assuming I don't have it working already?
 
Soldato
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I have Win7 and never needed to do anything to get eight threads from 4770K's hyperthreading visible.
Even Task Manager has only two selections for CPU history in View menu:
"One Graph, All CPUs" or "One Graph Per CPU"
So don't know how it could show only four cores without HT being disabled.

Hyperthreading setting should be in BIOS.
Possibly somewhere in CPU settings of AI Tweaker or Advaced > CPU Configuration.
 
Soldato
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The Grass setting alone can cause it. Grass in GTA is notorious for bringing 1080Tis to their knees at 1080p. Advise setting Grass on Normal and check fps again. Do also check the hyperthreading issue as well, by all means.

Some other settings aren't great for GTA and a GTX 1080, in terms of both performance, and image quality. I'm using a GTX 1070 @ 1920x1040 - outside of the city on highways I get 90s to 100s fps. In the city I get 70s and 80s fps.

FXAA is rubbish. GTA likes MSAA x4 @ 1080p (if GPU can handle it, and GTX 1080 can at that res). Some things can be subjective but I've yet to hear anyone say they prefer FXAA in GTA.

Nvidia PCSS is also rubbish and taxes GPU a lot. For Soft Shadows try "Softest" or "Softer".

In-Game Depth of Field Effects is awful. Try disabling that.

You can set Reflection to Ultra and Reflection MSAA to x4 with surprisingly not all that much hit, and cars look shinier, and the reflections bring things to life more. So essentially bringing Grass down (which is a bummer but there's no real alternative with GTA) can be compensated by raising other stuff. And you should still see a big improvement in fps.

Rather than talking through everything, ended up grabbing screenshots with all my settings for you to try, so you can let us know if there's any difference:

8HlJ6hb.jpg

pzhat9L.png

IfwacAe.png

VW3RXFR.png

88TjH3b.png


Couple of other things to check:

Try Windows' High Performance power plan if it's on Balanced right now.

Someone recently improved his GTA experience by switching to Fullscreen from Windowed Borderless. That had to do with stutter I think but also worth a try.
 
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@EsaT @freddie64

It only shows 4 graphs on the task manager. I've checked in the BIOS and Hyper Threading is set to "Enabled"

@Danny75

I've checked the Windows Power Plan, and to my surprise, it was set to "Power Saver" so I've changed it to "High Performance". I copied your graphics settings I didn't notice any change until I copied your advanced Graphics. I am now getting around 50 fps in busy areas with 70 in rural places. Considering I have a 1080 & you have a 1070, I think there is still a problem with something.

I appreciate all of the help you've given me thus far and this is a significant improvement from what I was getting. Could my motherboard really be stopping me from achieving closer to 100 fps?
 
Soldato
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It only shows 4 graphs on the task manager. I've checked in the BIOS and Hyper Threading is set to "Enabled"

Get HWiNFO64 and check how many threads it's using there.


I've checked the Windows Power Plan, and to my surprise, it was set to "Power Saver" so I've changed it to "High Performance". I copied your graphics settings I didn't notice any change until I copied your advanced Graphics. I am now getting around 50 fps in busy areas with 70 in rural places. Considering I have a 1080 & you have a 1070, I think there is still a problem with something.

Yes still an issue.


I appreciate all of the help you've given me thus far and this is a significant improvement from what I was getting. Could my motherboard really be stopping me from achieving closer to 100 fps?

Could be but this is unlikely to be happening to everyone with that motherboard/CPU combo, so it will be rare. There are still quite a few things to rule out.

Tell us which PSU it is, please. Brand/model/wattage.

Also, which CPU cooler is it?

You need to run some stress tests on CPU (try Cinebench R20) and check temperatures with HWiNFO64. Then report back.
 
Soldato
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A few things you could try if HWiNFO64 also shows only 4 graphs.

Disable and then enable hyper threading in bios. (save and exit after disabling)

Update bios to latest version, although your 6700k should be supported already.

Check CPU socket for bent pins. Not sure if this would affect hyper threading though and take care not to bend any if you do take the CPU out.

Contact Intel, they may help you out even if warranty has run out on the CPU. (very long shot but you never know ;))
 
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@Danny75

Sorry for the late reply, had work all weekend so didn't want to start anything until I had the time. I've downloaded both HWiNFO64 & Cinebench R20 and the following images are the results of the first test I ran.

https://prnt.sc/n5kflz
n5k7zd




If you notice all of the red boxes on the images provided, I think maybe there is an issue with the CPU as it seems to only recognise 2 cores and 4 threads. Do you think this could be the issue? If so, how would I go about fixing this? Otherwise, what else do you suggest?

As for my cooler, it is the standard fan that came with the bundle (At the time of purchase, around a year ago, I bought a bundle which had the same motherboard but with an i5 6500, recently replaced it with the i7 6700k) As for my PSU, I don't remember what that is. I can go and fish it out if need be (I think it's 750W).
 
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Soldato
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Your Cinebench results are half of what they should be. That along with the threads showing as you run the benchmark would confirm that 2 cores and 2 threads aren't working. Would also explain why you noticed no difference with the Grass setting turned down (I'd been wondering about that as it makes a huge difference normally).

It would be good to have a look at the PSU and fetch info on it, even if right now it's doubtful it has anything to do with it.

First port of call might be to update the BIOS as Freddie64 recommended*. Then check the socket if that fails. Even if no bent pins, reseating the CPU could help, and you will also want to very closely inspect the gold contacts on the underside of the CPU for any tiny specks of dirt or paste.

The stock cooler is a poor cooler for that i7 chip. But keep going with it for now till you figure out what's up. Would invest in a better cooler once you know what's up.

* By the way, avoid any "Live Updating software" especially from Asus right now, given the recent security breach. Flash the BIOS using the standard method, download BIOS onto USB stick, enter BIOS and look for the option to flash/update in there.
 
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@Danny75

I opened msconfig to test a small theory I had, I unticked the box to choose the number of cores to boot with (which was showing 1-3) and decided to restart my pc. When reopening msconfig, I found that I had the option to choose from 1-8 cores, I also found 8 graphs in task manager. The result was that I got my 4 cores working along with my 8 threads, as confirmed by HWiNFO64 & Cinebench R20. I doubled my "cb" to 2000.

I was planning to get a new monitor & water-cooling for my PC after attempting to fix these issues with my computer & after seeing the temperatures now that the whole processor is working (previously I would get around 80 degrees on full capacity) I now know that I will be investing in water-cooling as shown by these staggering temperatures below.


I still don't know whether this has fixed the issue with the FPS in my "personal benchmark" of GTA, I will get back to you if things have improved. Until then, thanks for all of the assistance. :)
 
Soldato
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lol glad it had a very simple explanation (hopefully, that new Cinebench score is very encouraging).

You don't need water cooling for that chip. It's just that the stock fan is rubbish (tend to be fine for i3 and some i5). A decent £25 air cooler is already miles better and fine for 6700K with no overclocking.
 
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@Danny75

I plan to overclock my CPU. Might as well get water-cooling as it looks nice and is quieter than a fan.

I just finished testing on GTA and can confirm an increase from my previous FPS:

Old

City: 50
Rural: 70

New

City: 60-70
Rural: 80-95

However, (again) from your screenshots, you are still getting more with a 1070. So what else could be slowing this down? :p
 
Soldato
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@Danny75

I plan to overclock my CPU. Might as well get water-cooling as it looks nice and is quieter than a fan.

Depends on how quiet the pump and rad fans are. Can tell you the air cooler I have now is quieter than an AIO I used to have (even before pump got whiney).

That motherboard won't overclock (or even if it could, bad idea with that chip).


I just finished testing on GTA and can confirm an increase from my previous FPS:

Old

City: 50
Rural: 70

New

City: 60-70
Rural: 80-95

However, (again) from your screenshots, you are still getting more with a 1070. So what else could be slowing this down? :p

Well, next time you're free run Unigine Valley and let me know result. To see if it outperforms the 1070 outside of GTA.

1680x1050 windowed, Quality Ultra, Antialising x8 =

O4ghDEd.jpg
 
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@Danny75

Ah. Suppose I will need a new motherboard after all as I want to overclock it. What's the point in having a k model if I don't overclock?

I ran the benchmark at the same specs as you and got the following result.


I was getting around 115 - 130 for the cinematic day time scenes and around 85 - 100 for the rainy parts. Still feels like there could be something up. I looked at a benchmark for GTA online last night and found that the GTX 1080 was getting around 80 FPS in city on a 2k res monitor.
 
Soldato
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@Danny75

Ah. Suppose I will need a new motherboard after all as I want to overclock it. What's the point in having a k model if I don't overclock?

I ran the benchmark at the same specs as you and got the following result.


I was getting around 115 - 130 for the cinematic day time scenes and around 85 - 100 for the rainy parts. Still feels like there could be something up. I looked at a benchmark for GTA online last night and found that the GTX 1080 was getting around 80 FPS in city on a 2k res monitor.

That's not too bad. It's arguably in non-overclocked GTX 1080 region. Check this list some below 5000 some above. Those above will have overclocked core and memory on GPU, and fast overclocked CPU adds a little to Valley results as well.

I've never looked into what performance is like with two monitors, even if only really stressing one, so am not sure if that would have anything to do with it.
 
Soldato
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I plan to overclock my CPU. Might as well get water-cooling as it looks nice and is quieter than a fan.
Any overclocking on non-Z chipsets has been very hard.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/overclocking-with-non-z170-chipsets,30962.html
And even if Intel hadn't limited overclocking to their most expensive chipset, cheap VRM of that cheap motherboard wouldn't be good for overclocking.
Also with Intel's chewed up bubblegum/toothpaste under heatspreader, there's high risk of high temperatures no matter the cooler.

And despite of all marketing pee spraying around them, closed loop liquid coolers differ from heatpipe coolers really only in having more noise sources with higher number of fans and pump.
Hence good heatpipe coolers trounce most of them in cooling performance per noise...
And at lot lower price, because of being lot simpler.
Would have to be pretty expensive waterpipe cooler to match Scythe Mugen 5, which has excellent clearances for DIMMs and PCI-e slots.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/scythe-scmg-5100-mugen-5-rev.b-cpu-cooler-hs-046-sy.html

Already Raijintek Themis would be huge step from Intel's noise makers.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/raijintek-themis-direct-contact-cpu-cooler-hs-001-rt.html
And £30 level has many good normal level coolers like Arctic Freezer 34 and Coolermaster Hyper 212

Another difference is catastrophic cooling failure causing degradation/wear mechanisms.
While you could forget heatpipe cooler into PC for a decade.
Because in heatpipe cooler only thing which can fail is fan, and its failure doesn't destroy all cooling.
 
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@Danny75

The leaderboard shows my 1080 as being at the bottom of the list in terms of 1080s. Don't forget that I got that score at 1050p and not 1080p so chances are it would be even lower if I had a 1080p monitor.
 
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