EVGA GTX 670 FTW faulity? low 3DMARK 11 score

[crestfa11en]

(Resolved)EVGA GTX 670 FTW faulity? low 3DMARK 11 score

I'm a newbie at this pc building so bare with me if I'm a little slow on the up take, I'm happy to take any screen shots that may help in diagnosing this problem, any help is greatly appreciated

Gaming performance is choppy at best with my GTX 670 struggling with Civilization V at the lowest settings, EVGA precision X shows that my GTX is running at a GPU temp of 71 and above when running Civ V.

Build:
Silverstone SST-FT02B-W/ Asus Maximus V Gene/ Intel core i5-3570k, Samsung green 8GB, Dark rock pro 2/ EVGA GTX 670 FTW, Antec high current pro 750w/ Samsung SSD 830 256gb, Win 8 pro.

I have clean-installed the latest NVIDIA beta drivers and I've updated the motherboard BIOS & swapped out the ram, taken my build apart and back again just short of reinstalling the CPU cooler all to no effect.

Running 3DMark 11 demo on Performance 1280 x 720 (720p)
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/6450600
SCORE P8474 with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670(1x) and Intel Core i5-3570K Processor
Graphics Score 9118
Physics Score 7038
Combined Score 6930

Watching the 3Dmark 11 videos at this screen resolution they remind me of the opening intro to Tomb Raider 3 and still at times the fps drops down to 21!

The following photos of my build might be helpful in problem solving this?:

The following are screen shots of my system:

I'd have chosen home group but for some reason it was not an option on installation of Win 8.

Diagnostics tell's me everything is hunky dory and Windows performance index is at 7.9 is this EVGA GTX 670 faulty, have incorrectly plugged something in?

I so happen to have a spare GTX 670 laying around meant for my sisters build, but as Windows only allows you a limited number of hardware installs I'm reluctant to try it out.

 

[crestfa11en]

Have to pop out to work now but will be back reply to any messages after 7:00pm thanks.

 

[crestfa11en]

Some great input here, it'll take me a short while to implement will post back soon

 

[crestfa11en]

My thanks Gregster for the screen shot, as instructed I have enabled prefer max performance in Nvidia control panel.

On PC start up EVGA precision X.

In Civilization V all setting on lowest preset or off, also I've set Vsync off as standard as the card got alarmingly hot on the previous medium settings in Civ V.

(Note that after implementing max performance in Nvidia control panel performance remains poor/slow/lagy)

 

[crestfa11en]

Double post where's the delete button on this thing?

 

[crestfa11en]

Judging MOOGLEYS & Gregster 3DMark 11 score I may have jumped the gun a little as the performance in Civ V had been so poor I had my CPU running in at stock speed along with the RAM in order to help problem solve the issues, which would contribute to the score.

 

[crestfa11en]

Welcomed input setter certainly worth a shot will try a aggressive custom fan profile.
I've noticed you have a Benq FP241w 24" lcd how do you find it for gaming?

 

[crestfa11en]

I had overclocked my intel core i5 3570K to 4.6 mhz previously but the same problems persisted, I've even had it running in Windows 7, but the same thing every time slow laggy Civ V with my GTX 670 running very very hot with the game on very low settings, perhaps it's the CPU?

Thanks all for sticking with me this far, I'm at my wits end.

 

[crestfa11en]

Gregster What are your temps at idle? and also what do they get to when under stress? Could be one of the following problems...
Bad cooler contact on the GPU possibly - poor case air flow - poor TIM.

My cooler is a Dark rock pro 2 the thermal paste is Arctic-silver 5, I wouldn't rule out a badly done CPU install as this is my first and only build, I recon my next step is to try a re-apply the thermal paste & re-install the CPU cooler.

Used CUPID Hardware Monitor for the above but it only seem to show case temps not CPU?

The above is as you'll all know well is CPU-Z, if there's any monitoring software you'd recommend above the above then please do so, will be happy to give them a try.

(EDIT) Just had a look at my CPU temps in BIOS at idle it goes from 26-27c are these bad temps?

Side note to (setter) the benq xl2420t your a mind reader, I've been eyeing that one for a while for the sake of the ultra low lag, thought it may best left for another thread, given I may have done a sloppy on my CPU cooler install

 

[crestfa11en]

I did have one error message when installing Core Temp 1.0 but it seems to be working now

Core Temp has encountered an error and needs to close

At idle.

Running Prime95 Small TFF's for a few minutes.

Just for a complete picture running Civilization V.

My thanks to chuckskull at h***s Forum for helping me out with Core Temp 1.0, I hope you'll all forgive me for using two forums but I feel it's necessary in order to fast track the problem assuming there is one, and I'm not just freaking out a bit?

Note: I've no anti-Virus software besides Window 8 native Windows Defender+Firewall, but I take great care not to visit any dodgy websites and have Java script and flash player disabled as default in Chrome.

 

[crestfa11en]

As suggested running Prime 95 with CPU-Z also Core Temp for reference taken 3 minutes in.
Would the bad temps reflect on my choice of case Silverstone SST-FT02B-W?

 

[crestfa11en]

For peace of mind I think I will remount it, I used these instructions from the following link:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_application_method.html#
Using the Vertical Line method as indicated here, assuming I understood it correctly?

http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth/int/vl/intel_app_method_vertical_line_v1.1.pdf

grasp the heatsink and very gently twist it slightly clockwise
and counterclockwise one time each if possible (Just one or two degrees or so if possible). Please note that some heatsinks cannot be twisted once mounted.

As it was with my install I was unable to twist my CPU cooler which may have contributed to the problem?

I have heard that the grain of rice method is good, but I whent what I thought was the safe route at the time.

Also, can your cooler take another fan on the front?

Unfortunately no, it's already a two fan with the BeQuiet.

Note:I even used ArctiClean 1 & 2 as instructed by the above website, before mounting it, besides the fact it was already a clean CPU. when I cleaned the CPU cooler contact plate with a coffee filter and ArctiClean a corner became slightly discolored and remained so despite many attempts to remove it.

 

[crestfa11en]

I believe this marks the end of this thread, as of this point it's a matter of fine tuning Nvidia control panel+MSI after burner with the possible remount of the CPU cooler, I'm more than happy to continue pestering you all for information, but I would urge you to leave should you tire, as my babbling will only get less constructive from here on

I'd like to thank you all, for the time you've taken reply to this narcotic newbie in order of appearance:
Gregster
MOOGLEYS
setter
Rusty0611
Ian Evey

Last but not leas my friends at He*us forum:
najiro
Terbinator
chuckskull
Jasp

(setter) Rice grain or line are both ok tbh, i just tend to use the grain method as i always forget the orientation of the cores. Your temps seem a little high in comparison to others, not dangerously high by any chance though....

I think I may have been a tad to delicate with my first instal, and wonder if a second install with all bolts tightened just right might do the trick.

(Ian Evey)Make sure MSAA / or SSAA is not enabled in the Nvidia control panel. Uninstall Precision X and download MSI after burner to monitor temps and GPU usage when playing CIV 5.

I've often heard MSI after burner touted above all others, would you enable it from start up or just when needed?