# Phenom 9850 Quad Bottlenecking GTX 570?



## Darylrese (Dec 21, 2010)

Hello everyone, 

I just purchased the GTX 570 (Monster of a card!!) but it seems to be behaving strangly. 

Let me start by giving you the spec:

Asus M2N32SLI-DELUXE
AM2+ Phenom 9850 Quad Core @ 2.9ghz 
6GB Corsair DDR 2 800mhz 
700W PSU 

My PSU has a digital readout on the back and under load it is showing as only using 400w under load. 

When running fraps the fps are irratic jumping from 20fps - 100fps! Opening credits / videos seem slow and seem worse than with my old GTX 275. 

On f1 2010 i used to get 50fps with my old GTX 275 im now getting 20 - 40 with the GTX 570!!

GTAIV is also worse running at about 20fps outdoors but over 120fps indoors and counting up really fast then getting to a certain point and going all the way down again. 

DIRT 2 is running at 40 - 50 FPS maxed out on ultra settings (dx11) but microstutter all over the place.

Black Ops runs at 40 - 100fps everything maxed out but again has bad stuttering. 

Could my 9850 be that much of a bottle neck? 

Any help appriciated. 

Daryl


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## Drenlin (Dec 21, 2010)

What drivers are you using?

The 9850 _will_ be a bit of a bottleneck, being slower than a similarly-clocked Athlon II, but it shouldn't cause it to act strangely like that.


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## linkin (Dec 21, 2010)

Brand and model of PSU?


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## Darylrese (Dec 21, 2010)

Hi, 

I have downloaded the latest drivers off the nvidia website. 

Some games work great...COD MW2 im getting a silky smooth 90 - 300fps and Bioshock  im getting 90 - 200fps. 

BUT 

In DIRT 2 im getting 40fps and f1 2010 20 - 30fps!!!  

Also getting a few display issues where every game stops responding when loading up for about the first 10 seconds before the intro credits. 

700W PSU....Jeantech Storm. Its only using 300w under load.

Oh and i've managed to overclock my CPU to 3.11ghz


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## Darylrese (Dec 21, 2010)

dont know if this helps any of you (my system):


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## Darylrese (Dec 21, 2010)

OK i'm getting 30 - 70fps in fsx which is fine (i know this is more CPU dependant) 

I'm also getting 70fps with dx11 in DIRT BUT its jumpy and doesn't look right. Just trying to patch it.


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## linkin (Dec 22, 2010)

That powersupply is a poor quality unit. More wattage does not mean it is better. Microstutter can be indicative of poor power.

In your case, I would get the following:

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103871

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095

A newer CPU, which your board supports (see http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/..._mkt.aspx?slanguage=en-us&name=M2N-SLI Deluxe ) and a decent powersupply to ensure clean power.

For reference, that Jeantech PSU is an OEM Sirtec unit, the same thing powering cheap 300-400w thermaltake powersupplies that have problems pushing even that much amount of power.

If you can't spend that much let me know and I'll find an alternative for you


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## Drenlin (Dec 22, 2010)

^ Wouldn't this be a better pick than the M12II?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371021


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## Darylrese (Dec 22, 2010)

I've put my GTX 275 back in and i'm getting exactly the same fps in every game as the GTX570 apart from the problems with DIRT2 , F1 2010, and GTA4 are now gone and working at a solid 60 - 70fps. 

I'm gonna return the card and think again about what to upgrade.


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## 87dtna (Dec 24, 2010)

Your CPU is the problem, hands down.  No need to return the card, it's quite a bit stronger than a gtx275.  Even your 275 is being bottlenecked by the 9850, which is why you get the same FPS.


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## 2048Megabytes (Dec 24, 2010)

You sure it isn't the poor quality power supply hindering his performance?  He is using a Jeantech Storm 700 Watt Power Supply.


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## linkin (Dec 24, 2010)

Drenlin said:


> ^ Wouldn't this be a better pick than the M12II?
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371021



Probably.



Darylrese said:


> I've put my GTX 275 back in and i'm getting exactly the same fps in every game as the GTX570 apart from the problems with DIRT2 , F1 2010, and GTA4 are now gone and working at a solid 60 - 70fps.
> 
> I'm gonna return the card and think again about what to upgrade.



No need, the CPU and/or PSU is the problem.



87dtna said:


> Your CPU is the problem, hands down.  No need to return the card, it's quite a bit stronger than a gtx275.  Even your 275 is being bottlenecked by the 9850, which is why you get the same FPS.



He's right



2048Megabytes said:


> You sure it isn't the poor quality power supply hindering his performance?  He is using a Jeantech Storm 700 Watt Power Supply.



I stick by my recommendations I noted previously


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## 87dtna (Dec 24, 2010)

The power supply isn't helping the situation, sure, but the CPU is a huge bottleneck.  Even though it was 4 cores, Phenom I architecture is crap and 2.9ghz isn't helping either.

I just recently tested a Phenom 9650 at 2.7ghz and there was only a handful of games it could play decently, and they were the older games.  I did try black ops, it did OK but there not noticeable stutter and a FPS bottleneck VIA cpu.  Task manager showed CPU usage all 4 cores over 90%.
So basically, any newer game that can utilize more than 2 threads a Phenom will be crap for.


OP- The best CPU your motherboard supports is the Phenom II 945.  I highly, highly suggest it as it will fix all you problems.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...75&cm_re=Phenom_II_945-_-19-103-675-_-Product

Update your bios to the newest, and stick that puppy in there.  Problem solved...err, maybe get a new QUALITY PSU as well to make sure of that too-


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371026


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## spynoodle (Dec 29, 2010)

87dtna said:


> The power supply isn't helping the situation, sure, but the CPU is a huge bottleneck.  Even though it was 4 cores, Phenom I architecture is crap and 2.9ghz isn't helping either.
> 
> I just recently tested a Phenom 9650 at 2.7ghz and there was only a handful of games it could play decently, and they were the older games.  I did try black ops, it did OK but there not noticeable stutter and a FPS bottleneck VIA cpu.  Task manager showed CPU usage all 4 cores over 90%.
> So basically, any newer game that can utilize more than 2 threads a Phenom will be crap for.
> ...


^ +1. Yeah, the Jeantech Storm isn't a great unit, but it's not some Logisys fire-hazard supply.  I would assume that it would be able to power the GTX 570, but just barely with a safe voltage.

To the OP: For safety's sake, download Speedfan:
http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php
Then check your PSU's +12v voltage with the GTX 570. If it's under 11.75v when playing a game, you might have a problem.


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## 87dtna (Dec 29, 2010)

Speedfan's 12v chart is worthless.  Couple times it said my 12v voltage was dropping down to like 5v under load but I checked the rail with a voltmeter and it was 11.97v.


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## spynoodle (Dec 30, 2010)

87dtna said:


> Speedfan's 12v chart is worthless.  Couple times it said my 12v voltage was dropping down to like 5v under load but I checked the rail with a voltmeter and it was 11.97v.


Maybe it was buggy with your hardware, since it's relatively new. Either way, you can't lose anything trying. If the output is something crazy, then we'll just ignore it.


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## 87dtna (Dec 30, 2010)

I've tried it on 4 different boards/setups and it was wrong everytime  (two 775 setups, an 1156, and a 1366 setup....3 different power supplies!)

It's worthless.


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## Okedokey (Dec 30, 2010)

Yeah that Jeantec has to go regardless, low efficiency 72% and rubbish 12V rail amperage.  CPU is bottleneck, but PSU has to go too.


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## spynoodle (Dec 30, 2010)

87dtna said:


> I've tried it on 4 different boards/setups and it was wrong everytime  (two 775 setups, an 1156, and a 1366 setup....3 different power supplies!)
> 
> It's worthless.


Bad luck?  Okay, so maybe it's often screwed up, but I've always had good luck with it so it can't always be wrong. 


bigfellla said:


> Yeah that Jeantec has to go regardless, low efficiency 72% and rubbish 12V rail amperage.  CPU is bottleneck, but PSU has to go too.


I was confused for a second. I thought it had relatively high efficiency. I looked up the specs and it said:


> Super High Efficiency *Maximum* 84%


*Facepalm at self*


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## linkin (Dec 30, 2010)

Yeah 84%... at what load?


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## Okedokey (Dec 30, 2010)

As though 84% MAX is a good thing lol,  and that will be at 20oC at 30% load on 240VAC.  Not 40oC at 70% load on 115VAC as in the US.  Given, it is a PSU that can power stuff, but if it goes bang, watch out!   That PSU is POS period.


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## 87dtna (Dec 30, 2010)

spynoodle said:


> Bad luck?  Okay, so maybe it's often screwed up, but I've always had good luck with it so it can't always be wrong.




So you've verified what it said it with a voltmeter or are you saying it's always said ~12v and you think it was correct?


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## spynoodle (Dec 30, 2010)

87dtna said:


> So you've verified what it said it with a voltmeter or are you saying it's always said ~12v and you think it was correct?


Well, it's usually .2 to .3 volts above or below 12v, so I assumed that it was probably right. I think that it also seems to be the same as my motherboard's readings. It probably would be good to voltmeter-check it though, due to the whole multi-rail thing.


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## Okedokey (Dec 30, 2010)

spynoodle said:


> Bad luck?  Okay, so maybe it's often screwed up, but I've always had good luck with it so it can't always be wrong.
> *Facepalm at self*





87dtna said:


> So you've verified what it said it with a voltmeter or are you saying it's always said ~12v and you think it was correct?




12V can fluctuate by 0.6+/- under ATX12V standards.  But that is not the only issue.


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## linkin (Dec 31, 2010)

Regardless, I'd replace the Jeantech with something good before thinking about changing anything else.

If it doesn't solve the performance problems, at least you can keep it for future builds and know that your computer will be safe.


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## MerkSession (Jan 2, 2011)

I stumbled across this post searching for a problem im having with gta iv. 

To the OP, i dont think its your cpu. I have a 1055t x6 @3.5, 4g ddr3 1600 @ 1667 8-8-8-24 and a gtx 570 @ 850/2000 powered by a corsair 650w with a 53a 12v rail. More then enough juice. 
And gta iv runs like garbage. 20-40 fps with an unplayable amount of stutter no matter what settings. By comparison Bad company 2 @ max in game sets @1920x1080 rarely drops below 70 fps. And on most maps stays  80- 100fps the whole time. 

For starters i would def make sure you have cleaned our any old drivers you might have installed. Your power supply has 3 12v rails 17a, 25a and 16a. The gtx570 @ load consumes around 213w. Your 25a 2nd rail provides 300w. Your other two rails would not have enough power to run the gtx570 as your 17a rail only provides 204. Which would be cutting it close. I would def get a new power supply. But provided its pulling from the 2nd rail it shouldnt be the cause of your problems. If not then there ya go. 

Im actually curious if you have been able to track down this issue. As i would love to be able to play gta IV. 


Oh and also, dont get the athlon quad someone suggested. It doesnt have any L3 cache. It wouldnt be much of an upgrade if one at all. If your getting a new cpu from amd go phenom II. Something like this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808


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## 87dtna (Jan 2, 2011)

Merk what drivers are you running?


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## MerkSession (Jan 2, 2011)

Drivers clock speeds and the like listed there. Also tried 1.05v ( what i run) and 1.063v just to make sure even though it runs beautiful in every other game. Even tried default sets. Id love for it to be the drivers. But these are the newest listed @ nvidias website. Also, gpu usage rarely goes above 40% with gta IV. Cpu isnt being used much either.


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## CardboardSword (Jan 3, 2011)

GTA IV is a shoddy port that's excessively hungry for damn near every resource your computer can offer. I ran the benchmark on medium detail, V. High render and I got a consistent 21 fps. It then shows it only used 80% of my GPU and 60% of my CPU. In fact the highest usage was RAM at 87% or something, part of which is obviously being used for Windows processes and the like. I've given up on getting it to perform on max settings, but it plays smoothly on the settings I just mentioned for the most part, so I leave it be. It seems to be pretty memory dependant too, so maybe the DDR2 is slowing you down? I know its not supposed to be a huge difference in performance but I've seen stranger things.


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## MerkSession (Jan 3, 2011)

It definitely seem to be a very poorly ported game. Steams 9.99 deal for that and liberty cities a few days ago got me to buy it. Appears i wasted that 10 bucks. And that was after all the fun i had with securom crashing at launch after the game downloaded.


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## linkin (Jan 3, 2011)

I bought the GTA pack as well. It needs a really beefy cpu. It eats my athlon for breakfest, 100% usage almost all the time.

It's a bad port, and the fact that game engine renders the entire city, there's no levels etc. Bad LOD implementation too.

But mostly it's shoddy programming. And the Phenom 9850 doesn't help.


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## CardboardSword (Jan 3, 2011)

linkin said:


> I bought the GTA pack as well. It needs a really beefy cpu. It eats my athlon for breakfest, 100% usage almost all the time.



That's what I thought too, which is why I was so surprised by such low CPU usage in the benchmark. Even if it doesn't utilize more than 4 cores I should still see Numbers in the mid 60's%, not high 50's and just hitting 60. I really need to re-run that test, simply because I can't remember the exact numbers lol.

EDIT: Ok for some reason I now am getting 55fps on High textures and v. high render. CPU still only shows about 50% usage but I guess that point is moot now since I'm getting buttery smooth framerates. :\


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## linkin (Jan 3, 2011)

The benchmark is for multiplayer. I get much better performance in multiplayer than I do in singleplayer.


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## CardboardSword (Jan 3, 2011)

linkin said:


> The benchmark is for multiplayer. I get much better performance in multiplayer than I do in singleplayer.



Makes sense given what the benchmark seems to test. Still can't be that far off real game performance though can it?


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