Good specs, lower than average FPS on most new games

Hey guys, I'm in need of some help.. Recently, I've installed a new GPU (GTX 970) and had CPU temp problems, which I've fixed by installing a new cooler. Temps went down from 60 idle to 38-45. Right now, though, I'm having some performance issues. When I play games like Grand Theft Auto V or Wolfenstein The New Order, I'm getting lower than average FPS and stutter. Only about 50 on GTA V going down to 45 with Ultra settings, MSAA on 4x instead of 8x, and all Advanced Graphics off. On Wolfenstein I get 60 with drop downs to 45. On Dragon Age Inquisition I get about only 40-47, when the average is 58 for example.

Specs:

• Intel i7-2600 @ 3.4GHz
• MSI GTX 970 4G
• 8GB RAM DDR3 1333MHz
• INTEL DP67DE
• Energon EPS-750 < Planning to upgrade it
• Standard case, don't know the model, playing without it covered at the moment due to cover not fitting cause of the cooler. < Planning to upgrade it

Things to take notice of:

• Temps are fine, even without the cover on. Max 62 Celsius on both GPU and CPU when playing GTA V.
• 2 pins are broken on the Mobo socket, might be the case.
• I'm pretty sure the FPS should be higher than the ones I'm getting, plus I'm not getting stable performance.
• GPU Usage is 95-99% at all times on Wolfenstein and GTA V for some reason, Wolfenstein isn't a very graphics intense game as GTA V is.
• Power usage is on 50%.
• GPU Fan speeds are on about 50% when gaming.
• RAM usage is 2GB idle, CPU usage about 15% idle.
• Playing on 1080p.

Things I've tried:

• Setting Power Management to Max Performance
• Changing some settings in the Control Panel
• Lowering some settings slightly, no effect

I'm really in a stump... Don't know what to do.

ThrashZone said:

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
Did you change the thermal paste ?
You should if overheating was an issue for a while.

Thank you for the warm welcome, I haven't been using the forums much, but I've decided to!

Ah yes, I've forgot to mention. I've changed it twice, even. When I installed the cooler, especially, I've put on the new thermal paste, so everything with CPU temps is fine.

However, as stated, two socket pins are broken on the Mobo. I had an incident when trying to change thermal paste for the first time. My stock fan's legs broke, had 60 celsius idle and 92 celsius on load with new thermal paste, and broke two pins on the Mobo socket. But it seems to be working fine. Now it's 37-45 C idle and 62 C on load.

After experimenting for a little, it seems certain games run almost the same on Ultra or on Low graphics, still the same stutter.. I get slightly better performance with MSI Afterburner on, too, for some reason..

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
My gpu target temp is 79c by default on both a GTX 980 hybrid and a ASUS GTX 980-P
That is the quiet version cards

You very well may have a defective card there
You can if not already use real temp to see both temps
Download Real Temp 3.70 | techPowerUp

Are you saying the temps are too low?
The temps are fine like I mentioned.. 47 minimum (completely idle) to 70 (very rarely, usually up to 67) and not higher when under load, playing a graphics demanding game.. I've played a less graphics demanding game and usage only rose to about 55%, with slight stutter, for some reason still.

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
Not really I'm saying your card should stay at 79c under full load and it's not the way you describe
You're saying it works okay with manually changing the fan to full blast
The card should do that by it's self.

Nono, you've got me wrong. It stays on about 67-72 all the time under full load, and I never change fan settings, I just turn on MSI Afterburner. By the fault, I use the MSI Gaming App's Gaming Mode, without changing any fan settings. I doubt it's the GPU, could be the broken pins..

Take care of those broken pins first, or try to test your new GPU on a friend's PC, see how it runs.

But broken pins might be the problem. I always handle my PC like it's the holy grail just to avoid messing up the very sensitive parts, like pins