New System Performance Disappointing.

[Stogie]

Hey everybody. I'm gonna try to be as clear as possible in describing the help I need. Its going to be a long one so I appreciate everyone's patience. Its a couple of things actually..

I recently built a new system to better enhance my Oculus Rift experience while sim racing. However my experience hasn't been very impressive so far. My new rig specs>

Windows 10 Pro 64bit
Intel i7 8700k (No OC)
Asus Maximus X Code Z370
Asus ROG STRIX 1080ti OC (NO OC)
Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB 4x8GB DDR4 3200Mhz (XMP)
Corsair H115i Pro RGB
Samsung 970 EVO NVME M.2 500GB (BOOT)
Asus ROG RaidR Express 240GB pCIE SSD
Various other HDDs

The issues I'm having are simple. I cant run the same graphics settings in my VR sim titles as I could with my old system. I have to lower them or performance really suffers or the headset freaks out.

My boot times suck compared to my old Sata SSD even though the NVME M.2 is in the main slot and is set up as "pCIE" in the UEFI. That could be windows related so I followed a Win 10 Performance Optimization tutorial and turned a bunch of unnecessary stuff off....nothing changed.

Old system specs>

Windows 7 Pro 64 Bit
Intel i7 4790k (No OC)
Asus Maximus 7 Formula Z97
Asus ROG STRIX 1080ti OC (NO OC)
Corsair Dominator Platinum 4x4GB DDR3 2400Mhz (XMP)
Corsair H100i
Corsair Force GT 240GB Sata SSD (BOOT)
Asus ROG RaidR Express 240GB pCIE SSD
Various other SSDs and HDDs

In search of the possibility of leaving something out I didn't see any Intel CHIPSET drivers installed although I remember installing them...I think

I went to the product page for my mobo and when I really look at it I'm a bit confused. I wanted to simply download the latest CHIPSET drivers but I came across this as being the most recent download available in the CHIPSET section "Intel ME V11.7.0.1045 driver"

Then below that is>

"Intel_Chipset_10.1.1.45" & "Intel Chipset V10.1.1.45". Below that looks to be older versions of the first two....however some are abbreviated?

I downloaded both most current drivers. That was confusing in itself as there were so many different folders and different setup.exe but I think I got the correct ones. However, when I look in my control panel at my installed programs, besides my Intel LAN driver I only see this from Intel. "Intel Management Engine Components"

Does that include the Intel CHIPSET drivers?

I tried to install the "Intel VGA driver" and got an error msg saying my system didn't meet the specs for that driver..Does the 8700k not have HD graphics built in? I never really looked into it.

Finally , Why dont they have USB 3.0 drivers for this motherboard? Is Win 10 capable of auto downloading the most current drivers for my USB 3.) ports?

[Silent_Scone]

1) Need more info on the performance issues. For instance, do the games stutter or are you having a consistently lower framerate than on the older system?

2) NVME boot times are generally slower than conventional storage devices, but they make up for this in the day to day use, so it should really make no odds if rational about things.

3) Yes, you've installed the chipset drivers.

4) Yes, see here - https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27199/Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-15-47-?product=126...

5) USB 3.0 support is now native to the OS

[Silent_Scone]

1) Need more info on the performance issues. For instance, do the games stutter or are you having a consistently lower framerate than on the older system?

2) NVME boot times are generally slower than conventional storage devices, but they make up for this in the day to day use, so it should really make no odds if rational about things.

3) Yes, you've installed the chipset drivers. If unsure, use the identification utility to download the latest version - https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/support/articles/000005533/software.html

4) Yes, see here - https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27199/Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-15-47-?product=126...

5) USB 3.0 support is now native to the OS

[Stogie]

Silent Scone wrote:
1) Need more info on the performance issues. For instance, do the games stutter or are you having a consistently lower framerate than on the older system?

2) NVME boot times are generally slower than conventional storage devices, but they make up for this in the day to day use, so it should really make no odds if rational about things.

3) Yes, you've installed the chipset drivers. If unsure, use the identification utility to download the latest version - https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/support/articles/000005533/software.html

4) Yes, see here - https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27199/Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-15-47-?product=126...

5) USB 3.0 support is now native to the OS

I was originally trying to run with the same settings as I did with my old system but its not working out. With the new system In my VR titles it has been low framerates, lag and some issues with the image getting jittery and blurry after fast movement like spinning a car out. Id have to do a full system restart to get it to go away. It would follow me from the game to the Oculus Home app.

Lowering super sampling in Project Cars 2 from 1.7 to 1.5 has seemed to stop that particular problem. However I'm having to lower the settings in pCars 2 even further to get it to run smooth.

I haven't got around to testing all my games. I did try GTAV and had so much lag in the settings menu I had to quit. It was so bad I almost had to do a ctrl>alt>del. My graphics settings in GTAV are the same as they were with my old system. Almost everything maxed out at 1080p.

[Silent_Scone]

Stogie wrote:
I was originally trying to run with the same settings as I did with my old system but its not working out. With the new system In my VR titles it has been low framerates, lag and some issues with the image getting jittery and blurry after fast movement like spinning a car out. Id have to do a full system restart to get it to go away. It would follow me from the game to the Oculus Home app.

Lowering super sampling in Project Cars 2 from 1.7 to 1.5 has seemed to stop that particular problem. However I'm having to lower the settings in pCars 2 even further to get it to run smooth.

I haven't got around to testing all my games. I did try GTAV and had so much lag in the settings menu I had to quit. It was so bad I almost had to do a ctrl>alt>del. My graphics settings in GTAV are the same as they were with my old system. Almost everything maxed out at 1080p.

I wouldn't even use super sampling, if I'm honest. You're effictively trying to run the game at almost twice the resolution. I would be tempted to install a dummy OS and see if the problem persists. You can also try running latencymon to see what process is causing the lag hike, potentially.

[Korth]

i7-4790K/Z97/DDR3 was (still is) a fine platform.

i7-6700K/-7700K/-8700K/etc hasn't improved on it a lot. Z170/Z270/Z370/etc hasn't improved on it a lot. DDR4 hasn't improved on it a lot.

I do realize - quite well indeed - that the newer parts contain innumerable technological improvements and ever-increasing performance specs. But (ignoring processors with more cores), Intel's main improvements have been compatibility and expandability ... more SATA and more USB, small but steady bumps upward in PCH and iMC bandwidths, dedicated silicon for half-useless Optane and completely-useless iGPU. Differences in raw clock speeds (at rated spec and at at overspec) have been incrementally refined and improved but the increased complexity of all the other junk (along with Intel's very hit-or-miss attempts to tinker with IHS/TIM1 efficiencies) always manages to drag stuff back down a little. Every time Intel makes a new processor able to work faster or more efficiently they just can't resist also packing it with more Fancy™ New™ Intel™ Technologies™, more busy under-the-hood workload. And then, of course, there is the sadly overbloaty state of today's firmwares and operating systems, along with all sorts of little DRM controls which cumulatively collect their performance tolls. And the latest bugfixes/workarounds which correct various errata and security flaws at the cost of a yet a little more lost performance gain.

Long story short, the marginal performance increases on newer parts are often quite underwhelming, at least if synthetic benchmark scores aren't as meaningful as actual observed real-world performances ... Intel's tech people have been slacking, Intel's marketing people have not. Newer Intel tech is better than older Intel tech, but it has new tradeoffs and new slowdowns, don't buy into the hype.

[Nate152]

I tried the oculous rift for a while with the Strix 1070 and performance was good. Now, granted this isn't a racing sim I would still expect good performance from a 1080 Ti.

Something that might help is connecting the displayport cable to the second Strix 1080 Ti displayport output.

[Mr__Fox]

Try using only the drivers on the installation CD that came with the motherboard. Run the setup from the CD and select all of the drivers (but not all of the extra software).

Try using a GeForce driver that was released from between January to March of this year. If your system runs better at that point, just try updating only the GeForce driver. See if that messes it up. If not, stop right there. Pursuing the newest drivers if the system is working fine isn't a good idea. The latest is often not the greatest.

The Intel VGA driver doesn't install because the integrated graphics is disabled by default. You cannot install the Intel VGA driver unless you go into the BIOS and enable the crappy integrated graphics on the 8700K. Don't bother. It is pointless and there is nothing to be gained by it.

[Stogie]

Mr. Fox wrote:
Try using only the drivers on the installation CD that came with the motherboard. Run the setup from the CD and select all of the drivers (but not all of the extra software).

Try using a GeForce driver that was released from between January to March of this year. If your system runs better at that point, just try updating only the GeForce driver. See if that messes it up. If not, stop right there. Pursuing the newest drivers if the system is working fine isn't a good idea. The latest is often not the greatest.

The Intel VGA driver doesn't install because the integrated graphics is disabled by default. You cannot install the Intel VGA driver unless you go into the BIOS and enable the crappy integrated graphics on the 8700K. Don't bother. It is pointless and there is nothing to be gained by it.

Ok,I'll give that a try. Ive spent the last week trying many other non VR games and everything is running strong. I'm actually in the process of doing an RMA with Oculus. The audio decided to stop working in the right headphone. Thank you for your help.