Poor VGA performance of Asus R.E. II mobo

[Xerxess]

I need help! I just built a new computer system and I’m experiencing very poor VGA performance. When I run the Batman: AA benchmark @ 1900x1200 with visual and physics settings maxed out, I only get an average of 19 FPS. On my old LGA 775 motherboard with the same video cards I would average around 75 FPS. Every game I run looks like a slide show because my frame rates are so darn low. My specs are as follows.

Motherboard: ASUS Rampage II Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58
Memory: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3
Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W ATX12V 2.2 / EPS12V 2.91
Hard Drive: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM 16MB
CPU: Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz
Graphics: 2x BFG NVIDIA Geforce GTX 260 OCX MAXCORE 55 896MB SLI
Physics: EVGA Geforce 280
OS: Win 7 and Win Vista


I have updated all the motherboard drivers from the Asus website, I’ve tried both win 7 and win vista; I’ve updated my video card drivers. The problem exists when I run the CPU at default and over-clocked speeds. My video cards worked flawlessly in my old system. I’m beginning to suspect I have either a bad motherboard or power supply. When I have more time this weekend I will try my old power supply in order to narrow the problem to the motherboard. I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to building and trouble shooting computers, but I’m stumped concerning this issue. If anyone could offer any help or suggestions that would be great!

 

[EXCellR8]

It's probably just the game not being optimized for i7-based boards... possibly needs an update. Have you tried any other games yet? Try disabling SLI and Physx for the time being and see if that helps. I don't remember Arkham Asylum being able to support any of those more high-end features. I didn't run the game with CrossFire though so I can't really justify how it ran with it enabled. Also, make sure your RAM timings are correct and that nothing is overheating, most importantly the northbridge/chipset.

 

[Xerxess]

Poor VGA performance on Asus R.E. II mobo

Thanks for the fast reply!!

I have tried other games too and I'm having the same problem. Also, I've tried to disable SLI and Physx, but still no luck. As for my ram timings, they are stock. As for cooling, I have a full tower case with 2 x 120 mm intake fans and 2 x 120 mm exhaust fans. For CPU cooling I have the new Noctua nh-d14.

 

[EXCellR8]

Alright well it sounds like you know what you're doing as far as system setup goes so let me think. Of course it would be easier if I were using a second gen Rampage board, but I'm still on the X48. I think the 1000HX supports a total of 80 amps on the +12v rail so I would think that would be enough for everything. However, since you are using not 2, but 3 higher-end video cards, I suppose it could be struggling especially with 6GB RAM.

I would advise to try only one card installed, just to see if that works better. If it does, there's probably some kind of interference happening between the cards that is hampering performance. Have you tinkered around in the BIOS settings at all yet? Perhaps there is some overlooked option in there that is a possible culprit. I know my first gen Rampage has all kinds of ridiculous stuff in there, might be worth checking out.

 

[Xerxess]

Poor VGA performance on Asus R.E. II mobo

The problem also exists when only one of my BFG NVIDIA Geforce GTX 260 OCX MAXCORE cards is installed in the PCIe x16_1 slot. I haven't tried to move the card because the mobo user guide states when only using one card that the PCIe x16_1 slot should be used. As for the bios, I've set everything to default as to not muck anything up.

One thing I forgot to mention is that when I start a game my lights on my keyboard somethings blink on and off. That never happened on my old system. I thought I might have an IRQ conflict btw my Video card and one of my USB ports, but looking at my mobo manual those two devices are not shared. Again, thank you for your time in this matter :approve:.

 

[EXCellR8]

The keyboard thing is a little strange, but it's hard to tell if it is related to the low framerate. Do you have any errors in Event Viewer or have you noticed any other problems not related to video performance? Also, what Anti-Virus are you using? I know that may sound a but off-topic but sometimes AV can really slow things down if not optimized.

As a side note, does the Rampage II include that little diagnostics thing that plugs into the back of the I/O panel? I forget what it's called but it basically just blurts out error codes if something is wrong. Mine is broken so I can't get into specifics.

 

[Xerxess]

I haven't looked into Event Viewer yet, I'll check that out when I get home. As for my AV software, I'm using Norton Internet Security 2010 ( just upgraded from 2009), it has a pretty small memory footprint and low CPU utilization. I will try to disable it and see if that resolves this perplexing issue.

My mobo came with a small LCD screen, It hasn't shed any light on this matter at all. It tells me that everything is working just fine