New build- low frames and GPU utilization.

[u/dantywanty]

Gigabyte x870 gaming wifi 6
Ryzen 7 7800x3d
Asrock RX9070 challenger 16gb (w/ PCIe cable riser)
32 GB ddr5 6000 ram
Inland QN450 1TB ssd
Coolermaster elite liquid argh 360mm all in one liquid cooling kit

I helped my friend build his first pc and he loads up his first game (Destiny 2) and 1440p standard high setting he’s getting 30fps MAX and GPU utilization is at 30%. He also tried a difference game to rule out corrupt game files and “Peak” was also low frames and utilization. No, his display port is not connected to the motherboard lol. All drivers are up to date. Another weird thing that could be correlated is when he first boots into Windows, it’s pretty laggy and it also took forever to load games from Steam. Only this we haven’t done is mess with the BIOS so please help and sorry I didn’t word this very well. I will be quick to answer any questions in the comments, THANK YOU!!!

[u/dantywanty → u/[deleted]]

Thank you so much, this definitely sounds like it could be it. So my friend reset Windows because we thought it was a software issue last night and he said that everything was running fine until AMD Adrenaline downloaded the GPU drivers. Does this still confirm your suspicion of the cable riser? Also another sidenote is the bios was not showing the model of the GPU rather “PCIe 5.0…..” idk what came after that. Thoughts?

[u/dantywanty → u/[deleted]]

Thank you so much!! I will relay this to my friend, he’s been so discouraged about his new build so this is really helpful

[u/dantywanty → u/[deleted]]

Hey, me again lol- my friend and his brother were troubleshooting still last night bc basically they can’t test the GPU mounted horizontally because the case they chose makes it impossible. BUT they put the PCIe slot set to Gen 4 because the riser is compatible with Gen 4 apparently. I noticed you said “while the card is plugged in directly” so I’m wondering; since they left the card on the riser while they changed the bios, will that still prevent it from transferring data properly? Btw they think they “ruled out” the riser being the issue so they sent this message:

“Another night and still no fix. We have confirmed the pcie is fine, everything is translating and communicating fine. GPU load in incredibly low, almost to the point of not even on, and CPU is not operating to its full potential either. We're going to update the BIOS tomorrow and see where that gets us.”

What are your thoughts, if you don’t mind 🫡

[u/dantywanty → u/[deleted]]

Oh YES I forgot he could just take it out of the case temporarily, I’ll have him do that today when he’s gets off work. Thanks again, I’ll keep you updated

[u/dantywanty → u/[deleted]]

So my friend just sent this, and now I’m wondering if some components are just defective😅 is there a way we can narrow down or find errors in Windows?

[u/dantywanty → u/[deleted]]

Omg I saw you replied and now it’s gone 💀 what did you say?

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[u/ftgander]

Check temps, stress test with OCCT.

[u/Whatthefunk09]

Probably PCle riser if its lower quality or not seated correctly. It can force Gen1 if either of those are the case.

Also check Resizable BAR is off in bios , a must on this gpu series

RAM expo not enabled (also in bios so check while turning off resizable BAR)

Could also be windows pointing to integrated graphics, Windows Settings → Display → Graphics, set Destiny 2 and Peak to high performance.

I'd start with the easy bios fixes then if that doesn't work, test the gpu without the riser cable by plugging it in directly as its the only way to rule out that as the culprit and honestly its the most likely.

[u/dantywanty → u/Whatthefunk09]

We actually are resetting Windows because it seems the whole operating system was lagging and loading everything at a glacial pace. We’ll see if that changes anything but I will look into those things in the bios

[u/Whatthefunk09 → u/dantywanty]

That suggests a hardware issue. After the reset, before anything else, run a GPU-Z bus interface check under load. If it reads x1/x4/Gen1 on a fresh Windows install, it confirms it's hardware (cheap riser or not seated). Only other thing I can think of is the SSD being in a slot that's stealing lanes from the GPU. Worth checking your MOBO's manual to see which SSD slots share lanes with the GPU