Hello there! i just back here with the same problem i really do not know what to do with this problem it's really sucks.
 
the problem is with some games i have a very poor perfomance and very LOW GPU USAGE. 
 
i have tryed so many solutions but anything seems to work. but the problem is: is just me! my friends can play without problem but i can't.
 
Rust i have poor perfomance 20-30fps 40-60% GPU usage. CPU 40-70% per core. my friends can play with better fps than me and 100% GPU usage. a friend with a GTX 570 have 99% GPU usage 50fps average. and another friend with a GTX 770 SC have 99% GPU usage 60+FPS (same settings we have tested) 
 
here some pics In-Game
 
Low Settings: 
 

http://kn3.net/338A55E75AEPNG.html
 
Max Settings:
 

 
http://kn3.net/33519119FA8PNG.html
 
 

 
http://kn3.net/46142E8D759PNG.html
 
u can see the lowest settings i put the lowest gpu usage is.
 
Assasins Creed Revelations: 
 
i can disable Vsync and i have 150+FPS but the average is 40 to 80 or more because the GPU usage drops to 60% 
 
with Vsync activate i have 40-60FPS average 60 but drops to 30 every time and gpu usage is 30-40% CPU USAGE 40-50% (even if the game is unoptimized i think a GTX960 kill this game and should use 100% if needed without Vsync.
 
7 Days To Die 40% GPU usage 30-40% CPU usage. Low fps 40-50 
 
i have tryed settings maximum perfomance in Nvidia control panel, Unpark CPU, Disable Intel Speed Step, C- state, Settings physx manually, unistalling Geforce Experience and Physx, Unistalling drivers with DDU and installing all the 4 available drivers for this card, re-format and a clean win7 64bits installation.
 
My Specs:
 
CPU: Core2quad Q8300 2.5GHZ @3.0GHZ OC unparked
WaterCooling: Corsair Hydro Series H80
MB: Asus Striker II Extreme 790i Ultra Sli 1402 Bios Last Update.
Ram: Corsair Vengeance 1600MHZ DDR3 2x4GB total of 8GB
PSU: Cooler Master ExtremePower Plus 550w. 
GPU: EVGA GTX 960 SSC 2GB ACX 2.0+ 1443mhz Core 3500mhz Mem
HDD: Samsung SpintPoint F3 1.5TB and Spintpoint F2 500GB (Main)
6x Fans 1500-2500RPM 
Screen: Samsung SyncMaster SA300 LED 1920x1080p FULL HD 22''
 
 
with Battlefield 3 i haven't any problem it run very well 80+fps GPU usage 99% CPU 80-90%
Mass Effect 3 run like a charm 200fps without drops with Vsync Off 30-50% CPU usage 99% gpu.
Sniper Elite V2 150+fps no drops 99% gpu usage
 
i really do not know what is happen with the card or Drivers. is 960 owners having the same issue? i see another guy with the same poor perfomance in rust with a GTX 960. 
 
but my friends can play it very well and i see videos on youtube with a GTX960 running rust with 60+fps. 
 
RMA is not a good option for me because im from Honduras and EVGA haven't office here. 
 
thanks for help apreciate it!
 

EVGATech_DarrelM
I recommend testing the card in a controlled environment using a benchmark to ensure that the game is not an issue.
 
If you have not already, set power management mode to prefer maximum performance under the global 3D settings.
 
You may also want to try using PrecisionX with KBOOST enabled.

all what u suggest me have already tested. i have very good benchmarks with Unigine Heaven (Valley and Islan) MSI Kombuster Benchmarks are good too igot 14.5k with 1M particle 1080p Ultra Preset and i compared it online with 760/770. 760 got 10-11k 770 13k-15k 
 
i have already enabled Kboost but only increase my Core-Clock to maximum all the time but not the GPU usage. 
 
perfomance is already set to maximum and Physx manually set to GTX 960. 
 
the problem is: my friends haven't problem with the game with anothers cards. is just me.
 
is any Bios update for my card to try it?
 
 

A dual core processor is kind of old.  Maybe you want to look into buying a new MoBo and an AMD 4core if your low on money (probably ~$200 in all).

maniacvvv
Core2quad Q8300
 
Google some CPU benchmarks on the Q8300 and you will see that your CPU---> is bottlenecking your GPU terribly 

Yup. This is the problem.

LOWEST SETTINGS IN RUST = LOWER GPU USAGE.

Yeah. Your point? That's normal. Still, the CPU is holding you back ultimately by not being able to process the game engine fast enough and not being able to feed your graphics card fast enough.

maybe, butnot with rust, Assasins creed Revelations and 7 days to die. u can check the pics CPU usage only 50-70% and why i can play BF3/4 without problems? with 99% GPU usage?

BF4 is highly optimized for multiple cores/multiple threads. Even though you have a slow CPU, BF4 does a good job at using every core of the CPU as best as possible.

Rust is an example of a game which is terribly optimized for multiple cores/multiple threads. Rust can only use one of your CPU's cores. It maxes out that one core, and the other cores just idle along doing mundane Windows tasks. Some games just can't use all of your CPU. The CPU useage doesn't seem high, but your forgetting that even though the CPU load isn't 100%, the game is using 100% of the CPU it is able to use. Your slow CPU is only making the poorly optimized game behave worse.


Put your video card into someone else's newer computer and see the difference. ;)

WoW too? Yup, CPU bottleneck. Every game you have listed so far is notorious for not utilizing cores efficiently. All those games you have mentioned need only 1 or 2 fast CPU cores instead of 4 slow cores. The fact that the games notorious for CPU bottlenecks are the ones causing you issues and the games not notorious for CPU bottleneck issues are not causing you issues, just further proves the point.

Regarding the old versus new GPU question:
I can't explain why, but I have seen many reports by others that newer cards may run worse on old CPUs than older cards. I don't know why. It's as if the newer cards put more load on the CPU by talking to the CPU more.

Regardless, if you want decent performance with that video card, you need to upgrade your motherboard and CPU.

I noticed today: the reason my FPS is 20 in ARMA3 is because my card only does 30% in the game. But I don't think it's my CPU? i7 2600k

Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q8300 End of Life and that CPU is going on 8 years now.
I remember users the GTX 660 had issue with that CPU as well.
Can you even update your Bios on your Motherboard? No and the Current Bios is 6 Years old 2010/02/10
Most issues users have is because of older hardware, even worst with older AMD Motherboards.

If you want to live with your issue then im fine with that. Otherwise, spend $200 for a cheap amd MoBo+CPU or go all out on a $450 Intel build with a MoBo+CPU. Otherwise, like I said earlier: You're just gonna have to live with it.

xz21x

bcavnaugh
Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q8300 End of Life and that CPU is going on 8 years now.
I remember users the GTX 660 had issue with that CPU as well.
Can you even update your Bios on your Motherboard? No and the Current Bios is 6 Years old 2010/02/10
Most issues users have is because of older hardware, even worst with older AMD Motherboards.

and why is only with this games the problem? 
 
Battlefield Hardline is a newer game a run very good in my OLD setup 70-80+fps ultra settings 1080p
Skyrim with many many texture/graphics mods Vsync on 60fps never drops
Dying light is running very good in my old system.
Tom Raider 2013 run with 60fps very good. 
and MB is 5 years old bios xD 
 
if the processor is slow it should do a diference when overclocking BUT LISTEN RUST HAVE ANY CHANGE. i can put my CPU/RAM to stock clocks and rust run same. maybe is the bad engine (unity 3D) because i have the problem with unity3D games. 
 
ok if this is Bottlenecking with 3 games is ok. i do not have any plan to upgrade my system. maybe in 1 or 2 years but now i don't wan't to upgrade and i can't right now (baby comming) 
 
so i can live playing rust with 30fps and playing BF with 60+
 
 

Simple, Playing a Game is not like Writing a Document with Word.
Games are GPU and CPU Intensive and Writing a Document or an Email or even browsing the Web (Less Video Watching like youtube) take very little CPU and GPU usage.
This is why you can open more than one Application at a time and work between them or multitasking, you really cannot do this between Games.
And when talking about Games I am not talking about Windows Games like Hart and Solitaire.
So one should expect "poor performance" using older hardware and "very poor performance" Mixing Old Hardware with Newer Hardware that span more than 5 Years.
3 to 5 years to Roundtable Computer Hardware after that time move on.
My Max Roundtable Cycle for any Computer Hardware is 4 Years.

Problem not solved lol. Fewer people equals less CPU load. To truely solve your problem, you need to upgrade your CPU and motherboard.

You asked the same questions over and over and don't seem to read our answers. So, no use answering your repeated questions over again.

Just stop replying. He obviously doesn't care about what people say.