**SOLVED**


My motherboard, ASUS x99-A, has 4 PCI-E x16 slots.  I originally had my GPU in slot #2 to leave room between it and my CPU cooler, it was only running at x1.  When I moved it to slot #3 it started to run at x8, and finally in slot #1 its now running at
x16 and working great.  Just did a new firestrike 1.1 and I got a 14731.  Still a bit low from what ive seen, but I think now its just an issue of optimization. 
 
 
**Original Problem**
 
I recently built my first computer, I am using Windows 7 Professional 64 bit and a i7 5820K, everything is set at default and nothing is overclocked.

I did a 3DMark Firestrike 1.1 benchmark and my results seem to be way below normal for a build this high end.  Here are my results:

Score: 12889
Graphics Score: 15207
Physics Score: 13431
Combined Score: 5849

Passmark benchmark:
Passmark Rating  4,273
CPU Mark  15,179
2D Graphics Mark  663
3D Graphics Mark  1,986
Memory Mark  2,687
Disk Mark  5,085

According to the charts on passmarks webpage, my 980ti should get a score of over 11,000 for 3D Graphics Mark, but it isnt reaching 2,000 currently.

Heaven benchmark: 

I uninstalled and removed entirely Nvidia files and folders from my computer and reinstalled all the drivers, and set all the BIOS settings to default, but my benchmark scores remain the same.  During these benchmarks my GPU load is 99% but my CPU load doesnt get above 15%, is this normal?  Also Heaven benchmark won't let me run it in 1920x1080 resolution, it gives me a direct3d11 error, not sure if this could be related.
 
Any ideas on whats going on here?  Is this a hardware or software problem?

Thanks

Ill try DDU and search for the hotfix driver, thanks.  Last time I just deleted everything manually, including in the registry files, but it didnt change anything.  I dont have any overclocking software installed. I tried Heaven with vsync off and I got the same results.

One thing I forgot to mention, is that in the game Planetside 2 (the only high end game I play at the moment), my FPS never gets above 65, regardless of the settings.  This might be related.

Install GPUZ from Guru3d and verify that the temp does not go above 80C while running at near 100% usage while in Unigine Valley, 3dMark wouldn't work. If it does then the GPU is being downclocked by the thermal target of the card to prevent damage. To fix this you can download either EVGA Precision X or MSI Afterburner. Then either change the fan setting to your own creation or set a more aggressive fan curve. Then retest with this and see if you do not hit the thermal limit. You can also set the temp target to 90C, but this is slightly iffy.

If this is not your issue then can you see what your perf cap reason is under GPUZ sensors while under heavy load. If it's vRel and vOP then it's all normal.

Also please take a screen capture of GPUZ's default screen which should detail the GPU's information to verify it is being 'seen' correctly.


You can also test your processor in 5-10min using Intel Precessor Diagnostic Tool which will tell you is the processor is defective. If it is then you can replace that with the place of purchase or Intel. However the 15% usage is normal, but this is just to eliminate the CPU as a possibility for troubleshooting.

bsmegreg
Install GPUZ from Guru3d and verify that the temp does not go above 80C while running at near 100% usage while in Unigine Valley, 3dMark wouldn't work. If it does then the GPU is being downclocked by the thermal target of the card to prevent damage. To fix this you can download either EVGA Precision X or MSI Afterburner. Then either change the fan setting to your own creation or set a more aggressive fan curve. Then retest with this and see if you do not hit the thermal limit. You can also set the temp target to 90C, but this is slightly iffy.

If this is not your issue then can you see what your perf cap reason is under GPUZ sensors while under heavy load. If it's vRel and vOP then it's all normal.

I would go with this, since the card is running at 100% usage it should not be pci express limitation (I say this as my board has the nasty habit of not running a pci e card at the highest bandwidth unless you force pci e gen 3 in the bios). Make sure the core clock is at least hitting the 1190mhz it is rated for. If it is much lower it could be a number of things either software or hardware related. Passmark is also not the best benchmark, I have had it say my cpu is way faster compared to what it should be with no overclock. Also your 3d mar score for the gpu look ok, just a tiny bit low. Something is wrong with your install of heaven though unless you are using some super higher settings. Can you list what settings you used like aa and tessellation level ? 

Thanks for the responses everyone, I got it all fixed up.  It was a problem with the PCI E slots on my motherboard.
 
My motherboard, ASUS x99-A, has 4 PCI-E x16 slots.  I originally had my GPU in slot #2 to leave room between it and my CPU cooler, it was only running at x1.  When I moved it to slot #3 it started to run at x8, and finally in slot #1 its now running at
x16 and working great.  Just did a new firestrike 1.1 and I got a 14731.  Still a bit low from what ive seen, but I think now its just an issue of optimization.  

This is official score of EVGA GTX980Ti SC... score can't be under 17.500, and about 15.000-16.000 main score...
EVGA 980Ti SC and i7-4790K...