I recently upgraded from a 1070 Ti to a 3080 Ti, expecting major improvements, but I'm actually seeing poorer performance in most games, even though my benchmark scores are still below average for my setup. I'm running a Ryzen 5 5600X, 32 GB of RAM at 3600 MHz, a B550 motherboard, and a 750W power supply. In games like Elden Ring, I'm struggling to get above 30 FPS with the GPU at 100% utilization. The 1070 Ti handled the same settings without any stutters. I've also tried reinstalling drivers using DDU, which improved stability but didn't fix the performance issue. My memory speeds look normal and GPU-Z confirms it's a 3080 Ti. What could be causing this?
5 Answers
By the way, what's the resolution you're gaming at again?
It sounds like your power supply could be struggling to handle the spikes, even though 750W is the minimum requirement. Have you thought about upgrading to a higher wattage power supply? That could help with performance issues.
If that's the case, could undervolting help alleviate some of the power demands?
What resolution are you gaming at? Also, check your CPU utilization while gaming; it might give some clues about any bottlenecks.
I'm playing at 3440x1440, and my CPU utilization is typically around 60-70%, with occasional spikes.
This issue might be due to thermal constraints. These 3000 series GPUs can heat up quickly. Try using MSI Afterburner to crank up your fan speeds to 100% and see if that improves your performance. If your temps are hitting that 88C limit, you might need to repaste your GPU for better cooling.
That makes a lot of sense! I bet benchmarking puts your card under more stress and might lead to throttling. Keeping track of your temperatures with something like HWINFO would be a great idea too.
My temps usually stay in the mid 70s, so I’m not sure if heat is the issue, but it’s worth checking.
Make sure to monitor your clockspeed and temperatures using the Nvidia overlay or HWMonitor. Overheating can cause lower FPS even if you have high utilization. My 3080 had high temps straight away until I reapplied thermal paste, which dropped my temps significantly.
My temps are low to mid 70s, and my hotspot is around 80, with clock speeds boosting up to 2000 during stress tests.

3440x1440, just to keep confirming.