GTX 960 shows no visual difference when switching between low and ultra settings.
GTX 960 shows no visual difference when switching between low and ultra settings.
Hey everyone, I just got a MSI GTX 960 4GB which is a solid upgrade over my old GTX 650. After installing it, updating drivers and configuring DirectX, I tried out Battlefield 3 to check the performance. I expected smoother frames, but the results were similar to what I saw on medium settings—around 40-50 FPS. When I played at low settings, it matched my old GTX 650’s around 45-50 FPS, and at ultra settings, it stayed near 45-50 FPS as well. My system specs include an AMD FX-8320 Black Edition 3.5 GHz cooler, 16GB DDR3 RAM, a MSI GAMING GTX 960 4GB motherboard, a 500W PSU, and the CPU running at 3800 MHz with a fan speed of 3333 RPM. The GPU is at 49% usage, with 3505 MHz clock and 49% VRAM utilization. At full CPU frequency (3800 MHz), the CPU stays cool at 46°C, and the GPU runs at 1329 MHz with 67% usage. I recorded everything using MSI’s app and Shadowplay to capture all data, but I’m not sure if these numbers were influenced by the recording or anything else. Let me know your thoughts!
Make sure your highest refresh rate isn’t set too high in the game options or within the MSI gaming app.
It seems the hardware limiting your performance might be the processor itself. When I first played bf4, I used an FX 8350 paired with a GTX 780, achieving about 50 frames per second across most settings with roughly 65-70% CPU usage. Switching to an i5 4690k improved my frame rate significantly, reaching around 80-100 FPS consistently during gameplay.
It seems quite sensible. Running at lower settings typically reduces rendering load or quality, which aligns with using fewer resources. This makes sense as a logical approach to performance management.
And playing other titles (such as War Thunder and Need for Speed: Most Wanted) gave me much higher FPS compared to my previous graphics card.
I'm confident it's superior to the i3, based on what I've seen. I had a more powerful CPU and a better GPU, which led to similar results you're experiencing now. Maybe a fresh Windows installation could resolve driver issues—though that would be quite a hassle.