CPU score suddenly dropped?

[TechManMax]

No idea why...gsync is disabled as is vsync. Cinebench R23 (CPU) scores haven't dropped, thermals are not an issue. But all of a sudden my i7 13700KF is scoring 18,666 when previously it was scoring above 20,000. Also my rtx 4070 Ti super used to score above 24,000 but in recent tests is now 23,621. Since my Cinebench R23 scores remain stable (above 30,500 multiscore and 2050-2100 single score score) it's not a thermal throttling or power delivery issue. Only thing that's changed since the last time I ran a 3DMark Timespy test is the Nvidia driver version (now the latest one).

[TechManMax]

EDIT: Have now run multiple tests and the scores are getting worse and worse. I'm actually worried now. The CPU score has dropped to as low as 17,000 points (i7 13700KF), and the GPU score to as low as 23,000 points (RTX 4070 Ti Super). That is a WHOPPING 3000 point drop in CPU score and a 1000+ point drop in GPU score. I have also noticed the Time Spy test is now stuttering as well (it didn't used to). The only things that have changed since the last time I ran a test are, like I said, the nVidia driver (now the latest version) and I installed the June 2024 cumulative windows update yesterday. That's it.

[stahlhart]

I've rolled back to 552.44 and will stay here for a while, similar to how I did for 537.58. I also have a 13700K, and will check / compare the CPU scores for mine across various driver versions.

[TechManMax]

Originally posted by stahlhart:

I've rolled back to 552.44 and will stay here for a while, similar to how I did for 537.58. I also have a 13700K, and will check / compare the CPU scores for mine across various driver versions.

I'm currently rolling back to the previous Nvidia driver (where my scores were fine) but if that doesn't fix the issue I'll report back... I'm actually concerned right now. Not sure what's going on. It's not just my GPU score though but my CPU score too!

[TechManMax]

Originally posted by stahlhart:

I've rolled back to 552.44 and will stay here for a while, similar to how I did for 537.58. I also have a 13700K, and will check / compare the CPU scores for mine across various driver versions.

Can 100% confirm this...the latest nVidia driver (June 2024) is BROKEN.
Reverted back to the May driver and guess what? CPU score back to 20,000+.
GPU score also increased by nearly 1000 points (23,904 up from 23,000) but curiously is still below 24,000 (previous benchmarks on the same driver were above 24,100).

[TechManMax]

EDIT AGAIN: Rolled back 2 driver versions...now on driver 552.44 and guess what? GPU score back to above 24,000 and CPU score above 20,000. Crazy...just crazy...how badly the June driver was performing (but even the late may driver had a performance loss). I am now back to scoring above average scores for my hardware.

[stahlhart]

Well, you got to this before I did :) , but glad to hear that the scores are moving in the correct direction.

552.44 was the current driver the day that Steel Nomad launched, and since I was running quite a few benches because of that, it was easy to notice a significant score drop when I updated to 555.85 from it. Then Steel Nomad crashed (black screen, probably an nvlddmkm event) the first time I tested it after installing 555.99, and that was that, rolled back to 552.44 immediately and am going to stay with it for a while.

[TechManMax]

Originally posted by stahlhart:

Well, you got to this before I did :) , but glad to hear that the scores are moving in the correct direction.

552.44 was the current driver the day that Steel Nomad launched, and since I was running quite a few benches because of that, it was easy to notice a significant score drop when I updated to 555.85 from it. Then Steel Nomad crashed (black screen, probably an nvlddmkm event) the first time I tested it after installing 555.99, and that was that, rolled back to 552.44 immediately and am going to stay with it for a while.

Same. I hope nVidia fix this in their next driver because before the last 2 drivers I, personally, have never had much issues with nVidia drivers. But now I'm wary of updating them. Can confirm the stuttering has also stopped in 3DMark Timespy test since I rolled back.

[xSOSxHawkens]

I wonder why NV drivers are so CPU hardware dependent, This example is obviously a mistake/bug, but overall its been well shown that the NV driver package has a much higher CPU overhead for every graphics API over AMD's comparables. I know that in early DX12 days it was said it was due to the lack of asynch compute hardware in the GTX 10 series and before, but I swear I read NV added the HW for that compute feature in the first RTX cards. Very odd they (NV) still have such overhead, and you have to wonder at the cause/reason.

[Migz - DH]

Huh. I haven't run a CPU Profile in a long bit, but here are the previous two compared to using 555.85 tonight using an RTX 3080 and Ryzen 9 5900X.

	555.85, 12 June 2024	536.40, 22 July 2023	536.40, 22 July 2023
Max Threads	10,951	10,592	10,815
16 Threads	9,976	9,827	9,985
8 Threads	6.992	6,958	6,890
4 Threads	3,678	3,665	3,620
2 Threads	1,915	1,904	1,901
1 Thread	970	968	969

http://www.3dmark.com/cpu/1961696
http://www.3dmark.com/cpu/1364950
http://www.3dmark.com/cpu/1364926

[Migz - DH]

Also, imo, don't use Timespy with that hardware, OP. Timespy Extreme is okish, but really, Steel Nomad and CPU Profile are best for your hardware according to what UL's rep has said in the past.

[Migz - DH]

For Time Spy Extreme,

	555.85, 12 June 2024	552.12, 26 May 2024
Total	9,405	9,453
GPU	9,624	9,697
CPU	8,334	8,278

http://www.3dmark.com/spy/48560625
http://www.3dmark.com/spy/48242858

[Migz - DH]

For my hardware, changing drivers didn't seem to make any real difference.

[stahlhart]

Well, for our hardware it did. Thanks for sharing.

[TechManMax]

Originally posted by stahlhart:

Well, for our hardware it did. Thanks for sharing.

Could be the latest driver combined with Intel CPUs maybe? He has an AMD CPU. Idk there's so many variables with things like this it's impossible to narrow it down. I ran another benchmark today just to rule out a "one time lucky" situation and my GPU score was above 24,300 and CPU score above 20,000 again so yes the 555.xx drivers are messed (for me). Not just 3DMark but also Hogwarts Legacy, a game riddled with issues (even more so since the latest update released last week) has been crashing A LOT less and stuttering A LOT less since rolling back to 552.44. Unfortunately it still stutters and has still crashed (albeit less) but that's just a game issue affecting lots of people.

[Migz - DH]

Is there a chipset or BIOS update for you Intel folks that you haven't installed yet? There could be an optimization thing worked out with the latest nVidia driver and a new chipset/UEFI BIOS.