In this paper, we investigate throughput performance of OFDMA-based relay systems according to the "sub-cell coverage configuration" of the base station (RS) and the relay station (RS). RS is exploited for improved quality of the received signal with a tradeoff of additional radio resource consumption which may result in degradation of the throughput performance of the system. Therefore, "radio resource reuse" may be necessary for high performance in relay systems. However, it also causes system performance degradation since resource reuse between RSs incurs channel interference. Therefore, effective resource reuse also should be considered for "high throughput coverage configuration" when relays are employed. We relate the resource reuse patterns of neighboring RSs to sub-cell coverage configuration. We determine the sub-cell coverage of the system depending on the ratio of received signal-interference-noise-ratio (SINR) of the mobile station (MS) from the BS and RS, respectively. Simulations illustrate the throughput performance as the function of SINR ratio, and it has different optimal point depending on the resource reuse patterns. Therefore, the "resource reuse pattern" and the "effective sub-cell coverage configuration" should be considered together for the high throughput performance of the relay system.