Question Are my i5-7600k and GTX 1070 bottleneck in 1440p?

[brendz1993]

Hi Guys,

I just recently upgraded my monitor from 1080p 60hz to 1440p 144hz Freesync.

I noticed since I bought my new monitor that during gaming, I experience a lot of microstutters and seems like the mouse movement is lagging eventhough I'm hitting 80-115fps (I play PUBG and Monster Hunter World)
I OC'd my 1070 to 2100mhz coreclock and 4500mhz memory clock and my processor to 4.5Ghz. I know its not because of thermal throttling because I have a custom loop. I barely hit 53 degrees on my GPU under load.
I'm also thinking that it might be because of my RAM because I only got 8GB and I'm hitting between 6.5-7.5GB RAM usage when gaming.

Here's my specs for your reference:

i5-7600k OCd to 4.5ghz
MSI GTX 1070 OCd to 2100mhz core; 4500mhz mem clock
8GB RAM Corsair Vengeance LPX 2400mhz
Adata SP550 512GB SSD

Any thoughts guys? Do I need to upgrade my CPU to catch my higher resolution gaming?

Thanks in advance!

 

[cc83]

I don't think that microstutters and mouse lagging are signs of bottleneck - you would simply have lower framerates, not stutter. Did you run any benchmarks or did you test just these two games?

 

[brendz1993]

Yes, I ran Heaven Benchmark when I got my new monitor. It ran totally fine. And for the games in my PC, I only have PUBG, MHW and APEX legends installed in it since that are the games that I play frequently and I experienced the stutters and mouse lag in all of them. I didn't experienced it on my 1080p monitor before even though I turned on the Vsync since my GPU can handle games at 1080p and I'm having screen tearing when it is off.

 

[cc83]

Did you reinstall your GPU drivers? Do it

 

[brendz1993]

Did you reinstall your GPU drivers? Do it

Yep I already did. It's now in the latest nvidia drivers. Don't you think its because I'm hitting 80-90% RAM usage when gaming?

 

[cc83]

Lack of RAM can cause that, but I guess it would also happen in 1080p. Have you tried lowering ingame settings, like resolution, textures etc?

 

[brendz1993]

Lack of RAM can cause that, but I guess it would also happen in 1080p. Have you tried lowering ingame settings, like resolution, textures etc?

That's the thing, I haven't changed any settings other than the upgraded resolution because I know my PC can handle that. On my previous 1080p monitor, all my settings are in ultra but I turned my Vsync on since I only got 60hz panel back then. On my 1440p, I turned vsync off, enabled G-sync and changed my resolution to 1440p. I noticed that my RAM usage is between 80-90%. I can't confirm if it has the same usage when I was in 1080p since I haven't turned on the stats monitoring because I don't experience stutters and mouse lag.

 

[TJ Hooker]

What is max CPU usage on any individual core?

 

[brendz1993]

What is max CPU usage on any individual core?

90-100% last time I checked.

 

[mazooni]

The high RAM usage can definitely cause stuttering. I've experienced the issue with some computers. If it wouldn't be too much trouble maybe plug your 1080p monitor back in just for a bit and see what your CPU usage, RAM, and GPU usage as well as some temps are on that then compare those to your 1440p monitor. Make sure to do this under load such as one of the games you play. Then you can see what changes between the two. Thanks!

 

[brendz1993]

The high RAM usage can definitely cause stuttering. I've experienced the issue with some computers. If it wouldn't be too much trouble maybe plug your 1080p monitor back in just for a bit and see what your CPU usage, RAM, and GPU usage as well as some temps are on that then compare those to your 1440p monitor. Make sure to do this under load such as one of the games you play. Then you can see what changes between the two. Thanks!

Too bad I already sold my old monitor. But I dialed down my monitor this one time to 1080p. RAM usage didn't change while gaming. On idle, I use 33-35% RAM usage and goes up to 80-90% while gaming. So does this mean I need to add more RAM on my system now that I have a higher resolution monitor?

 

[TJ Hooker]

Yeah, could be a CPU bottleneck issue.

You could potentially mitigate it by cranking up the graphics settings. If you're already at max settings, you could use Nvidia DSR to render at a higher resolution. This will move the bottleneck back onto your GPU. Your FPS will go down, but hopefully become more stable.

Resolution has no little to no direct impact on CPU usage (not sure about RAM usage). Your CPU will have some max FPS it's capable of outputting depending on the game. You were previously capping your FPS below that limit when you had a 60 Hz monitor with Vsync, so it wasn't an issue. Now that you're letting your FPS go higher, you're likely bumping into the limits of what your CPU can do.

 

[brendz1993]

Yeah, could be a CPU bottleneck issue.

You could potentially mitigate it by cranking up the graphics settings. If you're already at max setting, you could use Nvidia DSR to render at a higher resolution. This will move the bottleneck back onto your GPU. Your FPS will go down though.

Resolution has no direct impact on CPU usage (not sure about RAM usage). Your CPU will have some max FPS it's capable of outputting depending on the game. You were previously capping your FPS below that limit when you had a 60 Hz monitor with Vsync, so it wasn't an issue. Now that you're letting your FPS go higher, you're likely bumpin into the limits of what your CPU can do.

It makes sense since I was capping my framerate before. If I remember correctly I noticed that the higher my fps, the frequent the stutter appears. I'll try your suggestion and get back to you once done.

 

[mazooni]

The resolution has a very minimal impact on RAM usage. I agree that it is probably a CPU bottleneck. Just wanted to point out the RAM usage because that high RAM usage can contribute negatively to the overall issue which is stuttering. You should try what TJ Hooker said

 

[brendz1993]

The resolution has a very minimal impact on RAM usage. I agree that it is probably a CPU bottleneck. Just wanted to point out the RAM usage because that high RAM usage can contribute negatively to the overall issue which is stuttering. You should try what TJ Hooker said

Okay got it. But another questions please, does having only 500MB-1.5GB of available RAM space enough to experience stuttering? As I've said I only have 8GB 2400mhz of RAM and I'm hitting like 6.5-7.5GB RAM usage during gaming.

 

[mazooni]

Okay got it. But another questions please, does having only 500MB-1.5GB of available RAM space enough to experience stuttering? As I've said I only have 8GB 2400mhz of RAM and I'm hitting like 6.5-7.5GB RAM usage during gaming.

It is possible that Windows is beginning to use the pagefile instead of your actual RAM once you get to that point. This can definitely cause stuttering in game. Do not disable your pagefile. Especially these days it really isn't necessary. Also when you're running out of RAM such as in your situation it can cause a lot of issues if you disable it. The two links I posted one explains what the pagefile is and the other shows you how to see the usage. Thanks!

https://www.howtogeek.com/126430/ht...-windows-page-file-and-should-you-disable-it/

https://m-files.com/user-guide/latest/eng/inspecting_page_file_usage_in_performance_monitor.html

 

[mdd1963]

8 B of RAM is becoming increasingly marginal for many games with Win10... (With my AV, Glasswire, and a handful of cloud storage apps, my task manager shows 6 GB of RAM used before I even start a game...)

Additionally, 4c/4t CPUs are increasingly challenged with newer games as well, especially with better GPUs such as the 1070 and above, although I'd not expect many issues with merely a 60 fps goal...

 

[John Chesterfield]

8 B of RAM is becoming increasingly marginal for many games with Win10... (With my AV, Glasswire, and a handful of cloud storage apps, my task manager shows 6 GB of RAM used before I even start a game...)

Additionally, 4c/4t CPUs are increasingly challenged with newer games as well, especially with better GPUs such as the 1070 and above, although I'd not expect many issues with merely a 60 fps goal...

This is true. I was in a similar situation with 8GB of RAM and a 4690k, dropped in a 4790k and an extra 8GB of memory, totally different gaming experience.

 

[brendz1993]

It makes sense since I was capping my framerate before. If I remember correctly I noticed that the higher my fps, the frequent the stutter appears. I'll try your suggestion and get back to you once done.

@TJHooker

I tried testing your recommendation in PUBG just now. I listed the cpu core usage and gpu usage below. Take note that before I ran the game, I searched for windows app that can optimize my RAM usage. Before my RAM usage on idle is 33-35%. After using the app, it went down to 25-26%

Here's my PC performance while playing PUBG in 1440p Ultra Settings (except for Motion Blur which I turned off and Foliage was set to low to give me advantage in spotting the enemy in grassy areas LOL)

CPU (OC'd at 4.5ghz)
Core1: 20-65%
Core2: 22-81% (sometimes dipping in 100% for a split second)
Core3: 13-95%
Core4: 22-84% (sometimes dipping in 100% for a split second)

GPU Usage: constant in 99% (i did not OC'd the GPU. core clock ran at 1987mhz and memclock at 4000mhz - 2100mhz and 4500mhz respectively when OC'd)

RAM: 5.8-6.2GB while gaming (before I was 6.5-7.5GB while gaming)

My observations: stutters were gone but there are exceptional stutters of 1-2 instances in split seconds in let's just say every 15mins. Unlike before that I experienced it after every few seconds. This goes the same with the mouse lagging issue I mentioned earlier.
Average FPS: 69-84 (didn't went below 69 in game, with high fps of 110-130 when in the airplane)


Does this mean that my system is still good? That I made the right move to optimize my RAM?
What does my CPU usage per core means in relation with GPU usage? Is there a bottleneck? Because on my personal preference, as long as I can play without going below 60fps, I'm fine with it.

Let me know your thoughts guys. I really appreciate it

 

[TJ Hooker]

I've never used any RAM optimizer, I'm skeptical they're really beneficial. Windows is generally pretty smart when it comes to memory usage and will try to pre-load commonly used apps/files, but if another app (i.e. a game) comes along and needs the space it will clear that pre-loaded stuff from RAM to make room. If I had to guess what the 'optimizer' is doing I'd say it's likely preventing/clearing that stuff preemptively.

Did you change any other settings? If you find you're still hitting 100% CPU on occasion you could try using DSR as I mentioned earlier, see if that helps remove and stutters.

You said max GPU temp is 53C, what is max CPU temp? Also, what motherboard do you have?

 

[brendz1993]

I've never used any RAM optimizer, I'm skeptical they're really beneficial. Windows is generally pretty smart when it comes to memory usage and will try to pre-load commonly used apps/files, but if another app (i.e. a game) comes along and needs the space it will clear that pre-loaded stuff from RAM to make room. If I had to guess what the 'optimizer' is doing I'd say it's likely preventing/clearing that stuff preemptively.

Did you change any other settings? If you find you're still hitting 100% CPU on occasion you could try using DSR as I mentioned earlier, see if that helps remove and stutters.

You said max GPU temp is 53C, what is max CPU temp? Also, what motherboard do you have?

I have a MSI z270 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard. My cpu hits 55 degrees. Its way cooler since I have a custom loop.

For the game settings I didn't change anything. And yes I did try to use the DSR in Nvidia Control panel since PUBG doesn't have it on there settings. Switched it up to 4k and my fps went down to 50-60fps. Same occurences of stutters. 1-2 instances in every 15 mins. Cpu usage didn't change much.

 

[Sokuaisushi]

@TJHooker

I tried testing your recommendation in PUBG just now. I listed the cpu core usage and gpu usage below. Take note that before I ran the game, I searched for windows app that can optimize my RAM usage. Before my RAM usage on idle is 33-35%. After using the app, it went down to 25-26%

Here's my PC performance while playing PUBG in 1440p Ultra Settings (except for Motion Blur which I turned off and Foliage was set to low to give me advantage in spotting the enemy in grassy areas LOL)

CPU (OC'd at 4.5ghz)
Core1: 20-65%
Core2: 22-81% (sometimes dipping in 100% for a split second)
Core3: 13-95%
Core4: 22-84% (sometimes dipping in 100% for a split second)

GPU Usage: constant in 99% (i did not OC'd the GPU. core clock ran at 1987mhz and memclock at 4000mhz - 2100mhz and 4500mhz respectively when OC'd)

RAM: 5.8-6.2GB while gaming (before I was 6.5-7.5GB while gaming)

My observations: stutters were gone but there are exceptional stutters of 1-2 instances in split seconds in let's just say every 15mins. Unlike before that I experienced it after every few seconds. This goes the same with the mouse lagging issue I mentioned earlier.
Average FPS: 69-84 (didn't went below 69 in game, with high fps of 110-130 when in the airplane)


Does this mean that my system is still good? That I made the right move to optimize my RAM?
What does my CPU usage per core means in relation with GPU usage? Is there a bottleneck? Because on my personal preference, as long as I can play without going below 60fps, I'm fine with it.

Let me know your thoughts guys. I really appreciate it

I'm not an expert on these things, but I think with the settings you have at 2k you're hitting the limit of what your GPU can handle without being overclocked.

Edit: I read more into the thread and that doesn't sound like what is happening.

 

[TJ Hooker]

I have a MSI z270 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard. My cpu hits 55 degrees. Its way cooler since I have a custom loop.

For the game settings I didn't change anything. And yes I did try to use the DSR in Nvidia Control panel since PUBG doesn't have it on there settings. Switched it up to 4k and my fps went down to 50-60fps. Same occurences of stutters. 1-2 instances in every 15 mins. Cpu usage didn't change much.

What sort of temperature sensors can you see for your motherboard? What's the highest they're getting?

Also, do you have 2 sticks of RAM or is it a single 8GB stick?

 

[brendz1993]

What sort of temperature sensors can you see for your motherboard? What's the highest they're getting?

Also, do you have 2 sticks of RAM or is it a single 8GB stick?

I just use MSI Afterburner in checking my temps and using 2x4GB 2400mhz RAM from Corsair.

Here are my temps when gaming

CPU Idle - 35-37degrees
CPU under load - 55-57 degress
GPU - 50-53degrees not OC'd; 55-58degrees when OC'd

 

[TJ Hooker]

Try using hwinfo64 (select "sensors only" when you run it), and see what temperatures are listed for the motherboard.