Question CPU not being utilised at all

robmbrownn

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Nov 10, 2019
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Hi, so a while back (December 27th 2018 to be exact) I upgraded my mobo, cpu and ram. When I installed it all, I didn't mount the cpu properly (oops) and I had to send it off cause I couldn't figure out the problem with it. When it came back, the person that fixed it said it might need more thermal paste, but me being me, I booted it and I've used it for a year anyway. But I've noticed, when playing demanding games, the cpu usage never really goes above 25-30%. I've heard this could be to do with something called thermal throttling but I'm not too sure. Anyway I just want to know if this is a problem cause I'm looking at buying VR at Christmas and as much as GeForce Experience tells me my pc is ready, I'm not convinced.

Specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600
MOBO: Gigabyte B450M DS3H
RAM: HyperX Fury 2x4gb 2666mhz (soon to be Corsair Vengeance 2x8GB 3200Mhz)

Thanks in advance.
 
If useage is low, that suggests something besides CPU is limiting overall performance. In a game it would most likely be the GPU.

If CPU temperature is high and use-age is high and clock speed is reducing to very low level then popping up again after temperature lowers, that suggest thermal throttling.

What GPU do you have?
 

robmbrownn

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Nov 10, 2019
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If useage is low, that suggests something besides CPU is limiting overall performance. In a game it would most likely be the GPU.

If CPU temperature is high and use-age is high and clock speed is reducing to very low level then popping up again after temperature lowers, that suggest thermal throttling.

What GPU do you have?
GTX1060 3GB which I'm aware is weak but on these games it shouldn't be too terrible
 
GTX1060 3GB which I'm aware is weak but on these games it shouldn't be too terrible
A 2600 would probably be enough CPU for a 2070 or 2070ti in 1080p gaming so even so utilization should be be pretty low for a 1060 3GB.

But having only 3 Gb could kill performance if you're playing at high resolution, especially a graphics-killer game at Ultra or Very High texture quality settings. The GPU is constantly tossing textures and reloading them across PCIe in mid-game. That would end up under-utilizing the CPU even more.