CPU Usage Problem

[lbragg2000]

Hey guys, over the past few days ive been trying to fix this issue myself and its been bugging me. I am currently experiencing low performance whilst playing Monser Hunter Wolrd. From looking around at other posts im assuming im bottlenecking the GPU but there are some screen shots that dont make sense to me later in this post.

My specs: GTX 1080 / AMD FX-8350 / 16gb ddr3 1866MHz / Gigabyte 970A-DS3P BOM

So the issuse I have is varying CPU usage which affects my fps in game. To make sure ive checked that the CPU, GPU and motherboard isnt over heating, and they arnt so that isnt the issue as far as im concerned. Also tried setting my PC power plan to High Performance and setting MHW to high priority in task manager, both to find no improvement.

This first screenshot shows high fps with high CPU usage in town hub ( Game capped at 60): https://gyazo.com/10e12ac1c4325ced45a331712e9481a5

Whereas this second one show low fps and low CPU usage whilst out on a quest:

https://gyazo.com/6cc9eb3798d5b45bc1cc8abac9b24f5b

Confsued as to why cpu usage lowers in a place where higher demand is needed as well.

If anyone has any experience with this issue themselves i would like to know a solution. Orrr, if its just classic signs of a bottleneck please do tell me so I can look to upgrade my cpu, thanks.

(Comment if you need more information and ill get it for you)

 

[The prime mediocre]

I read through a few performance analyses for this game just now and near release. It's hard to say whether it's the PC port or your CPU. The FX-8350 is somewhat old, but MHW threads very well.

How long does the frame rate stay down? What resolution are you running, and at what settings?

 

[lbragg2000]

Hey thanks for the reply. The frame rate will usually remain low until I get back to the town hub. Im running 1080p resolution. Settings i used at the time for the screenshot were:
https://gyazo.com/3932ccf69b37346c930f6f763129fa21
https://gyazo.com/837055292291fd2a9fc82e0135d94268
https://gyazo.com/94c2425b9c241401d868840657973a57

What ive noticed though is that smacking the settings up to max will not change performance and same with putting everything on low, GPU usage stays around 38% and same cpu usage problem occurs on high or low settings.

Thought i would add this as a bit off comparison. I recently replaced a GTX 960 for this 1080. When using the 960 i would get a max of 46 fps, but it was constant (I havnt got any screenshots of MSI Afterburner with the 960, if that would help I could get it). But now with 1080 ive experienced these issues, however its not all bad with such games as Rainbow Six Siege my performance has dramatically increased. Which high gpu and cpu usage to grant me excess of 120 fps on ultra settings. (https://gyazo.com/4bc95c6be4d578aaf13d83cfb7719250)

I have a feeling the low clock speed of my RAM might be an issue? Ive heard that high end graphics card are more sensitive to clock speeds. Just food for thought.

And Also just to note, The clock speed on the GPU line in the screen shots is actually the CPU clock speed. MSI afterburner shows under 2000MHz where as Task manager and CPU-Z show 4000MHz.

 

[The prime mediocre]

Yeah, I guess your CPU is kind of holding performance back--at least, it's true that newer, faster CPUs do better. However, the nature of the game and the quality of the PC port are more responsible. Like you say, other games run more smoothly. I don't know exactly how memory intensive Monster Hunter is, but 1866MHz is fast for DDR3, and there are not many games that improve significantly on DDR4.

I wouldn't immediately jump to a CPU upgrade. But it's the first thing you would need to do to get better performance in games.

Were I you, I'd just whack the settings up to max and live with the frame rate. But that's me! Sub-60FPS might not be acceptable for you. It's just that a platform upgrade is a big one. There are lots of games that will still run well. The FX-8xxx processors have and unusually long lifespan because they're basically higher-clocked versions of the CPUs in the PS4 and XBox One. In native, well-threaded PC games like Seige, you'll still see good performance. What games are you planning on playing in the future?

 

[lbragg2000]

There are not any specific games im planning on playing atm, but I would prefer the luxury of knowing that I can get the best experience out of a game and not having to lower the quality. So if i were to upgrade to DDR4 and say a Ryzen 1600X would you say that it would fix my current problem and set me up for main titles coming out in the future?

Also I would like to just ask, are these performance parterns with my CPU something to be worried about, or since its only appearing in Monster Hunter World should I assume its the game, because it could be a pattern with every high demand game (havnt got any other high demand games currently installed to test that theory)

 

[The prime mediocre]

Visual quality has more to do with the GPU. You can already set high graphics settings because you have a high-end graphics card.

Yes, a CPU upgrade would probably elevate you to a smooth 60FPS.

 

[lbragg2000]

If one part of my rig was the cause of my lower performance then what a GTX 1080 can give me, what part would it be? When actually looking into upgrading my specs though, replacing one part will cause me to upgrade the rest do to a motherboard change would be needed leading to other parts not compatible anymore.

 

[lbragg2000]

Thought id write to say that ive been able to fix my issue, i was reading through posts that sounded similar to my problem. Turns out that the lastest nvidia drivers are badly optimised for Monster Hunter. By using DDU to uninstall my current drivers and then installing the driver version 398.36 my issues are solved. In my case when i put in my new 1080 the drivers that first installed came with the issue. (398.86 and onwards seem to be the issue at the time of writing). Anyways thanks for all the suggestions and help 'the prime mediocre'.

 

[LunarDapp]

I read through a few performance analyses for this game just now and near release. It's hard to say whether it's the PC port or your CPU. The FX-8350 is somewhat old, but MHW threads very well.

How long does the frame rate stay down? What resolution are you running, and at what settings?

There is no way his CPU could be bottlenecking his GPU. If it were, the CPU would be maxing out. In his pictures, it wasn't.

 

[LunarDapp]

lbrag2000, could you please tell us what power supply you are using? Also, are you overclocking anything? And finally, have you made sure all of your drivers are updated(more specifically for the gpu).

 

[lbragg2000]

650W EVGA Gold and no overclocking, but i have been able to fix the issue with rolling back the drivers since MHW doesnt seem to be compatible with the newest nvidia drivers just yet.