[SOLVED] Far Cry 5 High CPU Usage / Temperature

[elvis812]

I hope this isn't a redundant post but I just started playing Far Cry 5 so this is new to me. I'm seeing high CPU usage/temperature when playing Far Cry 5. The CPU fan is spinning like crazy! It's not overheating, but it's close! I've played Red Dead Redemption 2, The Outer Worlds, Control, Metro Exodus, etc. all on Ultra High settings with 100 to 140+ FPS without this problem. It only happens with Far Cry 5. I've lowered the settings to Normal and tried limiting the FPS to 60 but it didn't help. Anyone have any other suggestions? Here's my system info:

Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU: 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8700 6-Core Processor (12MB Cache, up to 4.6 GHz)
RAM: 16 GB
Graphics: 4GB ATI AMD Radeon RX 570
Storage: 256 GB SSD

I'd appreciate any assistance with this. Thanks!

 

[CosmicDance]

Far Cry 5 is very CPU intensive as opposed to Red Dead 2 which on my Ryzen 3700X I can run in Windows Power Saver mode at 2200 MHZ just fine as it is more GPU intensive.

As FC5 is pushing your CPU hard and you are close to overheating you probably have a cooling issue.
Check your temperature with the side of your PC case off to see if it is a ventilation issue.
If it's considerably cooler then more fans may help.

Also check your CPU cooler for dust build up and that it is mounted properly as sometimes they wear out and dislodge.
If all looks well then re-applying thermal paste might help as that can often be the issue.

Andy

 

[Rodrigodrt]

I don't see any problems unless the frames are bad, on an ideal world everything would run on 100% meaning its being fully utilized, and there's no caps on that, it delivers as much as it can deliver, sure high usage generates heat, so you need better cooling... unfortunatelly you cannot change the demand on the cpu by a given program... you could also manage core voltages and etc to reduce heat a bit, but any self respecting cooling solution should keep it cool at 100% usage.

 

[CompuTronix]

... high CPU usage/temperature ... It's not overheating, but it's close! ... only happens with Far Cry 5 ... i7-8700 ...

elvis812,

On behalf of Tom's Moderator Team, welcome aboard!

••• Please define what "not overheating" means in terms of specific Core temperatures.

You can't depend on Task Manager or utilities such as MSI Afterburner to be anywhere near accurate concerning CPU "usage" or "utilization", since they won't tell you if your CPU is in an actual overloaded or underloaded "workload" condition.

For example, actual workload conditions among different "game" titles vary widely, just as they do among different "stress" tests. Here’s a comparison of stress test utilities grouped as thermal and stability tests according to "% of TDP", averaged across six processor Generations at stock settings rounded to the nearest 5%:

​

Although these tests range from 70% to 130% TDP workload, it's interesting to note that Windows Task Manager interprets every test as 100% CPU utilization, which is processor resource activity, NOT actual workload.

As you can see from the scale, Task Manager or MSI Afterburner major shortcomings are that they only scale to 100% "utilization" or "usage", and they don't scale in terms of actual "workload". It's clear from Intel's Datasheets that a CPU is at 100% workload only when it's at 100% TDP (Thermal Design Power), which is the only instance when Task Manager or Afterburner happens to be accurate.

To be clear, when actual power consumption (watts) = your CPU's rated TDP, then you're at 100% TDP workload. Keep in mind that Core temperatures are driven by actual power consumption (watts), which correlates to "workload", NOT "usage".

Since Task Manager and Afterburner don't indicate true workload, they're only a very "general" indication of what your CPU is actually doing. If you run a utility from the above scale that will cause your 8700 to run at 125% TDP "workload", Task Manager will still only show "100% "utilization".

Instead of focusing on CPU "utilization" or"usage", if you want to accurately compare the actual true workloads and the resulting Core temperatures of different games, then you need to run a utility such as Hardware Info (select "Sensors-only") that can "log" the peak or maximum power (watts) your i7-8700 is consuming during each game.

When "power consumption" is compared to MSI Afterburner or Task Manager CPU "usage" or "utilization", you'll have a clear picture of why Core temperatures are higher during certain game titles. Don't forget to reset Hardware Info before running each game, so that the values being logged will correspond to the game being tested.

Once again, welcome aboard!

CT