Question GPU usage less than 6%

[babaQrana]

Hi,

I can't make my GPU usage to go over 6%. It used to work fine, without any problems, but now usage is poor.

Here are MSI Afterburner screenshots:
imgur.com/a/6e7q4DF
imgur.com/10agEkq

Ori and the blind forest was the game used for testing purposes. I finished this game multiple times on the same PC specs without any problems whatsoever, and everything was smooth an perfect.

Here is a video that shows current in-game FPS and GPU Usage:
youtu.be/glYSd8kfS7w

My problem is not game related. Everything that needs GPU, either runs on low FPS or can't run at all. WebGL is one of the examples.

Nothing is running in the Windows background.

My specs:
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 @ 2.66Ghz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R
Ram: 4x 2GB DDR2 ( 8GB )
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Things I've tried:
Reinstalling Windows
Changing Windows power option to High performance and Nvidia power management mode to maximum performance
Checked for Malwarebytes as someone suggested on other threads
Removing secondary HDD from PC
Uninstalling drivers with DDU ( Display Driver Uninstaller ) and install the latest drivers ( 342.01 ) from Nvidia
Uninstalling drivers with DDU ( Display Driver Uninstaller ) and install older drivers ( 331.58 ) from Nvidia

Any advice?
Thank you in advance.

*English is not my native language - sorry

 

[Grobe]

Does the computer have any unstabilities or other fault other than this ?

 

[babaQrana]

No, at least I don't see any other issues. Any tests to be sure?

 

[VADemon]

Please include the first screenshot of GPU-Z as you start it. Also check the sensors tab to make sure it's not running on very low clocks despite game running.

Open Task Manager, go to 4th tab "Performance" (between "Services" and "Networking"), there you can launch "Resource Monitor..." - go to the overview tab of Resource Monitor and see whether there is significant load anywhere. I'd love Process Explorer more, but that could do already.

 

[babaQrana]

Here is a GPU-Z Screenshot:
imgur.com/vMRKxZs

Which section in Resource Monitor you would like to see?

 

[VADemon]

Good news: You can overclock your CPU.
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/q9400-overclocking-not-so-bad.348215/
https://www.reddit.com/r/overclocki...eezing_the_last_bit_of_performance_out_of_my/
https://www.hardwaresecrets.com/gigabyte-ga-p35c-ds3r-motherboard-review/8/

Bad news: The reason I asked you for the GPU-Z screenshot is that there could've been a regression in PCIe speed. Now I couldn't find if your mainboard supports PCIe 1.1 or 2.0 - based on time of release it should've been 2.0 capable. Either way, 16x PCIe1.1 is not the source.

Resource Monitor: I hoped you'd be able to see some charts with crazily high values or something at 100%. At this point you can get ProcessExplorer let it run in background and launch the game like in the video. Then minimise the game, click on two graphs at the top of ProcessExplorer: one for CPU (green) and one for Memory (orange) - screenshot both windows side by side.
Also see for yourself that no process goes like 100% CPU or has high memory usage.

PS: I recommend you to buy a newer used GPU in the 20-40$ range to play newer games. The CPU is not too bad. Scroll down the performance chart here for possible upgrade choices. (look around 300%-400%)

 

[babaQrana]

Thank you VADemon, really appreciate your effort.

Yeah, I can overclock my CPU, but that will not fix my GPU issue, right?

I have no idea whether it is 1.1 or 2.0. Any way to find out?

Process Explorer screenshots:
imgur.com/LyroVUG

GPU usage in Process Explorer is around 100%?
imgur.com/NYiaZ5V

I plan to build my new PC in the future, so I didn't want to invest money in 10+ years old computer ( if I don't have to ). Also, I am not sure will my issue persist if I change GPU to a new one?

 

[babaQrana]

I still have this issue. Can someone help me here?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[dotas1]

The only thing I can think of, is to try your card in another PC and see if it utilises more than that. That way you can rule out GPU being in it's end of life.

 

[babaQrana]

Hi dotas1,

I'll let you know as soon as I try it on a different PC.

Thank you for the response.