GTX 1080 won't use even 3 GB of memory, power management mode is set to maximum performance.

[nightly1029]

My GTX 1080 is slowly adjusting my memory usage by how much it thinks I need. I just ran Witcher 3 at 4k UHD and max/ultra settings. According to EVGA Precision, my card only used 2700 MB. I know it's capable of more, because it very slowly adjusted megabyte by megabyte to reach around 2850 MB. This took more than a couple minutes.

EDIT: I was unspecific in the context of my situation. My Witcher 3 FPS can't reach 50. My GPU usage is pinned at 99%, but my memory usage is constantly under 3 GB, never giving me enough juice to have enough frames to match my monitor refresh rate.

Here's what my EVGA precision looks like with Witcher 3 running.

My specs are:
EVGA GTX 1080
i7-5930k 3.5GHz
800W Modular power supply
16GB DDR4 2133 RAM
Windows 10 64-bit
Updated video card drivers
Power Management Mode tested both on Adaptive and prefer maximum performance
Witcher 3 put me at 20% CPU usage (no core was maxed) and 50% RAM usage, pretty sure there's no bottleneck.

Also did a Furmark test. It said I had I was using 8% of my memory, but the GPU usage was capped at 99% and my FPS were only in the 40s. Something isn't assigning the video card enough memory.

I really appreciate your time, thank you!

 

[Shaun o]

Just because a card can have up to for example 8Gb of texture and storage memory fitted to it.
Does not mean that all 8Gb of memory will be used when playing any sort of game.

nightly1029

The memory on the graphics card is there and designed because it is quicker to access data and texture information for a game stored closer to the Gpu of the card.

It acts as a cache, where when required depending on the scene and what is generated and the complexity of the scene where it is also buffered from the main system memory of the computer or the storage device and updated from there.

It will always fluctuate in the size and capacity of the memory used on the graphics card.
If the game runs smoothly without and noticeable screen tearing or, brief stutter or pausing in a new location of the game map, where the level of detail changes or the images, scene is more complex the card is doing its job right.

It is the size also of each texture used in a scene and how many are used at once at a set screen resolution.
Most graphics cards can in fact compress textures for a game, store them in the memory of the graphics card it`s self.
To save memory space and un compress them on the fly as, and when needed to be drawn or applied to an object nightly1029.

All cards do this.

 

[CelicaGT]

Not even sure what you are asking here, but your card will only use the memory it needs, as the software (game) dictates. If you aren't using it all fine...doesn't matter. Memory usage is based usually on texture resolution etc etc and will vary from game to game, scene to scene. It's not supposed to be maxed...if it is NOW you have an issue...

 

[nightly1029]

Not even sure what you are asking here, but your card will only use the memory it needs, as the software (game) dictates. If you aren't using it all fine...doesn't matter. Memory usage is based usually on texture resolution etc etc and will vary from game to game, scene to scene. It's not supposed to be maxed...if it is NOW you have an issue...

The issue is I'm not receiving enough memory to get 60 FPS in the Witcher 3. I am receiving 2.8 GB of memory (according to EVGA precision) and getting 35 FPS. Regardless if Vsync was turned on anywhere or not, I should have higher FPS, right? Every card I've ever owned in the past (just upgraded from 980 TI) would max the memory usage far before it maxed my GPU usage. This card seems to be throttling my memory even when it needs it. I don't know about you, but if I spend $4,000+ on a computer, I want my frames to be high, and memory usage to be fully utilized.

 

[nightly1029]

Just because a card can have up to for example 8Gb of texture and storage memory fitted to it.
Does not mean that all 8Gb of memory will be used when playing any sort of game.

nightly1029

The memory on the graphics card is there and designed because it is quicker to access data and texture information for a game stored closer to the Gpu of the card.

It acts as a cache, where when required depending on the scene and what is generated and the complexity of the scene where it is also buffered from the main system memory of the computer or the storage device and updated from there.

It will always fluctuate in the size and capacity of the memory used on the graphics card.
If the game runs smoothly without and noticeable screen tearing or, brief stutter or pausing in a new location of the game map, where the level of detail changes or the images, scene is more complex the card is doing its job right.

It is the size also of each texture used in a scene and how many are used at once at a set screen resolution.
Most graphics cards can in fact compress textures for a game, store them in the memory of the graphics card it`s self.
To save memory space and un compress them on the fly as, and when needed to be drawn or applied to an object nightly1029.

All cards do this.

I don't seem to be getting any better FPS with this card then with my 980 TI. My Witcher 3 won't pass 40 FPS, yet the GPU usage is 99% and memory usage is under 3 GB. Something is throttling the memory usage, even if I need it.

 

[CelicaGT]

4k you CANNOT get 60 fps with this card on this game. Memory is not your issue.

(edit) Memory usage is not tied to GPU utilization, not sure where you are getting your data from.

 

[InvalidError]

Does Windows automatically use your whole 16GB RAM? No, it either leaves it free or assigns it to the disk cache until applications actually need it.

Does your hardware automatically use 1000W if you install a 1000W PSU? No, your components will only draw as much power as they require to accommodate the current load and the PSU will only deliver what the system demands even if that is only 50W.

If your game uses 3GB worth of resources including copies, then GPU memory usage will be ~3GB regardless of how much more than 3GB of VRAM your GPU has, just like how an application that uses 2GB of system RAM will still use only 2GB even if you have 64GB installed.

 

[nightly1029]

4k you CANNOT get 60 fps with this card on this game. Memory is not your issue.

(edit) Memory usage is not tied to GPU utilization, not sure where you are getting your data from.

Does Windows automatically use your whole 16GB RAM? No, it either leaves it free or assigns it to the disk cache until applications actually need it.

Does your hardware automatically use 1000W if you install a 1000W PSU? No, your components will only draw as much power as they require to accommodate the current load and the PSU will only deliver what the system demands even if that is only 50W.

If your game uses 3GB worth of resources including copies, then GPU memory usage will be ~3GB regardless of how much more than 3GB of VRAM your GPU has, just like how an application that uses 2GB of system RAM will still use only 2GB even if you have 64GB installed.

So this means the video card is hitting its cap somewhere, just not the memory usage? I guess I've never owned a card that didn't use all of my video memory, even my 980 TI used every bit of it on countless games and applications

 

[USAFRet]

So this means the video card is hitting its cap somewhere, just not the memory usage? I guess I've never owned a card that didn't use all of my video memory, even my 980 TI used every bit of it on countless games and applications

The issue is trying to play that particular game at 4k, from a single GTX 1080.
The CPU in that graphics card is maxed out trying to push that 4k. If you had 32GB VRAM, you would see no difference. The card can't do any more.

 

[CelicaGT]

4k you CANNOT get 60 fps with this card on this game. Memory is not your issue.

(edit) Memory usage is not tied to GPU utilization, not sure where you are getting your data from.

Does Windows automatically use your whole 16GB RAM? No, it either leaves it free or assigns it to the disk cache until applications actually need it.

Does your hardware automatically use 1000W if you install a 1000W PSU? No, your components will only draw as much power as they require to accommodate the current load and the PSU will only deliver what the system demands even if that is only 50W.

If your game uses 3GB worth of resources including copies, then GPU memory usage will be ~3GB regardless of how much more than 3GB of VRAM your GPU has, just like how an application that uses 2GB of system RAM will still use only 2GB even if you have 64GB installed.

So this means the video card is hitting its cap somewhere, just not the memory usage? I guess I've never owned a card that didn't use all of my video memory, even my 980 TI used every bit of it on countless games and applications

I've been doing this a real long time....since the GeForce 256 and I've never seen a card use all it's frame buffer unless said card was memory limited, say like a 2 gig card on Skyrim with HD textures. Team Green has marketed the 1080 as 4k ready but it's not...well not at ultra anyways. You are GPU bound....plain and simple. Make sure drivers were cleaned before you reinstalled etc etc turn settings down starting with that hellbeast Hairworks.

 

[InvalidError]

So this means the video card is hitting its cap somewhere, just not the memory usage? I guess I've never owned a card that didn't use all of my video memory, even my 980 TI used every bit of it on countless games and applications

It means that Witcher 3 on the 1080 with your settings does not require any more memory than that.

As the other two said, your 99% GPU usage indicates that you are "GPU-bound" - which means that some of the GPU's processing resources are all used up. If you want higher frame rates, you will have to reduce GPU-intensive graphics details like anti-aliasing, fancy lighting, volumetric shadows, motion blur, depth-of-field blur, etc.

 

[Jaime_arg]

My GTX 1080 is slowly adjusting my memory usage by how much it thinks I need. I just ran Witcher 3 at 4k UHD and max/ultra settings. According to EVGA Precision, my card only used 2700 MB. I know it's capable of more, because it very slowly adjusted megabyte by megabyte to reach around 2850 MB. This took more than a couple minutes.

EDIT: I was unspecific in the context of my situation. My Witcher 3 FPS can't reach 50. My GPU usage is pinned at 99%, but my memory usage is constantly under 3 GB, never giving me enough juice to have enough frames to match my monitor refresh rate.

Here's what my EVGA precision looks like with Witcher 3 running.

My specs are:
EVGA GTX 1080
i7-5930k 3.5GHz
800W Modular power supply
16GB DDR4 2133 RAM
Windows 10 64-bit
Updated video card drivers
Power Management Mode tested both on Adaptive and prefer maximum performance
Witcher 3 put me at 20% CPU usage (no core was maxed) and 50% RAM usage, pretty sure there's no bottleneck.

Also did a Furmark test. It said I had I was using 8% of my memory, but the GPU usage was capped at 99% and my FPS were only in the 40s. Something isn't assigning the video card enough memory.

I really appreciate your time, thank you!

Maybe to late to anwser but i could be usefull for others...

First of all, if the game is not correctly optimized for those who designed it, then it doesnt matter what you put on your hadware it would never reach your expectations, this is why you always should check the results published of the game performance.

Second. having for example 8gb VRAM it doesnt mean it would use all the the VRAM simultaneously, because it also depends on the bus which dictates the "amount" of information being send (and back) at once to the VRAM, and depends on the clock speed wich dictates how fast that information would reach (and back) the VRAM.

If, assuming the game is perfectly optimizated for reach lets say 60fps), and you have 8gb of vram but your bus (memory bandwith) is not as big as it needs then you would having a bottleneck for that game. then you may ask, why they do a video card this way?.

Well, usually even if you cant acces all the memory at once it is still better than having the short amount that it can acces at once. So this way it can still hold some data for use it next. An example:

If you have 4gb of vram and a determinated bus and bandwith, and the next graphic card it has 8gb of vram but the same clockspeed and bus, the overall improvement it wont be directly proportional as one may thing, giving you an improvement of 100%. but instead it would be an improvement of maybe 60%. This is usefull still, because it is an improvemnt. When you work with graphic software as 3ds max, this improvement it is very important, since a lot of data needed for calculations it has to be holding on the vram.

Hope it been usefull!!