Question How to fix CPU bottleneck on my new PC ?

[darceyo]

Hello. I have the CPU bottleneck in the most games on my totally new PC build.
I have RTX 4060 and i5-14500 and I can't believe it's bottlenecking.. but it is.

Any suggestions how to fix that?
I've tried to set the FPS limit and make the resolution higher than on my monitor but it's not always helping me...

 

[darceyo]

try to run cinebench 2024, if your multi score is above 900(?) , without throttling or overheating, your cpu is ok.
Try to look up similar cpu scores to confirm.
do not disable hyperthreading or e-cores
check gpu-z, what does bus interface say? click on the question mark to run the render test.

when running games, if possible, install intel presentmon and look at gpu busy and frametime numbers. if frametime is higher, then you likely have a cpu bottleneck.

Yeah, my score was something about 1400+ I don't remember it clearly. I tested my system there a week ago.
I had no throttling or overheating.
With the Hyperthreading I had more stutters than without it.
In the Bus Interface it says: PCle x8 4.0
I will check the Presentmon and will be back to you.

 

[darceyo]

Your I5-14500 has 6 cores which are hyperthreaded, and 8 efficient cores.
By turning off hyperthreading you have effectively cut your processing power to three main cores.
See how you do when you enable hyperthreading

No. I have 6 P-cores and 8 E-cores without the Hyperthreading (not 3 p-cores)... And they're used in the game.
With the hyperthreading I had more threads and more stuttering.

 

[darceyo]

Reset the BIOS to the optimized defaults and call it a day. You are clearly in over your head.

... I just will say that you are funny.

 

[logainofhades]

We need to see screenshots of actual CPU and GPU usage when playing these games. MSI afterburner has an on screen display option that can provide those numbers. You will never see full CPU utilzation if games are not able to take advantage of the cores/threads you have available. For instance, I only play WoW, and it really only uses 4c/4t, so the CPU utilization of my 12700k is stupid low.

 

[MrstimX]

Reset the BIOS to the optimized defaults and call it a day. You are clearly in over your head.

its not a bad idea tbh

 

[darceyo]

its not a bad idea tbh

Maybe BCLK overclocking can fix that issue with the stutters, maybe the game want higher clocks?
Is that safe to do that on such CPU?

 

[PiersPlowman]

Maybe BCLK overclocking can fix that issue with the stutters, maybe the game want higher clocks?
Is that safe to do that on such CPU?

Who's that trip-trapping on my bridge?

For the benefit of others rather than our obtuse OP, overclocking and MOAR overclocking rarely lead to greater stability. In fact, overclocking the BCLK by even low digit increases can introduce GPU and I/O instability since every device on the bus will now be overdriven.

 

[darceyo]

Who's that trip-trapping on my bridge?

For the benefit of others rather than our obtuse OP, overclocking and MOAR overclocking rarely lead to greater stability. In fact, overclocking the BCLK by even low digit increases can introduce GPU and I/O instability since every device on the bus will now be overdriven.

All I see in his words is "Ignore me, don't pay any attention"

 

[MrstimX]

Maybe BCLK overclocking can fix that issue with the stutters, maybe the game want higher clocks?
Is that safe to do that on such CPU?

I dont think you can overclock the 14500.
I guess just update to latest win 11, load bios defaults and test.
If there's still issues, just disable e-cores. leave hyperthreading enabled.

 

[logainofhades]

All I see in his words is "Ignore me, don't pay any attention"

Which is what you are doing to people trying to help you by seeing what your bottleneck actually is. Nobody can truly help you without all relevant information asked.

 

[darceyo]

I dont think you can overclock the 14500.
I guess just update to latest win 11, load bios defaults and test.
If there's still issues, just disable e-cores. leave hyperthreading enabled.

I had much more stutters on Win11 that's why I'm on Win10 currently.
The default BIOS did nothing except reseting all of my settings.
Without the E-Cores I see more/same stuttering, and not matter if the hyperthreading is enabled.

Also... Is that ok that I see the micro stutters in 99% of Unreal Engine games? (UE4 and UE5)
I had smooth gameplay only in Rocket League (which is made on Unreal).

 

[Barry_4]

Hello. I have the CPU bottleneck in the most games on my totally new PC build.
I have RTX 4060 and i5-14500 and I can't believe it's bottlenecking.. but it is.

Any suggestions how to fix that?
I've tried to set the FPS limit and make the resolution higher than on my monitor but it's not always helping me...

At what resolution? 1080p low?
That CPU should generally not bottleneck 4060. Check if it's defective.
Generally speaking, a simple solution to CPU bottleneck is to up your graphics settings.

 

[USAFRet]

At what resolution? 1080p low?
That CPU should generally not bottleneck 4060. Check if it's defective.
Generally speak, a simple solution to CPU bottleneck is to up your graphics settings.

The real solution to "bottleneck" is to ignore that B word, and concentrate on performance.

 

[Barry_4]

The real solution to "bottleneck" is to ignore that B word, and concentrate on performance.

Nah, don't ignore it. Unless already on 4K ultra with full RT, one should absolutely turn up the graphics until the CPU and GPU are matched for a given game. You've paid for that GPU, be sure to put it to full utilization. Plus CPU bottleneck does not make for a good gaming experience.

 

[USAFRet]

Nah, don't ignore it. Unless already on 4K ultra with full RT, one should absolutely turn up the graphics until the CPU and GPU are matched for a given game. You've paid for that GPU, be sure to put it to full utilization. Plus CPU bottleneck does not make for a good gaming experience.

As said...'increase performance'. Not 'decrease bottleneck'.

 

[darceyo]

As said...'increase performance'. Not 'decrease bottleneck'.

If you mean FPS as performance here, then I can say, it's not matter which FPS you have if you have the stuttering. Just imagine playing the game at 240 FPS and there just boom, that stupid stutter occurs, like 1 of your 240 frames was totally destroyed.

I really don't know if it's noticeable for you... but for me it's like something that don't give me to play peacefully.
Not really matter which FPS I have: 60, 120, 165, 240...

 

[darceyo]

At what resolution? 1080p low?

Yea 1080p.
Not matter which settings I have: low, medium, high, very high, ultra.

Is that normal that all Unreal Engine games have micro stuttering?

 

[Barry_4]

If you mean FPS as performance here, then I can say, it's not matter which FPS you have if you have the stuttering. Just imagine playing the game at 240 FPS and there just boom, that stupid stutter occurs, like 1 of your 240 frames was totally destroyed.

I really don't know if it's noticeable for you... but for me it's like something that don't give me to play peacefully.
Not really matter which FPS I have: 60, 120, 165, 240...

It's definitely not normal to have noticeable CPU bottleneck even at 1080p with your components. I don't know if it's related to Unreal. Did you check CPU temp and wattage? Temp spike can cause throttling that leads to momentary stuttering

 

[USAFRet]

If you mean FPS as performance here, then I can say, it's not matter which FPS you have if you have the stuttering. Just imagine playing the game at 240 FPS and there just boom, that stupid stutter occurs, like 1 of your 240 frames was totally destroyed.

I really don't know if it's noticeable for you... but for me it's like something that don't give me to play peacefully.
Not really matter which FPS I have: 60, 120, 165, 240...

Not just FPS, but also graphic quality.

Frames per sec comes mostly from the CPU.
Eyecandy graphics from the GPU.

Keep the same CPU and swap in a better GPU, you get the same FPS, with better graphics.

 

[CelicaGT]

I had much more stutters on Win11 that's why I'm on Win10 currently.
The default BIOS did nothing except reseting all of my settings.
Without the E-Cores I see more/same stuttering, and not matter if the hyperthreading is enabled.

Also... Is that ok that I see the micro stutters in 99% of Unreal Engine games? (UE4 and UE5)
I had smooth gameplay only in Rocket League (which is made on Unreal).

Stuttering is a widely known issue with many, many UE4 and UE5 engine based games. I'd suggest a general internet search for the specific game and the type of stuttering (micro, intermittent etc). Based on what I have read here I do not believe you have a hardware issue. Please note that often times, for things like this there is no one size fits all solution due to different hardware and software configurations. Also consider that sometimes, there is no end user fix. You may have to put up with it, or not play the game, until such time that the developer enacts a fix.

Additionally:

To determine when you are CPU limited, run Task Manager, Performance tab, View Logical Processors.

To determine when you are GPU limited, use GPU-z or MSI Afterburner.

Any readings above 95%, due to polling rates, that core/GPU is at full utilization. You can also use these utilities to determine if you are achieving full clock speed from each component.

It is normal and fine for one of these things to be true!

If neither the CPU, or GPU are fully tapped, another part of the system is limiter. This can be storage, RAM, network etc. The GAME ENGINE can limit performance in this fashion. There is no fix for this. This is worth a general Internet search, to see if others have observed the issue. Tom's Hardware is a great resource but unless someone is having the exact same issue on the exact piece of software (game) it's unlikely you'll get much in the way of targeted advice. Consult game forums, Reddit etc as well.