Question Is my CPU underperforming or is it the game's optimization ?

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hEEbyJeeBY

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Sep 27, 2015
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So I built a new computer about 3-4 months ago now. And I went full top of the line at the time, a 13900K and a 4090. I decided to wait to finish playing Red Dead Redemption 2, and to start playing Starfield and Hogwarts Legacy when I built it. All three games have very similar issues, and I'm wondering if everyone else has the same issues with these games, or if possibly my CPU is underperforming.

The problem specifically is that in all three of these games, any higher populated areas (RDR2 - Saint Denis, Starfield - Most major cities, Hogwarts Legacy - Some parts of Hogsmead, and about 30% of the larger areas of Hogwarts Castle), I seem to have some issues with frame drops and choking. In all three games I maintain a pretty high FPS, usually 160+. I know that population density and having to render large chunks at once is the CPU's job, not so much the GPU.

I ran an AIDA64 Extreme test for about 5 minutes at 100% load and I get an average of 85-90 for highs, and no thermal throttling. I used AIDA's thermal sensor readings during all three of these games in those areas, and the CPU doesn't seem to go much higher than 60-65, which is pretty normal for a lower load.

I'm just a stickler for performance and am wondering for anyone that has played these games with newer generation equipment has ran into these same issues, or if I need to figure out what my be throttling my CPU.
 
hEEbyJeeBY said:
In all three games I maintain a pretty high FPS, usually 160+.
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Is that before the drops (easier areas) or with the drops (heavy areas) ?
There is no way to have heavier areas give you the same FPS as easier areas unless you cut the performance on the easier areas, that's one of the mayor reasons you get a 60 FPS cut off for most console games, so you don't get wild swings in framerate.

Stuttering would be an issue, getting the corresponding FPS depending on scenario is not an issue.
 
TerryLaze said:
Is that before the drops (easier areas) or with the drops (heavy areas) ?
There is no way to have heavier areas give you the same FPS as easier areas unless you cut the performance on the easier areas, that's one of the mayor reasons you get a 60 FPS cut off for most console games, so you don't get wild swings in framerate.

Stuttering would be an issue, getting the corresponding FPS depending on scenario is not an issue.
Click to expand...
There are some areas that choke for a second, and the FPS doesn't even show itself going down, the game will just freeze for a fraction of a second, like 0.1-0.2 sec or something.
 
I'm playing hogwarts right now, and the FPS drops from about 180-200 FPS, down to about 80 in some spots at particular areas of the game. I use RivaTuner and it shows my CPU not going above 65C and the GPU not going above 55C, GPU Load Max: 63%, CPU Load Max: 31%.
 
I'm not an expert but from the articles I read, if your GPU or CPU are at high loads, like 90%+, while the opposite piece of hardware is significantly lower, that shows the cause of an underperformance. But it seems the loads on both are low.
 
Another thing I notice specifically on RDR2 and Hogwarts, is some characters and flora/terrain will not get full detail for a split second. The characters will render a second late, where they have the 'pop in' affect. And lets say a bush only 50-75 feet away will be in very low detail, and after a second or two will fully render. I know this is still the job of the CPU.
 
Also, is my CPU being fully utilized? I decided to show CPU loads on each thread, and they seems to be very different for each core/thread. I tried putting in a picture but I guess imgur doesn't work.

CPU1: 47%
2: 4%
3: 57%
4: 3%
5: 44%
6: 2%
7: 45%
8: 1%
9: 56%

Etc, etc for all 32 threads.
 
hEEbyJeeBY said:
Another thing I notice specifically on RDR2 and Hogwarts, is some characters and flora/terrain will not get full detail for a split second. The characters will render a second late, where they have the 'pop in' affect. And lets say a bush only 50-75 feet away will be in very low detail, and after a second or two will fully render. I know this is still the job of the CPU.
Click to expand...
What type of drive is the game installed on? SATA SSD, NVMe PCIe 3.0 or 4.0?
 
hEEbyJeeBY said:
Also, is my CPU being fully utilized? I decided to show CPU loads on each thread, and they seems to be very different for each core/thread. I tried putting in a picture but I guess imgur doesn't work.

CPU1: 47%
2: 4%
3: 57%
4: 3%
5: 44%
6: 2%
7: 45%
8: 1%
9: 56%

Etc, etc for all 32 threads.
Click to expand...
I can’t say specifically for those games but in my experience most games won’t use more than 12 threads. It is therefore very possible to be performance limited by 1 or more threads hitting close to 100% while others go largely unused. Were any of the 32 threads close to 100%?
 
Moonstick2 said:
Run GPU-Z and post the results here, in case that shows something up. Specifically PCIe speed.

Click the blue ? next to the speed to perform a mini stress test to check the maximum bus speed applied.
Click to expand...
pictures literally dont work on this website lol. everything gets denied
 
sizzling said:
I can’t say specifically for those games but in my experience most games won’t use more than 12 threads. It is therefore very possible to be performance limited by 1 or more threads hitting close to 100% while others go largely unused. Were any of the 32 threads close to 100%?
Click to expand...
Also on this, one thread went to 72% max, which was the highest, while other threads stayed at their regular loads.
 
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