Is the CPU Bottlenecking?

[George_106]

Recently built a new system with the following specs:
i5 6600k 3.5 Ghz
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
GTX 1080 FE
Asus z170 Pro gaming
16 Gb ram
Windows 10
1tb Samsung 850 Evo SSD

Given the specs, I expected pretty good performance in games so I fired up Hitman, turned all the settings up to max and tried out the new Marrakech level at 1920x1200 resolution. I was surprised to find that my fps were dropping into the mid-40's on the more crowded areas of the map. I checked into what the issue was and say that my CPU was at 100% usage, as the screens below show:

Looking at GPU usage, it never really gets higher than 75% during the same stretch of the game.

I noticed that my performance was lower than expected in other games too.
Here's what I've tried:
1. Unparked cores
2. Set a more aggressive fan profile to prevent overheating

Questions:
1. Is this normal behavior? Should I expect a game like Hitman to use 100% CPU? Checking around at some benchmarks suggests not.
2. What's the issue here? Is the CPU just not good enough or is there a problem?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Are you running at 4K? DX12?

There is no 'normal' yet, you are using a new game and a brand new GPU. The drivers may not be the best yet.

 

[George_106]

Running at DX12, 1920X1200. I was wondering about the drivers but other people are getting way better performance in the game with the same card. This video for example.

I understand that the GPU is brand new but if the issue is with the CPU I want to be able to return it within the 30 day window (bought it at Microcenter).

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Others seem to be doing better on the same CPU and weaker GPUs' so I think it is likely to be drivers.

 

[TerryLaze]

Running at DX12, 1920X1200. I was wondering about the drivers but other people are getting way better performance in the game with the same card. This video for example.

You were saying that you get "low" FPS in actual gameplay,why are you comparing this to a build in benchmark?
And one with a stronger CPU to boot.

 

[George_106]

The benchmark is lower too:
Benchmark Results:
---- CPU ----
8821 frames
76.72fps Average
11.58fps Min
315.00fps Max
13.03ms Average
3.17ms Min
86.35ms Max
---- GPU ----
8821 frames
77.15fps Average
10.95fps Min
1363.91fps Max
12.96ms Average
0.73ms Min
91.29ms Max