Question Laptop w/ low GPU usage in games, but not benchmarks - manufacturer is no help

Jun 28, 2019
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Hey guys,

I got a laptop a few months ago - an Eluktronics MECH-17 G1R. I'm getting heavily fluctuating GPU usage in intensive games, going from 50% to 97%, which results in fluctuating FPS. CPU usage seems to fluctuate too, in the 20%-80% area, although FPS seems to correlate more with GPU usage than CPU usage. Generally, both of them are well below 100. For example, at any given time the CPU might be staying at 30% while GPU is staying at 70%. Yes, I turn Vsync and framelock off in every game. GPU temp stays at 60 to 75c while gaming, CPU at 70 to 80c. I use a cooling pad.

In Unigine Superposition and Heaven benchmarks, GPU stays at ~97%, CPU in low 10s. UserBenchmark doesn't show anything wrong either.

I had a pretty long correspondence with Eluktronics about this. Eventually they asked me to send the laptop to them and I did. I have it back now and they said they updated the BIOS and EC and adjusted the settings on Battlefield 5, but I think that's it. The problem still remains. I don't really think they understood there was a problem in the first place. In their own words, "The GPU utilizing 80 % is a good thing this means it is handling the game while only using 80%" . I don't think that's true unless there is a frame cap, which there is not.

Games I have tested and have this problem with:
Battlefield 5
Far Cry 5 and New Dawn
XCom 2
Fallout 4


I have used a variety of different GPU driver versions, done a full system reset several times, uninstalled drivers with DDU and reinstalled, and played with power settings. Nothing has worked.

Here are my specs:
CPU: Intel Core i7-8750H
GPU: Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070, with Intel UHD Graphics 630 integrated graphics
RAM: ADATA 16 GB 2666 MHz DDR4
Motherboard: Mech-17 G1Rx, Coffee Lake Chipset
SSD: 512GB ADATA SX8200PNP
 
Jun 28, 2019
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If you max out the settings to Celling , does the usage go close to 99%? As it should (on GPU).
Which software do you use to monitor the usage?

MSI afterburner with riva tuner displays in game statistics.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIlMRRlKQGg&t=2s

Thanks for the response. I've used both MSI Afterburner and NZXT to monitor stats. The behavior I described in my post applies no matter how high or low I turn the graphics settings. Weirdly, though, when I turn up supersampling in a game, the GPU usage goes up and becomes more constant. When I turn it up enough for the usage to be ~99%, the framerate becomes unplayeably low, so that isn't a fix. That's the ONLY thing I do that makes the usage and framerate consistent - although only consistently low framerate. With low settings or with maxed out settings, the GPU usage is about the same, the only thing that varies is the framerate range slightly.
 
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Jun 28, 2019
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Also, I noticed some weird things when I first got the computer which may or may not be important:

First, there was already a windows account on the computer, called Admin. The computer was already logged into it.

Second, there was a program open, a very small window with maybe two lines of text. I don't remember what it was called (win-something?), but when I googled it I think it was for developers or manufacturers to test or set up Windows 10. I clicked a button on the window (dumb idea) and then the computer restarted and let me set up Windows normally.

Third, I ordered a computer with a RTX 2060, but it came with an RTX 2070. I didn't mention this to the manufacturer because I figured this was a good thing.