Low fps, high cpu, low gpu usage - unusual case

[rHEp]

Hi,
I have read a lot of threads about low gpu and high cpu usage, but I found no solution to my problem.

My rig: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PbBPXH

I bought this PC around 4 months ago. Everything was perfect, until two days ago. I had high fps in demanding games on ultra settings. However, two days ago, out of nowhere, fps dropped to 15-25 in all games when previously I had like 100+fps. I changed nothing nor I installed anything. I have no idea what is the root cause of this. It is worth noting that I have low fps all the time, these are not spikes that a lot of people are reporting.

Things I have done:
-checked temperatures (totally fine - nothing here)
-checked GPU (installed my friends gtx 1060 into my rig - problem persisted)
-monitored cpu and gpu usage (here is a strange thing - I noticed that in game like PlayersUnknown Battleground I have high gpu usage in menu and arround 80-90fps but once game starts my gpu goes down to 0-20% usage and cpu raises to 95-100%)
-uinstalled drivers using DDU in safe mode and installed newest one
-tweaked a lot of settings in nvidia control panel that I found in the web
-resintalled windows 10 (fresh copy, full wipe), installed newest gtx driver - problem persist

I have no idea whats going on. It is hardware problem?

Thanks for any help

 

[Nighterlev]

Strange. If you've already messed with the Nvidia Control Panel and tried the "Preferred maximum performance setting" then honestly I'm not entirely sure what you could do. Your build seems rather perfect after all.

Minus the fact that your HDD is just..Terrible. Seagate Barracuda.. $60...What? Why would you buy that? Just why?
The Western Digital 1TB HDD is so much better in every single way, even has better read/write times and it's $50.

I'd say the root of your problems is likely your HDD not letting the games access enough information, hence the high CPU usage but low GPU usage because none of the correct info can get read off of the HDD, resulting in the CPU constantly trying and only just barely getting it to work.

(The CPU has to tell the GPU what to do etc etc..and if the GPU can't access any of the assets it needs off of the HDD, then you'll get strange problems like high CPU and low GPU usages scenarios)

So yes, I'd say the problem is your HDD because that's honestly the only bad thing I can find about your system. The HDD is just terrible, get a Western Digital 1TB HDD instead.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/MwW9TW/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex

 

[rHEp]

Strange. If you've already messed with the Nvidia Control Panel and tried the "Preferred maximum performance setting" then honestly I'm not entirely sure what you could do. Your build seems rather perfect after all.

Minus the fact that your HDD is just..Terrible. Seagate Barracuda.. $60...What? Why would you buy that? Just why?
The Western Digital 1TB HDD is so much better in every single way, even has better read/write times and it's $50.

I'd say the root of your problems is likely your HDD not letting the games access enough information, hence the high CPU usage but low GPU usage because none of the correct info can get read off of the HDD, resulting in the CPU constantly trying and only just barely getting it to work.

(The CPU has to tell the GPU what to do etc etc..and if the GPU can't access any of the assets it needs off of the HDD, then you'll get strange problems like high CPU and low GPU usages scenarios)

So yes, I'd say the problem is your HDD because that's honestly the only bad thing I can find about your system. The HDD is just terrible, get a Western Digital 1TB HDD instead.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/MwW9TW/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex

Hi, thanks for reply.
I have another 256GB SSD drive where I keep all my games, so it is not a HDD fault.

 

[AlternativeFactsForPresident]

Where do you store your drivers?
On the hdd or ssd?

 

[rHEp]

Where do you store your drivers?
On the hdd or ssd?

System along with programs, games and drivers are kept on SSD. On HDD I keep regular data like pictures, word files etc.

 

[Nighterlev]

Have you tried using the card without the GFX driver?

 

[rHEp]

Have you tried using the card without the GFX driver?

No.
I found one game that works normally - Resident Evil 7. I have no idea why is it running smooth with 80 fps at ultra. Gpu usage is normal and I had no spikes nor nothing. However in every other game I have the same problem Ive described :/

 

[rHEp]

Ive found the problem. I noticed that CPU is stuck on 800MHz so I googled about it and found a common issue with my motherboard and SLOW MODE. I never touched the switch, but slow mode activated himself, even when switch was set to default.

I fixed it by switching the switch to the middle (B position) and switching it back to default.

Here is a video to demonstrate the problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWLnn_qWsBg

 

[tedfogg]

I’m having the same exact issue but my MB does not have that switch! I have a Gigabyte Designare board, Eight corsair vengeance ram, an i9 processor, 3 1-TB Samsung SSD’s and the new MSI Seahawk GPU.
At the moment I’m rendering a blender animation and the task manager says the CPU is at 100%, memory at about 20%, disk 0%, and this brand new water cooled Seahawk is at 0.4% 😱 Lightworks and Wondershare Fillmore are pretty much the same, OBS is a little better but not much. I too have watched every video ever made about getting the computer to prefer the GPU over the CPU... I don’t really understand bottlenecks but I don’t see how that could be an issue with my equipment. Any ideas??