Low GPU & CPU utilization leading to very low performance?

[BlueMihai]

I just finished my new secondary build, but I am experiencing awful performance almost on any game. My fps in games is incredibly low comparing to what I should be getting. The CPU load and GPU load never go even near 100% and just stay near something like 50% most of the time, I have 16gb of ram so that shouldn´t be an issue either.

Below are some screenshots displaying the CPU and GPU usage + FPS
Vsync is disabled in all of them, and the temperatures were fine aswell so the PC was not throttling.

• 
  Star Wars: Battlefront screens here.
  Battlefield 4 screens here.
  Alien Isolation screens here.
  CSGO screens here.
  GTA V screens here.
  Space engineers screens here.
  League of Legends I do not have screens of, but it was running 44-120fps.
  I have no idea why, but this PC was getting better fps on LoL with am AMD HD 4560

System specs:

Spoiler

CPU (s) = 2x Xeon 5355x
GPU = Gainward Phantom 780 Ti
RAM = 16GB DDR2 ECC
MOBO = 0DT031
PSU = 750W (the one that comes with Dell Precision 490)
Storage = SSD + 1.5TB HDD
OS = Windows 8.1 Pro

System Specs from Aida64:

Spoiler

Field Value
Computer
Computer Type ACPI x64-based PC
Operating System Microsoft Windows 8.1 Professional
OS Service Pack [ TRIAL VERSION ]
Internet Explorer 11.0.9600.18125
DirectX DirectX 11.2
Computer Name TOUR
User Name MixU
Logon Domain [ TRIAL VERSION ]
Date / Time 2015-12-30 / 18:54

Motherboard
CPU Type 2x QuadCore Intel Xeon X5355, 2666 MHz (8 x 333)
Motherboard Name Dell Precision WorkStation 490
Motherboard Chipset Intel Greencreek 5000X
System Memory [ TRIAL VERSION ]
DIMM-A1: Kingston KINGSTON 4 GB DDR2-667 ECC DDR2 SDRAM FB-DIMM (3-3-3-9 @ 200 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz) (5-5-5-15 @ 333 MHz)
DIMM-B1: Kingston KINGSTON 4 GB DDR2-667 ECC DDR2 SDRAM FB-DIMM (3-3-3-9 @ 200 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz) (5-5-5-15 @ 333 MHz)
DIMM-C1: Kingston KINGSTON 4 GB DDR2-667 ECC DDR2 SDRAM FB-DIMM (3-3-3-9 @ 200 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz) (5-5-5-15 @ 333 MHz)
DIMM-D1: Kingston KINGSTON 4 GB DDR2-667 ECC DDR2 SDRAM FB-DIMM (3-3-3-9 @ 200 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz) (5-5-5-15 @ 333 MHz)
BIOS Type Phoenix (04/25/08)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM2)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (3 GB)
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (3 GB)
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (3 GB)
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (3 GB)
3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti
Monitor Asus VS248 [24" LCD] (D9LMQS107333)

Multimedia
Audio Adapter nVIDIA HDMI/DP @ nVIDIA GK110 - High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Adapter SigmaTel STAC9200 @ Intel 631xESB/6321ESB - High Definition Audio Controller

Storage
IDE Controller Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
IDE Controller Standard SATA AHCI Controller
Storage Controller Microsoft Storage Spaces Controller
Disk Drive SanDisk SDSSDX240GG25 (240 GB, SATA-III)
Disk Drive WDC WD15EARS-00MVWB0 (1500 GB, SATA-II)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions
C: (NTFS) [ TRIAL VERSION ]
D: (NTFS) 1397.3 GB (1270.9 GB free)
Total Size [ TRIAL VERSION ]

Input
Keyboard HID Keyboard Device
Keyboard HID Keyboard Device
Mouse HID-compliant mouse

Network
Primary IP Address [ TRIAL VERSION ]
Primary MAC Address 00-18-8B-15-8D-1A
Network Adapter Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller (192. [ TRIAL VERSION ])
Network Adapter TunnelBear Adapter V9

Peripherals
Printer Fax
Printer Microsoft XPS Document Writer
USB1 Controller Intel 631xESB/6321ESB - USB Universal Host Controller
USB1 Controller Intel 631xESB/6321ESB - USB Universal Host Controller
USB1 Controller Intel 631xESB/6321ESB - USB Universal Host Controller
USB1 Controller Intel 631xESB/6321ESB - USB Universal Host Controller
USB2 Controller Intel 631xESB/6321ESB - USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Device Razer Mamba
USB Device USB Composite Device
USB Device USB Composite Device
USB Device USB Input Device
USB Device USB Input Device
USB Device USB Input Device

DMI
DMI BIOS Vendor Dell Inc.
DMI BIOS Version A08
DMI System Manufacturer Dell Inc.
DMI System Product Precision WorkStation 490
DMI System Version
DMI System Serial Number [ TRIAL VERSION ]
DMI System UUID [ TRIAL VERSION ]
DMI Motherboard Manufacturer Dell Inc.
DMI Motherboard Product 0DT031
DMI Motherboard Version A00
DMI Motherboard Serial Number [ TRIAL VERSION ]
DMI Chassis Manufacturer Dell Inc.
DMI Chassis Version
DMI Chassis Serial Number [ TRIAL VERSION ]
DMI Chassis Asset Tag [ TRIAL VERSION ]
DMI Chassis Type Tower

I know that my SSD is being bottlenecked by the SATA II limits, but it is better than having the SSD just gather dust on my shelf . Also, the PCI-E lane is 16x gen 1, which should not be a problem either. Linus (LinusTechTips) did something similar to this and he had very similar (yet weaker) CPU´s and a 4x Pci-e Lane, and his results were wayyy better than mine. He was getting playable framerates unlike me --> something is wrong with my PC🙁

ADDED INFO:
-Pictures of BIOS tabs and options are here. Don´t worry they are in a logical order
-RAM is 4 × Kingston 4Gt 667MHz ECC (KFJ-BX667K2/8G), and is running at 667Mhz, according to BIOS and every other program besides CPU-Z
-GPU gets its power through 2 adaptors, one is a "2x molex --> 8 pin" and the other one is a "6 pin --> 8 pin"

Stuff I have done so far:
-Set Power Options --> High performance (also changed PCI-E link State Power Management to ´off´)
-Enabled FSB Optimizations from the BIOS settings.
-Set the gpu to maximum performance from Nvidia control panel
-Tried setting the game(s) to run on "high priority" from task manager
-Disabled any overlays to see if they had a negative influence on the performance(such as Origin, steam, and RTTS overlays.)
-Running games in fullscreen instead of borderless.
-Set GPU to Prefer Maximum Performance from Nvidia control panel.
-Enabled Threaded Optimizations from Nvidia control panel.
-Uninstalled Antivirus (Kaspersky)

 

[blazorthon]

I didn't see that. Yes, two motherboard cables would be difficult to find in any PSU.

That implies that the FSB is not a significant part of the problem right now.

PCIe gen 1 x16 has only 4GB/s of bandwidth. PCIe gen 2 x16 has 8GB/s and PCIe gen 3 x16 has about 15.75GB/s of bandwidth. 4GB/s is the bare minimum you want for a modern graphics card. It's a slight drop for higher performance cards such as the 780 Ti. It does not account for such a large performance problem, but it doesn't help the situation. For comparison, it is almost the same as PCIe 3.0 x4 for bandwidth.

Check GPU-Z again and make sure the PCIe slot is running in x16 and not x8. Some server boards have x16 slots that are only wired for x8 and that would give a mere 2GB/s of PCIe bandwidth. That would be a fairly big bottleneck.

 

[BlueMihai]

^...

Just checked, It says PCI-E 1.1 16x @ 1.1 16x.

 

[BlueMihai]

Update: I ´can´ get the GPU usage higher, and upto 99%/100%, this happened by simply upping the resolution with DSR to like 4k. So what I can conclude from this is that it is indeed the CPU´s bottlenecking the graphics cards, but for some reason ´something´ is bottlenecking the CPU´s and not allowing them to go even near 100%.

Any help would be appreciated, this thread seems to have died before the problem was solved :/

 

[James Mason]

Update: I ´can´ get the GPU usage higher, and upto 99%/100%, this happened by simply upping the resolution with DSR to like 4k. So what I can conclude from this is that it is indeed the CPU´s bottlenecking the graphics cards, but for some reason ´something´ is bottlenecking the CPU´s and not allowing them to go even near 100%.

Any help would be appreciated, this thread seems to have died before the problem was solved :/

The software is what would be bottle necking the CPUs, Games don't know how to use 2 CPUs, they barely know how to use 4 cores.

 

[BlueMihai]

Update: I ´can´ get the GPU usage higher, and upto 99%/100%, this happened by simply upping the resolution with DSR to like 4k. So what I can conclude from this is that it is indeed the CPU´s bottlenecking the graphics cards, but for some reason ´something´ is bottlenecking the CPU´s and not allowing them to go even near 100%.

Any help would be appreciated, this thread seems to have died before the problem was solved :/

The software is what would be bottle necking the CPUs, Games don't know how to use 2 CPUs, they barely know how to use 4 cores.

But none of the cores is able to go even near 100%, and again, linus got better performance with weaker cpu´s and slower PCI-E. You can check out the vid here so you know what I am talking about. (link)

 

[k1114]

I'm still thinking it's the dual cpu issue. People just haven't looked into it enough to find the real cause. That's really the only difference your rig has and as you said, you have better cpus than linus.

 

[BlueMihai]

I'm still thinking it's the dual cpu issue. People just haven't looked into it enough to find the real cause. That's really the only difference your rig has and as you said, you have better cpus than linus.

Okay, I just checked, and his CPU´s don´t have QPI either, in fact they are using the same socket as my CPU´s are, so he should have had the same limitations. I don´t think that I will get this working unless someone more familiar with this kind of stuff shows up.

 

[legendude99]

well i once had this issue aswell, i asked this forum's help and i had only 1 game at that time which is battlefield 3, so the forums told me it was an error not from my side but from battlefield, however i downloaded black ops 2 and faced the same issue, meaning its not an issue from battlefield, i stumbled upon the fix, i dont know if this will work for you but turns out my anti virus( kaspersky) was not letting me use my complete cpu or gpu usage for some reason, uninstalling it fixed the issues

 

[BlueMihai]

well i once had this issue aswell, i asked this forum's help and i had only 1 game at that time which is battlefield 3, so the forums told me it was an error not from my side but from battlefield, however i downloaded black ops 2 and faced the same issue, meaning its not an issue from battlefield, i stumbled upon the fix, i dont know if this will work for you but turns out my anti virus( kaspersky) was not letting me use my complete cpu or gpu usage for some reason, uninstalling it fixed the issues

I uninstalled my antivirus, which happened to be kaspersky aswell, but unfortunately it did not help. (Altough I am kinda glad that it was not something as stupid as that 😀 )

 

[k1114]

Qpi in the way it was mentioned is irrelevant with a single cpu and it wasn't the real cause of the issue just one theory. I've seen where one cpu is disabled or taken out and the issue goes away. As I said, no one has found the real cause. We go through the same motions we are with you, trying every possible solution. You aren't getting the performance you want so are you just going to sell it? If so why not try everything?

 

[BlueMihai]

Qpi in the way it was mentioned is irrelevant with a single cpu and it wasn't the real cause of the issue just one theory. I've seen where one cpu is disabled or taken out and the issue goes away. As I said, no one has found the real cause. We go through the same motions we are with you, trying every possible solution. You aren't getting the performance you want so are you just going to sell it? If so why not try everything?

So do you mean I should take the other CPU out for good? I am willing to try everything to fix this, but using a single 9 year old CPU was not what I had in mind. Or is this just to rule out the possibility of the ´QPI´as the bottleneck? I am sorry I am a little confused

 

[k1114]

Forget qpi. The issue could be with dual cpus and the cause is unknown. I warned you before buying to just get something newer to game on.

 

[Unolocogringo]

In your screenshots none of your CPU cores are maxed out.
Some games have them in the 36% range.
So removing one CPU or 4 cores would not hinder performance at all. Theoretically it would push 4 cores to 72%, unless the Chipset throughput is the bottleneck, at which case the usage could go to 100% on all 4 cores.
Removing one CPU would tell you if the FSB/Chipset bandwidth is the limiting factor.

 

[BlueMihai]

Forget qpi. The issue could be with dual cpus and the cause is unknown. I warned you before buying to just get something newer to game on.

Yeah well as I said, even if I don´t get this working I´m not at a huge loss, the parts were dirt cheap. If this doesn´t work I will just ditch this system and try something else. For now tho, I am willing to test anything to get these 2 CPU´s working as they should.

 

[BlueMihai]

In your screenshots none of your CPU cores are maxed out.
Some games have them in the 36% range.
So removing one CPU or 4 cores would not hinder performance at all. Theoretically it would push 4 cores to 72%, unless the Chipset throughput is the bottleneck, at which case the usage could go to 100% on all 4 cores.
Removing one CPU would tell you if the FSB/Chipset bandwidth is the limiting factor.

I might try this later, either when I give up on this system, or when I buy more thermal paste, whichever comes first 😛.

 

[BlueMihai]

Also, wouldn´t under / overclocking the FSB or/ and CPU´s solve this? Just to see if that is the limiting factor here? If so how can I do that?

 

[Unolocogringo]

I went back and reread the entire post again.
Nowhere is it stated that you installed all of the motherboard drivers.
If you are using the generic Windows drivers, performance will suffer considerably.

 

[Unolocogringo]

Also, wouldn´t under / overclocking the FSB or/ and CPU´s solve this? Just to see if that is the limiting factor here? If so how can I do that?

To over/under clock the FSB/CPU means pulling the CPU out and doing a pin/pad mod to it.
This is a server motherboard with no options in the bios to change either.

All of the information I have posted so far is from experience.
I have a Supermicro X7DWE board with a pair of E5420s running @3.0 1600fsb(400 actual & quad pumped) by doing the pin/pad mod i linked earlier on.

 

[BlueMihai]

I went back and reread the entire post again.
Nowhere is it stated that you installed all of the motherboard drivers.
If you are using the generic Windows drivers, performance will suffer considerably.

I have not installed any ´motherboard drivers´ . I tried finding drivers for this but I had no idea which ones of them I needed so I just decided to let this be, didn´t think it would affect the performance in any way. So which of the drivers should I download then? Do I really have to get all of these?

Edit: looking at the site and this is getting more and more complicated, there is a specific order I need to install all this stuff in?
Edit2: Most of the drivers seem to be for XP, and I am using windows 8.1 will that be a problem?

 

[Unolocogringo]

Yes motherboard drivers are very important for performance.
Dell stopped supporting anything newer than Vista drivers which will not work for WIN8.1

I will look for drivers from the manufacturers websites and post them as I find them.

 

[Unolocogringo]

Start here for the chipset driver.
You can run the utility on the right hand side of the page and it will direct you to the correct download if this is not the correct one but I think it is.
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/20775/Intel-Chipset-Device-Software-INF-Update-Utility-

 

[Unolocogringo]

SATA /IDE storage drivers.
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/55005/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-

 

[Unolocogringo]

Ethernet driver.
https://www.broadcom.com/support/ethernet-nic-netlink-57xx

 

[BlueMihai]

Little confused with the Ethernet drivers, the file was .sys and not an executable. But eh, my ethernet works, so is this still needed?
Edit: restarting my system now, just incase.

 

[Unolocogringo]

Those are the most important ones.
If this is a full 490 box and not just the motherboard ,let me know and I will search for the other drivers you might need.