Low GPU usage (~40-50%) in games like Fallout 4 and Rust, despite getting low fps.

[WillJackman]

So I've been trying to fix problems with my r9 380 for months now and I've just noticed that in afterburner it says gpu usage never really exceeds 50% even though I'm getting bad fps in game. Surely if I could get higher usage my fps would'nt be so bad? Also might be useful to note that usage never changes no matter what settings I go on, also fps doesn't change much at all from low to ultra. Fallout 4 recommends Ultra settings but I can't get above about 30 fps on it. During stress tests and when the game is loading up I get 100% usage but when actually playing it hovers around 45% Any help would be great

 

[Archaic59]

What CPU do you have and do you know what the usage is on it while gaming?

 

[maxalge]

So I've been trying to fix problems with my r9 380 for months now and I've just noticed that in afterburner it says gpu usage never really exceeds 50% even though I'm getting bad fps in game. Surely if I could get higher usage my fps would'nt be so bad? Also might be useful to note that usage never changes no matter what settings I go on, also fps doesn't change much at all from low to ultra. Fallout 4 recommends Ultra settings but I can't get above about 30 fps on it. During stress tests and when the game is loading up I get 100% usage but when actually playing it hovers around 45% Any help would be great

full system specs?

 

[WillJackman]

So I've been trying to fix problems with my r9 380 for months now and I've just noticed that in afterburner it says gpu usage never really exceeds 50% even though I'm getting bad fps in game. Surely if I could get higher usage my fps would'nt be so bad? Also might be useful to note that usage never changes no matter what settings I go on, also fps doesn't change much at all from low to ultra. Fallout 4 recommends Ultra settings but I can't get above about 30 fps on it. During stress tests and when the game is loading up I get 100% usage but when actually playing it hovers around 45% Any help would be great

full system specs?

GPU - XFX AMD Radeon R9 380
CPU - AMD FX-6300 Six-core
RAM - 16gb DDR3 (1600 MHz)
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3
HDD - WDC WD1002FBYS-18A6B0 ATA
PSU - Aerocool integrator 700W 80+ Bronze

CPU usage is normal (Between 30 and 70%)

 

[neieus]

And what game or games are you experiencing this in?

 

[WillJackman]

And what game or games are you experiencing this in?

Seems to be mainly more taxing ones like Fallout 4, Rust, etc. I don't have many games installed to test it on. But I can test it on a couple others and get back to you.

EDIT: tried smite and it's the same. Hearthstone is fine but I assume the usage is ok for hearthstone since it doesn't use much

 

[monkey4sale]

Sorry to ask obvious questions but (1) Have you updated the GPU driver?....and (2) what are your thermals like for GPU and CPU when you are running these games? Have you overclocked either the CPU or the GPU?

 

[WillJackman]

Sorry to ask obvious questions but (1) Have you updated the GPU driver?....and (2) what are your thermals like for GPU and CPU when you are running these games? Have you overclocked either the CPU or the GPU?

Tried multiple re-installations of drivers, including beta ones, latest ones and older ones. Catalyst and crimson. Don't think it's drivers

Thermals are all fine. like 50 C max for GPU and 40-50 C for CPU

No, haven't overclocked either of them.

 

[neieus]

From the games you listed Fallout 4 and Rust these are very CPU intensive games that even I3's and I5's struggle with so it's not uncommon to experience low utilization on games that are very CPU bound. It's already known that the FX cpu's do not have a strong single thread performance so you have to take that into account. You can overclock to help alleviate this but in the end this is something you should expect. I have even seen some of the strongest I7's experience bottlenecks on heavy CPU bound instance and as you noticed Hearthstone the utilization was high because even though it's a multiplayer card game there isn't much going on.

 

[WillJackman]

From the games you listed Fallout 4 and Rust these are very CPU intensive games that even I3's and I5's struggle with so it's not uncommon to experience low utilization on games that are very CPU bound. It's already known that the FX cpu's do not have a strong single thread performance so you have to take that into account. You can overclock to help alleviate this but in the end this is something you should expect. I have even seen some of the strongest I7's experience bottlenecks on heavy CPU bound instance and as you noticed Hearthstone the utilization was high because even though it's a multiplayer card game there isn't much going on.

The utilization in hearthstone was actually really low, not high. I meant high fps not usage. The usage was around 12%

Also, if the games were really CPU intensive wouldn't the usage be near 100% since it's maxing out my CPU?

 

[neieus]

That's just one example of a bottleneck but that isn't the only way to notice.

 

[rcald2000]

@WillJackman, I strongly suspect that the issue is your AMD FX 6300 is bottle-necking your R8 380. I don't know anyone that has that specific combination of CPU and GPU, but it would make sense. I have actually seen many friend's setups who have i5-4690k's and i5-6600k's that are bottle necked with GTX 970s and 980 Tis. Something I've also noticed is that the CPU won't show 100% usage with those i5 CPUs, but the bottleneck is removed on the GPU, after an upgrade to an i7-4790k or 6700k. I've seen this issue in Fallout 4 and Assassins Creed Syndicate. With Rust and Ark, I'm aware they are CPU intensive, but I'm not sure it they are to the degree of the two other titles I mentioned. I suggest that you swap out the stock AMD CPU cooler and install a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, using the included thermal paste, and then overclock the CPU. Then re-check your performance. If it's clearly better than you may want to consider one day switching an Intel i7 platform.

 

[monkey4sale]

From the games you listed Fallout 4 and Rust these are very CPU intensive games that even I3's and I5's struggle with so it's not uncommon to experience low utilization on games that are very CPU bound. It's already known that the FX cpu's do not have a strong single thread performance so you have to take that into account. You can overclock to help alleviate this but in the end this is something you should expect. I have even seen some of the strongest I7's experience bottlenecks on heavy CPU bound instance and as you noticed Hearthstone the utilization was high because even though it's a multiplayer card game there isn't much going on.


I didn't want to point that out, but isn't the R9 380 a wee bit beefy for the Fx6300 to keep up with? Have you tried overclocking the CPU to see if it makes a difference as it sounds as if you have the thermal headroom to do so?

 

[neieus]

Just as Rcald2000 mentioned there is more than likely a bottleneck with the cpu\gpu. In addition you could try overclocking to alleviate this but no matter what you do there will always going to be a bottleneck somewhere regardless of CPU\GPU based on the game.

 

[monkey4sale]

I suspect other posters are correct....a CPU /GPU bottleneck somewhere along the way may be occurring. RAM working fine? /ran mem test?

 

[WillJackman]

From the games you listed Fallout 4 and Rust these are very CPU intensive games that even I3's and I5's struggle with so it's not uncommon to experience low utilization on games that are very CPU bound. It's already known that the FX cpu's do not have a strong single thread performance so you have to take that into account. You can overclock to help alleviate this but in the end this is something you should expect. I have even seen some of the strongest I7's experience bottlenecks on heavy CPU bound instance and as you noticed Hearthstone the utilization was high because even though it's a multiplayer card game there isn't much going on.


I didn't want to point that out, but isn't the R9 380 a wee bit beefy for the Fx6300 to keep up with? Have you tried overclocking the CPU to see if it makes a difference as it sounds as if you have the thermal headroom to do so?

Ok good to know. Do you know anything about OCing? I'm a bit of noob and don't want to mess it up. A link to a good tutorial for my CPU/AMD CPUs could be great

 

[neieus]

There are different ways to go about overclocking the CPU so my advice to you would be to try and find a guide based on your motherboard.

 

[WillJackman]

There are different ways to go about overclocking the CPU so my advice to you would be to try and find a guide based on your motherboard.

Ok, I've heard you need to fiddle around with voltage? And also I might need a better than stock CPU cooler?

 

[neieus]

Yes you may need to adjust the voltages to multiple areas and you will need something better than the stock cooler. However it is also possible that you can destroy your cpu in the process if you're not following some sort of guide and just because someone else was able to overclock their CPU with the same setup as you doesn't mean you'll be able to replicate it.

 

[monkey4sale]

Hi there, there are plenty of good guides on the net for overlcocking this processor. Your success in doing so hinges on a good CPU cooler IF you have to adjust the Vcore itself though. You may NOT have to adjust the voltage though and may get a satisfactory overclock simply by adjusting the multiplier or core ratio. The trick is to do this first ( up the multiplier) and then run a CPU stess test whilst keeping an eye on the CPU temperatures. OCCT is a programme I have used in the past and again there are tutorials online explaining how to use this software. If you really want to push the overclock you may need to adjust the Vcore and this will mean more heat...so a decent CPU cooler will be useful to you in the process. Good luck!

 

[monkey4sale]

Forgot to say that the motherboard itself is also a factor in achieving a good overclock.