Question PROBLEM WITH GPU USAGE BEING LOW, UNDERPERFORMING PC | HELP!

Mar 20, 2023
6
0
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When gaming my GPU's usage doesn't go above 65% while the CPU's usage stays around the 40-50% range, doesn't matter what game I'm playing (Escape From Tarkov, Rust, Dayz, just a few that I play) it doesn't change. I have tried overclocking and underclocking my GPU and CPU but that too didn't help. (currently, my GPU is on stock and my CPU is overclocked)
Few things that I have also tried: Disabling/Enabling Game mode, Putting the power plan on High Performance, In NVIDIA Control Panel changing the Quality, Power management mode on max performance, Updating my GPU driver (with DDU),
Reinstalling Windows (I have installed Win 8, 10, and 11 but on each, the situation didn't change), Running games as administrator, and Disabling fullscreen optimizations.

My pc:
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • AMD Ryzen 5 2600 @3700MHz
  • 16 GB DDR4 RAM (two sticks, one in the second and the other in the fourth slot)
  • MSI B450 TOMAHAWK
  • Windows 10
  • Be quiet! 650W
I will attach a few pictures of scores in benchmark programs (such as CPU-Z, and Furmark)
Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!
 

NaClKnight

Prominent
Dec 7, 2022
64
14
545
When gaming my GPU's usage doesn't go above 65% while the CPU's usage stays around the 40-50% range, doesn't matter what game I'm playing (Escape From Tarkov, Rust, Dayz, just a few that I play) it doesn't change. I have tried overclocking and underclocking my GPU and CPU but that too didn't help. (currently, my GPU is on stock and my CPU is overclocked)
Few things that I have also tried: Disabling/Enabling Game mode, Putting the power plan on High Performance, In NVIDIA Control Panel changing the Quality, Power management mode on max performance, Updating my GPU driver (with DDU),
Reinstalling Windows (I have installed Win 8, 10, and 11 but on each, the situation didn't change), Running games as administrator, and Disabling fullscreen optimizations.

My pc:
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
  • AMD Ryzen 5 2600 @3700MHz
  • 16 GB DDR4 RAM (two sticks, one in the second and the other in the fourth slot)
  • MSI B450 TOMAHAWK
  • Windows 10
  • Be quiet! 650W
I will attach a few pictures of scores in benchmark programs (such as CPU-Z, and Furmark)
Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

What resolution are you playing at?
What framerate are you aiming for, and what framerate are you seeing in game?
 
Your single thread cpu-Z bench score of 404 is somewhat less than the 475 that others do:
https://valid.x86.fr/bench/kgc6vd
You should not expect anything close to 100% use of either cpu or gpu.
Few games are going to use all 12 threads of the 2600.
Most likely only a few will be heavily used, and the single master thread will control all.
Hence you may be cpu limited.
IDK why, possibly ram speed or thermal throttling.

If the cpu can't drive high frame rates, the gpu is going to loaf.
 
Mar 20, 2023
6
0
10
Your single thread cpu-Z bench score of 404 is somewhat less than the 475 that others do:
https://valid.x86.fr/bench/kgc6vd
You should not expect anything close to 100% use of either cpu or gpu.
Few games are going to use all 12 threads of the 2600.
Most likely only a few will be heavily used, and the single master thread will control all.
Hence you may be cpu limited.
IDK why, possibly ram speed or thermal throttling.

If the cpu can't drive high frame rates, the gpu is going to loaf.
My pc doesn't overheat, as far as I know, my GPU while gaming is around 60-70 °C, and my CPU is 50-65°C
and my RAMs run at 3200MHz
 
Mar 20, 2023
6
0
10
On other forums, people recommended upgrading my CPU to a 5600, but I'm not sure if it would solve my problems because when I had the same setup, except I didn't have a 1080 Ti only a 1080 it was the same
 

NaClKnight

Prominent
Dec 7, 2022
64
14
545
On other forums, people recommended upgrading my CPU to a 5600, but I'm not sure if it would solve my problems because when I had the same setup, except I didn't have a 1080 Ti only a 1080 it was the same

Where are you measuring CPU/GPU usage/utilization? What program are you using? We can start there to make sure you're getting good data

It sounds like you have an honest to God bottleneck in your system, because during gameplay you should be seeing either the framerate you want or one of your components should be sweating

What kind of SSD do you have? What storage device is windows running on, and what device do you store your games on?

What speed is your RAM set to? is XMP enabled?
 
Mar 20, 2023
6
0
10
Where are you measuring CPU/GPU usage/utilization? What program are you using? We can start there to make sure you're getting good data

It sounds like you have an honest to God bottleneck in your system, because during gameplay you should be seeing either the framerate you want or one of your components should be sweating

What kind of SSD do you have? What storage device is windows running on, and what device do you store your games on?

What speed is your RAM set to? is XMP enabled?
CPU-Z, Furmark, Heaven Benchmark and for in-game monitoring MSI Afterburner.
I have a KINGSTON SA2000M8500G and this SSD is what my games run on
And an old SSD (KINGSTON SUV400S37120G) which my Windows runs on
RAM is set to 3200MHz and XMP is enabled
 

NaClKnight

Prominent
Dec 7, 2022
64
14
545
CPU-Z, Furmark, Heaven Benchmark and for in-game monitoring MSI Afterburner.
I have a KINGSTON SA2000M8500G and this SSD is what my games run on
And an old SSD (KINGSTON SUV400S37120G) which my Windows runs on
RAM is set to 3200MHz and XMP is enabled

One option is to turn your resolution or texture/lighting quality down and see if your framerates improve. Playing at reduced resolution or textures only affects the GPU, and if the fps stays the same you can focus on CPU/RAM/SSD issues and ignore the GPU.

Several games will separate CPU and GPU timing/fps while playing or benchmarking and can give you a good guide to which component is holding the other back. Off top i know that Doom (2016), Gears 5, and Rise of the Tomb Raider all provide that info. If you don't have access to any of those, or any game that provides that kind of built in info, the next best thing is finding a benchmark suite that will do it for you.
 

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