Question ryzen 2700x and rtx 3060ti low CPU and GPU usage

[DariyDarayava]

Hello, I've recently switched 2060 for 3060ti and despite the upgrade everything just runs worse.

In every game I've tested CPU and GPU usage were low (30-50%) despite frame rate being quite low and unstable. Im 1080p monitor and here are the results:
Elden ring: 44 fps
Destiny 2: 80 fps
Cyberpunk: 40 fps

Despite that if I increase render resolution GPU usage will increase to +-100%. I thoght that it might be CPU bottleneck, but testing shows that cpu load does not surpass +-50% in any enevorenment.
CPU usage in Cyberpunk for example:
https://im.ge/i/1bVyfC

I've tried almost anything to raise CPU usage but as of right now nothing helped.
Things I've done:

1. Cleaned old Nvidia drivers with DDU and installed new ones
2. Updated Chipset drivers
3. Updated BIOS
4. Changed power plans
5. Swithed off second monitor. Tried different refresh rates.

Any help would be greatly apprecitated, because honestly I have no idea what is going only. I think everything points to CPU bottleneck but its utilizetion never even approaches 100% even on single core, and generally cores loaded more or less equally
Components:
Motherboard: B450 AORUS M
https://www.gigabyte.ru/products/page/mb/b450_aorus_mrev_10#support-dl
CPU: amd ryzen 7 2700x
GPU: GeForce RTX™ 3060 Ti GAMING OC 8G (rev. 2.0)
https://www.gigabyte.com/ru/Graphics-Card/GV-N306TGAMING-OC-8GD-rev-20#kf
RAM: A-Data XPG Gammix D10 (3000 Mhz)
https://www.xpg.com/us/xpg/486?tab=spec

Benchmark: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/55590033

 

[logainofhades]

50% means you are using all 8 cores, without using SMT. Those games, I do not believe, use more than 8. PCworld mentions as such, regarding Cyberpunk. https://www.pcworld.com/article/395085/6-core-vs-8-core-cpus-whats-better-for-gaming.html

Cyberpunk 2077 is an example of an open-world game that makes use of multi-core processors, with performance scaling up to eight cores.

Frankly, you need more IPC, therefore a CPU upgrade. Fortunately, your motherboard does have the necessary bios updates, to make the jump to Ryzen 5000. A 5700x, or 5800x, would be a suitable upgrade here.

 

[DariyDarayava]

50% means you are using all 8 cores, without using SMT. Those games, I do not believe, use more than 8. PCworld mentions as such, regarding Cyberpunk. https://www.pcworld.com/article/395085/6-core-vs-8-core-cpus-whats-better-for-gaming.html



Frankly, you need more IPC, therefore a CPU upgrade. Fortunately, your motherboard does have the necessary bios updates, to make the jump to Ryzen 5000. A 5700x, or 5800x, would be a suitable upgrade here.

Could you please elaborate on SMT usage? From your explanation I would heve expected to see 8 idle cores and another 8 loaded to 100%, but HWMonitor shows all 16 loaded to +-50%.

Or you are saying that the game provides only 8 threads to work with and processor tosses them around while swithcing between threads which leads to +-50% load on each "core"?

 

[logainofhades]

I forgot the most important question. What is the make/model of your power supply?

 

[DariyDarayava]

I forgot the most important question. What is the make/model of your power supply?

PSU: be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 9 600W

 

[logainofhades]

Yea that could be part of the performance problem. RTX 3000 requires a high quality PSU, to handle its power spikes. I highly recommend getting a higher quality unit. After re-watching HUB's 4 years of Ryzen video, at least for Cyberpunk, your CPU should be fine, given the GPU.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlfwXqODqp4&t=127s

 

[DariyDarayava]

Yea that could be part of the performance problem. RTX 3000 requires a high quality PSU, to handle its power spikes. I highly recommend getting a higher quality unit. After re-watching HUB's 4 years of Ryzen video, at least for Cyberpunk, your CPU should be fine, given the GPU.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlfwXqODqp4&t=127s

be quiet power calculator shows that my system draws approximately 497 W so I thought 600W would be enough. Furthermore specification for 3060 ti also recommends 600 W PSU. Could it be something else? After your initial response I've tried disabling SMT but situation hardly changed and 8 remaining threads during my testing were still loaded only 50-60%.

 

[logainofhades]

There is more to a PSU, than just wattage. Quality makes a big difference, as does the internal platform used. For example there are very high end Seasonic Prime units that have problems with RTX 3000's transient power spikes, but an EVGA G6/P6, of the same wattage would not. There was also the case of gold rated Gigbyte PSU's exploding. I would check usage, using Ryzen Master, just for a sanity check. Some third party software doesn't read Ryzen correctly. It's been awhile since I have used it, but I believe it will give you such information.

 

[DariyDarayava]

There is more to a PSU, than just wattage. Quality makes a big difference, as does the internal platform used. For example there are very high end Seasonic Prime units that have problems with RTX 3000's transient power spikes, but an EVGA G6/P6, of the same wattage would not. There was also the case of gold rated Gigbyte PSU's exploding. I would check usage, using Ryzen Master, just for a sanity check. Some third party software doesn't read Ryzen correctly. It's been awhile since I have used it, but I believe it will give you such information.

https://im.ge/i/1cQzE4
This is ryzen master interface while Cyberpunk is running. Unfortunatelly I can't tell if 100% EDC is something to worry about or not.
If PSU is the problem, is there a way to somehow confirm that before bying new PSU?

 

[Nighthawk117]

Hello, I've recently switched 2060 for 3060ti and despite the upgrade everything just runs worse.

In every game I've tested CPU and GPU usage were low (30-50%) despite frame rate being quite low and unstable. Im 1080p monitor and here are the results:
Elden ring: 44 fps
Destiny 2: 80 fps
Cyberpunk: 40 fps

Despite that if I increase render resolution GPU usage will increase to +-100%. I thoght that it might be CPU bottleneck, but testing shows that cpu load does not surpass +-50% in any enevorenment.
CPU usage in Cyberpunk for example:
https://im.ge/i/1bVyfC

I've tried almost anything to raise CPU usage but as of right now nothing helped.
Things I've done:

1. Cleaned old Nvidia drivers with DDU and installed new ones
2. Updated Chipset drivers
3. Updated BIOS
4. Changed power plans
5. Swithed off second monitor. Tried different refresh rates.

Any help would be greatly apprecitated, because honestly I have no idea what is going only. I think everything points to CPU bottleneck but its utilizetion never even approaches 100% even on single core, and generally cores loaded more or less equally
Components:
Motherboard: B450 AORUS M
https://www.gigabyte.ru/products/page/mb/b450_aorus_mrev_10#support-dl
CPU: amd ryzen 7 2700x
GPU: GeForce RTX™ 3060 Ti GAMING OC 8G (rev. 2.0)
https://www.gigabyte.com/ru/Graphics-Card/GV-N306TGAMING-OC-8GD-rev-20#kf
RAM: A-Data XPG Gammix D10 (3000 Mhz)
https://www.xpg.com/us/xpg/486?tab=spec

Benchmark: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/55590033

Cyberpunk doesn't use SMT on AMD 8 core CPU's by default so 50% will be the max CPU usage you'll see. Can I ask if your running with Ray Tracing?

 

[DariyDarayava]

Cyberpunk doesn't use SMT on AMD 8 core CPU's by default so 50% will be the max CPU usage you'll see. Can I ask if your running with Ray Tracing?

With ray tracing and auto DLSS - +-60-65 fps in Cyberpunk. After more testing it seems that the first scene with the mirror really tanked my fps and after that it got better.
Without ray tracing and DLSS - 74-75 fps in the same area.

And after long and hard look at cpu load distribution I can clearly see 7-8 thread with constant 65-75 load so I think logainofhades was right in his first comment about CPU bottleneck.

 

[Nighthawk117]

With ray tracing and auto DLSS - +-60-65 fps in Cyberpunk. After more testing it seems that the first scene with the mirror really tanked my fps and after that it got better.
Without ray tracing and DLSS - 74-75 fps in the same area.

And after long and hard look at cpu load distribution I can clearly see 7-8 thread with constant 65-75 load so I think logainofhades was right in his first comment about CPU bottleneck.

SMT was deliberately disabled for AMD with the first release and I think it's still disabled now for 8 cores and higher. There was an unofficial fix at the time:
https://hothardware.com/news/how-re-enable-cyberpunk-2077-ryzen-smt-fix-105-update

Whether you will benefit from it though I don't know. I did try it on a 2700X a while ago but I never properly benchmarked it, maybe worth trying to see if it helps you at all. It can use lots of cores though, this is my CPU usage on Cyberpunk:

https://imgur.com/i0OKdTB

View: https://imgur.com/i0OKdTB


Ray Tracing is very demanding though even at 1080p with a 3080, it does also put more strain on the CPU as well.

 

[DariyDarayava]

SMT was deliberately disabled for AMD with the first release and I think it's still disabled now for 8 cores and higher. There was an unofficial fix at the time:
https://hothardware.com/news/how-re-enable-cyberpunk-2077-ryzen-smt-fix-105-update

Whether you will benefit from it though I don't know. I did try it on a 2700X a while ago but I never properly benchmarked it, maybe worth trying to see if it helps you at all. It can use lots of cores though, this is my CPU usage on Cyberpunk:

https://imgur.com/i0OKdTB

View: https://imgur.com/i0OKdTB


Ray Tracing is very demanding though even at 1080p with a 3080, it does also put more strain on the CPU as well.

Thank you for your answer. I think I'll just upgrade to 7 5800x, because it already was on my radar before I posted the question. I've tested all three games again and upon longer inspection I can clearly see some cores with 80% load and some with 10%.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond in the comments.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Thank you for your answer. I think I'll just upgrade to 7 5800x, because it already was on my radar before I posted the question. I've tested all three games again and upon longer inspection I can clearly see some cores with 80% load and some with 10%.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond in the comments.

You’ll definitely enjoy that upgrade. I have a b350 board, but with new stuff coming out I updated the bios and ended up selling the 3600 and got a 5900x. Works pretty well but definitely a nice upgrade.

It’s more money but if you don’t plan to change platforms for a while you might consider the 5800x3d. It seems to be holding it’s own against some of the new 7000 series cpus. Otherwise a plain 5700x or 5800x will be a nice update for your system.

 

[Nighthawk117]

There's also the 5700X, it's a little slower than the 5800X but uses less power and runs cooler.

 

[Lutfij]

I've recently switched 2060 for 3060ti and despite the upgrade everything just runs worse.
+
PSU: be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 9 600W
How old is the PSU in your build? As for the GPU that's being powered by said PSU, are you using a daisy chain from the PSU's end or are the PCIe connectors connected individually to the GPU?