GPU does not reach 100% usage even when no CPU bottleneck

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DeadPool96

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#1 DeadPool96
Member since 2019 • 7 Posts

When i'm playing shadow of the tomb raider (or any game for that matter) my GPU acts weird as it drops to 50-60% usage in areas that are more demanding(like crowds) and other areas that arent that demanding the GPU reaches 90-97% usage even though it should be the opposite. I tried throttlestop thinking that maybe the CPU overheating caused the problem but it made a slight negative difference if any at all. I am really fed up of this. Also im playing on a laptop (Acer nitro 500) with a gtx 1060 6GB and i7 processor

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04dcarraher

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#2  Edited By 04dcarraher
Member since 2004 • 23824 Posts

You need to be looking at your cpu usage, when your gpu starts to drop usage. When your in populated areas with lots of npcs or physics in games that actually puts more stress on the cpu more so than gpu. If one or more of your cores/threads peak to near 100%, your gpu usage will drop because the gpu relies on the cpu for its data to build that image. This causes the gpu to stall waiting on the cpu.

Easiest fix is to limit your framerate to like 60, and or increase the screen resolution and or increase anti aliasing, like MSAA or SSAA. to increase gpu load. Increasing the gpu workload will make the gpu take longer to render an image slowing down the rate the cpu has to send gpu its data lower cpu usage preventing gpu from idling as often.

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DeadPool96

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#3  Edited By DeadPool96
Member since 2019 • 7 Posts

@04dcarraher: Dude thanks a ton I am using MSAA2x and the FPS wen't UP by 5-8,who would have thought increasing anti aliasing will INCREASE the fps lol

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GeryGo

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#4 GeryGo  Moderator
Member since 2006 • 12803 Posts

It all depends on what game you're playing and on what graphics settings.

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npiet1

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#5 npiet1
Member since 2018 • 3576 Posts

@deadpool96 said:

@04dcarraher: Dude thanks a ton I am using MSAA2x and the FPS wen't UP by 5-8,who would have thought increasing anti aliasing will INCREASE the fps lol

It happens more than you think, I get a smoother and more fps on Jedi fallen order on everything set on "Epic" (Ultra) than I do on medium.

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xantufrog

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#6 xantufrog  Moderator
Member since 2013 • 17875 Posts

@04dcarraher said:

Easiest fix is to limit your framerate to like 60, and or increase the screen resolution and or increase anti aliasing, like MSAA or SSAA. to increase gpu load. Increasing the gpu workload will make the gpu take longer to render an image slowing down the rate the cpu has to send gpu its data lower cpu usage preventing gpu from idling as often.

Curious why this is considered a "fix"? I guess the only thing it "fixes" is finds additional computational chores for the GPU (that is, horsepower isn't going to waste). But it doesn't actually reflect a problem - the CPU IS being a bottleneck, despite the title, and this is just moving the bottleneck to the GPU.

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04dcarraher

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#7  Edited By 04dcarraher
Member since 2004 • 23824 Posts

@xantufrog:

Its a solution to his issue without having to spend money. Yes moving more of the stress to the gpu is a stop gap to the underlying issue of not having enough cpu resources and or just plain bad optimization on the game.

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DeadPool96

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#8 DeadPool96
Member since 2019 • 7 Posts

@xantufrog: I'm curious as to how is it a CPU bottleneck? Since even in the crowded areas my CPU usage is 45-55% but my GPU usage still goes down from 90% to around 60% while CPU usage remains in the range I previously mentioned. It would be considered a bottleneck if the CPU was in the 90-99% or even in the 80-90% range right??

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DeadPool96

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#9 DeadPool96
Member since 2019 • 7 Posts

@xantufrog:Also i'd further like to mention that when I decrease all my settings to very low I still get the same FPS that I get on Ultra (around 25-35). It's like my laptop is trying to keep the FPS in a particular range (even though I checked for FPS caps and there were none, Vsync is also turned off), instead of keeping the GPU usage constant. Also I tried setting the power option to "High Performance" still didn't work. I'm not ,for the love of god, able to figure out what is causing this.

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kitty

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#10 kitty  Moderator
Member since 2006 • 115429 Posts

How are the temps looking on the cpu for this laptop?
You've told us usage from both but how about temps? It's possible that if not a bottleneck then the cpu could be throttling ( which I doubt, but you never know) that can kill performance if the cpu can't reach its max rated speed or is too low.
Usage can say one thing while temps/clocks say another.

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DeadPool96

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#11 DeadPool96
Member since 2019 • 7 Posts

@kitty: CPU temps are usually in the 78-85C range and GPU temps are usually below 70C (60-70)

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04dcarraher

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#12  Edited By 04dcarraher
Member since 2004 • 23824 Posts

@deadpool96 said:

@xantufrog: I'm curious as to how is it a CPU bottleneck? Since even in the crowded areas my CPU usage is 45-55% but my GPU usage still goes down from 90% to around 60% while CPU usage remains in the range I previously mentioned. It would be considered a bottleneck if the CPU was in the 90-99% or even in the 80-90% range right??

Its how the game is coded if a game is coded only to use only upto a set number of threads, all your cpu resources are not being used. If you had a gpu half as strong as your GTX 1060 that gpu would be maxing its usage.

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DeadPool96

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#13 DeadPool96
Member since 2019 • 7 Posts

@04dcarraher: I see, thanks for your answer.