Is my CPU bottlenecking my GPU?

[Eric Richard]

Specs
R5 2600
Zotac GTX 1060 6GB AMP! Edition
1X8GB Corsair Vengeance 2400Mhz DDR4 RAM

I was playing AC Odyssey (2560x1080 - Ultra settings) and I noticed the game started stuttering very often (especially after Driver Update 440.97 could be a coincidence). usually the Avg FPS will be around 37-43. At first I thought the stutter is a GPU issue then i noticed the CPU usage spikes from around 60% to 100% for a second or two and the GPU usage drops from 99% to around 75% during that stutter. IS my CPU bottlenecking the GPU?

[nox_]

No, it's the other way around.

[Eric Richard]

18 minutes ago, noxdeouroboros said:

No, it's the other way around.

ya but what make the raise in CPU usage to the max and drop GPU usage by 25%? 

 

[Paul Rudd]

1 hour ago, Eric Richard said:

ya but what make the raise in CPU usage to the max and drop GPU usage by 25%?

"AC Odyssey (2560x1080 - Ultra settings)"

 

Lower the graphic settings. Don't use presets, lower individual graphic settings that hit CPU usage. Odyssey and Origins are two of the most CPU demanding games of all time. You're also in ultrawide so your CPU is going to be used even more, thus causing you to lower more individual settings and possibly having to cap your fps. Try using fps cap intervals until the CPU usage goes down as well. This is what I have to do and it leaves me with the choice to play at 45 fps with a really solid custom graphic settings mix or play at 60 fps with even more lower graphic settings tweak. If you want the very best looking graphic settings, you may have to cap your fps at 30. Your CPU is much better than mine thought so you might get away with say 15+ fps than me. Meaning that 45 would be your cap on higher settings and 75 would be your cap on lower settings.

 

Easiest way to determine this is 5 benchmarks. One on Ultra, one on Very High, one on High, one on Medium and one on Low. Then you can determine everything, where to cap your fps and where to set all your graphic settings.

 

The stuttering could very well be because you only have 1 stick of 8GB RAM. 16GB is the norm for 2019. Even when system requirements might show 8GB as the recommended, if your RAM usage is over 6GB and nearing 7GB, that's an indication that you need more RAM. If your RAM usage is barely hitting 6GB, then RAM is not the reason for stuttering in AC Odyssey and 8GB is fine for that particular game. It's when it nears 7GB that you need to add more(for this game that is).

 

If it's not your RAM, then those stutterings are most likely because of your CPU usage. Gotta lower those graphic settings and cap your fps to rid that stuttering.

[Eric Richard]

2 hours ago, Intransigent said:

"AC Odyssey (2560x1080 - Ultra settings)"

 

Lower the graphic settings. Don't use presets, lower individual graphic settings that hit CPU usage. Odyssey and Origins are two of the most CPU demanding games of all time. You're also in ultrawide so your CPU is going to be used even more, thus causing you to lower more individual settings and possibly having to cap your fps. Try using fps cap intervals until the CPU usage goes down as well. This is what I have to do and it leaves me with the choice to play at 45 fps with a really solid custom graphic settings mix or play at 60 fps with even more lower graphic settings tweak. If you want the very best looking graphic settings, you may have to cap your fps at 30. Your CPU is much better than mine thought so you might get away with say 15+ fps than me. Meaning that 45 would be your cap on higher settings and 75 would be your cap on lower settings.

 

Easiest way to determine this is 5 benchmarks. One on Ultra, one on Very High, one on High, one on Medium and one on Low. Then you can determine everything, where to cap your fps and where to set all your graphic settings.

 

The stuttering could very well be because you only have 1 stick of 8GB RAM. 16GB is the norm for 2019. Even when system requirements might show 8GB as the recommended, if your RAM usage is over 6GB and nearing 7GB, that's an indication that you need more RAM. If your RAM usage is barely hitting 6GB, then RAM is not the reason for stuttering in AC Odyssey and 8GB is fine for that particular game. It's when it nears 7GB that you need to add more(for this game that is).

 

If it's not your RAM, then those stutterings are most likely because of your CPU usage. Gotta lower those graphic settings and cap your fps to rid that stuttering.

I've already played 50+ hours without much stuttering it's getting frequent only past few days. Just fount that RAM price decreased to half of what i bought a year ago. So, will get another

[Paul Rudd]

19 minutes ago, Eric Richard said:

I've already played 50+ hours without much stuttering it's getting frequent only past few days. Just fount that RAM price decreased to half of what i bought a year ago. So, will get another

I wouldn't think RAM is the problem then. But having 16GB total is still a must in 2019. When you make the jump, I assure you, you'll have zero regrets. It gives you a sigh of relief in games that ask for more than 8GB of RAM. To rarely see stuttering after the upgrade is pretty magical if you ask me.

 

If it's only been getting frequent in the past few days, what changes have you made to your PC in say, October? And did you put all those 50+ hours on that same ultrawide monitor?

[Eric Richard]

10 minutes ago, Intransigent said:

I wouldn't think RAM is the problem then. But having 16GB total is still a must in 2019. When you make the jump, I assure you, you'll have zero regrets. It gives you a sigh of relief in games that ask for more than 8GB of RAM. To rarely see stuttering after the upgrade is pretty magical if you ask me.

 

If it's only been getting frequent in the past few days, what changes have you made to your PC in say, October? And did you put all those 50+ hours on that same ultrawide monitor?

it's the same Ultrawide i've been using since 2017 when i had GT430. I haven't played this game for few months till i started it again couple of weeks ago and the only change that happened is updating the Driver.

[Paul Rudd]

15 minutes ago, Eric Richard said:

the only change that happened is updating the Driver.

Have you tried rolling back to the previous driver? Best to use DDU first to get rid of all drivers and then roll back.

[Eric Richard]

2 minutes ago, Intransigent said:

Have you tried rolling back to the previous driver? Best to use DDU first to get rid of all drivers and then roll back.

i've heard 399.24 is better for Pascal GPUs. i'm considering it

[steelo]

Absolutely not.