FIXED -- UNFIXABLE low GPU usage in some games

[Peter!]

Specs: 

- EVGA FE GTX 1080 Ti / i7-7700k @ 5GHz

- 16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport RAM

- Asus Z170 Pro Gaming motherboard (LATEST BIOS) 

- Asus Predator 1440p/144Hz G-SYNC monitor

 

I'm gonna pull my hair out.

 

This issue came out of nowhere, I didn't change any hardware or install any big software/drivers changes -- software is totally negated anyway because I'm still having this issue even after a fresh installation of Windows (I set up another partition and put fresh Windows there, I still have my original setup). I only noticed this after I updated CoD on Tuesday. CoD got updated again on Wednesday and the issue persists. I do not believe this is a CoD issue because others don't seem to be reporting it and I have the same situation in RDR2.

 

From another post of mine:

Quote

 

I first noticed CoD Modern Warfare, a game I used to get 100 FPS in, now gets 40, 45 FPS tops. The GPU used to run at thermal maximum of 84 degrees, but now it runs at 79 degrees, meaning it's running cooler and doing less work. If I set the video settings from 1440p to 720p, the FPS still only gets to about 50, and the GPU runs even cooler. It's not even trying. 

 

Then I open Red Dead Redemption 2, another game I used to run at about 90-100 FPS, now only gets 35-40 FPS. Same thing when I set it to 1080p instead of 1440p -- the FPS stays the same. 

 

Other games, like PUBG, CoD WWII, BF4, BF5, Insurgency Sandstorm, GTA 5, do not have this problem. They've run like they've always run. Some of those games are DX11, some DX12, some on my SSD, some on my HDD -- all those factors should be ruled out.

 

I've tried everything; I've played around with a bunch of NVIDIA Control Panel settings, I've used older drivers, I've used newer drivers. I've used DDU to totally wipe the drivers and get the latest ones. Nothing changes. 

 

 

How could this damn issue still be present even on a fresh install of Windows? 

 

Here is HWInfo64 of CPU/GPU stats while running Call of Duty Warzone:

 

As you can see, the main menu, which *does* render an animated player model with the in-game engine with lighting and everything, functions totally normal. I get 100 FPS in the main menu, my GPU runs hot at 84 C (thermal max, normal), and D3D usage is at 27.7%. When I spawn in the actual game, my GPU runs wayyy cooler at 77 C and D3D usage is down to 6.1%, and I only get 45 FPS. The GPU is barely working at all. The CPU is functioning normally and remains cool.

 

A lot of other people have similar-ISH problems, but mine is very specific. My computer doesn't use the internal Intel GPU, it doesn't even have drivers for it. My power settings are high performance. My CPU isn't bottlenecking anything, I have a very high end GPU and CPU. I used to run the game(s) perfectly fine. 

 

This sucks man. I'm now unable to play two of my recent favorite games, CoD and RDR2, because of the weirdest computer glitch I've ever encountered. 

 

While I do have a GTX 970 laying around that I could swap in to test, it's worth mentioning that I'm very confident that this can't be a hardware issue because I've never had any symptoms of a failing GPU (no artifacts, flickering, distortion, ever at all), and the GPU performs great like normal in the other games I tested and mentioned above -- BF4, BF5, GTA 5, DX11 and DX12 games -- without artifacting or anything at all. I've never overclocked and I've had the GPU for about a year and a half with no issues. This seems like a software issue but the fact that the issue persisted even on a fresh install of Windows puzzles me.

 

I would love, love, LOVE any suggestions.

 

Troubleshooting methods attempted so far: 

- Reinstalled game after extensive uninstallation with Revo Uninstaller

- Deleted CoD Documents folder with game settings

- Tried older GPU drivers, am trying with newest GPU drivers

- Used DDU to totally wipe out drivers before installing newest

- Set modernwarfare.exe to highest priority (Realtime) in Task Manager

- Tried with G-SYNC disabled

- Tried NVIDIA Control Panel settings for the game to "Prefer Maximum Performance" and such

- Tried Windows Settings options for game mode high performance

- Windows power settings already has high-performance options and 100% max CPU performance

- Updated chipset drivers

- Issue persists on fresh Windows 10 installation (I created a new partition with fresh Windows 10, NVIDIA drivers, and the game itself -- issue persists exactly the same)

[STRMfrmXMN]

Can you get the GPU to load up to 100% with Furmark?

[Peter!]

6 minutes ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

Can you get the GPU to load up to 100% with Furmark?

Yup, just passed with flying colors

 

[Peter!]

FIXED

Holy crap I can't believe I fixed this. I changed GPU slots and it fixed it entirely. It makes no sense but I don't care, I'm just happy to game again. Praise Jesus!

[STRMfrmXMN]

On 6/14/2020 at 12:40 AM, Peter! said:

FIXED

Holy crap I can't believe I fixed this. I changed GPU slots and it fixed it entirely. It makes no sense but I don't care, I'm just happy to game again. Praise Jesus!

Do you have any PCIe SSDs? Or other PCIe devices? Strange problem with a strange solution. Glad to see it works now!

[Peter!]

On 6/15/2020 at 2:53 PM, STRMfrmXMN said:

Do you have any PCIe SSDs? Or other PCIe devices? Strange problem with a strange solution. Glad to see it works now!

All my SSDs are SATA. My only other PCIe device is a TP-Link Wi-Fi card. I didn't move it though.

[STRMfrmXMN]

1 hour ago, Peter! said:

All my SSDs are SATA. My only other PCIe device is a TP-Link Wi-Fi card. I didn't move it though.

Are you using the top-most PCIe slot for the GPU now?

[Peter!]

3 minutes ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

Are you using the top-most PCIe slot for the GPU now?

I was, now I'm using the second-to-bottom-most (bottom one has no clearance for a GPU)