Is my GPU faulty?

[ZakGray]

Hi everyone,

Ive been playing far cry 4 on my new system and have been noticing some very odd performance. Framerate is OK but around outposts it dips into the 40's. This is fine and I dont expect my system to get amazing performance. However, I checked task manager and msi afterburner and its telling me that cpu usage is at 50% while GPU usage is absolutely all over the place. There is a screen grab of what they show when im in-game attached.

Specs:

AMD FX 8350 stock clock

Asus M5A78L-M USB 3

MSI GTX 970

6gb DDR3 old ram (not too sure about clock speeds will check later)

[d33g33]

Better off using GPU-Z to monitor all aspects of what the card is doing.This can tell you if your clock speed is tanking for some reason rather than just GPU load.

[Fate]

Your CPU is probably bottlenecking your GPU in that game. 

Yesterday I saw someone with similar GPU usage spikes with the same configuration (8350 + 970) in FC4. 

 

No your GPU probably isn't faulty. 

[Castdeath97]

Try another game and tell us about the results you get.

[Johannes_Lazor]

Farcry4 is not the most optimized, It probably doesnt use all the cores efficiently.

It is a CPU bottleneck since AI's are CPU dependant.

[ZakGray]

Ok thank you guys im going to try another game and see how things go

[Osama Adam]

Your CPU is probably bottlenecking your GPU in that game. 

Yesterday I saw someone with similar GPU usage spikes with the same configuration (8350 + 970) in FC4. 

 

No your GPU probably isn't faulty. 

How is the CPU bottlenecking if it's using only 40%?

[Fate]

How is the CPU bottlenecking if it's using only 40%?

Because your CPU usage isn't really an indication of bottlenecks. 

My Phenom II 960T at stock, 3.8GHz, unlocked to six cores and overclocked all get similar CPU usage to my 3570k in a CPU intensive game like BF4, yet the 960T bottlenecks my R9 270 and the 3570k does not. 

[ZakGray]

So I tried dragon age inquisition and everything seems to be fine! GPU usage never goes above 98% (with an overclock) and is a little all over the place, should I be worried?

[dragoon20005]

So I tried dragon age inquisition and everything seems to be fine! GPU usage never goes above 98% (with an overclock) and is a little all over the place, should I be worried?

you mean the GPU usage is all over the place?

 

yea it a sign of CPU bottleneck

[snert98]

where did you get that version of afterburner

[ZakGray]

Snert if you go into "settings" then "user interface" then "user interface skinning properties" there should be a dropdown box where you can select "MSI cyborg afterburner skin"

[Faceman]

CPU bottleneck my man. Not a problem with the card.

I am really shocked that your CPU is running on an mATX motherboard.

[dragoon20005]

CPU bottleneck my man. Not a problem with the card.

I am really shocked that your CPU is running on an mATX motherboard.

either his board VRMs are made of unobtainium or he is just lucky

 

maybe the BIOS update did help a bit with throttling

 

 

Snert if you go into "settings" then "user interface" then "user interface skinning properties" there should be a dropdown box where you can select "MSI cyborg afterburner skin"

like what faceman says

 

your CPU is the main culprit

 

you will need a new CPU and mobo upgrade if you want to max your GTX970

[Godlygamer23]

Better off using GPU-Z to monitor all aspects of what the card is doing.This can tell you if your clock speed is tanking for some reason rather than just GPU load.

MSI Afterburner has the ability to monitor various things, including GPU clock.

[Godlygamer23]

where did you get that version of afterburner

It's the latest beta version. It includes a skin that gives the look you're referring to.

[Godlygamer23]

To test if it's your CPU, overclock it if you have a proper cooler.

[d33g33]

MSI Afterburner has the ability to monitor various things, including GPU clock.

Might be good to explain or link how to show everything.

 

I find this much easier, but if afterburner can do it, it might be helpful to the OP to know how

[Darkman]

My computer has similar performance in FarCry 4. Try a different game.

[Godlygamer23]

Might be good to explain or link how to show everything.

 

I find this much easier, but if afterburner can do it, it might be helpful to the OP to know how

I'm not sure if they saw it before changing the skin, but off to the side, it provides statistics on lots of different things. It really is as easy as scrolling. Same goes for the new skin.

 

@ZakGray, right where the GPU usage is, scroll. You'll eventually get to your GPU and memory clocks.

[Kyuubixchidori]

well it might be only cores are being maxed out. lets say he has 10 cores,(keep math simple) game only uses 4. and his cpu usage was 40%. those 4 cores are absouetly maxed out, and thats all the game can do. but task manager will only say 40% usage because the other 6 cores are doing squat. 

 

go to the screen that shows core by core, and see if your cores are at 100%. that will help answer your cpu bottleneck question. I mean, my brother is hitting ultra everything on far cry 4, 60 Fps on a fx-6300+7950. 

[Godlygamer23]

well it might be only cores are being maxed out. lets say he has 10 cores,(keep math simple) game only uses 4. and his cpu usage was 40%. those 4 cores are absouetly maxed out, and thats all the game can do. but task manager will only say 40% usage because the other 6 cores are doing squat. 

 

go to the screen that shows core by core, and see if your cores are at 100%. that will help answer your cpu bottleneck question. I mean, my brother is hitting ultra everything on far cry 4, 60 Fps on a fx-6300+7950. 

As far as I know, the game engine used in Far Cry 4 supports eight core CPUs.

[Kyuubixchidori]

As far as I know, the game engine used in Far Cry 4 supports eight core CPUs.

sorry, the 4 was just a example. someone said 40%, so I just wanted to come up with a situation where it would be 40%. but in that case, his pc is a 8 core correct? so if it has 8 threads, his cpu should be pinned at 100%

[Godlygamer23]

sorry, the 4 was just a example. someone said 40%, so I just wanted to come up with a situation where it would be 40%. but in that case, his pc is a 8 core correct? so if it has 8 threads, his cpu should be pinned at 100%

Yes, it is an eight core CPU. I don't think it should be pinned at 100%. Just because it utilizes all eight cores doesn't mean each core is utilized completely at all times.

[Kyuubixchidori]

Yes, it is an eight core CPU. I don't think it should be pinned at 100%. Just because it utilizes all eight cores doesn't mean each core is utilized completely at all times.

right. so if one thread is the bottleneck. I guess the only way would be to see if any of the individual cores is maxed out. and if any of the cores are at 100%, then its possible.