CPU GPU Usage all over the place PLEASE HELP

[TakeToTheShadows]

GPU CPU So I recently got a new r9 290 due to some hardware issues and since I've started monitoring performance I've noticed the CPU and GPU usage is all over the fucking place jumping anywhere from 0% to 100% in seconds! The GPU usually sits at 0% while on the desktop but as soon as I open even non demanding games it just goes mental the CPU tends to run anywhere between 30% to 80% while on the desktop and then ingame that goes to 0% to 100% I'm also occasionally getting serious stuttering for 10 seconds or so while ingame. Can anyone help? I'm just checking the drivers again to make sure they are there and up to date but they should be fine as I got a new hard drive recently and re installed everything. The game I'm playing is called Salt and the pictures are from running that. Sorry for the long post my CPU is an AMD FX 4170 

[i_build_nanosuits]

Of course man your CPU is MUCH to weak for such a GPU...what did you expect?

[TakeToTheShadows]

Of course man your CPU is MUCH to weak for such a GPU...what did you expect?

I know I'm upgrading soon so is that the only problem?

[i_build_nanosuits]

I know I'm upgrading soon so is that the only problem?

i would think so...yes.

Do you have 8gb of RAM?

[harrynowl]

struggling to see the graphs on my laptop because of screen size/res (and it's almost 1:40am)

 

but fx4170 and r9 290 is an adventure in bottlenecking

[Fate]

I know I'm upgrading soon so is that the only problem?

Most likely; that CPU is INCREDIBLY weak. The only way to completely rid of the problem is to buy at least an i5-4440, not a single FX chip will allow you to use your 290 to its full potential in every game at 1080p.

[i_build_nanosuits]

Most likely; that CPU is INCREDIBLY weak. The only way to completely rid of the problem is to buy at least an i5-4440, not a single FX chip will allow you to use your 290 to its full potential in every game at 1080p.

this is correct OP, i've learned this the hard way myself.

This is the bare minimum you'd need to be able to run the R9 290 to it's full potential in regards to gaming (re-use your RAM, 8GB DDR3 required, any speed will do):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($40.98 @ Newegg)

Total: $215.97

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-28 20:44 EST-0500

[TakeToTheShadows]

Yeah if it's just a bottle neck then it's fine because I'm upgrading soon and yes I have 8Gb 

[sgloux3470]

is your CPU reaching 100% usage?  If so, could be a bottleneck.

 

 

See if overclocking increases your GPU utilization.  

 

Make sure you're not being thermally throttled.

 

Do you get this issue in other games?  

[TakeToTheShadows]

this is correct OP, i've learned this the hard way myself.

This is the bare minimum you'd need to be able to run the R9 290 to it's full potential in regards to gaming (re-use your RAM, 8GB DDR3 required, any speed will do):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.99 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: Asus H81M-D PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($40.98 @ Newegg)

Total: $215.97

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-28 20:44 EST-0500

Is the Mobo really going to make a difference or is that just so I can run Intel? And Is an Amd Fx 8370 (possibly oc'd) not going to be enough to run with this card? I'd prefer to stick with Amd tbh and as far as I know that's their highest end Cpu apart from the two 9000's and they are way to hot to run with air.

[i_build_nanosuits]

Yeah if it's just a bottle neck then it's fine because I'm upgrading soon and yes I have 8Gb

i guess since you have a good AM3+ motherboard you could always get an FX-8320 and overclock it yourself that would be a cheap band-aid that would help a lot in games if you could get a substantial overclock on it but it will still limit the performance of the GPU in many games...especialy if you play MMO's, RTS, or indie games such as AMRA 3 for example...many other games are fine though such as BF4 and other more modern multi-threaded games...but the FX is not very good and it consumes a lot of power...so it would most likely be better for you to sell your kit (CPU+MOBO) online to the most offering if possible and go with the best haswell i5 you can afford.

[i_build_nanosuits]

is your CPU reaching 100% usage?  If so, could be a bottleneck.

CPU load won't mean anything...his cpu could be at 50% load and still limit the GPU simply because those older CPU's have abysmal IPC and very low performance per core (AKA slow cores) and they can't process the instructions fast enough for the game to run smootly...i experienced this A LOT with my overclocked FX8...60% global CPU usage but 40FPS in watchdogs and assassin's creed black flag. (GPU load = 65 to 75%)

[i_build_nanosuits]

Is the Mobo really going to make a difference or is that just so I can run Intel? And Is an Amd Fx 8370 (possibly oc'd) not going to be enough to run with this card? I'd prefer to stick with Amd tbh and as far as I know that's their highest end Cpu apart from the two 9000's and they are way to hot to run with air.

The FX-8370 is nothing but an AMD overclocked FX-8320...just get the cheapest if you're to go with an AMD FX on overclock it yourself instead of paying AMD big bucks to do it for you...

BUT be advised even at 5.0ghz this chip will still limit your performance in many games...the AMD FX line of CPU is 4 years old now and more CPU cores won't necesseraly mean better gaming performance since most games won't take advantage of them and the AMD FX is always limited by the speed of it's fastest core which is really not that fast when it comes to gaming.

I used to run an FX-8320@4.6ghz with my GTX 780 and i was cpu limited in WAY too many games for my likings at 1080p.

If you game at 1440p or higher res you become GPU limited again though of course.

[TakeToTheShadows]

The FX-8370 is nothing but an AMD overclocked FX-8320...just get the cheapest if you're to go with an AMD FX on overclock it yourself instead of paying AMD big bucks to do it for you...

BUT be advised even at 5.0ghz this chip will still limit your performance in many games...the AMD FX line of CPU is 4 years old now and more CPU cores won't necesseraly mean better gaming performance since most games won't take advantage of them and the AMD FX is always limited by the speed of it's fastest core which is really not that fast when it comes to gaming.

I used to run an FX-8320@4.6ghz with my GTX 780 and i was cpu limited in WAY too many games for my likings at 1080p.

If you game at 1440p or higher res you become GPU limited again though of course.

Hmm so what would be an Intel Cpu that would be a GOOD match for this Gpu not just enough? Something just short of £200 $300 would be ideal 

[i_build_nanosuits]

Hmm so what would be an Intel Cpu that would be a GOOD match for this Gpu not just enough? Something just short of £200 $300 would be ideal

300$ for just the CPU? if you could afford an i5-4690K and a cheap Z97 motherboard you'd be golden...otherwise you'll have to look at locked (not overclockable CPU) they are cheaper (core i5 without a ''K'' at the end) such as the i5-4460 or i5-4590 for example...with these locked CPU an ''H'' series chipset motherboard is perfect (H97)

where are you located?

can you link a shop you want to buy the parts from?

[sgloux3470]

CPU load won't mean anything...his cpu could be at 50% load and still limit the GPU simply because those older CPU's have abysmal IPC and very low performance per core (AKA slow cores) and they can't process the instructions fast enough for the game to run smootly...i experienced this A LOT with my overclocked FX8...60% global CPU usage but 40FPS in watchdogs and assassin's creed black flag. (GPU load = 65 to 75%)

 

You experienced 60% global CPU usage because you had an 8 core 8320.  A 4 core FX 4170 will readily show 100% usage if it's being bottlenecked.  

 

There are a lot of reasons for a GPU to be underutilized and it's not helpful to OP to just assume it's the CPU before eliminating other variables.  Seen plenty of threads of people with i5's and i7's and getting crappy framerates and those certainly aren't CPU bottlenecks.  Gotta run through the whole gamut of troubleshooting to properly assess it.

 

Is the Mobo really going to make a difference or is that just so I can run Intel? And Is an Amd Fx 8370 (possibly oc'd) not going to be enough to run with this card? I'd prefer to stick with Amd tbh and as far as I know that's their highest end Cpu apart from the two 9000's and they are way to hot to run with air.

From personal experience, an overclocked 8370 runs most everything extremely well.  The only game where I have trouble getting 60 FPS constant is Arma 3.  The bottleneck tends to kick in in the 90-100 FPS range, so if you want to run a 120Hz-144Hz monitor then AMD is a no go except for counterstrike and Moba's.

 

I don't see full GPU utilization though, I see around 85%-100% at 1080p (there's a fair bit of fluctuation.) as some games may have CPU intensive moments that cause frame dips.  

 

If you want to stick with AMD and want to overclock, I would recommend the 8370 over the 8320 if only because you'll need much less voltage to achieve overclocks in the 4.7-4.8 Ghz range, and could readily reach 4.9-5.0 GHz.  That said, if you can get the 8320 for $100 less, there's not a huge difference in performance between 4.5 GHz and 5.0 GHz to really justify the extra $100.  But if it's a $30-40 difference I would recommend it.  I was able to hit 4.8 GHz with only 1.35V.  

[TakeToTheShadows]

300$ for just the CPU? if you could afford an i5-4690K and a cheap Z97 motherboard you'd be golden...otherwise you'll have to look at locked (not overclockable CPU) they are cheaper (core i5 without a ''K'' at the end) such as the i5-4460 or i5-4590 for example...with these locked CPU an ''H'' series chipset motherboard is perfect (H97)

where are you located?

can you link a shop you want to buy the parts from?

I'm in the UK and anywhere online would be good. Is there anywhere I can find a list of all the Intel Cpu's around that price with specs? Amd have that on their website but I haven't been able to find it for Intel 

[i_build_nanosuits]

You experienced 60% global CPU usage because you had an 8 core 8320.  A 4 core FX 4170 will readily show 100% usage if it's being bottlenecked.

yeah i give you that, the FX4 has 2 ways of being the limiting factor: cores are too slow to process data fast enough, and the CPU gets a mouthful very quickly in modern games.

If you want to stick with AMD and want to overclock, I would recommend the 8370 over the 8320 if only because you'll need much less voltage to achieve overclocks in the 4.7-4.8 Ghz range, and could readily reach 4.9-5.0 GHz.  That said, if you can get the 8320 for $100 less, there's not a huge difference in performance between 4.5 GHz and 5.0 GHz to really justify the extra $100.  But if it's a $30-40 difference I would recommend it.  I was able to hit 4.8 GHz with only 1.35V.

the FX-8370 is worth ''maybe'' 15$ more than the FX-8320...tops.

[TakeToTheShadows]

You experienced 60% global CPU usage because you had an 8 core 8320.  A 4 core FX 4170 will readily show 100% usage if it's being bottlenecked.  

 

There are a lot of reasons for a GPU to be underutilized and it's not helpful to OP to just assume it's the CPU before eliminating other variables.  Seen plenty of threads of people with i5's and i7's and getting crappy framerates and those certainly aren't CPU bottlenecks.  Gotta run through the whole gamut of troubleshooting to properly assess it.

 

From personal experience, an overclocked 8370 runs most everything extremely well.  The only game where I have trouble getting 60 FPS constant is Arma 3.  The bottleneck tends to kick in in the 90-100 FPS range, so if you want to run a 120Hz-144Hz monitor then AMD is a no go except for counterstrike and Moba's.

 

I don't see full GPU utilization though, I see around 85%-100% at 1080p (there's a fair bit of fluctuation.) as some games may have CPU intensive moments that cause frame dips.  

 

If you want to stick with AMD and want to overclock, I would recommend the 8370 over the 8320 if only because you'll need much less voltage to achieve overclocks in the 4.7-4.8 Ghz range, and could readily reach 4.9-5.0 GHz.  That said, if you can get the 8320 for $100 less, there's not a huge difference in performance between 4.5 GHz and 5.0 GHz to really justify the extra $100.  But if it's a $30-40 difference I would recommend it.  I was able to hit 4.8 GHz with only 1.35V.  

You running water?

[i_build_nanosuits]

I'm in the UK and anywhere online would be good. Is there anywhere I can find a list of all the Intel Cpu's around that price with specs? Amd have that on their website but I haven't been able to find it for Intel

yes use this site (uk.pcpartpicker.com/) , here are the two kits, one is overclockable and the other is not, both are way good enough to feed an R9 290 those are much better at gaming than any highly overclocked FX chip and they do so while consuming a little less than HALF the energy from the wall:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£130.94 @ Aria PC)

Motherboard: MSI H97 Guard-Pro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£51.13 @ Amazon UK)

Total: £182.07

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-29 02:13 GMT+0000

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£173.94 @ Aria PC)

Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£64.74 @ Aria PC)

Total: £238.68

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-29 02:14 GMT+0000

[sgloux3470]

You running water?

 

Using a Corsair H100i AIO.  But 1.35 V can run on a Hyper 212.

[sgloux3470]

the FX-8370 is worth ''maybe'' 15$ more than the FX-8320...tops.

 

 

A cooler running, higher clock speed chip can justify an extra $40 price tag I think.  (Considering people will generally pay that amount for a slightly higher clocked GPU...) 

[TakeToTheShadows]

Using a Corsair H100i AIO.

Yeah see I really don't have the budget for anything more than something like noctua high end air

[sgloux3470]

Yeah see I really don't have the budget for anything more than something like noctua high end air

 

Noctua Air would be just as good.

 

(Also if you buy a refurbished AIO you can get them cheap.  I only paid $65 for my h100i)

[i_build_nanosuits]

Yeah see I really don't have the budget for anything more than something like noctua high end air

check gaming benchmarks, realise the fx is old and inneficient, buy an intel i5.