Low GPU Usage when playing Physx Games - SLI Setup

[earyana]

Hi All,

It seems odd to me that my system not performing as fast as how other people post their benchmark online.

My current system setup is
Windows 8.1 64 bit
2 x GTX 970 MSI tiger edition
16 GB RAM 1600 MHz
MSI 970 Gamng motherboard

AMD FX 6300 - 3.5 GHz
1 SSHD Seagate
Corsair CS750M 

I am having problem running game titles that uses Physx problem such as Batman Arkham series, Witcher 3 and such. 

Seems like my SLI GPU having a very low amount of usage.

I have example here taken from benchmarking test of Batman Arkham Origins:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2lJMagonqH2TFpCSzYtak...

As you can see I am not getting the FPS like how it should be, and the GPU usage not reaching 70% even.

I've read somewhere Windows 8.1 is causing Physx to slow down especially during gaming ( I believe there are numerous reports on Borderlands 2 ). Is this true?

I hope the community could help me with my problem, thanks a lot.

------------

What I've tried so far:
- Clean Install Latest GeForce Drivers
- Disable SLI and use 2nd card as dedicated Physx ( actually getting more FPS )
- Use CPU as Physx ( even more avg FPS )
- Reinstall the games - doesnt help

 

[Guest Generallee]

MSI 970 Gamng motherboard

 

AMD CPU ?

[AlwaysFSX]

What's your CPU? Given it's something AMD I'm willing to bet it's holding the cards back.

[earyana]

Damn, i thought i put that in, I am using AMD FX 6300 - 3.5 GHz, but if you see the screenshot I linked, my CPU usage didnt even reach 70% is that still valid argument for the CPU holding it back?

[AlwaysFSX]

Damn, i thought i put that in, I am using AMD FX 6300 - 3.5 GHz

Oh yeah you're definitely not going to get the full performance from your cards with that.

[earyana]

I see, however if I disable the Physx on any game, I am getting like 80-90% GPU usage and my FPS when through the roof 150 - 190 FPS on Arkham Origin. Does Physx really eat up CPU performance that significantly??

[ind3x]

You're bottlenecked.

Many workloads can't be spread completely even over multiple threads, so you're certainly being hold back by that CPU.

This is why you're not seeing 100% CPU usage, but you're still being held back.

You should really consider upgrading to the 8350 which would help a bit, but going with an intel i5 is really the only proper way of utilizing 970's in SLI.

[Samppa221]

I agree the 6300 on that high end graphics config is bad. Get a i5 or i7 or i don't know if the FX-8350 is enough still amd.

[earyana]

So mid range / budget CPU couldn't handle Physx with SLI config, It just so minimal information about this, where as my single GTX 970 outperform the SLI config with the Physx on, very frustrating.

[earyana]

I am still unsure if FX 6300 bottlenecking is the problem I have, yes you can argue FX 6300 not as fast as current i5 and i7, but take a look at this pict:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2lJMagonqH2TDY2WFlvWmY4NDh2NXZtSUhkazFuTzN0Smtj/view?usp=sharing

 

This what happens is the Physx is off, the GPU usage is above 75% constantly and I'm getting above 150 fps.

 

Yes FX 6300 may bottleneck my SLI setup, but using only 50% of the GPU usage with Physx on is too extreme of bottlenecking, seems hard to believe FX 6300 dragging the SLI that bad.

 

I am still leaning towards current Physx driver not working as intended ( look what happened in Batman Arkham Knight for example ), I dont know argument could be made here.