gtx1060 GPU is not using 100% [no bottleneck]

[LoweredHippo]

Hi everyone,

 

My GPU doesn't use 100% while gaming. It recently started doing this and I don't know why. It isn't a bottleneck since my cpu is not always on 100%. It is with some games tough.

The GPU uses around 20% to 70% percent while I'm gaming. It is not overheating or anything. 

 

I started FurMark and ran a stress test (furmark_000001 attached). The core clock was used 90% - 100%. But the memory clock was only used for about 6% to 10%. I don't know if this is normal or not.

 

The low gpu usage happens with every game. I don't know what it can be so hopefully you guys can help me out.

 

System specs are attached. If you need any more information please let know and I will provide it.

 

Thanks!!

 

ps: I did already ask this on Reddit and xXTonyManXx helped me a lot already. Maybe you can take a look so you know more about what we already tried.

ps2: HERE is a recording of me playing BF1. Maybe it gives you a better idea of whats happening and what may be the cause.

 

 

DxDiag.txt

[treeroy]

a GPU shouldn't be on full load when playing most games.

what games are you playing? Unless they are extremely demanding then that's normal.

[LawrenceBarnes2013]

Are you experiencing frame drops in your games ? cause if didn't result in FPS loss then it's normal since GPUs run at 90~95% most of the time in most games.

Edited January 17, 2017 by LawrenceBarnes2013

[Megah3rtz]

Unless you're having FPS issues this is completely normal, BF1 and Insurgency are both CPU intensive. 

[Simon771]

Memory clock usage at low usage is normal.

About games ... well not all games can fully utilise your GPU.

 

For example Guild Wars 2 will only use 40% of my GPU at best. It's just not that demanding game.

But if you want to see your GPU at 100% load while gaming, you should try Overwatch at epic graphics settings. That will put it at 100% load for sure.

[LoweredHippo]

@treeroy Really? I thought it was supposed to be  on full load. It always was on full load before.

 

@LawrenceBarnes2013 Sometimes I do. But my overall framerate is way lower than it was.

[Princess Luna]

Do not use FurMark ever, it kills video cards, if you want to benchmark use Unigine Heaven, set it all to the max settings on your native resolution, if it reaches 99% on there then the GPU is fully working, the video card not always get maxed on certain games as it can render everything without the requirement of going full clock speeds.

[LawrenceBarnes2013]

1 minute ago, LoweredHippo said:

@treeroy Really? I thought it was supposed to be  on full load. It always was on full load before.

 

@LawrenceBarnes2013 Sometimes I do. But my overall framerate is way lower than it was.

So this drop in GPU Usage did effect your frame rate ?

[LoweredHippo]

@Simon771 My gpu never uses the full 100% anymore. With BF1 I'm playing with aroud 40-50 fps while it was 70+ before.

 

@LawrenceBarnes2013 Yes it did

[Simon771]

1 minute ago, LoweredHippo said:

@Simon771 My gpu never uses the full 100% anymore. With BF1 I'm playing with aroud 40-50 fps while it was 70+ before.

What CPU are you using and what's your CPU load and temperature?

[Princess Luna]

1 minute ago, LoweredHippo said:

@Simon771 My gpu never uses the full 100% anymore. With BF1 I'm playing with aroud 40-50 fps while it was 70+ before.

Then FurMark already damaged your gpu, =/

do the Heaven test like I said and log its status using HWMonitor or MSi Afterburner or something so we see how it is performing,

[LawrenceBarnes2013]

1 minute ago, LoweredHippo said:

@Simon771 My gpu never uses the full 100% anymore. With BF1 I'm playing with aroud 40-50 fps while it was 70+ before.

 

@LawrenceBarnes2013 Yes it did

I'm guessing driver update.

[ProjectBox153]

3 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

Then FurMark already damaged your gpu, =/

do the Heaven test like I said and log its status using HWMonitor or MSi Afterburner or something so we see how it is performing,

What do you mean by "damage" the GPU? I've never heard of software damaging something.

[LoweredHippo]

@Princess Cadence I'm downloading Heaven benchmark right now. I used furmark after it started 

 

@LawrenceBarnes2013 My drivers are updated

[Princess Luna]

6 minutes ago, Jamiec1130 said:

What do you mean by "damage" the GPU? I've never heard of software damaging something.

FurMark throws unrealistic huge stress on the GPU forcing its power and heat to the limit what can damage GPUs if used for even not that long period of time, 99% usage on GPU in gaming or more realistic benchmarks such as Heaven is the cores waiting for further instructions while in FurMark it is because its doing math equations constantly everywhere, there are many reports of cards that died after some extended period of benchmarking with FurMark, in fact even Linus have stated in many of his videos that you should avoid this application.

[iRileyx]

4 minutes ago, Jamiec1130 said:

What do you mean by "damage" the GPU? I've never heard of software damaging something.

Some benchmarks can stress components too hard and cause damage to them, Prime95 is known for doing it too if ran for too long.

[ProjectBox153]

1 minute ago, Princess Cadence said:

FurMark throws unrealistic huge stress on the GPU forcing its power and heat to the limit what can damage GPUs if used for even not that long period of time, 99% usage on GPU in gaming or more realistic benchmarks such as Heaven is the cores waiting for further instructions while in FurMark it is because its doing math equations constantly everywhere, there are many reports of card that died after some extended period of benchmarking with FurMark, in fact even Linus have stated in many of his videos that you should avoid this application.

Oh, OK. I guess I just haven't run across this issue. I won't use FurMark now.

[Princess Luna]

-bad internet double post, mod delete if seen-

[Narnash]

21 minutes ago, Simon771 said:

What CPU are you using and what's your CPU load and temperature?

RAM can also be a bottleneck he should check that, too (maybe he has only 8GB and Chrome open in the background)

 

 

Just as an external input since it's not likely to occure on your card ...

 the R9 Nano  has a similar behavior on stock (and it's more or less intended) because of it's extrem power limit, you may have to turn the max. Power Limit up a bit to get a performance increase.

On the R9 Nano the card may throttle also with ramped Power Limit and good GPU temps. The reason behind this is that the card also thermal throttles when the VRM temp reach 100°C, which can happen in a bad airflow case. (use HWMonitor to read VRM temps)

 

So maybe just try and raise the Power limit a bit and check your VRM temps while in game.

[TrigrH]

its a cpu bottleneck, max ur resolution scale in bf1 and you will see

[LoweredHippo]

@Princess Cadence So I ran Heaven benchmark while monitoring with HWMonitor. The gpu is under full load when the benchmark is running. 80%-100% when it's playing and sometimes drops quickly to maybe 30%-40% and then gets back up.

 

@Narnash My temps are fine. I'll try to raise the power a little bit. I'll let you know it works.

 

@TrigrH It also happens with games that only use 70% of my cpu. And I never had the problem before with BF1. Even when the cpu was running at 100%

 

 

[Princess Luna]

5 minutes ago, LoweredHippo said:

@Princess Cadence So I ran Heaven benchmark while monitoring with HWMonitor. The gpu is under full load when the benchmark is running. 80%-100% when it's playing and sometimes drops quickly to maybe 30%-40% and then gets back up.

 

@Narnash My temps are fine. I'll try to raise the power a little bit. I'll let you know it works.

 

@TrigrH It also happens with games that only use 70% of my cpu. And I never had the problem before with BF1. Even when the cpu was running at 100%

 

 

This could be a case of the core clocks being too high, is the GPU overclocked?

[i_build_nanosuits]

11 minutes ago, LoweredHippo said:

@TrigrH It also happens with games that only use 70% of my cpu. And I never had the problem before with BF1. Even when the cpu was running at 100%

 

 

Gamins is all about speed, your CPU even when not being maxed out can still be too slow to process drawcalls fast enough to properly feed your GPU.

What CPU do you have?

[treeroy]

44 minutes ago, Narnash said:

RAM can also be a bottleneck he should check that, too (maybe he has only 8GB and Chrome open in the background)

 

 

Just as an external input since it's not likely to occure on your card ...

 the R9 Nano  has a similar behavior on stock (and it's more or less intended) because of it's extrem power limit, you may have to turn the max. Power Limit up a bit to get a performance increase.

On the R9 Nano the card may throttle also with ramped Power Limit and good GPU temps. The reason behind this is that the card also thermal throttles when the VRM temp reach 100°C, which can happen in a bad airflow case. (use HWMonitor to read VRM temps)

 

So maybe just try and raise the Power limit a bit and check your VRM temps while in game.

RAM is not a bottleneck. If the program needs more RAM than is available it should just crash.

[LoweredHippo]

@Princess Cadence I use the OC mode in Gigabyte Xtreme Gaming Engine. When I press OC Mode the only thing that changes in the program itself is the GPU Clock. It adds +26MHz.