GPU and CPU *not* at max usage but low fps.

[Itayush]

Hey, I am pretty much just playing Heroes of the Storm and I am frustrated.
During gameplay, my CPU usage goes between 50-70 percent with 45~ temp, and my GPU usage goes between 40-60 percent with 65~ temp (those numbers are after about 2-3 hours of gaming).

I got an Intel i5 3470, a R9 280x Toxic GPU and 8GB of ram(Btw, RAM is stable at 4GB~ usage).
Generally, my fps is at 60, but when ever a fight starts or a few skills are used, my fps goes to 50~ and can go to even 35-40 during a fight (Sometimes I even get stuttering).
This is while using the highest settings. When I use the lowest, the usage and temp just go down a bit, but the problem remains (it's just a little bit better, but still similar).

I've the latest drivers and even deleted and redownloaded the GPU driver from the manufacturer website yesterday.

Oh, and I have the Boost option on(from the BIOS), so my CPU is running at 3400GHz rather than 3200GHz.

Also, the system is very clean of dust(idk if it's related or not)

 

Any experts that may have an idea what is causing the issue and possibly how to fix it?

 

[stealth80]

is it only that game?

[Itayush]

1 minute ago, stealth80 said:

is it only that game?

Well, it's kinda the only game that I got on the computer..

[stealth80]

blizzard does kinda have a habit of not utilising all the hardware, I had a guildy that only got like 10 FPS more than me on her 1080 vs my 970's in SLI and I was at 1440p!

 

Id probably try a clean install if its annoying enough to make you do it - only you can decide that

[Itayush]

4 minutes ago, stealth80 said:

blizzard does kinda have a habit of not utilising all the hardware, I had a guildy that only got like 10 FPS more than me on her 1080 vs my 970's in SLI and I was at 1440p!

 

Id probably try a clean install if its annoying enough to make you do it - only you can decide that

Yeah but, that's just irritating.. And it's also kinda a fresh install of windows + HOTS since I formatted a month ago or so...
It's a 4 years old computer, but I find it hard to believe that it has anything to do with it.

[Mirdon]

That happens when there's an fps cap. The cpu and gpu are smart enough to only run at speeds that can sustain the max fps set by a game. If there isn't any, they run until either one of them maxes out and then if there is a cap, by a software like afterburner or coded into the game, then your pc will only run at speeds that can achieve that cap.

 

Now since they're running at a dynamic speed (meaning that your cpu and gpu's speed are constantly changing depending on the requirement by the game), it will struggle to maintain your fps because the speed that they currently have to reach 60 fps might not be the same speed they need to reach 60fps on the next frame. That's why it's very important to have a 70-80 fps cap if you want constant 60fps, so you can accommodate those dips.

 

First thing you should do though is you should check for an option in your game to increase your cap. There are a few games that has hard coded capping and unfortunately there's nothing you can do to increase them. Best thing you can do is to somehow tell your cpu and gpu to run at fixed speeds but I personally haven't done it.

[Itayush]

10 minutes ago, Mirdon said:

That happens when there's an fps cap. The cpu and gpu are smart enough to only run at speeds that can sustain the max fps set by a game. If there isn't any, they run until either one of them maxes out and then if there is a cap, by a software like afterburner or coded into the game, then your pc will only run at speeds that can achieve that cap.

 

Now since they're running at a dynamic speed (meaning that your cpu and gpu's speed are constantly changing depending on the requirement by the game), it will struggle to maintain your fps because the speed that they currently have to reach 60 fps might not be the same speed they need to reach 60fps on the next frame. That's why it's very important to have a 70-80 fps cap if you want constant 60fps, so you can accommodate those dips.

 

First thing you should do though is you should check for an option in your game to increase your cap. There are a few games that has hard coded capping and unfortunately there's nothing you can do to increase them. Best thing you can do is to somehow tell your cpu and gpu to run at fixed speeds but I personally haven't done it.

Thank you for your answer.
I've tried to raise the FPS to 80 or so(just for half a min, didn't even tested it in a fight), but it didn't look/feel smooth. It was weird for my eyes for some reason. Could be that the monitor refresh rate was not refreshing at the same time or something? 

[Mirdon]

4 minutes ago, Itayush said:

Thank you for your answer.
I've tried to raise the FPS to 80 or so(just for half a min, didn't even tested it in a fight), but it didn't look/feel smooth. It was weird for my eyes for some reason. Could be that the monitor refresh rate was not refreshing at the same time or something? 

I highly doubt it, try installing afterburner with rivatuner and observe the fps.

[Itayush]

8 minutes ago, Mirdon said:

I highly doubt it, try installing afterburner with rivatuner and observe the fps.

I already am using Afterburner. What's Rivatuner?
I think nothing changes when I am using or  not using Afterburner during gameplay.
Also, I've just completely deleted the game and redownloaded/reinstalled it.
I will soon come with feedback if it changed anything.

Also, these are the settings and what it recommends me.

[Mirdon]

Just now, Itayush said:

I already am using Afterburner. What's Rivatuner?
I think nothing changes when I am using or  not using Afterburner during gameplay.
Also, I've just completely deleted the game and redownloaded/reinstalled it.
I will soon come with feedback if it changed anything.

Rivatuner is Afterburner's additional software to display the statistics on your game while playing.

Yeah it's expected, Afterburner is a monitoring software so it wouldn't impact your cpu and gpu's usage unless you overclock your gpu there. 

I see, sure, post here if you have any news, I'll be up for probably 4 or 5 more hours.

[Mirdon]

20 minutes ago, Itayush said:

Also, these are the settings and what it recommends me.

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

Try setting the Refresh Rate to 80 or something higher then press "Ctrl + Alt + F" while playing to display HotS' built in frame counter and observe the dips. Also, I would highly recommend installing Rivatuner so we can see the usage while playing as well.

[Itayush]

36 minutes ago, Mirdon said:

Rivatuner is Afterburner's additional software to display the statistics on your game while playing.

Yeah it's expected, Afterburner is a monitoring software so it wouldn't impact your cpu and gpu's usage unless you overclock your gpu there. 

I see, sure, post here if you have any news, I'll be up for probably 4 or 5 more hours.

 

21 minutes ago, Mirdon said:

Try setting the Refresh Rate to 80 or something higher then press "Ctrl + Alt + F" while playing to display HotS' built in frame counter and observe the dips. Also, I would highly recommend installing Rivatuner so we can see the usage while playing as well.

Reinstall did not change anything.
Removing V Sync made me have 120~ fps but it felt like I always had screen tearing. While in fight my fps still fell to 45ish and the GPU usage was never  higher than 80% (80% was it's peak).
I've always been using CTRL + Alt + F to check my FPS ingame.

Also, I only have 2 refresh rate options. Default and 60Hz. Both feel the same..
I'll install this Rivatuner, but I don't see why would it show anything different than what I see when I minimize my game after a fight to check Afterburner statistics.
Any other idea? =\
Like, this is super frustrating having a computer that should be able to run something smoothly, but in real it just doesn't..

If there is any other expert that has an idea, I am all ears!
Once again, thanks a lot for your help!

[Mirdon]

Just now, Itayush said:

Reinstall did not change anything.
Removing V Sync made me have 120~ fps but it felt like I always had screen tearing. While in fight my fps still fell to 45ish and the GPU usage was never  higher than 80% (80% was it's peak).
I've always been using CTRL + Alt + F to check my FPS ingame.
I'll install this Rivatuner, but I don't see why would it show anything different than what I see when I minimize my game after a fight to check Afterburner statistics.
Any other idea? =\
Like, this is super frustrating having a computer that should be able to run something smoothly, but in real it just doesn't..
Once again, thanks a lot for your help!

It wouldn't but I'd like to see in game the discrepancy between the cpu usage, gpu usage and fps at the same time in game, you can show me the afterburner stats as well but it's easier for me to see it using Rivatuner in game since it contains all of the info at the same time instead of mousing over every single graph and taking a screenshot on afterburner containing those info but mainly because I want you to play with Rivatuner's fps limiting capabilities as well.

I usually have these stats turned on afterburner:

1. FPS

2. GPU - Usage, Temperature, Fan speed

3. CPU - All core's usage, Temperature

 

That's the only reasonable idea I can think of that's preventing you to max out. That or the game's poorly designed. I could see a few posts as well with higher end pcs not being able to fully play the game to an acceptable fps. But I'll only reach that consensus when we're absolutely positive that you've done everything to make sure that it's not coming from your end.

 

And you're welcome.

[Glenwing]

If you're only looking at total CPU usage, you may not be able to see the performance limitations. In games that can only use 1 or 2 cores, the game can max out on CPU power but the total CPU usage will only be 50-60% because only two of the cores are at 100% usage whole the other two are not being used. You need to examine CPU usage from all four cores individually during gameplay.

[Itayush]

53 minutes ago, Mirdon said:

It wouldn't but I'd like to see in game the discrepancy between the cpu usage, gpu usage and fps at the same time in game, you can show me the afterburner stats as well but it's easier for me to see it using Rivatuner in game since it contains all of the info at the same time instead of mousing over every single graph and taking a screenshot on afterburner containing those info but mainly because I want you to play with Rivatuner's fps limiting capabilities as well.

I usually have these stats turned on afterburner:

1. FPS

2. GPU - Usage, Temperature, Fan speed

3. CPU - All core's usage, Temperature

 

That's the only reasonable idea I can think of that's preventing you to max out. That or the game's poorly designed. I could see a few posts as well with higher end pcs not being able to fully play the game to an acceptable fps. But I'll only reach that consensus when we're absolutely positive that you've done everything to make sure that it's not coming from your end.

 

And you're welcome.

 

53 minutes ago, Glenwing said:

If you're only looking at total CPU usage, you may not be able to see the performance limitations. In games that can only use 1 or 2 cores, the game can max out on CPU power but the total CPU usage will only be 50-60% because only two of the cores are at 100% usage whole the other two are not being used. You need to examine CPU usage from all four cores individually during gameplay.

Forgive my lack of knowledge, but I have absolutely no idea what to do here.
I can't see any FPS or anything on screen while ingame.
Would appreciate some guidelines! 

EDIT: So I found out how to make it work, now I do have the statistics on screen while in-game.
I just don't exactly know how am I suppose to record it or something to show you guys the statistics of like 10 minutes of the game.. What exactly should I do?

 

[Glenwing]

24 minutes ago, Itayush said:

 

Forgive my lack of knowledge, but I have absolutely no idea what to do here.
I can't see any FPS or anything on screen while ingame.
Would appreciate some guidelines! 

 

1. Install HWiNFO64 here: https://www.hwinfo.com/download.php

2. Open HWiNFO64. If it prompts you when you launch, check "Sensors Only". If you open the main program instead, open the Sensors window by hitting the yellow button:

 

3. Open the Sensors settings with the gear button at the bottom:

 

4. Go to the "OSD (RTSS)" tab, go through the list and select every sensor you want to see on the OSD

For each sensor you want, select it and check the boxes "Show value in OSD" and "Show label in OSD". In the list, it should now say "RivaTuner: Yes" next to each of those sensors.

 

 

I would recommend enabling OSD on every CPU Usage sensor (every core, total CPU usage, and Max CPU/thread usage).

GPU load (may be found under various names like "GPU core load" or "GPU utilization"). VRAM usage (usually labelled "GPU Memory Allocated" or "GPU Memory Dedicated" may also be good to see.

 

(The sensor names on mine have been renamed, so the ones on your screen won't have as "nice" names as the ones in the screenshot).

 

Once it is set up, to enable/disable the overlay in the future without unchecking all the sensors again, just open RivaTuner and turn off "Show On-Screen Display" at the top.

[Itayush]

9 minutes ago, Glenwing said:

1. Install HWiNFO64 here: https://www.hwinfo.com/download.php

2. Open HWiNFO64. If it prompts you when you launch, check "Sensors Only". If you open the main program instead, open the Sensors window by hitting the yellow button:

 

3. Open the Sensors settings with the gear button at the bottom:

 

4. Go to the "OSD (RTSS)" tab, go through the list and select every sensor you want to see on the OSD

For each sensor you want, select it and check the boxes "Show value in OSD" and "Show label in OSD". In the list, it should now say "RivaTuner: Yes" next to each of those sensors.

 

 

I would recommend enabling OSD on every CPU Usage sensor (every core, total CPU usage, and highest thread usage).

GPU load (may be found under various names like "GPU core load" or "GPU utilization"). VRAM usage (usually labelled "GPU Memory Allocated" or "GPU Memory Dedicated" may also be good to see.

 

 

So I managed to add all those stuff and extra more to the OSD, but I didn't quite understand what do you guys wanna see. Just print screen during a fight or something like that? Once again, forgive me for my ignorance.

[Glenwing]

Just now, Itayush said:

So I managed to add all those stuff and extra more to the OSD, but I didn't quite understand what do you guys wanna see. Just print screen during a fight or something like that? Once again, forgive me for my ignorance.

Just play the game and when your FPS drops, just glance at the numbers and see if any of the individual CPU cores are at high usage (90-100%)

[Itayush]

1 hour ago, Glenwing said:

Just play the game and when your FPS drops, just glance at the numbers and see if any of the individual CPU cores are at high usage (90-100%)

I think this is the best I can do.
As you can see, fps droped to 52, while GPU usage is barely at half and CPU usage of core3 is only at 67..
It's at the highest settings.
This make zero sense to me what so ever.
I am so now interested in why this is happening that I am starting to care less about how to even fix it

[Itayush]

This one is even better.

38 FPS while CPU and GPU usage are even lower.. O_o
Seriously, I am far from being an expert, but I just cannot understand the logic in it.

[Mirdon]

1 hour ago, Itayush said:

This one is even better.

38 FPS while CPU and GPU usage are even lower.. O_o
Seriously, I am far from being an expert, but I just cannot understand the logic in it.

Spoiler

 

 

Just got back, sorry for the late response. Looking at these numbers, I think it's the game's fault but to be sure I googled heroes of the storm fps issue and found a ton of posts/threads regarding it, even people with a 970 having the same problems. I guess it's due to them using their Starcraft 2 engine on HotS (which I personally had problems with as well with my older rig and a friend's). Best thing you can do right now I guess is head over to Blizzard and create a support thread and maybe they can help optimize HotS since I've seen similar threads.

[Itayush]

6 minutes ago, Mirdon said:

Just got back, sorry for the late response. Looking at these numbers, I think it's the game's fault but to be sure I googled heroes of the storm fps issue and found a ton of posts/threads regarding it, even people with a 970 having the same problems. I guess it's due to them using their Starcraft 2 engine on HotS (which I personally had problems with as well with my older rig and a friend's). Best thing you can do right now I guess is head over to Blizzard and create a support thread and maybe they can help optimize HotS since I've seen similar threads.

I see. No need to be sorry! I appreciate your guys help a lot!

What tests can I do to check if I have the problem in other games/benchmarks or what not?
I'd like to be sure that it happens only in HOTS.
 

[Mirdon]

17 minutes ago, Itayush said:

I see. No need to be sorry! I appreciate your guys help a lot!

What tests can I do to check if I have the problem in other games/benchmarks or what not?
I'd like to be sure that it happens only in HOTS.

You're welcome. You can try Unigine Heaven or Valley.

[Itayush]

1 hour ago, Mirdon said:

You're welcome. You can try Unigine Heaven or Valley.

So it seem like the GPU usage is working well. Sad that Blizzard coding/engine(not sure really) is so awful..
Altho 53 FPS just for High settings is not the best.. I'll probably upgrade my computer soon^^
Thanks A LOT for all the help! Much appreciated!