Underwhelming performance on RX 480

[RandomKidd]

Hi!

Since I've built my PC, I've noticed how it has relatively underwhelming performance as opposed to some YouTube videos I've seen. In GTA 5 on high settings I'm rarely getting 60 fps (mostly 30-40), while some other games seem to struggle as well (such as AC Origins, Fallout 4, For Honor, even Watch Dogs sometimes). My PC specs are listed below and I have all the latest drivers. Do any of you have the same or similar issue?

 

CPU: AMD FX-9370

RAM: 16 GB DDR3 RAM

GPU: AMD RX 480 8GB

MB: Asus Sabertooth 990fx r2.0

PSU: Thermaltake Litepower 650w

 

P.S. I overclocked the gpu a bit, core clock is on 1366mhz, memory clock on 2100mhz and power limit is up by 10%

[MadPistol]

All of the games you listed are very CPU dependent. I think your CPU may be holding back the RX 480.

[PopsicleHustler]

Your CPU bottlenecks RX480.

[RandomKidd]

4 hours ago, Gamerfiend_ said:

Do you have the reference card? The reason I ask is that I had the reference 480 & it struggled terribly with thermal throttling

I do, but my temps rarely exceed 70c

[RandomKidd]

4 hours ago, PopsicleHustler said:

Your CPU bottlenecks RX480.

Does it? My gpu usage is mostly at 100% whilst cpu isn't (40-60, sometimes 70%)

[RandomKidd]

4 hours ago, MadPistol said:

All of the games you listed are very CPU dependent. I think your CPU may be holding back the RX 480.

But my gpu usage is mostly sitting at 100%, and my cpu is around 40-60, sometimes 70%

[Darkseth]

CPU does NOT need to be at 100% usage to be bottlenecking. Technically, even 100% / 8 Cores = 12,5% usage can be enough to be a bottleneck.

Anything that's not DX12 or Vulkan uses 1 Core quite heavily as a "Main task core", while still beeing able to use other cores for stuff.

This 1 Core can bottleneck already, despite other cores don't hit 100%.

 

Example, i have an i7 quad core, and if i start Prime95 with 1 Thread, my CPU is bottlenecking - 1 core at 100%, all others are bored. Still a CPU Bottleneck.

 

as for your issue: Try something please.

Reduce Resolution in GTA 5 to 640p (or the lowest that's available), set Details to Low, any form of Anti Aliasing (FXAA, SMAA) at OFF, and Ambient Occlusion at OFF. You can leave the rest up (like Distance stuff, this also taxes CPU).

This already should be enough to hit a CPU Bottleneck for sure - your GPU will be able to deliver SO MANY fps in these low settings and this low resolution, that it will be bored already. If it worked perfectly, your GPU should NOT hit 100% at all anymore (this is GOOD, you want this for the test).

-> Now you can see how much fps your CPU can deliver. This is, what your CPU is capable of.

 

If you hit alot more fps than 60, your CPU is not bottlenecking much there. If your fps somehow don't go up by much, or not at all, you are in a CPU Bottleneck already.

 

 

 

Also, a second test, maybe if you want to do that first: Use MSI Afterburner to log in the background, and paly GTA 5 while you ahve your 40-60 fps.

Show us the Graphs please. I want to know your GPU usage, CPU% usages from all Cores, Clock speeds, etc etc etc.

With this information i could probably see already where the Problem is.

[RandomKidd]

1 hour ago, Darkseth said:

CPU does NOT need to be at 100% usage to be bottlenecking. Technically, even 100% / 8 Cores = 12,5% usage can be enough to be a bottleneck.

Anything that's not DX12 or Vulkan uses 1 Core quite heavily as a "Main task core", while still beeing able to use other cores for stuff.

This 1 Core can bottleneck already, despite other cores don't hit 100%.

 

Example, i have an i7 quad core, and if i start Prime95 with 1 Thread, my CPU is bottlenecking - 1 core at 100%, all others are bored. Still a CPU Bottleneck.

 

as for your issue: Try something please.

Reduce Resolution in GTA 5 to 640p (or the lowest that's available), set Details to Low, any form of Anti Aliasing (FXAA, SMAA) at OFF, and Ambient Occlusion at OFF. You can leave the rest up (like Distance stuff, this also taxes CPU).

This already should be enough to hit a CPU Bottleneck for sure - your GPU will be able to deliver SO MANY fps in these low settings and this low resolution, that it will be bored already. If it worked perfectly, your GPU should NOT hit 100% at all anymore (this is GOOD, you want this for the test).

-> Now you can see how much fps your CPU can deliver. This is, what your CPU is capable of.

 

If you hit alot more fps than 60, your CPU is not bottlenecking much there. If your fps somehow don't go up by much, or not at all, you are in a CPU Bottleneck already.

 

 

 

Also, a second test, maybe if you want to do that first: Use MSI Afterburner to log in the background, and paly GTA 5 while you ahve your 40-60 fps.

Show us the Graphs please. I want to know your GPU usage, CPU% usages from all Cores, Clock speeds, etc etc etc.

With this information i could probably see already where the Problem is.

First off, thank you so much!

Second, I will do the test in the near future because as of now I won't be having that much PC time during the day.

Lastly, how do I record the whole graphs? Don't they disappear after a certain amount of seconds (they go from right to left and like after they go the furthest left that's it)?

[Darkseth]

You can double-click on the Graph, and it will pop out. Just make a screenshot of those (all of them^^ More is better than less).

Otherwise, rightclick and "save as log", and you upload the Log. Then i can download, and it will show me the Graph.

 

Since the Graph shows you the last xx Minutes, that's plenty of time ^^ It's far more than a few seconds.

 

Just play to the point where you have 40-60 fps only (where you have the problems you mean), and then screenshot it~ ^^

[RandomKidd]

1 hour ago, Darkseth said:

You can double-click on the Graph, and it will pop out. Just make a screenshot of those (all of them^^ More is better than less).

Otherwise, rightclick and "save as log", and you upload the Log. Then i can download, and it will show me the Graph.

 

Since the Graph shows you the last xx Minutes, that's plenty of time ^^ It's far more than a few seconds.

 

Just play to the point where you have 40-60 fps only (where you have the problems you mean), and then screenshot it~ ^^

No problem, as soon as i sort out the stuff i have regarding school I'll be sure to do all of that (around friday-saturday).