BF3: CPU 60%, GPUs 50% = WTF?

[Horrux]

Basically I'm wondering if things are going normally because I get the feeling they aren't.

My CPU utilization in-game fluctuates closely around the 60% mark.

My GPUs fluctuate around the 50% to 60% mark.

My settings are HIGH with FSAA maxed.

I noticed that reducing the FSAA only reduces GPU utilization but does not increase FPS, which would seem to indicate a CPU limitation, except my CPU is at 60% or so.

I have toyed with Ultra settings and it is of course too much for my machine, when I turn around I get FPS drops like mad. I set it on low and get somewhat higher FPS, for example from 70 to 90.

So is this really what is to be expected from my machine or is there something fudged up?

Thanks

 

[Darkleoco]

Can you post your system specs? (can't pull them up on this school computer)

 

[_ALB_R3D X]

Basically I'm wondering if things are going normally because I get the feeling they aren't.

My CPU utilization in-game fluctuates closely around the 60% mark.

My GPUs fluctuate around the 50% to 60% mark.

My settings are HIGH with FSAA maxed.

I noticed that reducing the FSAA only reduces GPU utilization but does not increase FPS, which would seem to indicate a CPU limitation, except my CPU is at 60% or so.

I have toyed with Ultra settings and it is of course too much for my machine, when I turn around I get FPS drops like mad. I set it on low and get somewhat higher FPS, for example from 70 to 90.

So is this really what is to be expected from my machine or is there something fudged up?

Thanks

Seems like a driver problem...take a look at my sig,I'm gettin 100% CPU and 80-90% on both cards ultra settings,vsync ON,stable 60FPS on all occasions!
This happened only after 10.10 + 11.9 CAP 4

 

[Bjorn_Of_Iceland]

In the cpu side of things, it just shows that its not as taxed as it isand the game is efficiently utilizing your 6 core. Its also evident here:

http://www.techspot.com/review/458-battlefield-3-performance/page7.html

As for your GPUs, Im not really sure.. Im on a single setup, and its going 99%-100%. It might be an SLi issue that needs profile fixing or something like that..

 

[LDNL]

Basically I'm wondering if things are going normally because I get the feeling they aren't.

My CPU utilization in-game fluctuates closely around the 60% mark.

My GPUs fluctuate around the 50% to 60% mark.

My settings are HIGH with FSAA maxed.

I noticed that reducing the FSAA only reduces GPU utilization but does not increase FPS, which would seem to indicate a CPU limitation, except my CPU is at 60% or so.

I have toyed with Ultra settings and it is of course too much for my machine, when I turn around I get FPS drops like mad. I set it on low and get somewhat higher FPS, for example from 70 to 90.

So is this really what is to be expected from my machine or is there something fudged up?

Thanks

Running on preset high settings. Ultra with everything maxed would run ok until the gddr gets maxed out. The fps drops down to zero, the game freezes for a few seconds and continues again. On high its around 1gb-1.1gb gddr used constant

 

[nt300]

This more proof CPUs are not the driving force for gaming PC's.
Better to invest in good graphics vs. CPU. A good 4-core CPU would be good enough.

 

[EastCoasthandle]

You need to post a few pics of the render.perfoveralyvisible 1 command to get an idea of what's going on. I think I have an idea but I would like to see the charts 1st.

 

[Horrux]

In the cpu side of things, it just shows that its not as taxed as it isand the game is efficiently utilizing your 6 core. Its also evident here:

http://www.techspot.com/review/458-battlefield-3-performance/page7.html

As for your GPUs, Im not really sure.. Im on a single setup, and its going 99%-100%. It might be an SLi issue that needs profile fixing or something like that..

This seems more a demonstration that the GTX 580 is the bottleneck at "high" than the CPU being largely irrelevant. I understand what the article says, but I'm sure if they had used "low" settings the CPUs would show wildly different scores. And this is why that article does not relate to my situation. I have tried it on low, and don't get any more FPS, so it looks very fishy.

I have seen some games take both my GPUs in the mid-to-high 90's % utilization, such as Metro 2033 and BFBC2 single-player. I've been having the exact same issue in BFBC2 MP where both GPU and CPU are underutilized. Framerate is "playable", with drops down to about 40, although I have seen as low as 30 on one occasion, but I keep wondering what my experience would be like when using the 40% of my PC that isn't...

Actually, I take it back... It is relevant, in a reverse way. If an FX-4100 is enough to make a GTX 580 the bottleneck, then my Phenom II X6 is enough to make my GTX 570s the bottleneck. But they remain under-utilized.

 

[Horrux]

Can you post your system specs? (can't pull them up on this school computer)

Here they are:

Cpu: AMD Phenom II X6 1100t @ stock 3.3 Ghz + Noctua NH-D14
Ram: Corsair 2x4gb DDR3 1866
Mobo: MSI 990FXA-GD80
PSU: Corsair 850W
Sound: Auzentech Prelude X-Fi + Sennheiser PC 360 G4ME headset
Graphics: SLI MSI GTX 570 OC Edition
Input: G-15 keyboard + Logitech G5 gaming mouse
Monitor: Samsung 2233rz 3D ready 120hz + nVidia 3D Vision
OS: Windows 7 64 Ultimate
Case: Antec Twelve Hundred

 

[Darkleoco]

From what I see you should definitely be getting much more consistent frame rates and be able to play ultra at very steady rates with that SLI setup, Your CPU is more than enough to run the well at ultra but you would definitely need full utilization of your GPU's, do you have the latest nvidia drivers installed?

Edit: Other Nvidia users are having the same issues with under-utilization of their SLI systems after the 285.62 drivers :/ it seems you are likely just suffering from driver issues

 

[erocker]

To test, try upping your CPU and CPU/NB frequencies just a little to see if it improves. You also don't mention which drivers you're on.

 

[Richieb0y]

i never see my gpu above 60% i only watched it one time and im running maxxed.
40fps it only dips to 28 when a thing happens

 

[Horrux]

To test, try upping your CPU and CPU/NB frequencies just a little to see if it improves. You also don't mention which drivers you're on.

The "BF3 Special" 285.62

I have decided to disable SLI and I prefer how my system behaves: more constant FPS as in, less drops in the 40s and even 30s when stuff happens and no 150+fps when looking at the ground. Looks like that second $350 video card is there for nothing but aggravation.

I've always had the same problem in BFBC2 and it never got fixed. It's probably hard-coded into frostbite. :shadedshu

 

[Goodman]

Basically I'm wondering if things are going normally because I get the feeling they aren't.

My CPU utilization in-game fluctuates closely around the 60% mark.

My GPUs fluctuate around the 50% to 60% mark.

My settings are HIGH with FSAA maxed.

I noticed that reducing the FSAA only reduces GPU utilization but does not increase FPS, which would seem to indicate a CPU limitation, except my CPU is at 60% or so.

I have toyed with Ultra settings and it is of course too much for my machine, when I turn around I get FPS drops like mad. I set it on low and get somewhat higher FPS, for example from 70 to 90.

So is this really what is to be expected from my machine or is there something fudged up?

Thanks

Yeah! stop looking at the F*in numbers & just enjoy playing the game...

 

[alexsubri]

To test, try upping your CPU and CPU/NB frequencies just a little to see if it improves. You also don't mention which drivers you're on.

On my Sabertooth Motherboard I did this:

It help maintain my FPS high, and I get about 5% increase in most games:

1 - Crysis 9 Ultra + Directx11 + HD Textures = ~65 FPS
2 - BFBC2 Ultra + 11.9 WHQL + CAP 4 + 2XMAA = ~65-75 FPS (Crossfire still has issues, not as bad, but they are still there. I know it's a driver issue because several other people have this error. Even with 6970s (I guess its the card manufacturer & driver). I only play with 1 card on High with 2xMSAA @ 50-78 FPS
3 - Witcher 2, I can now play max settings + ubersampling @ 45-60 FPS
4 - Modern Warfare 2, max settings - I can play smooth as silk @ 95-350FPS (95-120 FPS during battle scenes (120-350FPS non battles , cut scenes, etc)

My AMD 965 Black Edition is o/c @ 3.7GHZ

 

[Horrux]

^^^
Problem is, I have no clue about overclocking. I use to understand everything about it back in the Athlon 64 days but now I'm completely lost and seriously I don't have time for it. I prefer to run things at stock and not worry about overclocking.

I don't think my problem needs overclocking, I think it needs just 100% performance on the hardware that I have. I'm not going to wrack my brains and risk frying my hardware to try and squeeze X % more performance out of hardware that isn't being nearly fully utilized to begin with.

 

[_ALB_R3D X]

What BIOS Version do u have?
I read somewhere that new Bios for 900 series improves SLI as well..u might wanna try that..!

 

[Wyverex]

In the cpu side of things, it just shows that its not as taxed as it isand the game is efficiently utilizing your 6 core. Its also evident here:

http://www.techspot.com/review/458-battlefield-3-performance/page7.html

As for your GPUs, Im not really sure.. Im on a single setup, and its going 99%-100%. It might be an SLi issue that needs profile fixing or something like that..

That test is only from single player, and from what I have noticed, multiplayer is a lot more taxing on the CPU.

 

[Xaser04]

GPU under utilisation (especially in multi GPU configs) normally points to the CPU bottlenecking the system.

A Quick way to test would be to push your X6 up to around 4GHz. If the GPU utilisation improves you are CPU limited. If it doesn't improve then something else is causing the under utilisation.

RichieB0y - With my setup on a single 1080 screen my HD6970 is pegged at 99% load (CPU 100% load) all the time in BF3 (Max settings, No FSAA) - I also achieve higher framerates at a higher resolution despite identical GPU's. Try pushing your CPU up to around 3.6GHz (should be do able without much tweaking) to see if your GPU utilisation and thus framerates improve.

 

[alexsubri]

GPU under utilisation (especially in multi GPU configs) normally points to the CPU bottlenecking the system.

A Quick way to test would be to push your X6 up to around 4GHz. If the GPU utilisation improves you are CPU limited. If it doesn't improve then something else is causing the under utilisation.

RichieB0y - With my setup on a single 1080 screen my HD6970 is pegged at 99% load (CPU 100% load) all the time in BF3 (Max settings, No FSAA) - I also achieve higher framerates at a higher resolution despite identical GPU's. Try pushing your CPU up to around 3.6GHz (should be do able without much tweaking) to see if your GPU utilisation and thus framerates improve.

How many CPUs are you using when you play? I've noticed mostly my 3 of my 4 cores are utilized. Sometimes 4/4 when it's bugging

 

[Horrux]

How many CPUs are you using when you play? I've noticed mostly my 3 of my 4 cores are utilized. Sometimes 4/4 when it's bugging

On my rig the load is pretty evenly distributed on the 6 cores.

 

[n-ster]

I'm sorry if this was already mentioned or tried as I didn't bother reading anything, but have you tried to see if your PC is in power saver vs high performance mode? (Control Panel --> Power Options)

 

[Horrux]

I'm sorry if this was already mentioned or tried as I didn't bother reading anything, but have you tried to see if your PC is in power saver vs high performance mode? (Control Panel --> Power Options)

I knew a guy who was of Montreal and NJ. He was working on the 3rd floor or 800, Square Victoria here. There must not be legion. Anyway, the power options would be something to look into if my CPU were getting close to 100% load. Same thing with all the guys saying I should overclock it. My CPU is not getting utilized, why do I need to overclock it? When CPU utilization reaches high, THEN I might consider overclocking.

But I have ascertained that the problem resides with one of the video cards. I put it into another box, fired up BF3 and lo and behold, even at med/high settings, I would sometimes get incredible FPS drops, like going from 60-70 to 2-3 for half a second, then back to 60-70, and randomly. Something is obviously wrong with the card, but I wonder if MSI will replace it.

 

[Darkleoco]

Hopefully you can get it replaced quickly and start killing the game with a new flawless card

 

[n-ster]

I knew a guy who was of Montreal and NJ. He was working on the 3rd floor or 800, Square Victoria here. There must not be legion. Anyway, the power options would be something to look into if my CPU were getting close to 100% load. Same thing with all the guys saying I should overclock it. My CPU is not getting utilized, why do I need to overclock it? When CPU utilization reaches high, THEN I might consider overclocking.

But I have ascertained that the problem resides with one of the video cards. I put it into another box, fired up BF3 and lo and behold, even at med/high settings, I would sometimes get incredible FPS drops, like going from 60-70 to 2-3 for half a second, then back to 60-70, and randomly. Something is obviously wrong with the card, but I wonder if MSI will replace it.

Nope... My cousin was lagging in Starcraft II and I was looking at CPU usage and it was <20% the whole time... Once I put it in High Performance instead of Power Saver, it went up to 60~80%. This happened Friday lol