GTX 1070 getting low GPU usage games (Gainward Phoenix)

[Berserker14]

Hi guys,

Recently upgraded to a GTX 1070 8gb but have noticed that in some games I get bad FPS drops (to the same level or worse than my old GTX 960 4gb). When I check things out in MSI after burner or GPU-Z, the first 5 seconds or so of loading the effected games, the GPU usage was dropping from 100% to ~60% then about 15 seconds or so later the GPU usage was 40-50% and doesnt change from there. This drops the FPS to the 20-40's depending on the game. Searching this issue on google comes up with so many posts, but after hours of browsing I can't find a solution that works. A lot of peoples issues seem to be with a particular Windows 10 update, but can't be mine as I am running Win 7.

When I run Heaven Bench mark I get a good score (2498 with everything maxed on 1080p) and GPU usage is at 99% usage the entire time. But then certain games (TW: Warhammer, Space Hulk - to name a few) the GPU usage will drop when nothing else is maxed out and crash the FPS.

I am pretty sure my rig is not bottle necking the games

Xeon X5670 6c @ 4.4ghz
12gb (3x4gb Gskill) or ->18gb (the gskill + 3x2gb Corsair) 1600mhz ram
Gainward Phoenix GTX 1070 8gb
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Mobo (FH Bios)
Transcend 480gb SSD (all my most played games are on here)
Antec 750w (doesnt ever go over TDP when playing games, or anything else)
Duel 1080p 60hz monitors
Windows 7
Currently latest nvidia drivers (nothing but display drivers)

Things I've tried (probably missing a lot as theres so many things I've tried lately)

- tried CPU from 3.2->4.4ghz, HT on and off, still get the same drop in GPU usage no matter what the CPU clock is at)

- Tried changing vsync settings (obviously )

- Tried multiple different ram configs and different ram sticks/different slots etc as well as running ram bench marks, all is fine with the system ram, never comes close to the 12 or 18gig during gaming either...

- uninstalled everything with DDU and reinstalled, tried multiple different nvidia DD versions

- CPU and GPU definitely arent over heating at any point whatsoever, have ample cooling (in total war warhammer for instance in large battles with 5 armies the GPU hottest temp is 48-50c, CPU 50-60c)

- CPU usage isnt hitting above 75-80% at the absolute max in any core during any game

- Tried uninstalling all tweaking progs etc, running without them/with them/different OC settings/ no OCing/ every combo I could think of

- Any windows or Nvidia based power settings have been corrected

- HPET is disabled in Bios (tried 32 and 64bit enabled as well, no difference)

- Cards definitely in my PCI 2.0 16x slot and running at that speed

- GPU-Z doesnt say theres any bottle necks at all during the low FPS issues, it just shows that the GPU usage is



Think I've yet to try

- Formatting and trying windows 10...

- Mobo and GPU bios flash - not sure if this is the issue and don't want to do this unless its a definite fix

-? Insert idea here

Maybe something is bottle necking my PC? However I don't know what it could be as nothing is getting maxed (% or temp wise) whilst hitting these weird spikes, and the drop has only happened since swapping to the 1070.

From the sheer amount of threads I've seen with this exact same issue with 10xx cards I am hoping someone knows a fix, thanks in advance for any input.

 

[FYFI13]

What games we're talking about? Some online open world games are heavily limited by CPU and servers performance, so it's near impossible to get 100% GPU utilization. Also, your processor is quite weak for gaming where single core performance matters. It's somewhat comparable to AMD FX 8**** series.

From the ones you've mentioned, Total War: Warhammer is an absolute CPU destroyer:

 

[Vya Domus]

Also keep in mind 1080p doesn't push that card at all. Even my 1060 is often far from being fully utilized at 1080p in some games.

 

[Vayra86]

Going by the games you named I know that TW:Warhammer definitely is CPU limited - on the campaign map as well as in battlegrounds themselves, and more heavily in the latter. X58 is quite an old platform, you may run 4.4, but there is quite an IPC gap between your CPU and my Ivy Bridge (which is also runs 4.4 (2c) or 4.2 (4c)). Going by that comparison I would definitely say you need a platform upgrade.

Low GPU usage but *no stutter* generally points to a bottleneck instead of hardware failure / incorrect operation.

75-80% CPU usage on all cores definitely points to platform/cpu limitations; you only need one kink in the pipeline to choke that FPS in the rough bits of a game.

Some other points:

- dual monitor also eats cpu cycles & gpu usage goes up by default
- Windows 7 is less efficient with CPU as W10
- You say you clocked CPU from 3.2 > 4.4, I am very curious to know if this is your frequency on all cores or just 1 or 2. Because that requires a hefty bit of power, which in turn may cause throttling
- the GPU is fine, seeing as you can bench Heaven at max usage
- 60hz panels along with Adaptive Vsync will limit GPU usage, hell I can look at games with 30-50% usage and I lock my frames at 120.

The fact you see alot of similar 'problems' is obvious, Pascal x70 and up just puts a huge inbalance in your system at 1080p for a large number of games, its just ridiculously fast and the jump from your previous card is what, +80% performance?

Ironically, if you're not ready to put X58 in the bin yet, you could jump up to a 1440p panel and have a more streamlined experience with equal FPS, or perhaps even slightly more due to being able to drop that 2nd monitor

 

[Berserker14]

What games we're talking about? Some online open world games are heavily limited by CPU and servers performance, so it's near impossible to get 100% GPU utilization. Also, your processor is quite weak for gaming where single core performance matters. It's somewhat comparable to AMD FX 8**** series.

From the ones you've mentioned, Total War: Warhammer is an absolute CPU destroyer:

Space Hulk for instance which is only using 30 or so CPU will drop the GPU to 40% usage and go from 120 fps to 45fps after a few mins and never recover although CPU usage and temps and GPU temps are all good too. Which is whats making me think its not my CPU. It seemed to me to be a setting/software related as the cpu is often not near max usage when FPS die.

 

[Vayra86]

Space Hulk for instance which is only using 30 or so CPU will drop the GPU to 40% usage and go from 120 fps to 45fps after a few mins and never recover although CPU usage and temps and GPU temps are all good too. Which is whats making me think its not my CPU. It seemed to me to be a setting/software related as the cpu is often not near max usage when FPS die.

Keep in mind that there are also games with shitty optimization. Space Hulk is a great example of this I think

https://steamcommunity.com/app/317620/discussions/0/624076027800097032/

And if it really is built on Unity, then you have your answer, because Unity can be grossly inefficient and the low usage is engine/memory leak related. I am currently on a second playthrough of Satellite Reign, which is also Unity based, and it just loses FPS the longer you play with GPU usage dropping as low as 20%, giving me 25-30 fps after a few hours, while as I enter the game, its a solid 60.

 

[Berserker14]

Going by the games you named I know that TW:Warhammer definitely is CPU limited - on the campaign map as well as in battlegrounds themselves, and more heavily in the latter. X58 is quite an old platform, you may run 4.4, but there is quite an IPC gap between your CPU and my Ivy Bridge (which is also runs 4.4 (2c) or 4.2 (4c)). Going by that comparison I would definitely say you need a platform upgrade.

Low GPU usage but *no stutter* generally points to a bottleneck instead of hardware failure / incorrect operation.

75-80% CPU usage on all cores definitely points to platform/cpu limitations; you only need one kink in the pipeline to choke that FPS in the rough bits of a game.

Some other points:
- dual monitor also eats cpu cycles & gpu usage goes up by default
- Windows 7 is less efficient with CPU as W10
- You say you clocked CPU from 3.2 > 4.4, I am very curious to know if this is your frequency on all cores or just 1 or 2. Because that requires a hefty bit of power, which in turn may cause throttling
- the GPU is fine, seeing as you can bench Heaven at max usage
- 60hz panels along with Adaptive Vsync will limit GPU usage, hell I can look at games with 30-50% usage and I lock my frames at 120.

The fact you see alot of similar 'problems' is obvious, Pascal x70 and up just puts a huge inbalance in your system at 1080p for a large number of games, its just ridiculously fast and the jump from your previous card is what, +80% performance?

Ironically, if you're not ready to put X58 in the bin yet, you could jump up to a 1440p panel and have a more streamlined experience with equal FPS, or perhaps even slightly more due to being able to drop that 2nd monitor

Yeh I definitely agree on it being a CPU hog, however those 75-80% spikes are the 'max' listed on afterburner, the average even during large 2v2 battles is about 60-65% which shouldn't be a bottle neck Im assuming. Especially considering its using less GPU and getting worse frames than my old GTX 960 turbo 4gb?

Yep X58 is old, just thought with this CPU and GPU I would be ok. Guess it looks like Ill be trying windows 10 as a possible last resort...

Core is set to 1.375v
cant remember the rest off the top of my head, only had changed 2/3 voltage settings, rest was on auto, then 166-200blck and tried most different multipliers, all seem to be stable from 3.8-4.4ghz. Even when CPU is at say 3.8ghz the FPS is the same as 4.4ghz though, don't know if that helps you diagnose the problem any further.

The GPU also will run at max GPU usage in other games (if vsync is off) like Elite dangerous on max settings at 350FPS+. Killing floor 2 all ultra settings 160fps.

I understand that vync changes gpu usage, but Ive tried on all settings to no luck. Might try single monitor later tonight and then if nothing, ill try W10 tomorrow...

Sorry for the rambling reply, been going crazy over this the last few days

 

[Vayra86]

Yeh I definitely agree on it being a CPU hog, however those 75-80% spikes are the 'max' listed on afterburner, the average even during large 2v2 battles is about 60-65% which shouldn't be a bottle neck Im assuming. Especially considering its using less GPU and getting worse frames than my old GTX 960 turbo 4gb?

Yep X58 is old, just thought with this CPU and GPU I would be ok. Guess it looks like Ill be trying windows 10 as a possible last resort...

Core is set to 1.375v
cant remember the rest off the top of my head, only had changed 2/3 voltage settings, rest was on auto, then 166-200blck and tried most different multipliers, all seem to be stable from 3.8-4.4ghz. Even when CPU is at say 3.8ghz the FPS is the same as 4.4ghz though, don't know if that helps you diagnose the problem any further.

The GPU also will run at max GPU usage in other games (if vsync is off) like Elite dangerous on max settings at 350FPS+. Killing floor 2 all ultra settings 160fps.

I understand that vync changes gpu usage, but Ive tried on all settings to no luck. Might try single monitor later tonight and then if nothing, ill try W10 tomorrow...

Sorry for the rambling reply, been going crazy over this the last few days

I think it is safe to say that your system/hardware is doing fine, its just a performance problem with a specific set of games, of which at least one is entirely due to the game and not the CPU. Note that high CPU usage but not maxed out does not mean there's not a bottleneck, the limitation may be in the platform, it may be in IPC, RAM, or general throughput of data.

About Windows 10, it won't magically give you +10 min. FPS, but there is going to be a good 2-5% performance increase there coming from 7. Dual > single monitor (dont forget to put your card to Single monitor performance mode in NVCP) is another 2-3% best-case. Just leave W10 running idle a couple of nights so it can do its caching business, because that will affect your gameplay shortly after installing it. (At least thats how it worked when I installed 10 a long time ago, lots of OS disk access all the time even while gaming, today its completely gone and butter smooth).

Elite Dangerous is a prime example of a well optimized and GPU limited game so there you go.