6950 2gb only 50% GPU usage in games ?

[Burnout81]

hey got myself a MSI R6950 twinfrozr III PE today to replace my old 8800gt
all seems well but in games like BF3 with settinggs on high or ultra im only getting 50% GPU usage showing on afterburner whilst still only seeing 30-45 FPS

resolution is 1440x900

could it be my processor slowing me down ? or is there something else i need to know ?

processor is a Q8300 @2.5ghz

 

[panyan]

your playing at quite a low resolution and your cpu is probably bottlenecking too - i think thats why your gfx is only running at 50%

 

[Burnout81]

oh dear so i just spent a load of money only to need to spend more on a motherboard and cpu?

how would i know for sure if my cpu was bottlenecking any tests i can run ?

if it was just the low resolution would i not be getting better frames though?

 

[terminator2k2]

hi there, do you run with vsync on? if so try turning it off.........i had this in bf3 lastnight.....worth a go...

 

[Burnout81]

im pretty sure its off but ill give it a check anyway

 

[Martini1991]

Overclock your CPU.

 

[Burnout81]

overclock is not an option its a packard bell that i bought refurbished cheap last year when my old pc gave up on me just so i had something to use
i cant afford to buy a new motherboard cpu and ram, the only other option i could think of is buying a new/used motherboard for my existing cpu? would this allow me to overclock at all ?

 

[Martini1991]

Yeah, you'd likely have to buy a cheap socket 775 board to overclock.

 

[Burnout81]

a worthwhile thing to do ?
or should i just save for something better down the road?

 

[Freddie1980]

a worthwhile thing to do ?
or should i just save for something better down the road?

30-45 FPS is hardly unplayable for what's arguably the most demanding game you can buy so unless you feel different about it I would suggest you hang on to what you have for a while and maybe upgrade to Ivy Bridge latter this year.

 

[Alkalinepro5]

Overclock your CPU.

This!

Get it to 3.5-3.7 and you should see 100% on your 6950 in BF3. But to yield only 50% is a bit odd even with that CPU (Which despite the low core clock isn't bad at all since it is a Quad and not a C2 Duo).

 

[HangTime]

2.5ghz is pretty low for 1440x900, I'm not surprised GPU usage is low.

My recommendation would be to wait until you can afford a proper upgrade rather than messing about swapping out mobos, which may not even be that straighforward depending on how proprietary the case/mobo/psu design is.

 

[Burnout81]

after whacking up the settings to ultra again it seems the usage is between 50% and 80% now with no loss in frames but if i lower settings i dont gain any fps , so it'll do for now i guess
30-50 FPS is easily playable so ill just wait till i can afford a new bundle of mobo RAM and CPU and then all the proprietary junk should be outta my system

 

[pugheaven]

I'm the same, only I have three 6970's... and I never go above 55% on each GPU in BF3... so, it's upgrade time for me also... just need to get shut of this ram/cpu/mobo and cpu cooler...

 

[tommybhoy]

5870 CPU/OC CPU 5870 CrossFire scaling:

http://www.legionhardware.com/artic...ossfire_cpu_scaling_performance_part_1,1.html