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GPUS at 50-70% usage

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Joined
12 Jun 2013
Posts
50
Hi,

I recently built a new rig -

Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz @4.5 Quad-Core
Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150
8GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE x2
EVGA 850W ATX12V / EPS12V

I've been monitoring my usage on BF4 where the CPU jumps from 75-100% the GPUS stay at 50-70% usage on both?

Anybody got any ideas to why that might be?

Edit: Just been playing a match on BF4 ultra and CPU was capped at 100% does this mean its stopping my GPUS from doing what they can do?

Thanks
 
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Battlefield likes lots of cores/threads, i remember when the games first came out people with multi GPUS benefitted from I7 processors.

What are you using to monitor the GPU usage? If afterburner are you using unified reporting?
 
Do you have V-sync on/off? Or capping your FPS some other way? What FPS are you getting?

I have it off, but using a 144hz monitor so I've used the BF in-game cap to 145. It's up and down to be honest.. In siege of shanghai once the tower has been destroyed in rush in that pit area I get like 60-80 but its not nice to play at.. other maps on the game I can get 130-145. Looking down long roads I get 100, so like I say its all over..
 
Battlefield likes lots of cores/threads, i remember when the games first came out people with multi GPUS benefitted from I7 processors.

What are you using to monitor the GPU usage? If afterburner are you using unified reporting?

I'm using NVIDIA Inspector
 
Well BF4 (and other Frostbite engine games) do seem to really use the extra threads of the i7, especially with multiple gpus. Unfortunately there's not really a great deal you can do really other than swap the cpu for an i7. Any more overclocking on the cpu might help a bit or alternatively with the frame rates you are getting, which are pretty high but inconsistent a G-Sync enabled monitor would probably make it all feel a lot smoother.
 
Well BF4 (and other Frostbite engine games) do seem to really use the extra threads of the i7, especially with multiple gpus. Unfortunately there's not really a great deal you can do really other than swap the cpu for an i7. Any more overclocking on the cpu might help a bit or alternatively with the frame rates you are getting, which are pretty high but inconsistent a G-Sync enabled monitor would probably make it all feel a lot smoother.

Well that sucks! What CPU would you recommend for best performance?

Edit: So this will be straight swap? Take out the old, put in the new? (First PC from scratch I built)
Btw thanks for fast responses
 
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Well an i7 4790k would be a straight swap but I'd hesitate to really recommend it as it's going to be a fairly expensive upgrade and in the majority of games (pretty much everything except BF4) at the moment you wont notice much if any difference. Even in BF4 there's no guarentee that you'll get a locked 144 fps from it.
 
I was straight away going to suggest mantle which would have helped a great deal then saw OP had two 970. :(

To be fair when getting two GPUs i would always opt for a i7 CPU but if your happy with a one card setup then a i5 is fine. Two or more then your looking towards a 2011 socket setup then!
 
Well an i7 4790k would be a straight swap but I'd hesitate to really recommend it as it's going to be a fairly expensive upgrade and in the majority of games (pretty much everything except BF4) at the moment you wont notice much if any difference. Even in BF4 there's no guarentee that you'll get a locked 144 fps from it.

Yeah that would put a dent in my wallet again! I'll see how things go and play around with some other games. I play mainly WoW and BF4.. Would you think WoW would benefit from an I7?
 
No WoW won't see any benefit from the i7 at all. WoW is my main game and even with a 295x2, every setting at Ultra and VSR at max res I don't see cpu usage go over ~50% on one core and maybe ~30% on a couple of other cores :)
 
No WoW won't see any benefit from the i7 at all. WoW is my main game and even with a 295x2, every setting at Ultra and VSR at max res I don't see cpu usage go over ~50% on one core and maybe ~30% on a couple of other cores :)

Okay, nice to know :)

Thanks for the help! :D
 
Try upping your res if your on 1080, say 2560x1440 using DSR. This might increase the gpu usage a bit and take some work of the CPU. Bf4 is one of the few games that really benefits from an i7 with sli.
 
What frame rates are you getting ? On a 970 SLI rig, it should be well over 100 FPS in 1080p gaming. At this rate, unless you have a 120 Hz monitor, you won't see differences by going to an i7. Even if you do, anything above 60 FPS is more than acceptable.
 
Below is what i get with sli 780, but running 2560x1600 under DSR. My normal res is 1920x1200 so theese figures would be higher.

Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
64462, 600000, 68, 144, 107.437

Thats on the highest possible settings with x4 msaa. Map was paracel storm 64 cq, (very demanding) 780 sli, 970's would be slightly higher again.
 
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