Terrible In-Game Performance, Decent Rig, Fluctuating CPU/GPU Usage

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Marty9231

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Aug 16, 2014
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Hello,

I have recently started experiencing some fairly bad performance issues in games, namely Overwatch and Battlefield 1.

I've run countless benchmarks and tools to keep checks on my system performance while playing games and I have found conflicting results.

For example, CPU-Z has a benchmark tool that (when run continuously) will indicate that the 'performance score' gets much less over time. Initial benchmarking with CPU-Z gives a performance of about 7000-8000 points (which is an average score), but over the course of a few minutes that will decrease as low as 2000 points.

Further, I have run MSI Afterburner while playing games. This screenshot shows CPU and GPU activity while playing Battlefield 1 (on low graphics, nothing else running). The dips in both usages are exactly when I experience FPS drops in game (more like freezing, it drops to 1-2 fps). I am not sure if it is the cause or the result of the bad performance. [Note: the consistent block of usage at the end is where I run the main menu of Battlefield 1 at ~150-200fps]

RAM usage is very consistent while playing games, and it usually uses any RAM that is available, totaling ~95% RAM usage.

Finally, my relevant specs:
CPU: Intel Core i5 4670k
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
MoBo: MSI B85-G41
RAM: 8GB DDR3 @1600MHz
OS: Windows 10 64Bit

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
 
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Marty9231

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Oh, right. Forgot to mention temperatures. My CPU does not go above 65-70 degrees Celsius, and my GPU barely hits 60 under full load.
 
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Marty9231

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My PSU is a 900W unit that I got many years ago. Its not a-grade but has always done its job.

RAM does sound like it might be an issue, but the thing I'm wondering is why performance fluctuates so heavily rather than just being bad in general. Wouldn't a lack of memory cause consistently low performance?

Further, to my surprise, the single player for Battlefield runs smooth as butter at around 150fps. Moreover, a friend with the same or worse specs (also 8Gb 1600MHz RAM) has MUCH better performance in multiplayer. He runs 60-100fps on high settings consistently.
 
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bananaforscale

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Mar 14, 2016
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65-70 degrees for the CPU is higher than I would be comfortable with. I suspect you're not seeing above 70 degrees because it's already throttling. Tcase is 72.72 which is very close to what you're seeing. (FWIW, I'm running an overclocked hexcore Bulldozer on air and see no more than 52 degrees on *any* load.)
 
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Marty9231

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It has been suggested before that temperature was an issue, however after doing some research I was convinced that 70 was more than fine. Some overclock guides recommended staying under 90 or so.

Still, I will do some temperature tests later today, it's worth a shot. I am confused though. My CPU is not overclocked and I am using an aftermarket CPU cooler that keeps it much cooler than the stock one ever did.
 
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dudmont

dudmont

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The temps, while warmish, are not throttling(80 is where throttling will start happening). The issue is, imo, the PSU. That unit is not capable of handling the spikes, in power usage, that occur in modern titles. It's not really an issue of wattage, in theory, a 900 watt unit should have no trouble providing enough power to your system. A good 650watt would handle your system fine. The issue is more related to how much and how fast, power is needed. And that tired old PSU can't handle the demands. Get a nice gold rated unit from a top line name and you'll get rid of the issues.
 
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BringerOfTea

BringerOfTea

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Second this, will check the ram usage in bf1 when I get home, believe it was at about 3-4 gbs alone... in the menues.
 
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Marty9231

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I have rechecked my cpu temperature, for good measure. It turns out that <70 was the temperature on the stock cooler before I replaced it with my current cooler. At full load, temperatures using my current cooler do not exceed 50 degrees.

Is there a way I can test my PSU for being bad? Perhaps taking components out that I don't immediately need, to see if it gets better?

Lastly, an important question on my mind is that my system runs VR games using the HTC vive with no issues on high graphic settings. While this is much more GPU and much less CPU intensive, wouldn't this be more taxing on the PSU?
 
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synphul

synphul

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The temps are fine, intel cpu's don't throttle at 70c, that's amd. Intel cpu's won't start throttling until 100-105c. 80c would be considered running warm, 65-70c under full load is perfectly normal. Bf1 is pretty cpu intensive and you'd probably be better off turning graphics up. A 1060 shouldn't be the bottleneck in that game, it will generally use 100% of the cpu and may need updates/patches in the future to further optimize it.

Try making sure that the games and graphic drivers are all up to date. If playing online multiplayer the internet connection and game server can factor into performance as well. You'll probably see higher performance drops in maps with more players on them. Make sure you don't have a bunch of other things open while you're gaming especially if it's also using the cpu while trying to play bf1.
 
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bloodroses

bloodroses

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Jan 27, 2013
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That sounds like it could be network related. Do you have anything like a custom firewall, VPN or proxies on your system. Also, what antivirus are you using; and is it different than your friend's? Also, have you both tried playing on the same network together (same house) and exhibit the different behavior still?
 
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beyondlogic

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gonna recomend a better psu check the rails on the psu it may be putting to much strain on the psu rail and not giving it enough power to run properly just cause the components are working doesnt mean there not being gimped by lack of power

900w is just a number for some psus.

your best with a gold rated psu by seasonic for stable power or evga g2 gold

650w would be the best

it should be noted that a psu loses energy efficiency over time e.g it says 900w now but it will lose wattage over the years

also you using duel channel or single channel ram ? e.g is it one stick of 8gb or 2 sticks
 
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Marty9231

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Aug 16, 2014
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I tried unplugging everything I wasn't using (like disc drive, a hard drive, a few USB cables) and I closed every non-essential program or process that was running. The result was a smooth game and no performance drops.

I still need to test if the performance stays like this if I only reduce strain on the PSU, or that maybe memory was also an issue.

To answer the question: I am using 2x4GB sticks in dual channel.

Alright, update time.

I discovered that my power supply was terrible (apparently it only SAID it was 850W but actually performed closer to 400-450W). I purchased a new one (650W gold rated) and installed it.

I have yet to play games with it, but from benchmarks I can tell there is still a pretty big problem. Cinebench 15 reports a score of around 400 cb, while a normal score for my processor seems to be around 600cb. Further, performance in the CPU-Z benchmarking tool seems to start out normal (~6000 points) and decline over time to around 4000 points, reflecting a similar score deficit as Cinebench.

Now that I know that the PSU is not an issue and CPU benchmarks are off, what do I look at next?

edit: also ran PassMark CPU and it resulted in a score of 6943, which doesn't sound too bad. However, all the individual scores are absolutely horrible and all in the lowest 1-5% of all the same CPUs (except one, which is top 99%, which is why the overall core is reasonable).
 
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