My graphics card runs at 99% usage but still has good fps

[neim78]

My graphics card is the msi gtx 670 power edition oc. When i play Crysis 3 i get an outstanding 100 fps and the game runs smoothly with no artifacts. I used msi after burner to monitor my gpu and the whole time I play Crysis 3 the gpu usage is at 99% but my temperatures are stable at about 65c. And my fan speed is 48. This doesn't make much sense to me why is my usage maxed out while my other stats are very good?

 

[smeezekitty]

GPUs are usually maxed out when rendering 3D graphics. Perfectly normal if performance is good.

 

[neim78]

GPUs are usually maxed out when rendering 3D graphics. Perfectly normal if performance is good.

Oh ok. my gpu usage for farcry 3 is around 70 - 80 though is that just because crysis 3 is that much more demanding?

 

[smeezekitty]

Farcry 3 probably uses the CPU heavier than the GPU.

 

[hizodge]

Could be you have Vsync/frame limiter enabled in Far Cry 3 but not for Crysis 3. When you don't limit your FPS in any way, the graphics card will push out every single frame it can whether you are seeing them all or not. Whenever you are seeing GPU usage below ~99% it either means that the GPU is either somehow impaired physically by your other components, video driver software or that it simply doesn't need to work that hard... Which you will have to set yourself by limiting FPS or using Vsync to synchronize the number of processed frames per second with your monitor's refresh rate.

 

[neim78]

Could be you have Vsync/frame limiter enabled in Far Cry 3 but not for Crysis 3. When you don't limit your FPS in any way, the graphics card will push out every single frame it can whether you are seeing them all or not. Whenever you are seeing GPU usage below ~99% it either means that the GPU is either somehow impaired physically by your other components, video driver software or that it simply doesn't need to work that hard... Which you will have to set yourself by limiting FPS or using Vsync to synchronize the number of processed frames per second with your monitor's refresh rate.

Vsync is on in both crysis 3 and in far cry 3. in farcry 3 i get 50 fps the whole time I assume that thats the frame limiter. i dont see any options in crysis 3 for an fps cap. how could i cap it? and my monitors refresh rate is 2ms.

 

[hizodge]

That's response time. I was referring to vertical refresh rate which is measured in Hertz (Hz). 50, 60, 120 and 144 are typical refresh rates nowadays. Enabling Vsync should automatically limit the FPS to your monitor's native refresh rate, but like I said some games have customizable FPS limiters and some softwares such as MSI Afterburner RivaTuner can also get the job done.

If you're getting below ~95% GPU usage with FPS capped to 50 with only Vsync enabled then it means that your monitor has 50Hz refresh rate and so it can only display that many images in a second and therefore your GPU doesn't need to work at its full potential. If however, the GPU isn't working at full capacity AND your FPS doesn't meet the quota, then you've got a potential issue on your hands which can be caused by either unoptimized video drivers or a physical hardware limitation.

As to your original question. I guess the MSI GTX 670 PE is simply such a beastly card that it can take 99% usage while staying at relatively low temperatures and keeping the fan speeds low, which leads me to suspect that you haven't tapped into its full potential by overclocking it yourself. Also, 99% usage ingame doesn't mean that the card is being stressed to its absolute maximum. There are programs specifically designed for torture testing your card to see how it will perform in ultimate conditions.

For now just enjoy your high framerates and keep your Vsync on to avoid tearing and stressing your graphics card too much.