Low GPU usage in certain games [GTX 670]

[GearShack]

So after feeling that my performance has been lacking in games (Primarily BF3), I decided the leave the Afterburner hardware monitor up on my other monitor as I game to see what's happening "behind the scenes" I guess. So I find out that not only is my core clock consistently low, but that my GPU usage is only averaging 40%. I'm playing BF3 on a mix of med-high settings with antialiasing off and HBAO off and get roughly 40-50 frames in a round of 32 man TDM Canals.

Link

Also, if you take a peek at the very top left of my screen, you can see the CPU usage of my i5-650. It's at a whopping 97% percent. I've come to the conclusion that this is the source of my problems, do you guys agree?

Here is another game a frequent alot, Mount and Blade: Warband, Napleonic Wars DLC. It may not be very graphically intensive, but what makes it hard to run is that everything is rendered at all times, no limited view distances.

Link

However, here you can see that the GPU load is consistently higher, and the core clock is also higher. But what the difference is, is the CPU load, is much lower at roughly 50-60% during in game (took the shot just as the round ended and the load is lower on the main screen). Do you guys agree that my CPU is holding back my GPU?

 

[dextermat]

Hi,

BF3 is cpu intensive over gpu. It is normal.

The only thing to do is lower your resolution or get a better cpu ==> overclock it.

Yours cannot be overclocked. What other games are you playing

 

[Spaniard United]

Yes, the information provided would indicate that your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU.

Try turning on AA and/or raising some settings and see what it does to your GPU clock and usage stats.

 

[GearShack]

dextermat said:
What other games are you playing

I generally play source games alot, mainly Garrys Mod, some Chivalry and Planetside 2

Yes, the information provided would indicate that your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU.

Try turning on AA and/or raising some settings and see what it does to your GPU clock and usage stats.

I tried doing that, and it didn't seem to help too much, if at all.

 

[Spaniard United]

dextermat said:
What other games are you playing

I generally play source games alot, mainly Garrys Mod, some Chivalry and Planetside 2

Yes, the information provided would indicate that your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU.

Try turning on AA and/or raising some settings and see what it does to your GPU clock and usage stats.

I tried doing that, and it didn't seem to help too much, if at all.

It didn't increase your GPU load/clock or it didn't increase your FPS?
If the former ... interesting.
If the latter, expected and definitely indicative of CPU bottlenecking.

 

[GearShack]

dextermat said:
What other games are you playing

I generally play source games alot, mainly Garrys Mod, some Chivalry and Planetside 2

Yes, the information provided would indicate that your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU.

Try turning on AA and/or raising some settings and see what it does to your GPU clock and usage stats.

I tried doing that, and it didn't seem to help too much, if at all.

It didn't increase your GPU load/clock or it didn't increase your FPS?
If the former ... interesting.
If the latter, expected and definitely indicative of CPU bottlenecking.

Both pretty much, didn't increase the FPS, I can tell you that now.