CPU not used enough / CPU drops to 0% while playing

[maximumoccupancy]

Hi

First off my rough specs:

Name:Acer 5742G Notebook
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core i5-480M (Dual-Core, 4 Logical CPUs)
GPU1: Intel HD Graphics
GPU2: nVidia GeForce GT540M
Memory: 2x2024mb DD3 SDRAM
__________

My problem is that in some of my games I'm encountering two different types of FPS-drops:
1. either they are small (minus 10-20fps) but numerous (like every two seconds)
2. or they are big (freezing the game for ~5 seconds) but rare (every 10-20 min maybe)

For the first type an example would be Amnesia A Machine For Pigs. The drops are pretty constant but occasionally bigger ones occur, too.
The second type happens in Counter-Strike Global Offensive.
__________

My PC temperatures stay pretty normal, so I don't really think that they are the cause.
Besides, I can play other games on more demanding settings without overheating or the problems above (for example Dead Space 3 at 1366x768 and settings on High)

Naturally, I also thought this was very much GPU-related, because I have Optimus and maybe it's some on-/off-switching between my two GPUs that's known to cause problems at some people, but I already tried quite some things on that front that didn't change anything.
__________

Anyway, I started looking at my CPU performance using CPUID monitoring, and to my understanding there are some inconsistencies in the performance while playing the two games mentioned above and while the problems occurs:

This is a screenshot of my performance while playing Amnesia A Machine For Pigs: http://www.abload.de/img/30wkpl.png
The 71% usage of my CPU0 are pretty much the highest it gets here, but it also drops down all of the time as you can see from the big gaps.

And here is a screenshot of my performance during CS:GO, also showing a big gap http://www.abload.de/img/2wwj44.png

As a comparison, here is my performance while playing Dead Space 3 (where the problem does not occur): http://www.abload.de/img/4phkpo.png
As you can see CPU0 and CPU2 provide a pretty consistent performance without big drops (CPU0 goes from 70-95).
__________

So what I'd like to know is what to think of these readings; if this could really be the root cause of my problem.

Many thanks in advance
max

 

[logainofhades]

Go to power options and make sure you have it set for performance.

 

[maximumoccupancy]

Go to power options and make sure you have it set for performance.

Already having it on High Performance, sorry I forgot to say that.

I was also thinking that maybe the low CPU performance is not the cause of the problem but a result of it. Because if whatever source makes my game stutter or freeze, it makes sense that the CPU performance drops.

 

[Nitro192]

Go to power options and make sure you have it set for performance.

Already having it on High Performance, sorry I forgot to say that.

I was also thinking that maybe the low CPU performance is not the cause of the problem but a result of it. Because if whatever source makes my game stutter or freeze, it makes sense that the CPU performance drops.

When I had a CPU bottleneck it would be drops when I looked around a large map, Like in CS for example if you look at the ground and the framerate is smooth then lag when you look up and around the map or lag when you're looking out over a large portion of the map. That's usually CPU. When it's a GPU bottleneck it's usually constantly low framerates no matter where you're looking or what you're doing. One thing i'd do first is disable the onboard video in bios leaving just the Geforce enabled. In bios it'll be the Default Display Adapter option. The onboard uses up resources and in your case you need all you can get.

 

[maximumoccupancy]

One thing i'd do first is disable the onboard video in bios leaving just the Geforce enabled. In bios it'll be the Default Display Adapter option. The onboard uses up resources and in your case you need all you can get.

Hi

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be possible to disable my onboard video in my BIOS settings.
There just isn't any option that would let me.
I guess it should look something like in this picture I found on google: http://bretstateham.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/ThinkPad-Graphics-Device-BIOS-Settings-No-Callout.png
But such an option doesn't turn up for me anywhere (yes, I'm having the newest BIOS version for my system).
I could also take pictures of my BIOS pages if those should be needed.

At least for Amnesia I can confirm that if I'm looking at the floor or at a wall I have constant 60fps. When I start looking around in a big room I have 60fps -> then it drops -> goes back up to 60 -> drops again (on that note: I tried around a lot with VSYNC, both in-game and nVidia controls, enabling it and disabling it, but no difference).
What I would also count in favor for a CPU bottleneck is that also certain events in the game cause big fps-drops, and not only visual ones.

 

[logainofhades]

You can go into your Nvidia options. There is a menu in there that allows you to force your GT 540m to kick in when certain programs are run. That would effectively disable the IGP when you run those programs.

 

[maximumoccupancy]

You can go into your Nvidia options. There is a menu in there that allows you to force your GT 540m to kick in when certain programs are run. That would effectively disable the IGP when you run those programs.

Already having that, too.
I also tried changing the PhysX processor, but also no difference there.

 

[Nitro192]

One thing i'd do first is disable the onboard video in bios leaving just the Geforce enabled. In bios it'll be the Default Display Adapter option. The onboard uses up resources and in your case you need all you can get.

Hi

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be possible to disable my onboard video in my BIOS settings.
There just isn't any option that would let me.
I guess it should look something like in this picture I found on google: http://bretstateham.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/ThinkPad-Graphics-Device-BIOS-Settings-No-Callout.png
But such an option doesn't turn up for me anywhere (yes, I'm having the newest BIOS version for my system).
I could also take pictures of my BIOS pages if those should be needed.

At least for Amnesia I can confirm that if I'm looking at the floor or at a wall I have constant 60fps. When I start looking around in a big room I have 60fps -> then it drops -> goes back up to 60 -> drops again (on that note: I tried around a lot with VSYNC, both in-game and nVidia controls, enabling it and disabling it, but no difference).
What I would also count in favor for a CPU bottleneck is that also certain events in the game cause big fps-drops, and not only visual ones.

It does seem like a CPU bottlenek, it is a mobile version of the i5 afterall.
Your best options are to run a piece of software alot of us here use its called prime95
it runs a stress test and using your task manager or speedfan you can see if your processor
is even capable of maintaining 100% usage and you'll also be able to see how hott the CPU is getting and the main benefit of the stress test is to see if there's any instabilities in the system. If your compiuter restarts or shuts down while running the test dont worry, its totally normal and ur computer will come right back on but it is a sign of an unstable processor.

 

[maximumoccupancy]

It does seem like a CPU bottlenek, it is a mobile version of the i5 afterall.
Your best options are to run a piece of software alot of us here use its called prime95
it runs a stress test and using your task manager or speedfan you can see if your processor
is even capable of maintaining 100% usage and you'll also be able to see how hott the CPU is getting and the main benefit of the stress test is to see if there's any instabilities in the system. If your compiuter restarts or shuts down while running the test dont worry, its totally normal and ur computer will come right back on but it is a sign of an unstable processor.

I've let the tests run for about 15 minutes, and I got constant 100% usage:
http://www.abload.de/img/blendtesttoslk.png
The temperature of the two cores stayed at 70-80°C, mostly around 75°C.


Best regards
max

 

[Nitro192]

Seems like the processor is running properly and it makes no sense to be a hardware issue if it only occurs in "some" games. Second thing i'd try is install the latest drivers for the graphics card then go into nvidia control panel and set all 3d settings to (Let 3D application decide) These settings cause glitches in the configuration of certain games so its best to let the game choose the settings. See if this changes anything.

Next id do a defrag of the entire hard drive and run a registry repair. Again, glitches in some games and not other points toward software, not hardware.

 

[maximumoccupancy]

Seems like the processor is running properly and it makes no sense to be a hardware issue if it only occurs in "some" games. Second thing i'd try is install the latest drivers for the graphics card then go into nvidia control panel and set all 3d settings to (Let 3D application decide) These settings cause glitches in the configuration of certain games so its best to let the game choose the settings. See if this changes anything.

Next id do a defrag of the entire hard drive and run a registry repair. Again, glitches in some games and not other points toward software, not hardware.

I already did most of that, but I will take a look at those again.
At least I'm glad that my hardware (or most of it) seems to be alright, just need to find a way to make the software use it properly.

update: Did all of that, but didn't help.


Thanks
max

 

[maximumoccupancy]

Just a quick update:

It seems I solved the problem with CS:GO by using ThrottleStop and enabling "Set Multiplier: Turbo".
But this still needs some testing to be really sure.

edit: hm no, I don't think that does work. But today I played a long time without the problem at all, gotta find out why. Starting to think it might be a connectivity problem rather than a CPU or GPU problem, at least at CS:GO


Best regards