RTX 3080 Performance Issue (Low GPU Usage)

UltraMega · Apr 6, 2022

Jusr FYI, if this were a CPU bottleneck we would expect to see higher CPU usage, and playing anything even mildly demanding in 4k should bring the gpu to full utilization with just about any CPU.

aDyerSituation · Apr 6, 2022

3700x isn't exactly top tier single threaded performance so that isn't entirely true. We also don't know what ram/timings he is running

UltraMega · Apr 6, 2022

aDyerSituation said:
3700x isn't exactly top tier single threaded performance so that isn't entirely true. We also don't know what ram/timings he is running

Its definitely true at 4k. No gpu is bottlenecked at 4k by a 3700x in any demanding game. Even a much weaker CPU wouldn't bottleneck at 4k. Look at just about any 4k benchmark and you will see this is true.

aDyerSituation · Apr 6, 2022

UltraMega said:
Jusr FYI, if this were a CPU bottleneck we would expect to see higher CPU usage

This is mostly what I was referring to. But yes, you are right about 4k.

OPs issue is probably the slot the card is in if his performance is that low at 1080p

Slaughtahouse · Apr 6, 2022

mouacyk said:
That bottom slot specifies 16x physical (obviously visible), but is only 4x electrical (and runs off the chipset?) per the website specs:
TUF GAMING X570-PRO (WI-FI) - Tech Specs｜Motherboards｜ASUS USA

AMD X570 chipset
1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 (max at x4 mode)

The RTX 3080 is running on 1 foot, with other tied with both hands behind back.

+Rep.
Straight from the manual. https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/...SocketAM4/TUF_GAMING_X570-PRO_WI-FI/E16844_TUF_GAMING_X570-PRO_WI-FI_UM_WEB.pdf

Rectangle Font Line Parallel Electronic device

Ali022 · Apr 6, 2022

maltamonk said:
Try it. It's a very simple thing to rule out.

mouacyk said:
That bottom slot specifies 16x physical (obviously visible), but is only 4x electrical (and runs off the chipset?) per the website specs:
TUF GAMING X570-PRO (WI-FI) - Tech Specs｜Motherboards｜ASUS USA

AMD X570 chipset
1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 (max at x4 mode)

The RTX 3080 is running on 1 foot, with other tied with both hands behind back.

So I connected the GPU to the upper slot and I can confirm this improved the performance and this also reflects the same in GPU-Z to be running at x16 gen 4. I checked the performance in some games I mentioned above and I am actually getting more FPS in most of those games now. (some affected more than others)

Quick summary:

1. Mount and blade 2 - 100 FPS -- > 110 FPS

2. Witcher 3 - 110 FPS ---> 150 FPS (However my FPS stays at around 110 inside cities)

4. Valorant - 200 FPS ---> 300 FPS

5. Lost Ark- 110 FPS ---> 180 FPS

6. Fary Cry 5- 85 FPS ----> (no change)

One thing that is still bothering me is that my GPU usage still does not reach anywhere above 80% consistently. However, sometimes it will spike above 80% and reach almost 99% usage and that is when I get the FPS I expect (which makes it feels like something is limiting my GPU usage). For example sometimes my GPU performance spikes in Witcher 3 to 90%+ and I get around 230 FPS but then it goes back down to 150 FPS at 60% usage.

I am definitely a lot more satisfied with the results but I am still really bothered by the fact that my GPU remains on below optimal usage.

NOTE: I would also like to add that any game that I play on 4k basically makes my GPU bottle neck and reach 99% usage.

Ali022 · Apr 6, 2022

aDyerSituation said:
3700x isn't exactly top tier single threaded performance so that isn't entirely true. We also don't know what ram/timings he is running

UltraMega said:
Jusr FYI, if this were a CPU bottleneck we would expect to see higher CPU usage, and playing anything even mildly demanding in 4k should bring the gpu to full utilization with just about any CPU.

Thanks for the help everyone. Just sharing the timings here as I forgot earlier.

Rectangle Font Screenshot Parallel Number

Rectangle Font Material property Screenshot Parallel

Rectangle Font Parallel Screenshot Number

mouacyk · Apr 6, 2022

At 1080p, some games just can't use ALL of the hardware on this GPU. A simple way to force full GPU usage is apply DLDSR or plain old DSR to get sharper detail and make GPU work harder. Install graphics mods or use ReShade.

You may also want to monitor and note CPU usage when GPU usage drops, to see if it's possibly a RAM bottleneck or even CPU bottleneck.

SneakySloth · Apr 6, 2022

Ali022 said:
So I connected the GPU to the upper slot and I can confirm this improved the performance and this also reflects the same in GPU-Z to be running at x16 gen 4. I checked the performance in some games I mentioned above and I am actually getting more FPS in most of those games now. (some affected more than others)

Quick summary:

1. Mount and blade 2 - 100 FPS -- > 110 FPS

2. Witcher 3 - 110 FPS ---> 150 FPS (However my FPS stays at around 110 inside cities)

4. Valorant - 200 FPS ---> 300 FPS

5. Lost Ark- 110 FPS ---> 180 FPS

6. Fary Cry 5- 85 FPS ----> (no change)

One thing that is still bothering me is that my GPU usage still does not reach anywhere above 80% consistently. However, sometimes it will spike above 80% and reach almost 99% usage and that is when I get the FPS I expect (which makes it feels like something is limiting my GPU usage). For example sometimes my GPU performance spikes in Witcher 3 to 90%+ and I get around 230 FPS but then it goes back down to 150 FPS at 60% usage.

I am definitely a lot more satisfied with the results but I am still really bothered by the fact that my GPU remains on below optimal usage.

NOTE: I would also like to add that any game that I play on 4k basically makes my GPU bottle neck and reach 99% usage.

Your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU at 1080p. The reason you see the usage go to 99% at 4k is because at a higher resolution, your GPU is going to be the limiting factor not the CPU.

Formula383 · Apr 6, 2022

Glad you got it sorted out! 4x will definitely affect performance. That gpu is just not going to have issue running 1080p unless your doing RT, then it might be working pretty hard depending on the game. when you get Cyber punk give it a go with RT see what she can do

Ali022 · Apr 7, 2022

Formula383 said:
Glad you got it sorted out! 4x will definitely affect performance. That gpu is just not going to have issue running 1080p unless your doing RT, then it might be working pretty hard depending on the game. when you get Cyber punk give it a go with RT see what she can do

Just an update, tried Cyberpunk and i'm glad to see for most of the time my GPU usage is at 95%+ and only goes down to around 50% (with significant FPS drops obviously- to around 40-50 FPS) in night city where my CPU usage spikes to almost 60%. So it's safe to say at this point in these situations my CPU is bottle necking the GPU if I am understanding this correctly.

mouacyk · Apr 7, 2022

Ali022 said:
So it's safe to say at this point in these situations my CPU is bottle necking the GPU if I am understanding this correctly.

A CPU bottleneck will show as 100% CPU usage. It's more likely you have a RAM bottleneck, and if true, it's only costing you <5% GPU usage.

Ali022 said:
Corsair Vengeance DDR4 16 GB (2x8GB) (3200 Mhz)

Getting the most out of your GPU will require overclocking and fine-tuning your memory. Infinity Fabric clock of 1800MHz seems to be the sweet spot, so 1800*2 = 3600MHz RAM is where you want to be. Again, you'll want good timings too, not just frequency.

Ali022 · Apr 7, 2022

mouacyk said:
A CPU bottleneck will show as 100% CPU usage. It's more likely you have a RAM bottleneck, and if true, it's only costing you <5% GPU usage.

Getting the most out of your GPU will require overclocking and fine-tuning your memory. Infinity Fabric clock of 1800MHz seems to be the sweet spot, so 1800*2 = 3600MHz RAM is where you want to be. Again, you'll want good timings too, not just frequency.

I'll definitely take a look at fine-tuning my memory. Thanks so much for your help, i'll keep monitoring these and fine tune things as much as I can to get the most out of my rig currently.

But it is safe to assume currently that my GPU is working fine right?

Formula383 · Apr 7, 2022

Not all games are going to make use of all your cpu usage. in fact most games are still limited by a single threads performance. however he is right memory latency is a huge deal to how well you game runs in cpu/memory demanding area's. And lets not forget the 3000 series is just not the best for high refresh rate fps in many games. it does very well and i do like them but dont expect to get 240fps in games, there are many games that hitting 100fps can be a challenge for that cpu. If i was playing at 1080p so i could get high frames i would be looking at the new amd cpus as they are a direct drop in. and maybe some low latency b-die as well.

aDyerSituation · Apr 9, 2022

mouacyk said:
A CPU bottleneck will show as 100% CPU usage.

This simply isn't true and this myth needs to die. Not all games(actually most don't) load cores evenly.

As an example, if a game is only using 60% of your cpu, it's probably because it is only programmed to use X amount of threads. This Is why single core performance is so important, as you can't really make a game use all threads equally. All you can do is make what it is using, faster. By either overclocking cpu/ram or upgrading

Wasakiqwe · Apr 22, 2022

High end psu is very important for rtx 3080. I had corsair 750m and it has slight stuttering then Replaced with corsair hx 1000w everything is very smooth you will prevent any spikes or low fps drop.
Then get 12700k or any good cpu with ips qhd monitor. 1080 monitor is not good with rtx 3080 that's from experience.

Raimond · Apr 22, 2022

mouacyk said:
A CPU bottleneck will show as 100% CPU usage. It's more likely you have a RAM bottleneck, and if true, it's only costing you <5% GPU usage.

Getting the most out of your GPU will require overclocking and fine-tuning your memory. Infinity Fabric clock of 1800MHz seems to be the sweet spot, so 1800*2 = 3600MHz RAM is where you want to be. Again, you'll want good timings too, not just frequency.

@60% load,1 or 2 cores could be @100% and with games that only use that amount off cores,you get performance issues

I have seen that before with this cpu and 3000 series gpu, especialy 3080, that this cpu indeed is the bottleneck.

GVZEROFOX · Jul 17, 2022

I have randomly done benchmarks on my PC (3D Mark) and ran games in 4k and have also seen low GPU utilization. The fix I have found to be very simple because I have tried all the recommendations (drivers/DDU/set stock settings on everything/reinstall Windows).

Turn off your pc. Unplug the power. Unplug the GPU power. Plug everything back in. Turn on and test.
It may just be the GPU power extensions I have sometimes need to be reseated to deliver the power it needs. This has worked for me every time I see a dip in my FPS due to low GPU utilization. Hope this helps someone.

AMD 5900x @4.6 All core
3090
Corsair RM1000
MSI x570 MPG Gaming Plus

RTX 3080 Performance Issue (Low GPU Usage)

UltraMega

aDyerSituation

UltraMega

aDyerSituation

Slaughtahouse

Ali022

Ali022

mouacyk

SneakySloth

Formula383

Ali022

mouacyk

Ali022

Formula383

aDyerSituation

Wasakiqwe

Raimond

GVZEROFOX

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities