Low FPS, but untaxed CPU/GPU (Solved)

Armitas · August 2014

Solution on the 16th post.

For almost any fight in Cyrodiil I have about 15fps but my cpu and gpu are barely being used. Does anyone have an explanation for what could be causing this lag?
Only 1 core is really being used, my second core is only partially touched and I have 2 cores doing next to nothing. Only half my Ram is being accessed, network seems fine. It doesn't matter if my settings are on minimum or ultra it always goes down to 10-15fps Dxdiag attached.

esomackenzie · August 2014

Armitas wrote: »

For almost any fight in Cyrodiil I have about 15fps but my cpu and gpu are barely being used. Does anyone have an explanation for what could be causing this lag?
Only 1 core is really being used, my second core is only partially touched and I have 2 cores doing next to nothing. Only half my Ram is being accessed, network seems fine. It doesn't matter if my settings are on minimum or ultra it always goes down to 10-15fps Dxdiag attached.

your ram usage should be around 1.2-1.8gbs for eso.exe the game itsself is 32bit so dont be expecting it to be using massive amounts, you also have vram on the gpu. Why its not using your cores/gpu more theres lots of reasons , to help them figure it out its best to run a experiment seeing how your cores/gpu scaling of usage varies in demanding areas and areas that wouldnt seem to be note these down and go into highly populated areas as well.A side note look at a house in eso then compare it to a person with cool looking armor the amount of stuff being rendered just in that alone could be taxing in an area with dozens of other people so keep that in mind.Also that cpu in large populated areas is probably gonna struggle some settings seem good for your gpu/cpu some u might get away with on ultra here's a comparsion my system vs yours i only get about 40fps in cyrodill with dips into the 30s on occasion with lots of ppl.btw what 5870 do u have ?with your cpu/gpu i really dont see you getting more then 30fps in cyrodiil on lower settings

asrock z77 extreme 4 motherboard
8gbs 2133mhz ram
gtx 780
i7-3770@4.42ghz
games installed on a ssd
resolution 2560x1080 all settings at ultra.

tomiffseb17_ESO · August 2014

I have the same issue since the launch. Trust me i saw every topic, even contacted customer support, but no solution for that part. They said its might be my internet that limits my cpu/gpu and the overall game performance in cyrodiil. Since i cant check any other connection i had to adopt.
I did but i am not happy.

Armitas · August 2014

ati radeon

I get the same fps whether I am on on ultra or minimum. My cpu/gpu just won't do any more work even though it has the capacity to do so. I'll try to see if any area makes a difference.

GPU smoothing at 0 has given me a few more frames, but my system usage is the same.

LariahHunding · August 2014

Looks like you are maxing out one core (Core 0) in the pic.

What is you core speed?

Check that the eso.exe process is using all the cores.

Disable core parking.

Max power settings.

Armitas · August 2014

Quadcore 2.66ghz
All 4 cores have been running more evenly now but the usage is still at around 40% total.I haven't seen any significantly idle cores lately.

None are parked and power is on performance as well as the energy saver settings in the bios.

Sharp · August 2014

I am having the same exact issue. XFX ATI Radeon HD 7970 3GBGDDR5 i7-2600 @ 3.4GHz 8GB RAM

Audigy · August 2014

ESO sadly only renders on one thread, nothing we can do about it now. If your CPU is weak on single core performance, Cyrodil is going to be a big problem no matter what settings you pick.

Some people made improvements by using Win 8.1, others by using third party CPU tools to force ESO into a more even spread core usage - but its a nuisance to play around with settings like that.

Its not your GPU or RAM or CPU, its the poor performance in regards of quad cores by the client.

I am running an AMD 280x and have capped 60 fps everywhere on ultra with HD texture fix - still I will drop to 30-35 at times while having a 70% of potential performance unused.

Armitas · August 2014

What CPU tools are people using to get by?

Audigy · August 2014

Armitas wrote: »

What CPU tools are people using to get by?

Some turn of core parking, others use an AMD Hotfix for win 7, I also heard of an Addon that can help with CPU usage (sorry don't know the name and / or if its supported by ZO), or by tweaking the Settings Ini, using OC tools ...

There is a lot possible, but everything will have a consequence and wont work on each end.
To find out what helps is really not an easy process and it might influence other games at the same time or make your whole system unstable.

SamWale · August 2014

I'm having the same problem here. i5 4690k 3.5GHz and GTX 770, 16GB RAM.

About two weeks ago I was getting 60+ FPS everywhere. It's now dropping to around 35 in busy areas which seems a lot less smooth in comparison.

Changing graphics settings makes no difference. I'm convinced the game is poorly optimised for CPU usage and it seems to be getting worse with every update!

LariahHunding · August 2014

I have done a lot of research on this problem and the most frustrating thing especially is their is no pattern. Same setup different results with different players.

One of the most common factors is the GTX700 series seem to be afflict more than other setups. It's like some combination of operating system, cpu, gpu "de-optimizes" the code.

In reference to above post, the beta code was a lot better optimized than the current code.

esomackenzie · August 2014

LariahHunding wrote: »

I have done a lot of research on this problem and the most frustrating thing especially is their is no pattern. Same setup different results with different players.

One of the most common factors is the GTX700 series seem to be afflict more than other setups. It's like some combination of operating system, cpu, gpu "de-optimizes" the code.

In reference to above post, the beta code was a lot better optimized than the current code.

ik my comments to op may seem poorly worded and may be but his computer in normal on a good day where the patch hasnt broken the game i dont see getting very large fps.The patch from the 13th that fixed memory leaks i think in pvp areas or something seems to have caused fps issues on my computer idk if per say its worse on 700 series as i used to use a 680 now use a 780 but i went from around 70fps to about 38 thats almost 50% lose in frames i was getting idk what was added but as others are stating there clearly is an issue with the current build of the game.

Armitas · August 2014

A few more detailed pics at even lower frames showing the cores and whole system usage. I am not expecting soaring fps numbers, I just want to get the fps out what is not being used.

INSERT I am getting 100fps on maximum settings in "House Indoril Crypt" (Davons Watch). It's not the draw distance because it is set at 30 with no significant improvement from 100.

Devious · August 2014

Same here, fps used to be poor with a 780TI, then was fixed in 1.2** release i think and i had over 90 % GPU utilization.
Ive not played for a couple of weeks and have just extended my sub and found the fps issue is back, only using 50% GPU utilization.

I have always kept a copy of the UserSettings.txt which worked but it has no effect on this current release.

Elf_Boy · August 2014

LariahHunding wrote: »

Disable core parking.

QTF

Just because you think the CPU should be busy catering to your every whim does not mean windows agrees or is willing to do so.

Sadly windows gets the last word.

Armitas · January 2015

I eventually submitted a ticket and after a few exchanges with a very helpful staff they arrived at the diagnosis that my original CPU was too slow . I wanted to update this thread in case anyone experiences the same issues. So here is a step by step recreation of what I went through and how I finally fixed it.

My original CPU was the bottleneck to my GPU. I also believe my CPU was running a power saving feature that I could not find to turn it off. I upgraded my CPU to a 4.1Ghz Quad Core and my fps plummeted, and I experienced the same issue, low fps, untaxed GPU/CPU. I Downloaded CPU-Z and it showed that core 0 was at 1.8Ghz with an 18multiplier (I can go to 32 iirc) rather than 4.1Ghz. So CPUID showed me that my CPU was not running at full capacity. I touched the cooling fins of my processor and they were cold with a factory heat sink so I knew right there something was wrong. (they should at least be warm, if the heat is so hot that it is discomforting then you are not wicking away enough heat.)

I downloaded HWmonitor and checked the current core voltages and I was getting 7watts a core. My CPU is a 100W cpu so that told me that my CPU was not getting enough power. I unplugged some unneeded devices in my PC and my Core watts shot up to 37W a core (x4) and CPUID showed my CPU at 4.1GHZ.

I also disabled "quiet and cool" from AMD bios along with a few other power saving features and resource monitor shows my CPU at max frequency all the time. My GPU is up to 80-90% usage and all is well.

So if you are experiencing this I would download those programs and make sure everything has at least the wattage expected by the manufacturer, make sure your cpu and gpu are running at designated clock speeds and maintain those speeds. Then you can OC your CPU and if that increases your GPU usage then your CPU was the hold up. You can also compare your hardware to this thread to get an idea of what you should expect with that hardware.

Elf_Boy · January 2015

Awesome job figuring that all out.

Sometimes it truly is doing detective work.

Elf_Boy · January 2015

I know this seems silly, for anyone else in this boat. Go logitech!

I recently purchased a logitech keyboard and found a really nifty utility called ARX that will display cpu/gpu use on a tablet/phone or other device letting you keep an eye on cores and utilization in real time.

-edit- typo

-edit- add question,

I downloaded cpu-z and the hw monitor and cant seem to get it to tell me about specific cores, how do I pull that info up pls.