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ESO Idle GPU/CPU Usage

chrisw_63_ESO
chrisw_63_ESO
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Why is this so high? There is only a static image on the screen! What is it doing in the background?

yqlvqbgw83s4.png
  • FrancisCrawford
    FrancisCrawford
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    It's brutal in terms of electricity costs and environmental damage. Even the fan noise from having ESO on, even on a log-in screen, is a problem.

    One mercy -- despite everything else that's slow, reloading the game from my SSD goes quite quickly, so shutting down the game rather than leaving it loaded is fine.
    Edited by FrancisCrawford on May 28, 2021 7:07PM
  • twev
    twev
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    What are your specs?
    Trigger the performance tab, and take a look at the graphical output in task manager, too.
    I get really low internet traffic when loading and playing, too.
    Edited by twev on May 28, 2021 8:35PM
    The problem with society these days is that no one drinks from the skulls of their enemies anymore.

    PC/NA, i7 with 32 gigs of ram, nVME cards and an nVidea 1060 over fiber.
    I don't play through Steam, ever.
  • SirAndy
    SirAndy
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    Did you ever edit the MinFrameTime setting in the UserSettings.txt?
    That was the cause for my high GPU usage on the login/char/loading screens.

    I renamed my old UserSettings.txt so ESO would create a new one on startup, and sure enough, the high GPU usage is gone now.
    shades.gif

    Edited by SirAndy on May 28, 2021 8:44PM
  • chrisw_63_ESO
    chrisw_63_ESO
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    SirAndy wrote: »
    Did you ever edit the MinFrameTime setting in the UserSettings.txt?
    That was the cause for my high GPU usage on the login/char/loading screens.

    I renamed my old UserSettings.txt so ESO would create a new one on startup, and sure enough, the high GPU usage is gone now.
    shades.gif

    I have some other custom settings there I'd rather not lose.. can you tell me what the value is now?
  • SirAndy
    SirAndy
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    I have some other custom settings there I'd rather not lose.. can you tell me what the value is now?
    That's why i renamed mine so i had a copy of my modified one. That way i could reset some of the unrelated variables afterwards.

    Anyways, this is what ESO defaulted the value to and it fixed my high GPU problem:
    SET MinFrameTime.2 "0.01000000"
    

    bye1.gif


  • madman65
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    SirAndy wrote: »
    I have some other custom settings there I'd rather not lose.. can you tell me what the value is now?
    That's why i renamed mine so i had a copy of my modified one. That way i could reset some of the unrelated variables afterwards.

    Anyways, this is what ESO defaulted the value to and it fixed my high GPU problem:
    SET MinFrameTime.2 "0.01000000"
    

    bye1.gif


    I can confirm a drop of 8-10% in GPU usage.
  • SirAndy
    SirAndy
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    madman65 wrote: »
    I can confirm a drop of 8-10% in GPU usage.

    My drop was even more significant. But as i said, i let ESO create a new config and there were quite a few additional changes when compared to my old config. There may be other settings that affected the GPU usage on idle screens. I now also have vsync enabled, not sure if that makes any difference too.
    idea.gif

  • chrisw_63_ESO
    chrisw_63_ESO
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    Wow.. that really worked! Now averaging 15%, never above 20%. Thank you So Much! I was sure the devs were cryptomining in the background. :-)
    Edited by chrisw_63_ESO on May 30, 2021 2:08AM
  • madman65
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    SirAndy wrote: »
    madman65 wrote: »
    I can confirm a drop of 8-10% in GPU usage.

    My drop was even more significant. But as i said, i let ESO create a new config and there were quite a few additional changes when compared to my old config. There may be other settings that affected the GPU usage on idle screens. I now also have vsync enabled, not sure if that makes any difference too.
    idea.gif

    I tried your idea and my GPU is back to running at 97-99%, so i`m going to use SET MinFrameTime.2 "0.01000000" and get it back down to 40-55%. Thanks though.
  • VoidCommander
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    Does this reduce gpu usage during normal gameplay as well, or just the login screen?
  • SirAndy
    SirAndy
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    Does this reduce gpu usage during normal gameplay as well, or just the login screen?
    @VoidCommander

    As far as i can tell i also got a small drop while playing the game but most of the gains were on static screens.
    :smile:
  • Reverb
    Reverb
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    Twice now I’ve directed people to this thread as a resolution for GPU useage and temp issues at the login, character select, and initial load screens. I figured it was only right to post here and formally thank @SirAndy for posting his findings.

    I’d been having issues since March, and had been playing around with my GPU clocking and fan speed/temp thresholds, updating and rolling back drivers, dropping my graphics settings as low as possible in ESO despite system specs that handle ultra high settings without issue, and couldn’t root cause the problem. It was making me crazy.

    Until I happened upon this thread one day and found that my problem was a single line in the usersettings file :/

    My GPU performance for ESO is golden since making this change.
    Edited by Reverb on June 13, 2021 4:50PM
    Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
  • SirAndy
    SirAndy
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    Reverb wrote: »
    Twice now I’ve directed people to this thread as a resolution for GPU useage and temp issues at the login, character select, and initial load screens. I figured it was only right to post here and formally thank @SirAndy for posting his findings.
    I’d been having issues since March, and had been playing around with my GPU clocking and fan speed/temp thresholds, updating and rolling back drivers, dropping my graphics settings as low as possible in ESO despite system specs that handle ultra high settings without issue, and couldn’t root cause the problem. It was making me crazy.
    Until I happened upon this thread one day and found that my problem was a single line in the usersettings file :/
    My GPU performance for ESO is golden since making this change.
    @Reverb
    Thank you, however, i can't take credit for this.

    It was @votan73 who pointed me in the right direction in this thread:
    https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/574631/bug-gpu-near-100-on-login-and-character-select-screens/p1

  • OldManJim
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    Thanks for that. Changing MinFrameTime dropped my GPU usage from ~98% down to ~15%.
    PAWS (Positively Against Wrip-off Stuff) - Say No to Crown Crates!
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