GPU Usage and DLSS

[Boblito]

Hi everyone, I've just build my new PC to play Cyberpunk:

- Amd Ryzen 3500x

- 3060ti Ventus 2X OC

- 16Gb 3200Mhz RAM

- MSI B550M Mortar

- 650W PSU 80+ Bronze

Latest driver on the 3060ti. The game is on a ssd and is patched 1.05 so no problem with amd cpu. The problem is that it seems my game is capped on 35-50 fps in night city. Even if I lower the graphics.

I have a low GPU usage (63%) on 1080p RTX on DLLS quality :

1080p RTX on DLSS quality

But If I put RTX off with DLLS quality the GPU usage goes to 53% :

1080p RTX off DLSS quality

Something strange is when I don't have DLSS (with RTX on) the GPU usage goes to normal :

1080p RTX on DLSS off

On 1440p the GPU usage goes to normal with DLSS on or off but the fps gain is real with DLSS on :

1440p RTX on DLSS off


1440p RTX on DLSS quality

But if I put RTX off with DLSS quality the GPU usage is again lowered (71%) :

1440p RTX off DLSS quality

My CPU usage is always high but nothing is running in the background. This problem is only seen on this game. In bf5 I always have >90% GPU usage with RTX on or off, 1440p or 1080p.
The optimal way to play cyberpunk is on 1080p with RTX on DLSS on but with 63% GPU usage it's impossible to get the 60 fps. Do you have ideas ? Thanks in advance.

 

[overhyped2077]

The game is very demanding on most systems. It also requires a lot of polishing and optimization, which may or may not happen in the future. You probably won't hit 60, so try different settings until you find what hits the highest FPS for you specific system.

 

[Xinacrisp]

CPU bottleneck, look at your CPU usage.

 

[iCake]

3500x is not enough, or barely enough to hold 60 fps in this game, especially with RT. 60 fps+ leagues starts with 3800X for AMD processors.

Cyberpunk 2077 CPU Scaling, What Processors Work Best?

Stacking up the chips

www.tomshardware.com

 

[Xinacrisp]

Not totally true, ray tracing is GPU dependant

 

[iCake]

Not totally true, ray tracing is GPU dependant

It is GPU heavy, it adds some extra work for CPU as well.

 

[Ducuk]

I have same problem too, when DLSS off my gpu usage is pretty normal but when I enable it gpu usage decrease to %60 and fps won't change or even get lower. Specs: RTX 2060 R5 1600X 16GB RAM game on HDD. I don't think this issue about cpu bottleneck because without DLSS gpu usage at %99 most of the time.

 

[iCake]

I have same problem too, when DLSS off my gpu usage is pretty normal but when I enable it gpu usage decrease to %60 and fps won't change or even get lower. Specs: RTX 2060 R5 1600X 16GB RAM game on HDD. I don't think this issue about cpu bottleneck because without DLSS gpu usage at %99 most of the time.

Totally a CPU bottleneck, cuz of course your GPU usage would drop when you activate DLSS, you're lowering your resolution when you do so.

Cyberpunk 2077 CPU Scaling, What Processors Work Best?

Stacking up the chips

www.tomshardware.com

R5 1600X is good for:

1080p RT - 29-36 fps

1080p no RT - 32 -49 fps.

 

[Ducuk]

Totally a CPU bottleneck, cuz of course your GPU usage would drop when you activate DLSS, you're lowering your resolution when you do so.

Cyberpunk 2077 CPU Scaling, What Processors Work Best?

Stacking up the chips

www.tomshardware.com

R5 1600X is good for:

1080p RT - 29-36 fps

1080p no RT - 32 -49 fps.

I can get +60fps on 1080p no RT ultra settings %80 of the time already how it is 32-49?

 

[PandaTaru]

CPU bottleneck.

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/2gzkzq

 

[iCake]

I can get +60fps on 1080p no RT ultra settings %80 of the time already how it is 32-49?

Those numbers from the article , as I undrestand, didn't have the SMT fix applied. And 80% is not 100%. Sounds about right to me, those numbers, maybe a little on the short side, but not too much. Those 32, I am sure, were a rare drop in some densly populated area.

 

[Boblito]

In my opinion, this is not a case of CPU bottleneck, rather poor optimization. I expect my CPU to run this game without getting causing bottleneck as its above the recommended spec. Even at low crowd density, the CPU usage stays at 90%. The CPU usage stays at this value regardless of any graphics settings while the GPU usage varies a lot (specially with DLSS).

 

[Martin_Pointner]

In my opinion, this is not a case of CPU bottleneck, rather poor optimization. I expect my CPU to run this game without getting causing bottleneck as its above the recommended spec. Even at low crowd density, the CPU usage stays at 90%. The CPU usage stays at this value regardless of any graphics settings while the GPU usage varies a lot (specially with DLSS).

Sorry to say, but you are definitely bottlenecked by your CPU.
It will never read 100% Utilization across all cores on your CPU in Afterburner.
Just look at your first picture, GPU is only at 63% but CPU Cores are at 90 to 100.
Thats a VERY strong indication of your CPU not being able to keep up with your GPU.

 

[Boblito]

Sorry to say, but you are definitely bottlenecked by your CPU.
It will never read 100% Utilization across all cores on your CPU in Afterburner.
Just look at your first picture, GPU is only at 63% but CPU Cores are at 90 to 100.
Thats a VERY strong indication of your CPU not being able to keep up with your GPU.

But why on 1440p without DLSS my CPU is at 66% and my GPU at 99% ?

 

[PandaTaru]

Because the game is more demanding on the GPU, the GPU takes more time to render the game, and the GPU solicit the CPU a lot less. The more you will go down in resolution, the more the GPU will solicit the CPU. DLSS 2.0 renders at lower resolution, then upscales the frames to whatever resolution you're using. If you're using a 1080p resolution, with DLSS, the game will render the frames at something like 720p or 960p and upscales to 1080p.

Here another article that explains CPU bottleneck

CPU and GPU Bottleneck: A Detailed Guide to Bottlenecking in 2019

Will my CPU or GPU Bottleneck? A common concern amongst PC enthusiasts. We've answered all of your questions and cover CPU & GPU Bottlenecking in our guide.

www.wepc.com

 

[iCake]

But why on 1440p without DLSS my CPU is at 66% and my GPU at 99% ?

Because without DLSS you running at a higher resolution, that's the increase to GPU usage. At 1440p without DLSS you're GPU bound, with DLSS you lighten the load on your GPU, thus making it render every frame faster, but the CPU cannot keep and saturate your GPU with more frames at that point, thats's why your GPU is doing nothing 34% of the time there.

That's a CLASSIC CPU bottleneck.

 

[Boblito]

Because the game is more demanding on the GPU, the GPU takes more time to render the game, and the GPU solicit the CPU a lot less. The more you will go down in resolution, the more the GPU will solicit the CPU. DLSS 2.0 renders at lower resolution, then upscales the frames to whatever resolution you're using. If you're using a 1080p resolution, with DLSS, the game will render the frames at something like 720p or 960p and upscales to 1080p.

Here another article that explains CPU bottleneck

Because without DLSS you running at a higher resolution, that's the increase to GPU usage. At 1440p without DLSS you're GPU bound, with DLSS you lighten the load on your GPU, thus making it render every frame faster, but the CPU cannot keep and saturate your GPU with more frames at that point, thats's why your GPU is doing nothing 34% of the time there.

That's a CLASSIC CPU bottleneck.

CPU and GPU Bottleneck: A Detailed Guide to Bottlenecking in 2019

Will my CPU or GPU Bottleneck? A common concern amongst PC enthusiasts. We've answered all of your questions and cover CPU & GPU Bottlenecking in our guide.

www.wepc.com

Ok thank you for all the infos ! Which CPU is more suitable in this situation? Or maybe it is better to wait for the next paches hoping it will be less demanding for the CPU.

 

[iCake]

Ok thank you for all the infos ! Which CPU is more suitable in this situation? Or maybe it is better to wait for the next paches hoping it will be less demanding for the CPU.

I'm sure they'll optimize CPU performance with patches along the line, if anything, that'd be a side effect of them trying to make those console versions run better. But a shortage of power in terms of CPU performance is not trivial to work your way around, I wouldn't expect too much improvement.

As for a CPU that'd suit your needs. Just take a look at that tomshardware article I posted, where they test various CPUs in this game. Although, admittedly their CPU selection for the test is kind of meh, but it's a good reference point, invaluable even, all things considered as in if a CPU you've got your eyes on was not included in that test, you can still compare it against those that were and make a pretty accurate assumption as to what kind of performance you can expect from your CPU of choice.