low gpu usage with dlss

[jeleniomyszoń]

In some locations when I turn on dlss my fps is basically the same as without dlss, the only difference is that it reduces GPU usage, which in my opinion is totally pointless.

I am playing on ryzen 3700x and rtx 3070.
with dlss: https://imgur.com/3LIyn0q
without dlss: https://imgur.com/hF1sR4E

[Tiasmoon]

Looks like you have the fps capped at 60. The gpu load will lower since you need less gpu power to reach 60 fps with DLSS on.

[jeleniomyszoń]

Originally posted by Tiasmoon:

Looks like you have the fps capped at 60. The gpu load will lower since you need less gpu power to reach 60 fps with DLSS on.

like you can see on this screenshot I have fps lock turned off and in this location gpu usage is much better (dlss is on): https://imgur.com/u0Pz3du
but still, in most locations it looks like the one on the earlier screenshot /:

[punderwunkt]

What we see here is a CPU limit.

When a graphics card is running at (close to) 100%, it is called the GPU limit.
A main processor does not necessarily have to be running at (close to) 100% to reach its limits in gaming. There are thinkable cases where 3% utilization of the entire CPU do limit the FPS.

This means that your graphics card is simply underutilized because your CPU is a bottleneck in this particular scenario. DLSS will lower the GPU load even more, but this will hardly affect the FPS at all. DLSS would help a lot if you were faced with a GPU limit.

If you want to increase your FPS, there are a few things you can do, but don't expect miracles. You could make certain ingame settings to reduce the load on the CPU. Or you could use various tweaks to squeeze out a few more percentage points of CPU performance.

Anyway, a Ryzen 7 3700X is perfectly adequate for most purposes and should not bore your RTX 3070 that much in most cases.

Still, your board probably also supports Ryzen 5000s, which are clearly the better gaming processors.
However, even with the absolute best processors (whether Intel or AMD), you will occasionally run into a CPU limit.

[Tiasmoon]

Originally posted by r4mb0:

Originally posted by Tiasmoon:

Looks like you have the fps capped at 60. The gpu load will lower since you need less gpu power to reach 60 fps with DLSS on.

like you can see on this screenshot I have fps lock turned off and in this location gpu usage is much better (dlss is on): https://imgur.com/u0Pz3du
but still, in most locations it looks like the one on the earlier screenshot /:

Hmm, the 60 fps might be incidental then. Ah, just realised I was looking at the 99% frames. My bad T_T

In that case CPU or RAM speed/latency seems like the likely problem. If you are CPU bound, then the gpu performance increasing wont give you more frames.

Being CPU bound in a game like this seems kind of weird imo, but as I dont own the game myself I can't check my own performance.

[julio94]

same problem here, GPU and CPU in the 60% usage but fps not to the maximum 144 fps I set in the settings. I really don't know it does this...

[julio94]

Performance limit is Utilization

[punderwunkt]

In my previous post I have described this behavior and explained how it happens.

[julio94]

Since CPU and GPU are neither at 100% and RAM and VRAM neither fully utilized, I don't understand why it is Limited to the criteria "Utilization"

[FeilDOW]

Originally posted by julio94:

Since CPU and GPU are neither at 100% and RAM and VRAM neither fully utilized, I don't understand why it is Limited to the criteria "Utilization"

Most engines won't scale across 8c/16t so you'll see a CPU limitation before you see 100% usage, IPC is still more important than cores for gaming.

[julio94]

I'm ok with that in general. However, 9600k and 2080 Super seems more than a good fit for this game to be in "Utilization" limit mode...

[punderwunkt]

Originally posted by lil4x:

What we see here is a CPU limit.
When a graphics card is running at (close to) 100%, it is called the GPU limit.
A main processor does not necessarily have to be running at (close to) 100% to reach its limits in gaming. There are thinkable cases where 3% utilization of the entire CPU do limit the FPS.
This means that your graphics card is simply underutilized because your CPU is a bottleneck in this particular scenario. [...] even with the absolute best processors (whether Intel or AMD), you will occasionally run into a CPU limit.

I have quoted the important passages from my post. What FeilDOW says is also true.
A CPU bottleneck is the correct description for our FPS problems. That this doesn't satisfy you is another matter, but the truth is sometimes unpleasant. Gaming is not only about the graphics card.

An i5 9600K, much like an R7 3700X, is perfectly adequate for most purposes and should rarely limit FPS as much as it does in this game.
I have a slightly better gaming processor and even with my system I occasionally have significant drops that are due to CPU performance.

We just have to live with the fact that Deathloop is one of the most hardware hungry games on the market.

[julio94]

I totally agree with you but my question is what is limiting then beceause it is clearly not the CPU usage as it is well below 100%. There must be something else.

[punderwunkt]

But I did write it and even repeated it. Again:

Originally posted by lil4x:

A main processor does not necessarily have to be running at (close to) 100% to reach its limits in gaming. There are thinkable cases where 3% utilization of the entire CPU do limit the FPS.

You can always end up CPU-limited, even if the CPU utilization is perhaps not even close to 100%.

And that has mainly something to do with the non-use of possibly available cores. So just an example: System X has 4 cores with hyperthreading, but Game Y actually uses only 2 cores (which you CANNOT change! It's the programming!) . Then the total utilization appears low, although the cores actually used by the game may be absolutely rattling at the limit. This is why single core performance, or like FeilDOW said the IPC, is most important for gaming. The non-use of cores is perhaps the main reason, but there can be other factors. Sometimes the programming is simply a disaster. Or the engine used. Here we also have the horrible copy protection Denuvo, which is known to eat performance over and over again as well.

And a friendly tip: guys, leave your overlays off. They only confuse and distract from what it's really all about. The gaming.

[julio94]

yes maybe the per core usage is the culprit, good insight, thanks!

[punderwunkt]

But for heaven's sake please don't examine your overlay and tell me that the individual cores are not fully utilized either. That is clear to me. This is due to the fact that with a surplus of cores, the tasks are distributed more or less evenly among the threads.