Still using 100% CPU...

[Just a Skeleton Vibing]

My PC can run any other current game on normal-high settings, but for TLoU even on the lowest setting after the most recent patch, I'ts still using 100% CPU and 0% GPU , and I cannot figure out why.

My specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070
RAM: 32 GB, Corsair, 3200 MHz, DDR4
SSD: Samsung SSD 870 QVO 1TB

There is no way this game is THAT demanding on the lowest ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ setting that it can be draining all my CPU and at the same time using none of my GPU.

I've downloaded the latest game driver for the card, Set the game .exe to use my graphics card and not the internal one in the CPU, and restarted my computer multiple times, even after compiling all the shaders.

Either they need to drastically change what the "minimum settings" are for this title in the steam listing, or just admit they don't know how to optimize for PC, because this is utterly ridiculous.

[AmaiAmai]

One thing I have found is that this game is pretty bad at managing memory, what that means is that it:

A. Wastes CPU moving objects in memory
B. Wastes RAM by keeping useless objects in memory
C. Wastes VRAM by keeping old data
D. Crashes a lot and can freeze your system

Now, on top of all of that, the game needs to build shaders -- a task more suited for workstations and not consumer hardware. None of us are running AMD EPYC or Xenons (or maybe some are lol).

To make matters worse, the game appears to have a hard issue with virtual hardware address mapping -- perhaps because consoles don't need to do this.

You can try recommendation #1 here to see if you get any improvement in CPU usage:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1888930/discussions/0/6980058383081126927/

or basically: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-change-virtual-memory-size-windows-10

You would set the size manually to your RAM size, but bigger if you cannot run the game because of "RAM too small" message. From what I have seen it has cut down on the CPU usage from 100% on the 2600X, in fact you can see this on 2600X and 6650XT (look at left for overlay showing usage):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=437hapoIQe8 [here this was with building shaders]

Note: page memory takes space on your HDD/SSD

[kgkong]

Lowering all graphic settings creates more frames. More frames means more workload on the CPU. This is how you create CPU bottlenecks for benchmarking actually.

The CPU is already gonna be worked hard because it's a 6 core, older CPU. Adding more frames to it's workload is definitely gonna work it even harder.

So of course when you just slam graphic settings to LOW you're gonna bottleneck the CPU even more when it's already gonna be sweating to run the game anyways on anything higher medium settings with set appropriate to your GPU.

So the trick is, turn down CPU heavy settings and set the rest of your graphic settings to within spec of your GPU.

[a rustle floor]

buy another CPU?

[kgkong]

Originally posted by a rustle floor:

buy another CPU?

He doesn't need to for this game. He just needs to set settings properly. Not rely on defaulting to presets.
He's trying to push higher frames by just cranking graphics down, and instead he's just creating a CPU bottleneck on his 6 core CPU.

6 core CPUs you really have to play within graphic spec of your GPU, because turning the graphics down too far puts a much fuller workload on each individual thread it has. The game is technically so far only optimized for 8 cores.

I'm assuming once the devs can tinker more with the in-house engine streaming system they can find better ways to fix this.

But OP should probably play on the lowest Draw Distance setting.

[Doc Sigma]

I dont get why people are so obsessed with whats going on under the hood. Your cpu os fine of its running at 100%. If the game is running smoothly for you, turn off the overlay and enjoy the game.

[AmaiAmai]

Originally posted by Doc Sigma:

I dont get why people are so obsessed with whats going on under the hood. Your cpu os fine of its running at 100%. If the game is running smoothly for you, turn off the overlay and enjoy the game.

True, unless you are analyzing the game to patch drivers later...

I am guessing he is experiencing overheating or stuttering, suggesting it's not just 100% CPU but also floating point being ran.

[Metalomaniac16]

Originally posted by Doc Sigma:

I dont get why people are so obsessed with whats going on under the hood. Your cpu os fine of its running at 100%. If the game is running smoothly for you, turn off the overlay and enjoy the game.

Imagine every game and every software, app, program and all running at 100% CPU all the time. That's the issue. The main subject here is why should we agree with companies doing this. If you let them this be the standard programming, coding and developing procedures, then sooner than later we will be losing our whole PCs yearly due to wearing.

New GPUs and CPUs announced, games launching unoptimized, new GPUs and CPUs announced, games launching unoptimized again. See the pattern? Don't just stay with your own experience, see beyond that, open your eyes.