GPU Performance Issue

[Roach]

My girlfriend's computer recently underwent an update. The night before the update, Ark ran completely normally and well with ~30-40% GPU usage and no lag spikes. The following day, after the windows update, 90-100% GPU usage, lag and her fan was running at max RPM. She runs with an AMD Radeon CPU with onboard graphics and a dedicated NVIDIA geforce 3070 TI chip. Don't recall the exact specs on the cpu, but we ensured her dedicated chip is in fact managing the game through the graphics settings with NVIDIA control panel. Nothing else was showing as resource draw in the task manager window. We also updated the gpu drivers in geforce experience, verified game integrity through steam, restarted the laptop. I also tried reverting to the previous version of windows through the Recovery tab in the Windows Update and Security manager, but the "Go back to the previous version of Windows 10" isn't even appearing in the window, where as it does for my PC and seemingly any other person's PC via tutorials online. So no idea why that option isn't available.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

[retsam1]

For the sake of diagnostic clarity:

1. Go to her steam help menu, click "system information" then copy paste all that here so we can specifically see what steam detects for her computer and any potential discrepancies.

2. Does her game play involve mods? If so list them all by name and in their specific load order.

3. Is she using the -nvidia app- specific recommended settings for ark game play? If not then set to that. (Geforce experience is being phased out btw so switch to the nvidia app you can download from the nvidia website. Its really just the same stuff as geforce experience though but better to use that now at this point.)

Usage isnt the concern you should focus on. but in game lag can have many different variable sources that may not necessarily be tied to any windows update etc. Hence why the diagnostic info from the points above have relevance to check on.

[Liralen]

I have an RTX 3070Ti and am running Win10. I'm also running a dedicated server on the same PC. The fans having been running high all along, but I've been monitoring GPU temperatures, and it's fine. The latest Win10 update caused no changes.

I never upgrade to the latest GPU update after my previous GPU, a GTX 1070 Ti became non-functional and I had to roll back the driver update. It's like Nvidia has an incentive to break older GPUs or something. Or at least, has little incentive to make sure that new updates are compatible with old GPUs.

However, I have mine in a full tower case, with good air flow and an AIO CPU water cooler. Her biggest concern is that the GPU temps are below the maximum recommended.

Edited Note: It just occurred to me that it's been really cold where I live, so cold that heat pumps don't function, so the emergency resistance heating is on, but can't keep up. If I had a laptop, I'd be sitting on the couch, heaped with blankets...

[Roach]

Originally posted by retsam1:

For the sake of diagnostic clarity:

1. Go to her steam help menu, click "system information" then copy paste all that here so we can specifically see what steam detects for her computer and any potential discrepancies.

2. Does her game play involve mods? If so list them all by name and in their specific load order.

3. Is she using the -nvidia app- specific recommended settings for ark game play? If not then set to that. (Geforce experience is being phased out btw so switch to the nvidia app you can download from the nvidia website. Its really just the same stuff as geforce experience though but better to use that now at this point.)

Usage isnt the concern you should focus on. but in game lag can have many different variable sources that may not necessarily be tied to any windows update etc. Hence why the diagnostic info from the points above have relevance to check on.

1. Computer Information:
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
Model: ROG Strix G513IE_G513IE
Form Factor: Laptop
No Touch Input Detected
Processor Information:
CPU Vendor: AuthenticAMD
CPU Brand: AMD Ryzen 7 4800H with Radeon Graphics
CPU Family: 0x17
CPU Model: 0x60
CPU Stepping: 0x1
CPU Type: 0x0
Speed: 2895 MHz
16 logical processors
8 physical processors
Hyper-threading: Supported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Supported
SSE41: Supported
SSE42: Supported
AES: Supported
AVX: Supported
AVX2: Supported
AVX512F: Unsupported
AVX512PF: Unsupported
AVX512ER: Unsupported
AVX512CD: Unsupported
AVX512VNNI: Unsupported
SHA: Supported
CMPXCHG16B: Supported
LAHF/SAHF: Supported
PrefetchW: Unsupported
BMI1: Supported
BMI2: Supported
F16C: Supported
FMA: Supported
Operating System Version:
Windows 10 (64 bit)
NTFS: Supported
Crypto Provider Codes: Supported 311 0x0 0x0 0x0
Version: 1738026274
Browser GPU Acceleration Status: Enabled
Browser Canvas: Enabled
Browser Canvas out-of-process rasterization: Enabled
Browser Direct Rendering Display Compositor: Disabled
Browser Compositing: Enabled
Browser Multiple Raster Threads: Enabled
Browser OpenGL: Enabled
Browser Rasterization: Enabled
Browser Raw Draw: Disabled
Browser Skia Graphite: Disabled
Browser Video Decode: Enabled
Browser Video Encode: Enabled
Browser Vulkan: Disabled
Browser WebGL: Enabled
Browser WebGL2: Enabled
Browser WebGPU: Enabled
Browser WebNN: Disabled
Video Card:
Driver: AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics
DirectX Driver Name: nvldumd.dll
Driver Version: 30.0.13002.19003
DirectX Driver Version: 32.0.15.7247
Driver Date: 9 28 2022
Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 144 Hz
DirectX Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU
VendorID: 0x10de
DeviceID: 0x25a0
Revision: 0xa1
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 1
No SLI or Crossfire Detected
Primary Display Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Desktop Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Primary Display Size: 13.54" x 7.60" (15.51" diag), 34.4cm x 19.3cm (39.4cm diag)
Primary Bus: PCI Express 8x
Primary VRAM: 512 MB
Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x 8x
Sound card:
Audio device: Speakers (Realtek(R) Audio)
Memory:
RAM: 15791 Mb
VR Hardware:
VR Headset: None detected
Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
Media Type: Undetermined
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 464330 MB
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 176550 MB
OS Install Date: febr. 26 2022
Game Controller: None detected
MAC Address hash: acdbebcf4d6cab6b9042a4fd258d7aec020ad0f7
Storage:
Disk serial number hash: 2d719860
Number of SSDs: 1
SSD sizes: 512G
Number of HDDs: 0
Number of removable drives: 0

2. No mods

3. I misspoke out of habit. She does have the "app" and recommended settings.

[retsam1]

1. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU
If that card is playing the game above the nvidia app's recommended settings for Ark, that can be a performance issue. Its not meant to play ark in the highest fidelity settings without encountering performance issues... not even close really.

2. Since its a laptop, Steam's system diagnostic checks only the onboard chipset graphics driver date wise (date being 9/28/22 for that chipset driver). You've stated that she has the latest nvidia driver for her 3050ti, but just to be sure for clarity, can you post the driver version number according to the app? It's just to make sure because there have been instances in the past where someone has believed they had the most up to date driver when it wasnt.

3. Since there are no mods being employed and if we assume for now that the 3050ti's driver is up to date, and assuming the correct graphic fidelity settings are going on, then the only other sources for lag in game would be:

-- Adjusted play settings, boosted rates, higher wild dino counts etc.
-- Large bases and tamed dino parking lots
-- Game save. Game will on a timer do a save and significant lag can occur while it saves.
-- Playing on a non dedicated server iteration with others. Non dedicated servers(glorified single player) tends to have issues and if playing such, it is recommended to run a dedicated server iteration instead or play on someone else server.
-- Latency issues if connecting to play with others on another server. This can be from a bad wifi, isp issues or just about anything between one's comp and the server's comp.
-- If a wild dino wipe was done(as single player or servers benefit doing so regularly for the sake of correcting respawn imbalances that occur), as the map repopulates it can cause lag.
-- Transitioning between subzones on a map or transitioning into artifact caves.
-- Her computer having its own issues hardware wise. Hardware isnt perfect and wear/tear or just faults in em can cause issues that could then cause symptoms described in your initial post as well. You'd have to run full diagnostics to ensure otherwise.
-- Something else on the comp that is doing a considerable workload.


And I really could go on and on and on. Problem then becomes that discerning what source(s) for the lag are going to have to be self diagnosed and tested at this point to try to better determine such.

But my primary guess is just that the laptop is likely just overall struggling. Yes, even if such wasnt seen before necessarily, it doesnt mean it wasnt/couldnt occur either. A dice roll if you will.

Anyway, there's lots above that can be checked on and tested.

Best of luck.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

You're using a Mobile RTX 3070 Ti in that system. It's just about the same performance as a desktop GTX 1080 Ti (not very fast today). Also since it's a laptop you're most likely thermal throttling (running too hot which makes the video card slow down). Trying to run ARK should have the system running at 100% GPU usage in your girlfriend's system with the fans on high. That should be normal operation for trying to play this game.

Before when it was only using 30% of her GPU then something was wrong. It sounds like she never had the Nvidia drivers loaded and through the update suddenly the Nvidia drivers are working correctly now.

There should be no concern. This sounds like everything is working completely normally.

[Roach]

Originally posted by retsam1:

1. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU
If that card is playing the game above the nvidia app's recommended settings for Ark, that can be a performance issue. Its not meant to play ark in the highest fidelity settings without encountering performance issues... not even close really.

2. Since its a laptop, Steam's system diagnostic checks only the onboard chipset graphics driver date wise (date being 9/28/22 for that chipset driver). You've stated that she has the latest nvidia driver for her 3050ti, but just to be sure for clarity, can you post the driver version number according to the app? It's just to make sure because there have been instances in the past where someone has believed they had the most up to date driver when it wasnt.

3. Since there are no mods being employed and if we assume for now that the 3050ti's driver is up to date, and assuming the correct graphic fidelity settings are going on, then the only other sources for lag in game would be:

-- Adjusted play settings, boosted rates, higher wild dino counts etc.
-- Large bases and tamed dino parking lots
-- Game save. Game will on a timer do a save and significant lag can occur while it saves.
-- Playing on a non dedicated server iteration with others. Non dedicated servers(glorified single player) tends to have issues and if playing such, it is recommended to run a dedicated server iteration instead or play on someone else server.
-- Latency issues if connecting to play with others on another server. This can be from a bad wifi, isp issues or just about anything between one's comp and the server's comp.
-- If a wild dino wipe was done(as single player or servers benefit doing so regularly for the sake of correcting respawn imbalances that occur), as the map repopulates it can cause lag.
-- Transitioning between subzones on a map or transitioning into artifact caves.
-- Her computer having its own issues hardware wise. Hardware isnt perfect and wear/tear or just faults in em can cause issues that could then cause symptoms described in your initial post as well. You'd have to run full diagnostics to ensure otherwise.
-- Something else on the comp that is doing a considerable workload.


And I really could go on and on and on. Problem then becomes that discerning what source(s) for the lag are going to have to be self diagnosed and tested at this point to try to better determine such.

But my primary guess is just that the laptop is likely just overall struggling. Yes, even if such wasnt seen before necessarily, it doesnt mean it wasnt/couldnt occur either. A dice roll if you will.

Anyway, there's lots above that can be checked on and tested.

Best of luck.

I appreciate the thoughtful response. Good stuff to look into.

[Roach]

Originally posted by 🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊:

You're using a Mobile RTX 3070 Ti in that system. It's just about the same performance as a desktop GTX 1080 Ti (not very fast today). Also since it's a laptop you're most likely thermal throttling (running too hot which makes the video card slow down). Trying to run ARK should have the system running at 100% GPU usage in your girlfriend's system with the fans on high. That should be normal operation for trying to play this game.

Before when it was only using 30% of her GPU then something was wrong. It sounds like she never had the Nvidia drivers loaded and through the update suddenly the Nvidia drivers are working correctly now.

There should be no concern. This sounds like everything is working completely normally.

Normal. Aside from the crashes that follow shortly after the fans kick into high gear.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Originally posted by Roach:

Normal. Aside from the crashes that follow shortly after the fans kick into high gear.

Your GF's laptop should be able to handle running any game with the video card at 100% load for hours without issues. Make sure you're plugged into the wall outlet (NOT ON THE BATTERY) when playing games like ARK and consider elevating the laptop an inch or more off the desk/table so it has more air to suck in and consider a laptop cooling pad. The issue is not the game. The problem is the laptop is overheating and causing it to crash (something physically wrong with the laptop). When was the last time you took the bottom cover off and blasted out the cooling fan to clean the dust bunnies out?

Also consider adding in and trying these launch options:
-sm4 -d3d10 -nomansky

Then go in-game and significantly reduce the graphics settings down a lot to make her video card not run at 100% when playing. That might help. Yes this will make the game not look amazing but at this point she needs to make the laptop not overheat to actually get the game to run at all so this might work.

[Barry]

Did you find a solution?

[Roach]

Originally posted by Barry:

Did you find a solution?

As of now, she is running fine again with ~30% GPU usage and >= 60 fps. She made three changes. The first two (reverting to the previous version of Windows manually and downloading and installing the last recorded geforce driver she had) did not solve the issue. The last thing she did was tweak some settings in her ROG Strix environment to "quiet mode," and this has allowed us to play again with no problems.

I can't say for sure if the updates caused some overwrite to system settings that are otherwise editable in the strix environment... maybe. In any case, thanks for everyone's help.

[skyguard]

The thing is, 30% GPU usage is not fine, in GPU intensive games, your GPU should be running at 100%.

But if it is working for you at this time, that is great and just keep on playing.