this game is not only a cpu killer but also ffb wheel killer

[wangxiaowei1979]

the cpu is easily max out during dawn and dusk. like 7:30am or 6:30pm when sunrise or sunset. my cpu is 4770k@4.2g, not all threads are max out，but only one thread, in my case it is alway cpu2.

when the cpu reach its limit, I highly suspect that the ffb signal sent to the wheel is either delayed or distorted, which cause the wheel much easier to get into thermal protection status, the ffb force become smaller very fast after driving for several minutes.

Now I change the racing time from 7:30 to 9:00 the fps increased by 30+ frames, and each threads usage will be no higher than 80%. and the wheel ffb force get tired slower.

Maybe my cpu is too old and the modern ones don't have this issue.

(my wheel is t500rs)
(my gpu is 2070s and even when the cpu is maxed out I still get 120+fps, however, there is still stuttering at the corner when start at the sunrise or sunset with AI infront of me. use vsync will solve the stuttering if the fps go above 120)

one more thing to mention is that I need to set the rfactor2.exe to highest priority each time. the cpu usage will also benefit from this setup a lot.

[KalElRedK]

You probably have the ffb setting too high so the wheel overheats. I never heard of any general temp issues done by the game.
For stuttering try the vsync fast option in the nvidia control panel and turn off vsync ingame.

[Jerry S]

Are you sure your memory is matched to your processor and BIOS? That generation CPU/MOBO combos seemed to have issues around that.

Also some tracks/car combos are more intensive. Try it with only S397 content.

I ran a 4770 and 1070 with VR and it worked. Not all that great but VR is a significantly higher workload.

Check this thread for some other tips:

https://forum.studio-397.com/index.php?threads/cpu-maxed-purple-bar-full.56738/

[wangxiaowei1979]

Originally posted by KalElRedK:

You probably have the ffb setting too high so the wheel overheats. I never heard of any general temp issues done by the game.
For stuttering try the vsync fast option in the nvidia control panel and turn off vsync ingame.

I used to set 60% gain in control panel and 0.75 in game but the ffb force still becomenotable weaker after running for couple of minutes.

now I set 60% and 1.0 in game and the problem does not reproduce.

I think the problem is very much related to the cpu capacity, the ffb is part of physics calculation and it is very cpu intensive, when the cpu is maxed out, the calculation can be wrong and sent the wrong signal to the wheel, either cause wheel overheating, or the signal itself is weaker.

[wangxiaowei1979]

Originally posted by Jerry Schuryk:

Are you sure your memory is matched to your processor and BIOS? That generation CPU/MOBO combos seemed to have issues around that.

Also some tracks/car combos are more intensive. Try it with only S397 content.

I ran a 4770 and 1070 with VR and it worked. Not all that great but VR is a significantly higher workload.

Check this thread for some other tips:

https://forum.studio-397.com/index.php?threads/cpu-maxed-purple-bar-full.56738/

which wheel are you using? does it work normal? have you checked the cpu utilizaion in the windows resource manager? what is the percentage of each thread?
mine is below 80% now, but I need to set the rfactor2.exe to realtime priority each time, otherwise one of thread is 100% and it could cause strange problem to the ffb and also overall performance of the game.
my memory is overclocked at 1800mhz

[fenderjaguar]

Originally posted by wangxiaowei1979:

Maybe my cpu is too old and the modern ones don't have this issue

No. You've got a fairly recent overclocked i7. And rf2 isn't heavily multithreaded, so it'll run like this on any CPU. Also, you're best capping the frame rate at something you don't drop under. It's not so bad when the GPU is the limiting factor to the frame rate, but don't let the CPU be the limiting factor, because that has a habit of making quite a lot of games stutter.

Also, I've heard this "the physics calculations in rf2 is demanding on the CPU" before, and my BS metre goes off every time.

Lets look for more likely performance impact on the CPU, like how many cars are on the track during this CPU related performance drop?

[Celloman]

Originally posted by wangxiaowei1979:

the cpu is easily max out during dawn and dusk. like 7:30am or 6:30pm when sunrise or sunset. my cpu is 4770k@4.2g, not all threads are max out，but only one thread, in my case it is alway cpu2.

when the cpu reach its limit, I highly suspect that the ffb signal sent to the wheel is either delayed or distorted, which cause the wheel much easier to get into thermal protection status, the ffb force become smaller very fast after driving for several minutes.

Now I change the racing time from 7:30 to 9:00 the fps increased by 30+ frames, and each threads usage will be no higher than 80%. and the wheel ffb force get tired slower.

Maybe my cpu is too old and the modern ones don't have this issue.

(my wheel is t500rs)
(my gpu is 2070s and even when the cpu is maxed out I still get 120+fps, however, there is still stuttering at the corner when start at the sunrise or sunset with AI infront of me. use vsync will solve the stuttering if the fps go above 120)

one more thing to mention is that I need to set the rfactor2.exe to highest priority each time. the cpu usage will also benefit from this setup a lot.

Generally speaking, software cannot destroy properly designed hardware, so a wheel is not going to get damaged by a "wrong" signal sent to it. Anyway, your CPU isn't too bad, so what I would suggest is try updating the wheel drivers. Sometimes wheels can actually be the cause for the main game slowing down, as the game has to "wait" to talk with the wheel driver.

Using realtime priority is not recommended for gaming, as that means the OS doesn't have room to operate properly in the background and it can actually cause more problems than solve. If you have issues with background apps the solution is to use Windows game mode or remove those background apps.

[wangxiaowei1979]

Originally posted by Celloman:

Originally posted by wangxiaowei1979:

the cpu is easily max out during dawn and dusk. like 7:30am or 6:30pm when sunrise or sunset. my cpu is 4770k@4.2g, not all threads are max out，but only one thread, in my case it is alway cpu2.

when the cpu reach its limit, I highly suspect that the ffb signal sent to the wheel is either delayed or distorted, which cause the wheel much easier to get into thermal protection status, the ffb force become smaller very fast after driving for several minutes.

Now I change the racing time from 7:30 to 9:00 the fps increased by 30+ frames, and each threads usage will be no higher than 80%. and the wheel ffb force get tired slower.

Maybe my cpu is too old and the modern ones don't have this issue.

(my wheel is t500rs)
(my gpu is 2070s and even when the cpu is maxed out I still get 120+fps, however, there is still stuttering at the corner when start at the sunrise or sunset with AI infront of me. use vsync will solve the stuttering if the fps go above 120)

one more thing to mention is that I need to set the rfactor2.exe to highest priority each time. the cpu usage will also benefit from this setup a lot.

Generally speaking, software cannot destroy properly designed hardware, so a wheel is not going to get damaged by a "wrong" signal sent to it. Anyway, your CPU isn't too bad, so what I would suggest is try updating the wheel drivers. Sometimes wheels can actually be the cause for the main game slowing down, as the game has to "wait" to talk with the wheel driver.

Using realtime priority is not recommended for gaming, as that means the OS doesn't have room to operate properly in the background and it can actually cause more problems than solve. If you have issues with background apps the solution is to use Windows game mode or remove those background apps.

you are right the wheel itself could be the problem, t500 is a too old model. I followed the instruction from a post with similar cpu utilizaion problem by setting the "use thread" from false to true in the"controller.json", and it does help.
I have to set the priority to real time, if not one of thread is always 100%.
now my cpu never get maxed out again.
I have also tried to disable the hyperthreading, but things get worse, the average cpu utilization become higher and sometimes reaches 100%, then I chang it back, seems the current build is very well optimized for hyperthreading.