I've been troubleshooting this for a couple of months and can't figure out why my GPU is underperforming. While gaming, my RTX 3060 often sits around 30% usage, or roughly 60% at most, even though benchmark and performance videos using similar hardware show much higher utilization. At one point, the GPU ran closer to 80% usage and gameplay felt smooth, but that behavior disappeared.
The problem is especially noticeable in Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, where I get intense stuttering despite using mostly low settings, DLSS on Quality, and V-Sync disabled. Overwatch also stutters frequently at medium settings.
My system includes an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB, an Intel Core i5-12400F, an ASRock B660M Pro RS motherboard, 16GB of RAM, and an AOC 24G15N monitor. What could be causing the low GPU usage and stuttering, and what tests should I run to identify the bottleneck?
2 Answers
Start by checking the exact in-game settings and resolution for both titles, then monitor GPU usage, CPU-per-core usage, temperatures, clocks, RAM usage, and frame times while the stutter occurs. Low GPU utilization by itself isn’t necessarily a problem if the game is CPU-limited or if an FPS cap, V-Sync setting, or another limiter is active. A frame-time graph and per-core CPU readings should make that easier to distinguish.
The CPU and GPU should be reasonably well matched, so the low GPU usage may be caused by a game-specific limit, a CPU or frametime issue, background software, or a configuration problem. More details are needed for each game, including resolution, frame rate, graphics settings, CPU usage, temperatures, clock speeds, and whether one CPU core is maxed out. Overall CPU usage can look normal even when a single game thread is the bottleneck.
Running a 3DMark Time Spy test would be a useful first step. Its separate graphics and CPU scores can be compared with results from similar systems and should help show whether the hardware itself is performing normally.
In Darktide, GPU usage reaches about 60% at most and the stuttering is severe. Overwatch has similar stuttering, even with medium settings. I’ll try a Time Spy run to check whether the graphics or CPU score is abnormal.