I'm playing Red Dead Redemption 2 with a GTX 1660 Ti and Ryzen 5 3400G. On mostly Ultra settings, the GPU sits around 30% usage while the CPU reaches roughly 88%, so performance seems to be limited by the processor. Are there any settings or system changes I can use temporarily to reduce CPU load and make better use of the GPU? My CPU temperatures are around 80°C under load, and I've already updated the BIOS. I also have a replacement CPU on the way, but I'd like to improve performance as much as possible until it arrives.
4 Answers
Check temperatures, clock speeds, and power settings with a hardware monitoring tool. Around 80°C is warm but usually not enough by itself to cause severe throttling; look for the CPU dropping its clock speed under load. Make sure your power plan isn’t limiting performance and that the cooler is installed properly. These checks may help a little, but the processor will still be the primary limit until you upgrade it.
The 3400G is likely the main bottleneck here, especially in a CPU-heavy game like this. You generally can’t transfer CPU work to the GPU, but lowering CPU-intensive settings may help. Water quality and physics-related options are worth reducing because they have a relatively small visual impact. A newer CPU should make the biggest difference.
Updating the BIOS can improve compatibility and memory behavior, but it usually won’t overcome a major CPU bottleneck. Verify that your memory is running at its rated speed, then reduce CPU-heavy settings such as water physics, population or world-detail distance, and other simulation options. The new CPU should allow the GTX 1660 Ti to run at a higher utilization.
You can try increasing the resolution or rendering scale, which will shift more of the workload toward the GPU, but it won’t necessarily increase your frame rate if the CPU is already limiting performance. Lowering the resolution usually won’t help in this situation.
I’ve already ordered a better CPU, so I’m hoping that will solve most of the issue.
That makes sense. I mainly wanted to get a little more performance out of the current setup until the replacement CPU arrives.