I just built my new PC, and it runs smoothly without many lag spikes. However, I've noticed that both my CPU and GPU are consistently around 90%-100% usage while playing Baldur's Gate 3. Given that it's a graphically demanding game, I'm a bit concerned. Is this kind of high usage normal? My specs are:
- Motherboard: Asus Rog Crosshair x870e Hero
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
- GPU: Zotac 5070 Ti
- RAM: Trident Royal Z5 Neo DDR5 32GB
I'm also using two monitors at 1080p with 144Hz refresh rates. A friend of mine who plays on ultra settings has much lower CPU usage at about 40% with his Intel i9-9900K and a 3080. Even on my old setup, the usage was only around 40-70%. Should I be worried about the high usage?
1 Answer
It's not unusual to see high CPU and GPU usage if you're getting the performance you want. However, your 9950X3D shouldn't be pinned at 100% usage in most games—many can't utilize all 16 cores effectively. Try using HWInfo64 to ensure all cores are active and boosting between 5.3-5.7GHz.
Thanks for the tip! I discovered that Turbo Gaming Mode was limiting me to 8 cores instead of 16 in the BIOS.