I'm facing an issue where my GPU utilization stays around 50-65% while playing Zenless Zone Zero, and I'm wondering if this indicates a CPU bottleneck. Here are my specs: I'm running Windows 11 on an Intel i7-12700KF with water cooling, paired with a GTX 4070 and 32GB of RAM. My monitor is 2k at 120Hz. I've done some tweaks like enabling the Ultimate Performance setting, adjusting the Nvidia Control Panel for max performance, and turning off Vsync. Despite this, my FPS averages around 60-80 on high settings, sometimes reaching 120 in less complex scenes. My CPU usage hovers around 40%, with the 10th core peaking at about 75% utilization. Should I upgrade my CPU or is there something else I should check?
1 Answer
It definitely sounds like a CPU bottleneck, especially since Zenless Zone Zero isn’t the most efficient game. You might notice your GPU hitting much higher usage if you try something more graphically demanding. Just a tip though: I'd recommend switching your power settings back to 'balanced' and 'optimized' instead of 'ultimate' and 'max performance'—those settings can ramp up your power use and noise without boosting FPS much.
I saw a video where someone with a 14th gen Intel CPU and a 4090 was getting around 200fps at 4K. If I upgrade to a 14th gen CPU and keep my 4070, do you think I'd see a significant FPS boost?