I've been gaming with an RTX 3080 on an Intel i5-14400 setup and noticed that my GPU usage is stuck around 40%, even in demanding games like Apex Legends where I get about 130fps. I'm running everything on low to medium settings, and I believe that the GPU should be able to handle much more, possibly hitting a cap of 300fps. My specs are as follows: RTX 3080 Palit Gaming Pro, 16GB DDR4 RAM (single stick at 3000MHz), MSI PRO B760 motherboard, and I'm using a 1080p resolution monitor. I've done various troubleshooting steps, including stress tests, optimizing power settings, and performing a clean driver install, but nothing seems to help. Does anyone have advice on how to resolve this problem? Thanks!
5 Answers
It sounds like you're hitting a CPU limit because of that single stick of RAM. In many cases, a single stick can't keep up, which leads to low GPU usage. Upgrading to a dual-channel setup with a second stick should really help your situation!
Also, check your monitor's refresh rate. If you're running multiple monitors and one is capped at 60Hz, it might limit your overall performance. I had a similar issue where I needed to adjust some settings to ensure both monitors were running at optimal refresh rates. Ever experienced that?
Have you tried testing your setup with other more demanding non-esports games? Sometimes games can impose their own framerate caps or behave differently compared to competitive titles. It could be interesting to see how the GPU performs in those scenarios!
I’m downloading Far Cry 6 and RDR2 now to check that out!
Definitely try to add another stick of RAM. Single-channel RAM can really bottleneck performance. It's been widely discussed in many videos that this can limit your GPU significantly—definitely worth the investment!
Make sure you're running your Windows power plan on balanced. Even though you’ve set your GPU preferences to maximum performance, if your CPU is thermal throttling, it could be downclocking and causing performance issues. How are your temps by the way?
CPU is at around 62°C and the GPU at 60°C while gaming—so I think they’re fine.
I’m considering it! Should I go for 3200MHz or 3600MHz for the new stick?